Detroit Tigers owner Chris Ilitch made his yearly stop in Lakeland Florida, to visit the team and give an update to the day-to-day function and thought process going through a long rebuild. As usual when he spoke Ilitch’s words were honest and forthright. For the Detroit Tigers it is a pan they are sticking with, because it is proven.
As I have stated many, many times rebuilds are no fun. There is no way around it. I say that yet I actually enjoy watching rosters being built. Still for the average fan, rebuilds well suck.
When the Detroit Tigers named Al Avila general manager, they knew full well this was going to be the direction the organization was trending towards. When Avila took over in 2015, the Tigers were a mess. An old team with bloated contracts and a pitiful minor league system. Avila got to work and now the Detroit Tigers boast one of the best minor league systems. The Tigers payroll came down as well.
Yesterday, Chris Ilitch spoked candidly and offered some insight. “When I look at what we’re doing, I think we’re on the right path,” Ilitch said. “Al has been clear from day one. He’s got a plan, and as an organization we’re executing that plan. It’s a plan that we know works. We’ve done it before, and it’s homegrown talent that is the foundation of championships. And so we continue down that path, and it’s exciting, because so many of our young prospects are now on the cusp.”
Ilitch went on to say, “The most difficult part is the patience. But I’m just like the fans I want to see our young players make the big leap. And it’s good to see so many prospects in camp today.”
The key is to find (through the MLB Draft) a core group of players. Which was greatly helped by last years draft. Then fill in with big high priced free agents, which Ilitch said he will do after the said core group is identified.
I believe that the Detroit Tigers could begin to add bigger name free agents after the 2021 MLB season. As many top prospects will be and the verge of making the Tigers roster.
