The leaders of the Detroit Tigers sat in the home team’s dugout Friday afternoon at Comerica Park, headlined by owner Christopher Ilitch in the middle of the pack. To his right: manager AJ Hinch. To his left: general manager Al Avila.
“We’re in this together,” Hinch said.
The rebuild is coming together. The Tigers are 75-79 this season, 66-55 since May 8 and 13-8 in September. Miguel Cabrera, a 19-year MLB veteran, is already looking forward to next season. He expects to “win more games and be in the playoffs” before his retirement. The puzzle pieces have aligned to make a push for the postseason in 2022, as long as the organization makes upgrades this winter.
“We’re obviously not where want to be yet,” Ilitch said Friday. “This is a step toward our goal, which is, we want to be a playoff team, and we want to be a contender, and ultimately, we want to win a championship.”
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The most important words came from the mouth of the man at the top of the organizational chart, followed by key statements from the man running the rebuild. (Hinch has already made his fair share of declarations: “We’re going to reestablish ourselves as a winning franchise and develop a winning culture,” he said in August. “If you want to be a part of it, then you’ll come. If you don’t, then we’ll beat you.”)
Ilitch commenced the conversation by discussing the Tigers’ steady progress. They just finished 8-3 against three first-place playoff teams: Tampa Bay Rays (seven games), Milwaukee Brewers (two games) and Chicago White Sox (two games). He also talked about his responsibility as a provider, considering he has the checkbook, and his desire to win now. He then gave Avila free rein to break down the offseason plans.
“A big part of my responsibility is to make sure this organization, this ballclub has the resources in order for us to accomplish our goals,” Ilitch said. “I spoke very clearly of our goals. We want to be a playoff team. We want to be a contender. We ultimately want to win a championship. A big part of my job is to make sure our club has the resources to do that. I’ve said repeatedly over the years that our club will have the resources necessary to execute our plan to strive and hopefully accomplish our goals.
“In terms of what the actual plan is for this offseason, I’ll leave that to Al. That’s clearly his responsibility, and I know he’s got a plan and will execute his plan.”
Just like that, Avila discussed his plan.
He has worked through the five-year rebuild, trying to build a winning franchise with an emphasis on durability. His performance is the epicenter of debates among Tigers fans and observers, but understand Avila is starving for league-wide respect. He feels closer than ever to reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
“I can’t really disclose everything that we’re looking at, that we’re planning for,” Avila said. “Rest assured that we’re going to try to improve this team for next year and make a big push. We feel we’re very close to being a playoff contending team. We’re not too far away.”
“We’re going to try to win every game we can the rest of this season,” Avila said Thursday when he introduced Ryan Garko, the new vice president of player development. “Next year, we’re hopeful to be a playoff contending team. The infrastructure of this organization is being set up as we speak for years to come to be successful, year in and year out. We want to win, but we want it to be sustainable in a way where you don’t have to go out there and depend on a $250-$300 million payroll. We want to produce our own players. In saying that, you have to be a very strong baseball organization.”
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During Friday’s sit-down in the dugout, Avila boasted about the young pitching. Rookies Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal are established in the big leagues, albeit with much to learn. Fellow rookie Matt Manning is working through the same growing pains Mize and Skubal dealt with in 2020 but has shown flashes of what makes him a pitcher to get excited about.
Avila touched on the position players he can count on for next season, such as Jonathan Schoop, Robbie Grossman and Jeimer Candelario. The bullpen looks polished, with Gregory Soto, Jose Cisnero, Michael Fulmer, Kyle Funkhouser and Alex Lange operating in high-leverage roles. Avila dropped a subtle shoutout to top prospects Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene. They are in Triple-A Toledo and appear ready for their MLB debuts in 2022.
Greene, 20, is hitting .296 with eight triples, 23 home runs, 81 RBIs, 60 walks and 147 strikeouts over 119 games between Double-A Erie (84 games) and Toledo (35 games). He will compete for an outfield job on the Opening Day roster in spring training.
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Torkelson, 22, is hitting .266 with 28 home runs, 87 RBIs, 72 walks and 110 strikeouts over 115 games for High-A West Michigan (31 games), Erie (50 games) and Toledo (34 games). For the Mud Hens, he has a .230 batting average with nine home runs, 23 RBIs, 18 walks and 32 strikeouts. The Tigers selected the first baseman No. 1 overall in the 2020 draft.
“We’re going to reassess where we’re at and then where we need to add to take us to the next step,” Avila said. “We’ll do that this offseason. We’ll start that process. I can’t tell you that it’ll all be done within one offseason because I think it’ll be a gradual build up.”
The Tigers have holes to fill. In early August, Ilitch suggested the Tigers might spend for a “high-impact” free agent.
One of the most important tasks is finding an established shortstop. Four of them will be on the open market: Carlos Correa, Trevor Story, Corey Seager and Javier Baez. If the Tigers are ready to pay up for a shortstop, Correa makes the most sense because of his relationship with Hinch. They won the 2017 World Series together with the Houston Astros.
The organization also has to acquire at least two starting pitchers, considering Spencer Turnbull and Matthew Boyd will be recovering from their arm surgeries. Justin Verlander is a free agent and has expressed interest in a reunion. He pitched for the Tigers from 2005-17 before winning the ’17 World Series under Hinch’s leadership in Houston.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it,” Verlander told the Free Press in June. “Yeah, of course. I loved playing there. I love the city. I love the fans. Yes, I do think about it. Ultimately, the decision comes down to what’s best for my career. If that aligns with that possibility, then maybe it does.”
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Finally, the Tigers would benefit from another impact bat and a defense-first catcher. They probably won’t have 26-year-old catcher Jake Rogers until 2023. Like Turnbull, he recently underwent Tommy John surgery.
“I’m not going to disclose our plans or what those resources are, but we have identified throughout the year and will continue to meet after the season about what our pluses are, what our negatives are,” Avila said. “We’ll attack the offseason in that manner. It’s going to depend on which players are going to be available and what deals we’re going to be able to make, but there might be trades also available. At this stage, we know what our necessities are, and we’ll attack it in the right time.”
Eventually, Ilitch and Avila departed from the dugout.
Hinch stuck around to field questions about the upcoming game, Boyd’s flexor tendon surgery and the continued development of his winning culture, which has the Tigers playing their best baseball since 2016.
Despite Hinch’s managerial success in 2021, the Tigers need all three of their leaders to thrive in their roles if they want to compete for the American League Central Division title and earn a spot in the postseason.
“We’re trying to do our best to get us back into playing October baseball that’s not the regular season ending in October,” Hinch said. “Our fans are going to be a big part of that. Chris is going to be a big part of that. It’s not just me setting a culture in the big leagues, or just Chris being the owner, or just Al running the baseball operations. There’s a lot of people in this organization that are working hard to make this all a success.”
Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.