When Scott Harris was announced as the Detroit Tigers‘ new president of baseball operations, he laid out his plan in simple, precise language: “We need to acquire, develop, and retain young players.”
OK. So, that’s not exactly revolutionary — every team in every sport tries to do the same thing.
But that is also why his swing and miss at the trade deadline — failing to move Eduardo Rodriguez after trying to trade him to the Dodgers, a team on his no-trade list — was so painful and disappointing.
Harris was unable to cash in one of their best trade chips in years because Rodriguez nixed it — something Harris should have seen coming.
Even though it was a complex situation — Rodriguez asked the Dodgers for more money to agree to the trade, according to The Athletic — getting nothing was a failure. I believe Harris was caught surprised. He has to learn from that, if only to always have a Plan B. Was he so focused on the trees — enamored with the Dodgers talented prospects — that he didn’t see the forest and a looming issue at the end?
Harris is an inexperienced team president, learning on the job, and this was a red-flag situation. You only get so many swings and misses. Yes, that’s his other mantra — hit the pitches in the strike zone — and he whiffed.
Even though Harris has been on the job for less than a year — he was hired in September — he’s now gone through all the major moments of being the guy in charge: free agency, a draft and a trade deadline.
It seems a perfect time to ask: What has he accomplished?
What the draft told us
Harris started out by adding talent to the front office, hiring Rob Metzler (Tampa Bay Rays) as the vice president and assistant general manager and Mark Conner (San Diego Padres) to head up the amateur scouting department.
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Even though scouts and scouting directors play a huge role in who is taken in the draft, it ultimately falls on Harris. He sets the overall direction, and the draft was revealing, not just for who the Tigers took but who they didn’t, as well as how they maneuvered.
Just as former Tigers GM Al Avila will be remembered for taking Jackson Jobe with the third pick in the 2021 MLB draft, instead of Marcelo Mayer (the No. 3 ranked player by MLB Pipeline), Jordan Lawlar (ranked No. 5) or even Colton Cowser (ranked No. 12), Harris will be judged by his decision to take Max Clark instead of Wyatt Langford, who was taken with the next pick.
In essence, Harris picked a high school outfielder with more tools over a college bat with more of a track record. You can debate both sides of the decision.
But there is something else to consider, something interesting when viewed through the lens of cost and opportunity: picking Clark allowed the Tigers to make other significant moves.
The Tigers signed Clark for nearly $7.7 million — essentially the slot value of the fourth pick, which gave the Tigers another $644,200 to play with.
Meanwhile, Langford signed above slot at $8 million — and I have to believe he would have asked the Tigers for even more.
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The bottom line: if the Tigers had drafted Langford, he would have cost more and reduced their ability to make moves later.
But look what the Tigers did: they got Clark and then used the savings with their very next selection, drafting Kevin McGonigle, a short stop from Philadelphia. They signed him over slot at $2.85 million — using $417,000 of the Clark savings.
Money left over: $227,00.
Then, they took Max Anderson from Nebraska, signing him for $1.43 million, which was under the slot value ($1.91 million).
That gave them another $480,000 to play with.
Suddenly, the Tigers had an extra $707,000, and they used that immediately, drafting Paul Wilson, a high school pitcher from Oregon, signing him for $1.7 million (pick value: $945.100).
Harris approached the draft with a clear plan: think about the big picture, because all the dots are connected, and obtain as much talent as possible.
If Langford turns into an absolute stud and Clark falters, Harris’ decision will deserve criticism.
But in the future, Harris should be judged not just in a comparison of Clark versus Langford but if those other picks, taken above slot, pan out.
Under the radar improvement
The other way to acquire talent, obviously, is through free agency and the waiver wire.
Harris seems to have another doctrine: Grab as many players as possible and see who sticks.
Some have, many haven’t, although the cost and risk has been minimal.
He has found some gems in under the radar moves, grabbing Tyler Holton off waivers from Arizona and getting Zach McKinstry from the Chicago Cubs for right hander Carlos Guzman.
He declined to sign Andrew Chaffin, who went to the Arizona Diamondbacks for $6.5 million — and the Tigers bullpen haven’t exactly missed him.
As far as free agency, the Tigers went back to the Avila model: sign guys to one-year deals and hope to flip them.
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He got Matthew Boyd for $10 million, which just seemed like an Avila move, and Boyd got hurt, which really seemed like something from the Avila days.
Then, he signed Michael Lorenzen for $8.5 million and flipped him for a prospect.
As far as trades, Harris has had mixed results.
He traded Joe Jimenez to the Atlanta Braves for Justyn-Henry Malloy.
Malloy has proved he can hit in Toledo (.281 with an .875 OPS). But he couldn’t stick at third base (nine errors in 38 games) so the Tigers have moved him to the outfield. He has played left and right — two errors in 32 games with 53 putouts and five assists.
Malloy is still a legit prospect, who, I hope, arrives soon.
Harris traded two-time All-Star closer Gregory Soto and utility infielder Kody Clemens to the Phillies for Matt Vierling, Nick Maton and catcher Donny Sands.
Sands hasn’t been a factor, hitting .238 with four homers at Triple-A Toledo.
Overall, Maton’s numbers look horrible — he is hitting .177. But that doesn’t tell the true story. After he was sent down to Toledo in June, he has returned and improved tremendously. Since then, he’s hitting .267 with a .776 OPS.
Vierling has been a dependable addition — he’s hitting .273 with a .733 OPS; and he looks like a legit major leaguer.
So, overall, his trades have been mixed — typical, for most folks in charge — although we won’t know the true picture for years.
Creating a culture of improvement
Let’s go back to one other thing Harris said about free agents at his first news conference: “When they think of Detroit, I want them to think of an environment where they are confident they can come and get better. They can perform at a higher level, they can lengthen their careers, they know that they’re going to be surrounded by people in this organization who are going to get the absolute most out of them.”
At the time, that sounded like empty GM-speak.
But it came back to my mind this week because of what Lorenzen said after he was traded.
“Michigan was incredible,” Lorenzen said after the trade. “Detroit, incredible. My wife and I loved everything about it. We appreciate Tigers fans and the city and the staff here. They followed through on their promise for me: ‘You’re going to come here, and we’re going to make you better.’ They definitely did that. I told Scott on the phone, ‘You followed through, and I appreciate that.'”
That is a huge, important message being sent out across baseball, and it’s a huge tip of the cap to the Tigers staff, from A.J. Hinch to the pitching coaches to the developmental staff.
So, I give Harris credit there, too. As lofty as that goal was, Lorenzen is out there preaching it.
Some good, some bad
I still say Harris failed at the trade deadline. It was his biggest moment of opportunity — his chance to grab talent without having to pay bonus money — and it was a giant disappointment. National insiders have labeled the Tigers a “loser” at the trade deadline.
But at the same time, Harris has improved the Tigers minor league system by adding talent through the draft and other trades. How much talent? I’ve seen enough failed Detroit draft classes not to make a judgement at this point, either way, especially right now. We won’t know for years.
Now, some good news:
The AL Central should still be bad next year.
And the Tigers should have one goal.
No more trading. No more giving up in July.
Quick note to Christopher Ilitch: All right dude. This is on you, now. Miguel Cabrera is coming off the books. No more Jonathan Schoop. And it’s likely that Rodriguez will be gone. So, no more excuses. No more nibbling around the edges.
Let Harris spend some real money.
Let’s see what he can really do, putting together a team his way, using a foundation of youngsters and filling in the holes through free agency.
Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @seideljeff.