https://totallytigers.wordpress.com/2019/09/08/tanks-a-lot/
Tanks A Lot.
Totally Tigers
It?s official, folks. If you didn?t know it by now, the baseball world is acknowledging it.
The Tigers are tanking. On purpose. And maybe have been doing it for much of the year.
Within just the past week, 2 publications and 3 MLB analysts said as much. But before we get into the ethics of tanking, let?s review some of the evidence.
Several MLB Radio shows (with former GMs as hosts), along with Christopher ?Mad Dog? Russo, called what the Tigers are doing ?disgraceful.? Several even went so far as to state that they are not even putting a MLB-caliber team on the field.
As further proof, well-known sports writer, David Schoenfield, just gave his report on which teams fielded the nine worst positions in MLB. Out of 30 teams, the Tigers earned razzies at 3 positions.
As he compared Candelario and Lugo at third base, he summed it up by stating ?I'm thinking the Tigers might be a ways away from contention.?
He talked about the revolving number of players at 2B and the signing of Gordon Beckham who hasn?t had a good year since 2009. ?The Tigers gave him 31 starts at second base. It's almost like they didn't even care.?
And you know where I?m going next?? Catcher.
Schoenfield described the struggles of Hicks, Greiner and now, Rogers. ?Did the Tigers have a plan at catcher? Not really. Why have a plan when you're not even trying to win?
Things got so bad that 36-year-old veteran Bobby Wilson, fresh off a .178 season with the Twins, entered the scene in June, hit .091 in 15 games and was then placed into a witness protection program.?
And now, loyal reader, Nocynic, (thank you!) alerted me to an article in Forbes.
Writer Jules Posner wrote ?If it wasn't clear if the Detroit Tigers were tanking before, it has become pretty clear the tank is on now. The main evidence that the Tigers not only have no interest in winning this season, but they are actively trying to lose games, is their lack of activity on the waiver wire.?
Let?s remember that the Tigers have been decimated by injuries this year. Losing most of their starting pitching and working with a 4-man rotation most of the year. Seven players alone out for the entire year. Comments by Ron Gardenhire about how thin the bench is.
Currently, the Tigers have 3 part-time starting pitchers along with Matthew Boyd and Jordan Zimmermann. You?d think they would want to bolster their roster.
Yet, at the waiver deadline, the Tigers were the only team to do absolutely nothing. Even the lowly Orioles were actively trying to improve their team. Or as Schoenfield put it ?(the Orioles) are trying to cobble together a Major League team in order to survive the season and identify any potential assets.?
The question asked is why the Tigers didn?t take a flier on any of the names available. Despite having the worst record in baseball which guarantees them priority over every team in claiming a player, they selected no one because it meant that they would have to pick up their salaries, too.
That wallet, folks, is slammed shut and padlocked.
But they did pick up 4 players off waivers this year. And all of them had one thing in common. Minor league contracts.
They also signed 5 more players in-season as the injuries and losses piled up. They, too, were signed to minor league contracts.
You do get what you pay for in most cases.
Does this sound like a team that wants to win?
It was reported that Al Avila had a better offer 2 years ago for J.D. Martinez from Boston but he refused to deal with Dave Dombrowski and took a lesser deal with the Diamondbacks instead.
Does this sound like a GM who wants to win?
I know what you?re thinking?.. It?s all about the first-round draft pick! We need to be baseball?s worst team!
But should purposely losing be an acceptable form of behavior? Is it even ethical? And is it worth the mental damage put on the current players, manager and his coaches for enhancing such a losing environment?
The goal of tanking, at the very least, comes at the cost of the quality and the on-field product the Tigers put out every day. It is akin to making a faulty product, knowing it is faulty, yet selling it anyway ? and not caring about those who purchase it.
The Tigers have broken their promise to the fans. The promise of putting out a MLB-level product. The promise of putting out something of even limited quality. They created a faulty product and even ensured it would get worse. And they sold it, and continue to sell it, to fans under faulty advertising.
Despite the lack of a MLB-level product on the field, the Tigers are asking major league prices. In fact, in some cases, they are asking for even more money than in years past when the Tigers were winning consistently.
Fans go to ballgames with the hope that their team will win. But Detroit is stacking the deck against that. And they are (excuse the language but there is only one way to say it) screwing the fans who have supported them. Simply put, the fans are paying major league prices and receiving a minor league product.
Rule changes dating to 2011 have only increased the number of teams who have and are taking the tanking approach. But is it even legal?
If you refer to the Major League rulebook, Rule 21(a), you will read (condensed for clarity purposes)
(a) MISCONDUCT IN PLAYING BASEBALL. Any person connected with a Club who shall fail to give his best efforts towards the winning of any baseball game with which he is or may be in any way concerned, or who shall intentionally lose or attempt to lose, or who shall solicit or attempt to induce any player or person connected with a Club to lose or attempt to lose, shall be declared permanently ineligible.
This rule doesn?t simply apply to players. It also applies to owners, GMs and Front Offices. It?s also why baseball went after owner Mark Cuban.
So does the end result justify the means? Is it noble to fleece the fans and flaunt baseball?s rules in order to get that #1 draft pick?
And once you get that top draft pick, there?s no guarantee that player will meet elite expectations. Especially if we?re talking about the Tigers? player development system which hasn?t turned out a solid athlete in a decade. The same one, btw, who was just traded to the Cubs.
Totally Tigers
