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"Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you"

Nice area.

There's no wondering, frankly, Menzin had as much responsibility for the current state of the Tigers as Avila. Avila has been the face of the fan's scorn, but Menzin is nearly equally responsible.

I dont see his bat speed as an issue. I think he is in his head a lot right now. This is a guy who has never struggled for long at any level. I believe he needs to get out of his head in the batters box as he looks indecisive which has not been an issue in the past. I don’t know if it’ll be later this year or next year but I believe his bat still has huge upside for us, even if he’s not had the start everyone was hoping that he would be right away.

It's a new day ... And dammit, I have hope now.

Chris was born on 3rd and thinks he hit a triple.

Cleveland Guardians (58-52) at Detroit Tigers (43-69)

Whether the scouts have a good take on the guy at the point Carpenter reached is pretty much irrelevant. If a guy has an OPS >1000, there isn't much he going to gain from looking at more AAA pitching - so he's either going to break through or not. Either way once he's no longer challenged at AAA there really is nothing more to do other give him his shot and see what happens. Your development system doesn't exist for the benefit of AAA, it exists to determine if the guy can make it or not. In Kody's case, his minor league clock is running out - same deal, you have to prove what you do or don't have. In Baddoo's case, I'd have been fine with him staying in Toledo until he had proven more. My complaint with the handling of Baddoo is that wherever you have him, he needs to be playing every day

Another example of scouts knowing more than fans reading minor league boxscores?

Beto O'Rourke is awesome! He called this guy a mother fucker for laughing at kids being shot with AR 15s/

No real update to provide. I'm like the lessons well enough, but I'm not doing anything exciting. Just learning the strings and chords. July was a bit of a setback. I had COVID and then was travelling once I recovered. Not much practice time or lessons, so picking it back up after that I had some catching up to do.

This is so cool!

Good point. And the fact that Al Avila sucked at his job isn't really a polarizing opinion or one limited to Detroit sports fans. All of these guys leaguewide know it... for all we know, maybe the Tigers will end up interviewing one of these "longtime executives" that spoke on the condition of anonymity to Ken Rosenthal about Al's tenure. Chris' comment is impolitic, and it elides his responsibility for not acting sooner on the GM. And extending him as well. But it really wasn't inaccurate... the responsibility for the trade is on the GM. And I dont think other MLB Execs think it's inaccurate either.

I think right now my top choice would be Randy Flores scouting director of the Cardinals. I like the fact he comes from a winning organization, is a former MLB player with obvious scouting experience but also has a Masters of Science degree and is extremely tech and analytic savvy. Of course he doesnt have GM experience and there are certain skills that takes that he hasnt shown yet but from what I read about him and from what I seen of him when he did TV work I think he could handle and hopefully excel at the job.

All these elected representatives failing to show…. Scofflaws. What are the repercussions for them? You or I would have warrants issued for us. So much for “respect” for law and order. This is ludicrous, and incredibly insulting.

Worth noting that it’s ticket renewal time. I wouldn’t be shocked if some strong feedback was given by current customers. My “executive” happened to call me today to check in and ask when the next game I would be at.

Whoever the next GM is, I hope they come in and gut this scouting and player development staff from top to bottom. Our player development, especially when it comes to positional players and developing everyday ballplayers, is a complete joke. There is a reason our farm system has plummeted in the ratings recently. A reason why those we call up frequently don't look ready for primetime. A reason why you can't name any positional All Stars developed by this organization. Who is is the last home grown, perennial All Star we've had from this organization? Who is the last positional player we've developed that is worthy of batting in the 1 through 5 spot in the lineup? Once they get traded out of Detroit (see Nick Castellanos or Andrew Miller) do they seem to really turn it up and develop into top-tier players. The scouting and player development side of this organization needs a complete overhaul and I hope it gets one.

Crappy performance across the board aside if there is any truth to Javy's quote then Coolbaugh and Co. should be fired for that alone. Yeah a good hitting coach isn't going to turn a nobody into Ted Williams but what the good ones can do is identify what a player is doing wrong and correct it. Just like a PGA Instructor isn't going to turn somebody into prime Tiger Woods but those Instructor's usually can fix or identify what the player is doing wrong and maximize their abilities. By the sound of things Coolbaugh and Co. aren't doing anything of that nature. I get the sense that their "coaching" consists of a 1 size fits all tutorial or thought process and isn't catered to a specific players needs or problems. Of course I'm not in the clubhouse so it may be unfair for me to make that accusation but between that Javy quote and seeing virtually every player under his watch get worse with no real signs of progress makes that a pretty fair assumption until proven otherwise.

maybe we should start a countdown, like: "It's August 11, why is Scott Coolbaugh is still employed?......"

It's nice of Soto to immediately turn to garbage after not being traded, just to rub it in

Huge flub by the league IMO. They should have done this while he is alive so he could enjoy it.

Garland's press conference was around 2 minutes, but it felt like an earthquake

For the first few years he was playing the long term game. In that time he traded Verlander, JD, Kinsler, Upton, Wilson, Greene, Castellanos, and Avila the Jr. Those trades didn't net one first division player. And aside from his top five picks and Skubal, his drafts and international signings didn't add anything either. He ran out of time and couldn't keep rebuilding so he tried to win with what he had. It's why he should have been fired several years ago.

Why hire Luhnow when you can hire someone else who can also win for you? I get that guys like Theo Epstein and Jeff Luhnow have a track record, but there was a time where they were once unknown executives who earned jobs in this league as well. I just don't know that this whole "Epstein/Luhnow or bust" mentality is right. I do obviously agree that independent voices would help in ascertaining who the right person is, but the right person doesn't necessarily have to be the big name guy. Go find the next Epstein or Luhnow...

Thank you for posting these—much appreciated!

I was hoping for Clemente.

Matthew Stafford went to ownership and asked the Lions to trade him. Sheila Ford acknowledged this and said she told perspective GM's that Stafford had asked to be traded. I guess you are going to get into a semantics battle between request and demand but the bottom line is Stafford told ownership he no longer wants to play for the Lions and would like to play for another team.

Ilitch signed off on the Verlander deal. He paid down like half his frigging salary!

It is not like Chris has press conferences every week....he talks once every couple years and just tells it like it is then I am 100% fine with that.

There is no question he signed off on the deal, that doesn't mean it was his idea, however.

We know Ilitch was consulted because the Tigers threw in $16M. that simply does not happen without Ilitch's approval. While he can ask Avila to explain the logic behind trading JV, not sure how Ilitch can really perform any due diligence on the trade otherwise. he needs to be comfortable with Avila's explanation for why acquiring these 3 players for a HOF pitcher makes sense. to me Ilitch was saying it was a baseball move by a GM - not a contract clearing move by an owner; perhaps that is a more generous explanation than he deserves

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https://theathletic.com/1146049/2019/08/19/35-under-35-how-pete-putila-deals-with-the-pressure-of-keeping-the-astros-at-the-top-of-the-heap?source=user-shared-article For those with Athletic subscriptions, this is a pretty good read on Putila... There are other good candidates for sure. But he seems like a pretty good fit... especially with his experience in player development and the likely familiarity between him and the manager.

Very true. I guess I’ve got it bad-I was thinking about this trade laying in bed this morning. It was a total fiasco. From what I recall Avila was at JV’s house waiting for a response in the final hour of the deadline. JV was really on the fence about leaving Detroit. Finally, at the last hour he reportedly turned to Kate and said, “Screw it, we’re going to Houston.” What a sad tale to tell as a Tiger fan.

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This is all that matters. I'm not concerned with whether that person is currently inside the organization or not. I don't think there should be an attachment to any particular player that makes them unavailable in trade if it makes the organization better. I don't think there's a quick turnaround likely that we would see a .500 team in a season or two, but then we weren't going to see that if Avila stuck around anyway. Ideally I'd like a carbon copy of the St. Louis track record of the past 20 some years. Its been talked about before. But if you have not looked at their year by year success, it is certainly worth a glance. They've not always made the playoffs, but they've been at least competitive year in and year out. Aside from the record, I think the divisions that the Tigers and Cardinals play in are pretty similar enough that using the Cardinals as the barometer makes sense. As far as the timing is concerned, I think we'd all like to see the new person hired in time to get things moving before the offseason. I have no idea how quickly things can get turned around as far as a complete overhaul is concerned. That will probably take some time. But if they can at least get set a bit for free agency and go from there, that'd at least give the fans a bit of a small victory. And there are plenty of position holes to fill, probably 3B and OF at the top of the list. If I were a long tenured member of the front office (including scouting/development departments), I'd have an empty box ready for my personal belongings.

Win one for Al boys.

He was fucked the moment he got the “welcome to the show” handshake from Coolbaugh in the clubhouse. Just a touch is all it takes for him to pass his suck on.

The 2019 D on the hat was billboard size! It was atrocious. I think that was Chris’ idea. The Tiger through the D was awful as well. This team has one of the coolest hats out there and these morons spin their wheels trying to ruin it.

I said 1. Underpromise and overdeliver.

Chris Illitch did not inspire confidence at the Press Conference. I don't think he's very plugged in. I think we already knew that, but to me it just cements that fact that winning is not a priority. Theo Epstein? I highly doubt that. To me, Al Avila should be just the start. I think the scouting department needs a total overhaul and so does the developmental staff........this has been going on far, far too long. I'd be interviewing people that work or worked with closely with Andrew Friedman. If the formula is to be in contention 5 out of 6 years and getting to the World Series once a decade - I'd take that.

I understand where you’re coming from but…Chris was asked specifically about JV and JD. This organization has been a flaming turd for years now. If Al was responsible for the shit, lay it out there. He’ll, we all knew it. It’s no secret Avila was in way over his head. The fans deserve to get an honest cut from the owner if he’s willing to talk. Illitch needs, more than anyone, to learn from this. He doesn’t need to play Steinbrenner but he should have an idea of what really is going on in the organization.

The only potential positive I could take from this fiasco is that Chris is making a statement that he will never fire-sale his top assets off like that again.

1) hooray! 2) about fucking time. 3) now they have some hope.

Not that asshole, nope.

As a reminder, they hired a bunch of folks from outside of the organization last year around this time. All the old guard need to be swept out, but idk if indiscriminately firing everyone is the right idea either. It all kinda depends on who they hire I suppose... it may not matter depending on who they hire.

I loved everything about this. You can see the pitcher visibly shaken - & a kid thought nothing of comforting an opponent.