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Tigers named Ryan Garko as the club’s Vice President of Player Development and Assistant GM

kalinecountry

kalinecountry

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The Tigers named Ryan Garko as the club?s Vice President of Player Development, as announced by Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager, Al Avila.

Garko spent the previous two seasons on the Major League coaching staff of the Los Angeles Angels.

That was fast. Both he and A. J. Hinch went to Stanford and were catchers there. A coincidence or is this another Hinch connection?

The really good news is that Garko comes from outside the organization and has no ties to the usual teams or suspects.

Ryan Garko: "When I finished playing and got back into baseball, I always said my dream job would be a director of player development for the right organization and the right people."

Ryan Garko has also been a college head coach and worked under Andrew Friedman, Farhan Zaidi, Gabe Kaplar and Joe Maddon, in addition to some ties to Hinch and Fetter.
Seems like a solid resume to me.

From Gabe Kapler who was the player development director with the Dodgers when Garko took over as manager at Pacific University
"Garko is a strong hire. Our organization will miss him and we wish him and his family the best of luck in Stockton.

https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/ryan-garko-hired-as-tigers-vice-president-of-player-development
Ryan Garko joins Tigers as player development VP.
Tigers official site

https://www.blessyouboys.com/2021/9...tigers-ryan-garko-aj-hinch-player-development
Detroit Tigers hire former MLB first baseman Ryan Garko as VP of Player Development.
He?s a familiar name, but his coaching career didn?t make him an obvious candidate, at least to us.
BYBTB

https://motorcitybengals.com/2021/09/23/detroit-tigers-ryan-garko-vp-player-development-aj-hinch/
Detroit Tigers: Ryan Garko is the new vice president of player development.
MCBTB

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/s...vice-president-player-development/5836238001/
Tigers hire Ryan Garko from Angels as vice president of player development.
Detnews

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/...vice-president-player-development/5832130001/
Detroit Tigers hire Ryan Garko as new vice president of player development.
Freep

https://www.mlive.com/tigers/2021/09/tigers-hire-ryan-garko-as-new-vp-of-player-development.html
Tigers hire Ryan Garko as new VP of player development.
Mlive
 
Last edited:
https://totallytigers.wordpress.com/2021/12/21/watercooler-wednesday-17/
WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY.
Totally Tigers

Today, another chance for readers to have increased opportunities to discuss the hottest topics in a forum where thoughtful conversations and a variety of opinions are welcomed.

Let?s create some running conversation threads with not just comments but replies to others. And for those of you still going into offices, here?s a question to take with you ? or use via Zoom calls ? as you talk to your co-workers.

Here is today?s hot topic. For this blog only, a maximum of 10 sentences please.

The 2022 season for the Tigers hints that it will be a promising year. There will be more hope, more excitement and more players to watch.

Which one of the options below will you look most forward to watching during the coming season?

To make it challenging, there?s no fence-sitting on this one!
And as always, feel free to explain your rationale in the comments section.

What do you look forward to watching the most during the 2022 season?

1. The work of Hinch and his coaches.

2. Development of the young starting pitchers.

3. Miguel Cabrera's 3,000th hit.

4. Debut of Torkelson and Greene.

VOTE
 
https://totallytigers.wordpress.com/2022/01/02/question-of-the-week-106/
QUESTION OF THE WEEK.
Totally Tigers

Happy New Year, everyone! We?re going to ease into the post-holiday season by having readers take the wheel and driving the discussion today.

And the topic is a meaty one?..

What single factor do you believe the Tigers have to address this year that will make the biggest and most important difference in reaching contention status?

You?ve got 10 sentences max to argue your point. Extra points to those who respond to others? posts. Let?s see how long we can make these conversation threads!

(Please follow the rules listed under the link above in order to be published.)
 
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podca...cody-stavenhagen/id1557916983?i=1000547405067
Turning The Corner Detroit Tigers Podcast 44: Life Lessons From Kimera Bartee. 64 minutes.

As a player and a coach, Kimera Bartee left a lasting legacy on the Detroit Tigers. The Athletic's Cody Stavenhagen and co-host Kieran Steckley discuss why we would be better off if we lived more like KB.
Other topics include Detroit revamping its player development structure (25:55) and a possible MLB Lockout compromise (40:25).
 
Last edited:
https://totallytigers.wordpress.com/2022/01/11/watercooler-wednesday-20/
WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY.
Totally Tigers

Today, another chance for readers to have increased opportunities to discuss the hottest topics in a forum where thoughtful conversations and a variety of opinions are welcomed.

Let?s create some running conversation threads with not just comments but replies to others. And for those of you still going into offices, here?s a question to take with you ? or use via Zoom calls ? as you talk to your co-workers.

Here is today?s hot topic. For this blog only, a maximum of 10 sentences please.
The Tigers continue to significantly overhaul their Player Development department under new VP Ryan Garko. For years, the previous system showed little accomplishment while being criticized for not developing players to succeed at the MLB level.

Garko has broomed much of the department and went outside the organization to hire the best talent away from other organizations. The majority of those new employees have some connection to the Dodgers.

But it doesn?t necessarily mean that all of these people actually worked together when employed by LA. Quite a few of them came from different levels and locations within the entire Dodgers empire. Some of them worked for the organization at different times or briefly overlapped.

But the Dodgers are widely accepted as possessing MLB?s best player development system.

So how do you feel about so many Dodger hires? Is it OK because it?s a wide variety of employees with common employment ? and not an entire group of the same people simply transplanted?

Does the reputation of their work in LA vanquish any concerns?

Or should the Tigers have branched out and hired more individuals from other organizations?

What do you think?

How do you feel about all the Dodger hires?

1. Good. It's about quality over quantity.

2. Wish the department had hired from more teams.

VOTE
 
https://totallytigers.wordpress.com/2022/02/01/watercooler-wednesday-23/
WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY.
Totally Tigers

Today, another opportunity for readers to discuss the hottest topics in a forum where thoughtful dialog and a variety of opinions are welcomed.

Let?s create some running conversational threads. And for those of you still going into offices, here?s a question to take with you ? or use via Zoom calls ? as you talk to your co-workers.

Here is today?s hot topic.
Exactly 2 months ago, the Tigers hired Gary Jones to be their new AAA manager. He has extensive minor league experience, winning 4 Manager of the Year Awards. One of his players back then was A. J. Hinch.

Jones also has 3 years of work as a third base coach with the Cubs. One of the players he worked with was Javier Baez.

But before Gary could manage a day, he was promoted to first base coach with Detroit. This was a result of Kimera Bartee, his predecessor, passing away suddenly. Taking over the managerial duties in Toledo will be Lloyd McClendon.

If we eliminate the McClendon factor, which position do you believe Jones would fit best? AAA manager or first base coach in Detroit? Would he best serve the team at the MLB level or in the AAA system?

Gary Jones would best serve the team as...
1. The AAA manager.

2. The Tigers' first base coach.

VOTE
 
Congratulations to Joey Lothrop on being named the 2021 Detroit Tigers Scout of the Year. Joey is an area scout covering AZ, NM, CO, UT and El Paso, TX.
He has been the signing scout for Tigers prospects Spencer Torkelson, Gage Workman, Beau Brieske and Wilmer Flores.

Detroit Tigers Player Development
 
In our private chat..the name Rick Anderson was invoked..so after laughing for a good 45 minutes..it made me ponder the idea of Ron Gardenhire and Rick Anderson ..and then today seeing Tigers minor leaguers hooked up to core velocity belts and fortune in new age baseball tech.

When you see this please remember they weirdly and maybe humanely allowed the man who presided over 5 years of this fuckery..to stay employed..but bravo AJ Hinch you have done a makeover I could have only dreamed of..cannot wait to see the benefits in player development.

MGorosh
 
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.
 
https://totallytigers.wordpress.com/2022/02/26/deeper-discussions-18/
DEEPER DISCUSSIONS.
Totally Tigers

The Detroit Tigers have finally started to revamp their player development system. A new VP, new managers, new coaches and finally the addition of pitching and hitting specialists. Some personnel were even moved around and changed job positions.

But not every minor league team was completely overhauled. The expectation is that more personnel moves will be made in another year.

As the Tigers continue to stock their farm system, having the right people to coach and manage becomes even more important.

As the talent levels in the minors gets better, where should the team put their best managers and coaches? AA or AAA?

Today?s blog addresses this dilemma and allows readers to share their thoughts in more detail. And hopefully, to actively engage with others by responding to their posts and creating back-and-forth discussion threads. The more the merrier!

For this one blog only, you?ve got 6 sentences max to share your thoughts. Of course, you can respond to as many other readers as you want.

TT will supply the ammunition. One thought-provoking question. Several options provided. One hard choice to be selected. One vote.

Ready?

Where should the very best managers and coaches be placed?

1. AA

2. AAA

VOTE
 
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