If there’s one thing we learned this year (and thank God we finally did), it’s that bringing in cheaper “veteran leaders” is generally an outdated waste of time and money. It’s not a coincidence that we start winning and playing with more energy and enthusiasm once we jettisoned Canha and Urshela, benched Maeda, and started cutting way back on Baez’s playing time. Rarely is the trade value of those players even worth it. Our team may not have had the experience on the grind of a season and playoff race, but that’s what they have coaches for- to keep them focused and motivated.
We have a team now- a group of guys with not much ego who will go out there and do whatever it takes to help the team win and will gladly cheer each other on when it’s not their turn as opposed to just guys who have been inserted into the roster because we were the team that would pay them the most.
Even if we go out in the first round of the playoffs this year, I’ll be going to more games next year, buying more Tigers merchandise and trying to hype up friends, family and coworkers for next year.