Writer: Gage O'Leary
Tigers hire Avila's replacement:
The Tigers recently made a move widely respected around Major League Baseball. After Detroit let go of long time GM Al Avila the search was on for his replacement, now the wait is over as Detroit has named Scott Harris as the Tigers President of Baseball operations. Harris spent three years with the San Francisco Giants helping them back to the postseason. In 19' the Giants finished with a 77-85 record, 29 games back of the division leading Dodgers. The Giants would just miss out on a .500 win percentage in a Covid shortened 2020 season finishing 29-31, 14 games back of the division leading Dodgers. Finally, in 2021 the Giants took a huge leap with a record 107-55, that was good enough to win their division over the Dodgers who finsihed just a game back of San Francisco. The Giants would go onto lose to the Dodgers in the postseason. Despite the big success the Giants had last season they haven't quite lived up to expectations in 2022, they are currently 6 games below .500 with a 71-77 record, 32.5 games back of the Dodgers who have pulled away from the rest of the division. The rather sluggish Giants 22' season can't be blamed on Harris, San Francisco hasn't gotten the same production from they're regular stars in the lineup. Something promising for Tigers fans is plenty of people inside of Major Leauge Baseball such as other front office personal will tell you that Harris played a big role in the Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series championship team as Harris was a member of the Cubs front office, that Cubs team featured current Tigers SS Javier Bàez and Javy was runner up in the MVP race in Chicago when Harris was with the Cubs. Also worth mentioning is that the NL West is one of the strongest divisions in baseball with the Dodgers, Padres, and Giants considered contenders heading into the season. When you look at the AL Central you see one of the weaker divisions in baseball. Harris will go from competing against the big two teams in NL West to the weaker AL Central. He isn't leaving the Giants to completely rebuild the Tigers roster though. Detroit has some strong young pieces to build around as well as veterans like Javier Bàez who will be in Detroit for quite awhile, Miguel Cabrera expected to retire after next season, Jonathan Schoop who will be a FA after next year, and Eduardo Rodriguez who signed in the off-season. Scott Harris made it clear that he would not be taking the same approach that Avila and as much as he'll deny it owner Chris Ilitch took during the last seven years...
This is what Scott Harris said his plan will look like going forward...
"I am treating this as an opportunity for us to get better this winter. We’re gonna put our heads down and we’re going to string together as many smart baseball decisions as possible. And we’re gonna look up at the end of the winter and we’re gonna have a much better feel for when the most competitive Tigers team is going to come out. That’s how I believe every baseball team should be built. I don’t believe in a five year plan…there’s too much variability in the sport to define a plan as concrete.”
Tigers fans like myself would look at this with a smile, especially after hearing him say he doesn't believe in five year plans because a five year plan for Avila and Ilitch turned into six and when they thought we were gonna be back in contention it turned into seven, finally patience ran out and it will hopefully pay off in the long run under Scott Harris...
So why did Scott Harris leave the Giants to come build the Tigers back into a contender?... This is what he had to say about it...
"When I got to Detroit, and when I started walking around with Chris, and seeing all that Detroit has to offer— it just felt different for me than any other opportunity that I had in the past. The combination of a exceptionally passionate fan base, tremendous resources in the division, a head start on some of the things that they’re building under the hood that were so inspiring. And with tremendous ownership and business-side support, it felt different. That combo felt different than anything I had experienced.”
It's refreshing to hear Harris recognize that the fans are hungry to get back into the postseason and to see that the fans care deeply about their sports teams here in Detroit. He mentioned that the team has a headstart on what's being built under the hood... He's mentioning the young core the Tigers have within the Organization with players like Tarik Skubal, Matt Manning, and other young up and comers in the farm system that will take the mound for Detroit at some point in their career such as Jackson Jobe, Ty Madden, Wilmer Flores, and Reese Olsen. Detroit has some young bats who've made an impact in 2022 as well that includes OF Riley Greene, 1B Spencer Torkelson, OF Akil Baddoo, OF/DH Kerry Carpenter, INF Kody Clemens, and INF Ryan Kriedler just to name a few... The Tigers will receive more help once some of their prospects find their way to the big leagues, that includes 2B Jace Jung, OF Parker Meadows, SS Peyton Graham, INF Izaac Pacheco, C Dillon Dingler, and OF Roberto Campos just off the top of my head...
To watch the introduction press conference of Scott Harris and the Detroit Tigers click the link below after finishing up with this article.
Can Harris pull off a JV/Detroit reunion?
Scott Harris will make moves in his tenior that will be talked about for a long time, but this would quickly make Harris beloved by Tigers fans all across Michigan... Any Tigers fan that says they don't know who Justin Verlander is, is more than likely not a true fan of Detroit. JV was drafted by Detroit 2nd overall in the 2004 amateur draft, Verlander made his professional debut in 2005 where he quickly became one of the most exciting young pitching prospects in the sport. Verlander spent the large majority of his career in Detroit, where his professional career got started, JV was with Detroit from 2005-2017. Verlander was Rookie of the Year in 2006, he picked up his first of 3 No-Hitters in 2007 at Comerica Park vs the Brewers. 2011 would be the last time Verlander would record a No-Hitter for the Tigers, it came after he got future Tigers teammate and now retired OF Rajai Davis to ground out as JV shutdown the Blue Jays on the road in Toronto. Verlanders most recent No-Hitter came in 2019 with the Houston Astros. Verlander took a No-Hitter into the eighth inning this season but couldn't quite finish it off. He's one of only six pitchers in history with three career no-hitters. The other five: Bob Feller (three), Cy Young (three), Larry Corcoran (three), Sandy Koufax (four) and Nolan Ryan (seven). 2011 Verlander was as good as anyone and it showed, JV won the triple crown, lead the American league in K's, he was the AL ERA leader, MLB wins leader, won his first AL Cy Young award and won Major League Basebal's MVP award. He is a 9-time All-Star 07' 09' 10' 11' 12' 13' 18' 19' and 2022. Six of those appearances came with the Tigers. JV won his first World Series in 2017, a season where he started as a Detroit Tiger but in July in the last minute of the trade deadline Al Avila traded Verlander to the Houston Astros, the Astros would go on to win it all. Verlander was the 2017 ALCS MVP playing a big part of the WS run Houston went on. This off-season there was some major hype around the possibility of Verlander returning to Detroit but we later found out that was never gonna happen that off-season. Verlander went onto sign a two-year, 50 million dollar contract with Houston but he has an opt-out after this season and he's expected to use it and become a Free Agent. Tigers fans wanting the reunion should be rooting for the Astros to win a World Series this season as a 2nd ring might make Verlander's decision to return to Detroit and play for a non contender easier. As delightful as his return to the Motor City sounds Detroit must proceed with caution if in pursuit for Verlander as although he's dominating this season for the Astros he's also 39-years old and will be 40 in February. Harris would want to be able to get Verlander at a reasonable price and we just don't know how valuable JV will be next season and how much his price tag will be this winter. Verlander has said in the past that he wants to pitch until he's 45 years old so he's confident he can continue to pitch at a high level for atleast a few more years. It's also confirmed by Verlander's younger brother Ben who is a former Tigers minor leauger who now makes an impact in an analyst role (you can watch his show "Flippin Bats" on most podcast platforms) that his older brother is "willing" to return back to Detroit at some point in his career, not surprising sense JV said back on the day of the trade that it was "The hardest decision he's ever had to make" that he "loved the fans" and that the Tigers will always hold a special place in his heart...
Verlander making bid for another AL Cy Young
Coming into 2022 you probably wouldn't have predicted 39-year old Verlander to be in the conversation for Cy Young coming off of Tommy John Surgery which is to tough for some pitchers to come back from but JV has beat all the odds and is again as good as anyone on the mound. He recently faced a setback after an Injury kept him off the mound for a few weeks, the Astros recently visited Comerica Park in a series against the Tigers. Verlander and the Astros staff was hopeful that he'd return to pitch against Detroit in the series but he wasn't quite ready. A few days ago however JV returned to the mound, he struck out nine batter's as the Astros picked up the win. Verlander has pitched 157.0 innings (39th in MLB) a record of 17-3 (T-2nd in MLB) ERA of 1.78 (1st in MLB) he's stuck out 63 (T-23rd in MLB) he's got a WHIP of 0.83 (1st in MLB) and finally batting average against is .185 (1st in MLB)... Verlander would come in and immediately take over as Ace of the Tigers if Scott Harris could pull it off...
Thank you for reading, have an awesome rest of you're week!
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