MONDAY MUSINGS

by Holly Horning

Today, it’s about quick hits – bits of news that catch my radar as the week goes on as well as connecting the dots re ongoing stories.  Even the quirky.

There will be something here for everyone.

So let’s get to it!  Here are the most interesting topics that got my attention over the past week………..

Ironically, today’s blog is all about catchers.

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A recent article on player development addressed the hardest position to fill on a roster.

Catcher.

It explained that there is so much to address with a player from how to work behind the plate, to learning how to call a game and finally, in how to hit.  And that is why teams hoard their catchers, almost never trading them.

And it explains why struggling catchers continue to keep their jobs on rosters.  They are very hard to replace even when they have their issues.

It’s also a damning indictment of the Tigers’ former player development system.  How many decades has it been since the Tigers developed a decent one?

And no, signing Pudge Rodriguez and Victor Martinez as free agents don’t count.

There was James McCann who Al Avila actually non-tendered and then failed to find a decent replacement for him during his last 4 years as GM.  There was Alex Avila, who was fine behind the plate but couldn’t hit.

Do we have to go all the way back to Lance Parrish for the last home-grown catcher of note?

Currently, Dillon Dingler is the most likely candidate to fill the #2 backup role to Jake Rogers.  The Tigers signed him over 3 years ago and he rose quickly until 2023.  His defensive skills are solid but it’s his hitting that is holding him back. 

The Tigers don’t expect he will join the roster until much later next year.  If all goes well, that is.

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Speaking of Jake Rogers, it’s official.  The Tigers believe that their #1 catcher has finally arrived.  Only 6 years after being acquired in the Justin Verlander trade.

Of course, his elbow surgery set him back a full year but many believe the reason it took him so long to finally reach expectations is because he was rushed up to the majors by Al Avila.

It’s not the first time the former GM has done that to players.  That is what happens when you don’t have good evaluators or you are desperate to fill holes and make it appear that the rebuild is going better than it really it.

Then again, it was deemed the worst trade of the last decade by most and maybe Avila wanted to bury the controversy as quickly as possible.  Rogers was promoted to Detroit with less than 3 years of minor league experience.

On the positive side, Jake’s defense is now labeled as “elite.”

With the help of new catching coordinator, Ryan Sienko, he overhauled his receiving form before the 2023 season that allowed him to help his pitchers steal more strikes.

And now, the hitting has improved, too.  The slugging percentage has gone up significantly.  But the coaches say he will continue to trend upwards at the plate if he continues to do what he did in 2023.

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Why on God’s green earth is Brad Ausmus still being talked about as a managerial candidate?

Not only was he a complete disaster with both the Tigers and Angels but he lost both clubhouses in his first year as manager.  In Anaheim, he was in charge of a clubhouse that saw the death of Tyler Skaggs and the discovery that an employee was a drug dealer to the players. 

Oh, and then there was the clubhouse attendant who was running a sticky stuff business and selling to pitchers all over the league. 

Once again, it’s being written that Ausmus is a potential candidate for the Astros open managerial job.  He did play for the team but one of the Astros special assistants, Jeff Bagwell, is a good friend of his.  It is believed that he will get his foot in the door for an interview because of it.

But what I find really puzzling is that he interviewed for the managerial job several years ago and obviously didn’t get it.  Then last year, he decided to apply for the GM position despite having zero experience in working for a Front Office. (Being a “special assistant” doesn’t count.)

He wasn’t qualified to be a manager so why now does he believe he has the experience to be a GM?

If that isn’t weird enough, he’s now returned to applying for the manager’s job once again.  And if his buddy can sway the meddling owner, Jim Crane, who knows what may happen.  Crane has a reputation of making impulsive and unpredictable decisions.

But baseball is a small world.  Guess who is also a member of the Astros?

Justin Verlander.  You can bet he will fill Crane’s ear with stories.  JV is close to Crane and they golf together regularly.

If you remember, there were some choice scenes between Verlander and Ausmus when they were together in Detroit.  Several mound visits when JV screamed profanity-laced tirades at him. Then the infamous trashing of equipment in the dugout that was all caught on tv.

There are 2 years left (and almost $80 mill) on Verlander’s contract so putting these 2 back together and creating friction in the clubhouse doesn’t seem as likely.

Which one of these stories resonated the most with you?

On a side note, our own beloved Alex is from AZ so you know who he’s rooting for in the World Series. Yes, the Tigers are near and dear to his heart, but we’ve allowed him to pledge allegiance to another team – just this once.

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