THE STATE OF THE FRANCHISE – Part One.

by Holly Horning

It’s been interesting reading the social media comments this year since Scott Harris was hired.  Fans trying to ascertain where the Tigers are sitting and what Harris has planned.

Specifically, just how much does he have to do?

Is this a total gut job, another rebuild or a reassessment to determine which parts of the organization are creating positive results?  And which need complete renovations?

The overall vibe is that fans really don’t know what is going on.  And that is the problem.

Opinions that range from “So disappointed in how little Harris has done so far” to “Why isn’t this team visibly better?” to “He’s got to undo 8 years of incompetence which is going to take awhile.”

So what is it?

Part of the answer lies with the former GM, Al Avila, and the time he spent running things.  And that’s where fans also disagree.

Some of them are suffering from the sports version of PTSD – years of painful rebuilding trauma that resulted in very little accomplished.  They simply don’t want to have to discuss or think about anything related to the former regime.  They’ve been scarred enough.

They tell other posters “Avila’s gone.  Get over it.  Time to move on.”

Meanwhile other fans point out that merely because the former GM is gone, doesn’t mean that everything he did is gone, too.  That all the moves made – or not made – live on and will continue to have a presence until they are either gone, remedied or changed.

And we all get it.  No one wants to remember the 8 years of wandering in the wilderness, blunders and spinning wheels.  We don’t want to remember Avila.  Heck, some of us want to call in a house healer and have Comerica Park saged.

But you know what?  As much as we want to forget this sordid mess, we can’t.   For 2 reasons.

The first refers to that well-known quote about the need to understand history so we don’t repeat it.  Fans need to understand the bad moves made so they can spot any potential red flags down the road. 

Understanding what led to the downfall of Avila will also help fans gauge the value of Scott Harris. It’s important that everyone have a sense of whether the new man in charge appears to be competent.

You have to have a basis of comparison in order to form an opinion of the new PoBO.  How good is he?  You don’t know unless you have that ability to compare the old regime with the new.

And you better believe that Scott Harris took a microscope to the Tigers’ franchise to thoroughly ascertain what Avila did and didn’t do before he officially took over. He’s still probably learning new details every day.

This leads us to the second reason why we can’t let go of Avila and his crew just yet.

We need to know exactly in what state he left this organization in.  It will help us understand why Harris and the new group are doing what they’re doing.  Or not doing.

Was it left in such a state of confusion and/or disrepair that the first task is mopping up?

Was it left in a condition that appeared to be intact but was really non-functioning?

Or was it left in a state that was so outdated that everything needed to be reinvented?

So what we have is fans who are at odds.  Some say that Harris should have done more during his first year.  That he should have signed a couple solid major leaguers for this roster.

But could he?  Did he come into the organization knowing the information he was being handed was correct?  Or did he have to discover the real facts on his own?

If this organization was so disorganized, it is realistic to expect the GM (PoBO) to sign some name players when you don’t yet know what you really need? Is it worth the risk to sign one of those players to multi-year contracts and then regret it a year later when you realize they were the wrong choice?

Other fans are of the mind that Harris inherited a real dumpster fire.  An organization that was so dysfunctional that he essentially has to tear it down to the studs before rebuilding.

A move that dictates you move slowly at first while you gather the facts and find the holes.  It’s like building a house.  Most of the work starts below ground level and goes slowly.  It’s only after a period of time that you start seeing the structure being built.

The only thing that I can say with certainty is that the Tigers will never, ever tell anyone outside of the organization just how badly this team was previously run.  It will make ownership look bad and slow (both Mike and Chris) as well as make the franchise look unprofessional to everyone else in the baseball industry.  In turn, it would make those looking for jobs in Detroit hesitant.  You always want to present the best side of you in order to attract the best and brightest candidates.

It’s also very unprofessional to say bad things about others.  Even if it’s true.  Again, it will make others think twice before they apply for a job with your organization.  They could be saying nasty things about you, too, if you were to leave at some point.

We do hear whispers, printed in major national publications from trusted sources.  But it’s mostly about incompetent people who were in charge and working over their heads.

Those bits of news don’t really tell you about the overall state of the organization.  We hear bits and pieces about certain departments but don’t really know about the overall state of the franchise.

But that is starting to change.

As Scott Harris settles in and starts to reveal his strategy, more and more stories come out. 

And that’s what we’re going to tackle on Thursday in Part Two of this blog.  Identifying the issues and problems that Harris inherited.

All to get a better idea of just how much work has to be done to this organization in order to get it running at optimal speed.

Please save your comments about specific departments and actions for then, please. Today, our discussions will focus on the personnel.

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