Detroit Tigers: There is renewed purpose in the Motor City

Akil Baddoo rips a round-tripper off Blue Jays stalwart Hyun-Jin Ryu on a beautiful Friday afternoon giving another sign the multi-year rebuild phase for the Detroit Tigers is drawing to a close. It’s time to acknowledge the renewed purpose of winning in the Motor City.

There seems to be an energy among the players, the media, and the fans. Another wildcard slot is available and the Tigers seem on the upswing to make a run at a spot. New talent is bubbling up from the now viable farm system and management did commit the fourth highest amount of money of any club in this off-season.

Does the front office in Detroit share the optimism? Again, they did spend. They addressed needs. But they also tapped the brakes at a time where opportunities looked abundant immediately after the lockout. Is Chris Ilitch ready to win? Let’s also point out Forbes Magazine’s news of the Tigers making a tidy $31M profit in 2021.

There is no guarantee when a rebuild effort actually ends but there can be a definite read on when a team should attempt to shed the cloak of losing they’ve been hiding under. The Tigers, despite coming out of the lockout with only a whisper of talent acquisition during a hyper period of MLB moves, are now positioned to try to win.

The manager to lead them, AJ Hinch, is solidly in place with both hands on the wheel. Hinch has an air of leadership and intelligence around him that seems to permeate the organization. The days of some belittling him, allowing the trash can shenanigans to take place in Houston, seem well behind him.

Detroit Tigers GM Al Avila will be “careful”

Pricy free agents were brought in to add a talent infusion. Javier Baez provides a dose of power and defense up the middle which the last few editions of the Tigers sorely lacked. Eduardo Rodriguez brings a 6.0 bWAR ceiling from his days in Boston and a veteran to mix into the Tigers’ young rotation.

The top prospects in the organization are on the precipice of joining the everyday lineup. It just seems, barring an injury, ballyhooed uber prospects Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson will begin the season on the Opening Day roster. The days of service time manipulation and fretting over Super-2 arbitration status are over for now.

The young members of the rotation had their debut seasons of kid-glove handling last year. They can be expected to compete now. It seems unlikely to hear about planned two inning starts this year for Casey  Mize and Tarik Skubal. The reigns are loosened. Matt Manning’s freedom to pitch probably not far behind.

There is no debate the Tigers were aggressive in the pre-lockout phase of the off-season. They dealt for Tucker Barnhart to solidify their catching situation, signed Rodriguez to a 5-year deal, negotiated seriously by most accounts with Carlos Correa and pivoted to a cheaper deal with Baez.

After the lockout, however, the Tigers, on the surface, backed off the gas pedal slightly. With several talented players still up for grabs and sporting a still below league average payroll the Tigers added a rather modest $12M to its ‘22 payroll after the lockout on reliever Andrew Chafin and starting pitcher Michael Pineda.

When asked about his willingness to pursue a starting pitcher via trade to add significant talent and depth to the rotation, Avila spoke about his need to be careful with the Tigers prospect depth. It sounded fairly certain he would not pay the going rate for Oakland hurlers Frankie Montas or Sean Manaea.

Is this a sound direction at this point? Should Detroit look to shed some prospects in order to add talent to the ‘22 Tigers roster? Nobody was mentioning them moving Greene and Torkelson. But are there other players who may motivate Oakland to move one of its top arms?

Avila and the Tigers obviously believe caution is warranted at this point. Montas and Manaea still haven’t moved. Oakland’s price isn’t being met by anyone yet. The Tigers have an improved farm system but they aren’t looking to draw down on what degree of organizational depth they have.

The combination of cutting off major expenditures post-lockout and being highly judicious in dealing off prospects led Avila to declare “we’re done” for the time being. He talked of acting responsibly. Contrasted with…

The Minnesota Wild are not just a hockey team

While the Detroit Tigers were acting in responsible fashion last week, their division rivals were taking a little walk on the wild side with Lou Reed.

The Minnesota Twins pulled off three significant trades and made two free agent signings, including one Carlos Correa.

They acquired and dealt away Isiah Kiner-Falefa. They traded away  Josh Donaldson and Mitch Garver. Major pieces came back in the forms of Gio Urshela, Gary Sánchez, and Sonny Gray. In terms of the Avila method of being careful with prospects, the Twins showed some skin at the beach and put last year’s top draft pick Chase Petty in play for the Reds to get Gray in the fold.

But it’s the late Friday night Zoom call with Twins execs and Scott Boras on Friday that stunned the baseball world putting Correa in Minneapolis for at least the next season at a steep $35M per year for 3 seasons. Correa can opt-out each season but until he does, the Twins have added the best talent on the market and their competitors did not.

They are missing starting pitching depth, but it may not even matter in the suddenly tougher AL Central.

Minnesota has come to play in 2022 and put their commitment and cash where their mouth is.