2019 MLB Regular Season running thread

Nothing against the Astros and the Cubs, but "tanking to titles" has emboldened a whole bunch of lousy general managers (hello, Al Avila) to think that's the only strategy to take for rebuilding. Baseball has always been about peaks and valleys, but kicking the can down the road long-term by trading all of your core talent with the idea that you lose 400 games over a four-year span and then can somehow draft enough future stars (and then fill any remaining hole with free agency) is a fool's errand.

One, there's as much luck as skill involved in putting together a contending team. It's easy to figure out the best player in the draft when you're picking first or second every year. It's a whole lot more difficult to find potential stars when picking lower (see Dodgers and Yankees), develop them and have them all reach the majors within your window of contention. And even more importantly, have a few surprises pan out.

Two, for every Astros and Cubs success story, there twice as many teams stuck in rebuilding purgatory, unable to land a generational talent like an Acuna, Vlad Jr. or Tatis Jr. And a small-market franchise doesn't have the wiggle room financially to fill in the gaps by spending for free agents. Or worse, have most of your prospects stall out at AAA or AA.

Three, the general managers who started the rebuilds for the Astros and Cubs weren't around to celebrate the championships.

If you want to piss off your loyal fan base, be my guest. But the Tigers have been impossible to watch for three years and counting. For every Mize, Manning and Riley Greene they've drafted, the Tigers have almost nothing to show for trading away J.D. Martinez and Justin Upton, and the centerpiece of the Justin Verlander deal can't stay healthy. There's not a single sure All-Star caliber impact offensive player in their system that's closer than three years away (and that's basically Greene).

I have no faith that either Avila or Chris Ilitch will be around by the time the Tigers have a team worthy of my interest. And it's quite possible I won't be around, either. It took the Tigers 35 years to win their first title. It's now 35 years and counting since 1984.

And nobody in Cleveland sheds a tear, I know.

 

I was very lucky as a kid
I grew up with the Tigers adding young talent from the minors every year
First Mickey Lolich, follow by Gates Brown, Denny McLain, Jim Northrup and Mickey Stanley
People forget the 1984 team was preceded by a failed rebuild featuring players who went on to good major league careers but were basically journeyman (Danny Meyer, Leon Roberts, Tom Veryzer, Jason Thompson)
Steve Kemp was traded to the White Sox for Chet Lemon
Avila has to get this right
He might have been able to keep Boyd if the rebuild had started in 2015
He has to trade him now
After Boyd, Castellanos and Greene are gone, what trade chips are left?
Daniel Norris? Joe Jimenez?
Maybe in the winter

 

Shut him down while he’s hot.

 

Yes, Jim Campbell had two major successes -- the kids from Syracuse (Horton, Stanley, Northrup, Freehan, McLain, Lolich) that made up the core of the 1968 team -- and the kids from Evansville (Parrish, Trammell, Whitaker, Gibson, Morris, Rozema, Petry) that made up the core of the 1984 team. The Tigers lost 19 games in a row and 103 overall in 1975, which led to a tremendous 1976 and 1977 draft class. The only reason the 1976 Tigers were watchable were the emergence of Ron LeFlore and Mark Fidrych.

 

Another reason Avila has to trade Boyd
He turned down the package the White Sox ultimately got for Jose Quintana
Cubs wanted Michael Fulmer
Of course, Cubs fucked up by not asking for Verlander, but that's another story
Boyd might not draw that much, but he'll fetch a lot
If I was Avila, I'd package Boyd and Greene

 

Accountants aren’t running the sport, analysts are running the sport. Smart money plays the long game, I don’t want to win for the next 2-3 months. I want to win the next 4-5 years

 

Which is a decision bad organizations would make.

 

Agreed. The Giants are something special right now with vets finding their strokes and some cast-aways playing with a chip but it isn't going to last. They can win next year but they need something better than Austin Slater playing center and Pablo Sandoval as a backup at third. They still need help.

 

The Giants are the 2010s Tigers with rings

 

Probably a legit complaint, but coming from Reddick it’s just s bunch of whining

Astros complain about 'brutal' late flight, turnaround after playing night game against Angels

 

They did start one hour earlier at 6, rather than 7. But players are going to complain.

 

This has also provided cover for franchises that don't ever want to spend. They claim that they are trying that type of rebuild when really all they are doing is keeping costs down.