Jim Bowden shocks no one with totally off the mark Chris Ilitch praise after Tigers’ arb loss

Former Reds and Nationals GM Jim Bowden's takes are oftentimes so out of touch that it's hard to believe he ever held real, substantive positions of power in the game.

His work with The Athletic can be ... hit or miss, to put it mildly, and he's particularly invited the ire of Tigers fans this offseason with endless insistence that the Tigers will trade Tarik Skubal (they haven't and it seems like that won't), offering frankly insulting proposals to send him off to any of the big-market teams, and then eviscerating them for their handling of Skubal's arbitration.

Tigers fans might've actually agreed with him on the third point, but it he totally undid any iota of goodwill he might've curried when he tweeted on Thursday, after the news of Skubal's arb victory dropped:

"Time to credit Tigers owner Chris Ilitch with his commitment to winning, investing $70.3 million in two starting pitchers at the top of his rotation."

Crediting Chris Ilitch with anything is a surefire way to lose Tigers fans in an instant.

In Bowden's initial screed against the Tigers, in which he said the organization was "embarrassing themselves," he made his qualification to speak on the matter clear: "I spent over two decades in arbitration rooms doing these deals."

So one would think that he would know Ilitch never wanted to give Skubal that kind of money in the first place. It's quite literally why the Tigers got into this mess in the first place.

Jim Bowden credits Tigers owner Chris Ilitch for absolutely no reason after Tarik Skubal arbitration victory

Ilitch giving Scott Harris the financial leeway to sign Framber Valdez was admittedly laudable. The Tigers gave Valdez a record-setting amount of money for a left-handed free agent pitcher (though that record is sure to be smashed by none other than Skubal himself at the end of this season), and their payroll is higher than ever.

But to suggest that Ilitch ever wanted to give Skubal $32 million is ignorant of all of the facts. The Tigers were reportedly unwilling to negotiate up from the initial $19 million they filed out. That was as much Ilitch's decision as it was Harris', if not more so.

Skubal got what he deserved based on his own merit (and, surely, some very persuasive argumentation from Scott Boras), not because Ilitch wanted to invest in his rotation. If it was Ilitch's directive not to negotiate with Skubal and Boras to get to a midway point during this arbitration process, he doesn't deserve any credit; he deserves blame.