By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@GMail.com
October 18, 2016
Nothing that was announced at Comerica Park this afternoon should come as a surprise to anyone who has spent any amount of time reading this website. We’ve been reporting for years that the moment Chris Ilitch assumes control of the Detroit Tigers after his father Mike Ilitch’s death the organization’s budget will be significantly reduced.
This information — while not earth-shattering — was based on interviews with Ilitch family members and Olympia Entertainment moles. The first glimpse we had of Chris’s meddling was back in December of 2013 when a very ill Mr. I was incapacitated and Chris ordereda budget reduction before the Tigers could sign closer Joe Nathan.
In other words, Chris Ilitch’s first foray into ownership of our baseball franchise was the widely panned Doug Fister trade. And after today’s depressing season-ending meeting that Al Avila had with (selected) members of the Detroit media, you have to wonder if that shit sandwich was just an appetizer to an austerity program for 2017 that will debilitate the Tigers.
The only mildly surprising detail from today was that the announcement of a budget slashing came while Mike is still alive, but that is probably more a product of the patriarch’s severely compromised health than anything else.
It’s been known for months that Chris is running this ship due to Mike’s decline. The only thing we really learned today is that the Freep and the News had better have Mike Ilitch’s obituary in the can. Chris wasn’t going to wait until the body is cold (or even officially pronounced deceased) before issuing this directive.
And make no mistake about it, this is a Chris Ilitch production. Do you really think Avila walked into Chris’ office with a plan to downsize? Uh huh. That’s like telling your wife to go out and purchase a Louis Vuitton handbag and her coming home with a discounted purse from TJ Maxx.
(This is what Drew Sharp tried to sell his readers in the pages of the Free Press this afternoon. It would appear that imbecile is now plagiarizing Chris Ilitch’s wet dreams.)
Yep, with the Cleveland Indians on the verge of a World Series berth — and the Royals only a year removed from a championship — their AL Central rivals announced that they will be downsizing.
A franchise that couldn’t beat those teams to the finish line even with a HUGE inherent financial advantage now seems content to compete with them on an even playing field. It all means that it is a near certainty that the Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, Victor Martinez, Max Scherzer, J.D. Martinez era will end without jewelry.
And no, this doesn’t count…
Just a humiliating failure along the lines of the early 1990s Buffalo Bills and the mid-1990s Cleveland Indians. A decade-long dick tease with no money shot whatsoever. Just nightmares of pitching errors, David Ortiz and Buster Posey.
I don’t even want to speculate about how Avila is going to accomplish Chris Ilitch’s goal. But let’s say that the Tigers have been losing $25 million per season the last few years and that is what has to be cut. Will the Tigers cut ties with Cameron Maybin and Francisco Rodriguez? Will Julio Daniel or Ian Kinsler get dealt?
Will the franchise create a bidding war for Verlander — which might be the smart organizational move anyway — and trade JV at the apex of his remaining value (coming off a year where he put up a bWAR of 6.6)?
At this point I don’t give a flying fuck. Instead, I want to focus on why a franchise that handed out two $100-million contracts AND a TWO-YEAR contract to Mike Pelfrey just last offseason suddenly decided to belt-tighten.
I mean, when the team spent all of that money last winter Mike Ilitch was 86 and not in great health. You don’t have to be an actuary to figure out where this was going.
And please save me the “Mike was trying to give it one last kick at the can” narrative. The team DECIDED to sign Justin Upton for SIX years when they could have had Yoenis Cespedes for half the term. They handed Jordan Zimmermann a FIVE-year deal. These weren’t short term-contracts awarded with the singular focus of winning in 2016 or else.
It is incredible to realize that the Tigers are some sort of hot potato or a game of musical chairs where whoever is in control of the bank account when the music stops gets to call all the shots…but here we are.
So now Chris Ilitch is in total control and, based on what my sources have told me for years, first we will get the budget reduction and then the sale of the team.
Which begs the question, why not just put the team up for sale NOW and spare yourself the public outrage, Chris? Why become a pariah when NOBODY would hold a grudge if you just hung a “For Sale” sign on Comerica Park?
It can’t be due to you not wanting to hurt your dad’s feelings because you obviously have no issue with completely pissing on his dream to win a World Series.
Is it a tax issue? Because you are going to have to answer to the public on why a family worth almost SIX BILLION DOLLARS is hellbent on cutting payroll by $25 million for what basically amounts to a public trust.
To put that into perspective, if you have a household with an income of $65,000.00 and very little in savings, a slash of that percentage is equivalent to about $280 for YOU.
Yep. The Tigers are completely switching gears for the comparable cost of an XBOX to Detroit’s Royal Family.
$280.
A family that just accepted $283 million in public financing to build Pizza! Pizza! Arena.
And not only is Chris Ilitch going to be demonized by a large percentage of the TIGERS fanbase for dialing back on the cut-throat goal to win a World Series, his leadership of the Red Wings is completely contradictory to that philosophy.
Just take a look at what the GM of his hockey team said last night to Bob Wojnowski regarding the Red Wings’ blueprint ….
And now juxtapose that with Avila’s comments today regarding the Tigers ….
I mean, the Ilitch property that has a legitimate chance to win in 2017 (the Tigers) are entering a “difficult process” and “changes are coming” while Ken Holland continues the status quo with a team that even HE admits has no chance of winning a Stanley Cup this season.
This couldn’t be more baffling and infuriating. Let me remind you that these two teams are supposedly owned by the SAME PERSON!!!!!!!
And if you don’t think the Tigers have a shot at a 2017 World Series with the same cast returning, why did team management tell us just TWO WEEKS AGO that this team would have made the playoffs if it weren’t for injuries to J.D., Nick Castellanos, Zimmermann and others?
Hell, Avila even went as far as to say thatthe team probably would have qualified for the postseason if Daniel Norris had been part of the rotation from April on. Or at least would have had a much better chance.
So based on their OWN theory, why wouldn’t you roll the dice again and hope you have better luck with injuries coupled with another year of experience for Michael Fulmer, Matthew Boyd and Norris?
None of this makes sense on its own. And when you compare the Tigers getting “younger and leaner” when they are still viable with the Red Wings’ absolute refusal to do the same when they aren’t …. well ….. I need a fucking bottle of Captain Morgan and a Costo-sized bottle of oxycodone.
So do yourself a favor, Chris. SELL THE TIGERS.
We know you don’t want them so rid yourself of the trouble. Because you are going to be villainized until you do.
Get Mark Cuban or Tom Gores or Dan Gilbert or Steve Ballmer on the phone and make a deal.
You don’t need the hassle.
And we don’t need you.
(You can follow the writer of this piece on Twitter @JeffMossDSR. Also, you can join in on the discussion of this article on Facebook by clicking here.)
