Changing your staid ways …

CHANGING WINDS IN THE MOTOR CITY

The Detroit Tigers have not been very good since Big Papi hit the grand slam that turned the tide in the 2013 American League Championship Series. Jim Leyland left, Brad Ausmus arrived — and things changed. If you remember the Tigers came out a different team in 2014, though they were much the same. Despite a change to more analytics, the team was stealing bases and behaving aggressively. Then, on May 1, they suddenly slunk back to their staid ways we were accustomed to. The Tigers made the playoffs in '14, and probably should have done okay, but they were swept by the Baltimore Orioles, ended the season with tepid expectations for '15 — then, in August, suddenly the architect was jettisoned and the never-ending rebuild would begin. In the summer of '14 the Tigers traded for the best available starter at the trade deadline. In '15, they traded him again. 

Believe it or not, the Tigers rotation in '14 was Verlander, Scherzer, Porcello, Sanchez, and Price. No joke. They ended the season in first place with 90 wins. That crew won 90 games. It was a solid team that probably underachieved. Then, the underachievement continued with the team winning 74 games. It was a bad season, made worse when Dave Dombrowski was suddenly fired. Al Avila took over as the GM, and it was immediately obvious that he would run a looser ship than his predecessor as information leaked from the front office like never before. As a fan it was cool; as a person who enjoys management, it was a struggle. 

I won't go into detail about the rock bottom team from the past couple of seasons. Ausmus was fired, Ron Gardenhire came into transition between bad and really bad, then he suddenly retired. We all know there must be more to the story (ala Buddy Bell and Larry Parrish back in the '90s) but we'll probably never know. It looked like the Tigers would have their pick of second-rate managers, as it was expected that the Chicago White Sox would hire A.J. Hinch to run the show. The White Sox are ahead of the Tigers in the rebuild, actually made the playoffs this year, and really kind of remind you of the Houston Astros, who Hinch used to manage. Hinch, you know, was fired after being held accountable for the Astros' cheating. 

The Tigers made an aggressive move in hiring Hinch. The Motor City Baseball Team usually stays away from controversy, and make no mistake, hiring a convicted cheater is a controversial move for the Tigers. Hinch has a vision for the organization, something that seems to have been lacking for a while — maybe forever. The Tigers have not seemed to have organizational philosophies in hitting or pitching since the Roger Craig days of the '80s. It seems like we have struggled on the hitting side (beside having some great hitters) for a while. You might argue that the hitting philosophy in 1993 was about 25 years ahead of its time (home runs and strikeouts above all else). 

Today, the Tigers made a splash, hiring a bright young pitching coach who will create a pitching code for the Tigers. It's an exciting, bold move for the Tigers. They generally don't stray too far outside of the lines — and grabbing a college instructor who is highly coveted is … frankly, … cool. The Tigers now have an aggressive manager, a pitching coach with a plan, and a stable of young arms that should be able to develop in this new system. Maybe even Daniel Norris will find success finally. Chris Fetter, with some major league coaching experience, as well as some great success for the University of Michigan team, brings it to Detroit. It's a major hire. A huge move. 

Is it too early to get excited for 2021?