I picked up my iPod yesterday and had a notification from my wonderful TigersXtra app: Tigers sign Alex Avila to a 1-year deal.
To give you an idea of my reaction..
After enthusiastically sharing the news with my brother, I texted my friend to share the good news. He was not so excited and I'm sure a lot of people share his opinion.
Your view on Alex Avila depends on whether you focus on his offense or defense. I will not pretend he is a great hitter (although he can be clutch). Then again, he's a CATCHER. Isn't that kind of the rule for catchers - that they don't hit? Come on, not everyone can have Salvador Perez.
Some numbers from last year: Avila hit .213 (keeping in mind injuries). That's pretty bad. But what about his on-base percentage? Last season, it was .359. Anyone seen Moneyball?
He gets on base.
Whatever his deficiencies at the plate, it seems well worth it for his excellence BEHIND the plate. Avila is a very, very, very good defensive catcher. He called games well for years and Jim Price (who was a catcher) would talk about this and that great things Alex was doing. Avila knows his stuff and that knowledge is born from years of experience.
If nothing else, think of what a great thing this is for James McCann. He will get another season with Avila to pick his brain, watch him catch, and overall learn and grow. I really like McCann; he's done a great job. But remember that this will only be his third year in the pros and he'll likely be working with several pitchers almost as green as he is. Avila will be for McCann what Rodriguez is for Rondon.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Come on people! It's not like we signed him for a long-term contract! It's a one year deal for a lefty, backup catcher who will bring veteran experience. Chill! There would be people mad if we had signed Matt Wieters because he would have been much more expensive, I'm sure. We are trying to avoid a luxury tax here in Detroit.
It saddens me that people complain no matter what. You can't please everyone. Al Avila and the Tigers thought that resigning Alex Avila would be the best thing for the TEAM. Alex brings experience of the game and this team as well as a veteran presence tot he clubhouse. He's here, personally I'm happy about it, and LET'S GO TIGERS!
There's a lot of trade talk - rumors is all - flying around the baseball world right now. Everything is pure speculation at this point, but there seems to be a strong feeling among Detroit sports writers that Justin Verlander and/or Miguel Cabrera will be traded. I would make the case that Verlander isn't going anywhere, if Avila is smart.
Pitching, pitching, pitching. It starts and ends with pitching. We've seen what a great staff can do and we've witnessed what happens when you don't have good pitching. This is same reason it was the better decision to keep K-Rod over Maybin.
Right now, we have three rookies and two veterans. Losing Verlander creates an open spot. Who would you replace him with? Greene? That could work, but he has been injured frequently. Sanchez or Pelfrey? Nope.
There isn't anyone to take his place. Above and beyond that, Verlander is a veteran who is young. He has tremendous knowledge and wisdom to share with the rookies who comprise the majority of our starting rotation. That influence alone is tremendous.
I want to keep Verlander and Cabrera. It would be heart-wrenching to loose either of them. But if it really came down to it, and the choice had to be made, I think Verlander would have to be the choice. Now, if Cabrera and J.D. and Kinsler all left, and with Maybin already gone, we'd be sunk. Our batting order may survive without Cabrera but not without all of those guys. Still, that's a different scenario. In the Verlander vs. Cabrera scenario, I really think - in the long run - the best option is keeping Verlander.
As hard as such a decision may be. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.
What do you do with a starter who can't start and you can't trade? Seems like a major problem. Maybe not.
The answer seems pretty easy: you put them in the bullpen. Sanchez was put in the 'pen for a time this past season and did very well in that time. It might be the best he's done since his ERA title year. I wrote a post during the season on my main blog that talks a little bit about this solution: http://smylinggirl.blogspot.com/2016/09/sanchez-pelfrey-to-pen-keep-rookies-in.html
I don't want to rehash all the same points, but what seemed like a great solution then seems to be the best way forward. I'm not the only one who thinks this. One of the Detroit News sports writers wrote this great article that is worth reading: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2016/11/21/mccosky-how-tigers-might-get-most-value-out-sanchez-pelfrey/94223878/
We'll see where the Tigers go. Since it seems so obvious and it worked for us, briefly, in the past, and has worked for other teams, it makes sense to believe that's what the Tigers will do. That's not to say we won't see Sanchez or Pelfrey in the rotation over the course of the season. But at least to start, I hope we see them in the bullpen.
Ian Kinsler FINALLY won a Gold Glove. He has deserved it for a long time, and now gets his due recognition.
Michael Fulmer - very appropriately - is the American League Rookie of the Year. He has won several ROYs this season, from various sports sites and magazines, but this is the official one. He definitely earned the award.
The team wins and the manager is a genius. He played his matchups
perfectly, he brought in the right pitcher at the right time, he called
the right moves, etc.
The team loses and the
manager can't do anything right. Why didn't he pinch hit for that guy?
Why didn't he call for a steal? Why did he leave that pitcher in so
long? Or not leave him in long enough?
You get the point.
I
propose something else. What if the manager is just a man? What if the
real "blame" (if we must blame someone) lies not with the guy in the
dugout but with the nine men on the field? Crazy, right?
Here's
the thing: managers are important. I'm not saying they are superfluous
or unnecessary. But I think we give them too much credit/blame for
things beyond their control. There is a great exchange in the movie When
The Game Stands Tall. Ladouceur tells his assistant coach that he knows
exactly what the other team is going to do. The coach responds, "What
do you want me to do? I can't go out there and play for them."
That's
it right there. The manager can know what's going to happen, but it's
up to the players to know it and to execute it. I'm sure experience
helps with that. A manager who has been doing that job for 10, 15, 20+
years is probably going to be better at it than a guy who is brand new.
But that doesn't mean that a new manager doesn't know what he's doing.
Ultimately, it comes down to the players. And sometimes, the other team
just had a better day.
A team is only as good as
its players and a manager is only as good as his team. If he doesn't
have the players to work with, how can you expect him to win games?
Remember, he is a human just like you and me. He can't work magic. I
will concede that some guys may be better at reaching a team than
others, but just because he can't reach the team he's on doesn't mean he
couldn't reach another team. Sometimes combinations don't work.
I
digress. Back to managers and teams. Jim Leyland is very good example.
He is well regarded as a great manager. He led a lot of great teams, won
the World Series with the Marlins, and was the Manager of the Year
twice in the National League and once in the American League. Pretty
good. That Marlins team that won the World Series? The very next year,
after the owner slashed payroll and totally changed the team, they lost
108 games. What happened? Did Leyland suddenly not know how to manage?
How could they drop so far in one year?
The only thing that changed is that Leyland didn't have the players to work with. At the risk of sounding like a broken record a manager is only as good as the players he has to work with.
Yes,
a great manager will have some tricks and knowledge he can bring to the
table. He is definitely needed. But it's not all on him. The same
decision two games in a row might work out wonderfully one day and go
horribly wrong the next. He did the same thing both times. But people
herald him as brilliant when it works and foolish when it doesn't.
I
really think we need to give them a break. We can celebrate when they
make a great decision and be disappointed when they don't. But the
manager can only do so much. After all, he's sitting on the bench. The
ones who make it happen (or not) are the ones on the field. The manager
can't go out and play for them.
For the first time in several years, we had a dependable closer. Notice I didn't say a perfect closer. Detroit fans seem to have a short memory. A lot of them seem to have forgotten the angst caused by our slew of closers over the last few years. Rodriguez brought stability to a slot that really hasn't been good since Jose Valverde's 49-49 season. (Soria was pretty good too).
Cameron Maybin injected a spark to this lineup. This was especially important when we were without J.D. Martinez and Nick Castellanos for long periods of time. Maybin was a catalyst and things happened around him.
Both players were instrumental in the success of the 2016 Tigers. But when the offseason roles around, it's decision time. Who stays and who goes?
In a perfect world, we keep both. But in reality, keeping both guys means losing someone else; someone we potentially need more. So how do you choose?
What you're really comparing is pitching vs. hitting. (We are not going to discuss Maybin's defense for now). If 2015 taught us anything, it's how important pitching is. The 2016 season would have turned out much differently if it weren't for the young pitchers who really stepped up. Pitching is extremely important. But even if you have great starting pitching, you have a problem if you can't hold a lead. It's crazy to expect a lineup to have to constantly tack on more and more runs. Enter the bullpen.
A dependable closer is so, so valuable. We'll probably never know, but maybe the reason the Tigers never won the World Series in their four-year reign in the Central was due to the lack of a dependable closer (for the most part).
All this to say, I will miss Cameron Maybin and the energy he brought to the lineup, but I think the Tigers made the right decision. I am extremely grateful for everything Mabyin brought to the team and the way he played all out every day. I'd love to see him come back again one day (it's not that crazy a thought!).
K-Rod probably won't be around long. Bruce Rondon or even Joe Jimenez will most likely be taking over the closer roll in the near future. But bringing him back gives the Tigers a little more time to mold and shape Rondon. He seemed to benefit greatly from Rodriguez's wisdom and leadership this past year. Another year under the wing of K-Rod will only be good for Rondon. In keeping Rodriguez over Maybin, Al Avila is also planning for the future - even if that is only a pleasant consequence of the actual reasons.
Is it hard to lose Cameron Maybin? Yes. But in the end, trading him seems to be what is best for the team in the long run.
So glad you stopped by! I created this blog to be a voice of optimism regarding the Detroit Tigers (and sometimes baseball at large). I have noticed that news articles and even the voice of the fans tend to be negative and emotional. This blog is going to reflect a different view. My opinions tend to be the minority. Unless otherwise noted, everything written on this blog will be my opinion. I hope you get some things to think about from my posts! Enjoy!
