DETROIT — For nearly two seasons now, A.J. Hinch has emphasized to his players the importance of focusing on winning that day’s game. Don’t worry about the past or look too far into the future. Don’t worry about forces outside of your control. Just focus on winning the game.
In that sense, it isn’t a surprise that Tigers players were able to compartmentalize the team meeting they had just before batting practice, during which Hinch told them that Al Avila was no longer the general manager.
“We have a job to do,” said Drew Hutchison, who started the 3-2 loss to Cleveland on Wednesday night at Comerica Park. “When the game starts, we’re focused on that. Obviously, we haven’t won, and it’s kind of part of all this. Everybody has a hand in that. But as far as the game today, when you step on the field, you have to be focused on doing your job.”
“It stinks,” said Riley Greene, whose two hits included a fourth-inning double to lead off a two-run rally. “We were just kind of focused on the game today. We were focused on winning. That’s been our one goal, to try to win the game every day. We didn’t win today, and it stinks. I hate losing. We have to come out tomorrow and be better.”
“That’s really above my pay grade,” Eric Haase said. “I’ve got to go out there and try to take care of business between the lines. I don’t have any say in that. No one’s coming to my locker to ask me what I think about that. I just have to go out there and play whenever I get those [at-bats].”
At the same time, it’s the team’s struggles on the field that led to the shakeup off of it. When players looked around the clubhouse leading up to last week’s Trade Deadline and wondered who could be going, it was Hinch who reminded them that they put themselves in this position. Michael Fulmer and Robbie Grossman were traded because the Tigers are out of the playoff chase, stuck in last place in the American League Central.
Now, the GM who made those deals is out, too. And even if that has a negligible direct impact on the players right now, how chairman/CEO Christopher Ilitch proceeds from here in finding a replacement could have major ramifications for the entire roster.
“Today is another reminder that we haven’t succeeded,” Hinch said. “The Deadline was one. The record reflects where we’re at.”
Asked if the move creates uncertainty heading towards the offseason, Haase said, “I don’t think any more than the season that we’ve had in general. Clearly they feel one way about the direction of the team. I want to win. I don’t know what direction that is. Like I said, they don’t ask me about these decisions. But I know I want to win, so whatever it takes, then I’ll buy into it.”
Hinch said he was in his office when Ilitch informed him of the decision. He let players know in part so they wouldn’t find out through social media or reports, like they did with some trade rumors leading up to the Aug. 2 Trade Deadline.
Hinch also talked with Avila and provided a human element to a dynamic that can be cold-hearted. The two were out recruiting free agents to join the Tigers nine months ago. Now one of them is out of the plans.
“Al’s fine. I talked to him,” Hinch said. “In some ways, baseball forgets pretty quickly when you get going. You get going, you get to the next game and you go on and move on. But I’ve been in that chair. I’ve been fired and watched my team play the very next day on TV, and it’s different. Al and I were talking about it earlier. Everything’s different.”
At the same time, however, Hinch finds himself in a different position than most managers who have seen the GM who hired them get fired. While Ilitch informed him of the decision, he also welcomed his input on how to proceed from here.
“This organization has committed a ton to me, and vice versa,” said Hinch, who signed a long-term contract when he joined the Tigers after the 2020 season. “And I want to help get it right. … We all feel responsible for where we’re at in this organization.
“I said at the All-Star break we need to push the ball forward and move in a direction more aggressively. I didn’t anticipate the personnel change, but I do think there’s a lot of areas that we can address, and we will address once we get our leader in charge.”