https://totallytigers.wordpress.com/2022/02/23/the-prospect-pipeline/
THE PROSPECT PIPELINE.
Totally Tigers
It?s no secret that the Tigers have had a poor player development system for years.
Even fans knew it as we saw in their comments about how Dave Dombrowski, while depleting the farm system, ended up not trading any real talent other than Willy Adames.
In the social media threads, fans often asked when the Tigers last developed a talented top player from their farm system.
And then the tear down and tanking happened. The only real question to ask was why it took so long, as Detroit collected top prospects, to broom the old player development system.
VP Player Development Dave Littlefield, who was a disaster in every Front Office job he had, was demoted and turned into a scout. In any other organization, he would have been fired outright.
Replaced by Ryan Garko who comes from MLB?s best player development system ? the Dodgers. He has only been with the team since the end of the 2021 season.
And he certainly has his work cut out for him. His job is not only to maximize player development but to also get it to the MLB level as quickly as possible in order to join Mize, Manning, Skubal, Torkelson and Greene.
Recently, the list for the Tigers? Top 20 prospects came out. Included in each player description was a list of strengths and weaknesses. And for those who signed with the Tigers in 2020 or earlier, patterns emerged.
These concerns were oft-repeated: ?hard time throwing strikes?, ?too many strikeouts? and ?development has not progressed as far as expected.?
All signs that instruction and coaching were lacking which is why Garko has added dozens of new faces to oversee and run programs in the minor leagues.
Almost 7 years after stating his goal of having a uniform training and development program, Al Avila finally has his Tigers Way.
Let?s now look at the Tigers Top 20 prospects. I?ve divided them down into the years they came on board and included their ages.
You can see how some of them have been ageing in the system. You?ll also notice that top players in the earlier years are few and far between. And it?s not because the rest were promoted, btw.
