Detroit News

Detroit — With the hiring last September of 40-year-old Ryan Garko, general manager Al Avila made clear it was the dawn of a new era for how the Tigers player development department was going to operate. “We identified this position as the second most important in the organization next to the general manager position as we

He played only three seasons with the Tigers, but one of those years was 1968. And that was long enough, and opportunity enough, for a part-time player like Tom Matchick to earn a high-profile place in Tigers history. Matchick, 78, died Tuesday in his native Ohio, it was announced by the Tigers. His grand moment

Detroit — This is a milestone week for Tigers catcher Jake Rogers. It’s been 17 weeks since Dr. Keith Meister performed Tommy John surgery and replaced the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. When he showed up for his rehab work at the TMI Sports Medicine complex in Arlington, Texas, on Monday, Rogers was cleared

Detroit — He made us wait that day. It was the first day of his third stint with the Tigers and Cameron Maybin, who announced his retirement on Monday, was busy getting himself situated in the new clubhouse at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland. Compared to the old clubhouse, which he’d used in his two previous stints,

The reunions are getting smaller and smaller, more reflective than celebratory. The 1968 World Series-champion Detroit Tigers lost another of the heroes in 2021, when catcher Bill Freehan, an 11-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner, died Aug. 19 at the age of 79. Freehan had battled Alzheimer’s for several years, and didn’t attend the

Next year’s Tigers draft will be different, and all because the Tigers no longer are one of MLB’s most stressed teams. They will pick 12th overall, which is the deepest they’ve drafted in five years, during which Casey Mize, Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, and Jackson Jobe were added with top-five turns the Tigers got as

With expectations the Tigers will prefer a college bat from a 2022 draft crop studded with hitters, here are 10 first-round possibilities for Detroit when next year’s MLB Draft convenes: ► 1. Robert Moore, 2B/3B, University of Arkansas: He happens to be the son of Dayton Moore, the Royals general manager, so make what you might

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Not so many moons ago you would look at the Tigers farm and wonder if it should, in agricultural terms, be plowed up and re-seeded. There wasn’t a lot growing there. Times and conditions changed as bad seasons during a long rebuild led to better drafts. And, soon enough, Detroit’s farm system began to revive

Detroit — Too soon. Too sudden. Kimera Bartee, 49, died at his father’s home in Omaha, Nebraska, on Monday. The death came less than two months after he had been essentially re-hired as the Tigers’ first base coach by manager AJ Hinch. “Like many across baseball, I was devastated by the news of Kimera’s passing,” Hinch

Ronald Blum |  AP Baseball Writer New York — Major League Baseball payrolls dropped 4% in 2021 compared to the league’s last full season, and the $4.05 billion total was the lowest in a fully completed year since 2015. Falling payrolls have sparked the labor unrest that led to the sport’s first work stoppage in more

Detroit — Too soon. Too sudden. Kimera Bartee, 49, died at his father’s home in Omaha, Nebraska, on Monday. The death came less than two months after he had been essentially re-hired as the Tigers’ first base coach by manager AJ Hinch. “Like many across baseball, I was devastated by the news of Kimera’s passing,” Hinch

Associated Press Houston — Justin Verlander’s $25 million, one-year contract with the Houston Astros has been finalized, nearly a month after it was agreed to. The pitcher and the Astros reached an agreement on Nov. 17 subject to a successful physical. While the deal was reported before the collective bargaining agreement expired Dec. 1 and

By Ben Walker |  Associated Press Buck O’Neil never uttered a single word of bitterness or regret about not being elected to the baseball Hall of Fame. Till the end, he urged those who loved and rooted for him to do the same. Now, long after a near miss that left many wondering if he’d ever

Detroit — Chris McGowan, a former executive with the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers and the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, has been named president and CEO of Ilitch Sports & Entertainment. In the role, McGowan will oversee the business division of the Tigers, Red Wings, The District Detroit, Olympia Parking and the Ilitches’ stake in 313 Presents. McGowan,

This will be a different job, as Triple A Toledo history goes, for a new Mud Hens manager named Gary Jones, who Thursday was named Toledo’s newest baseball skipper following the dismissal of former Mud Hens manager, Tom Prince. What’s unique — in a historical context -— is that there will be some actual talent on hand.

Detroit — As he was wrapping up Javy Báez’s introductory press conference on Zoom on Wednesday night, Tigers general manager Al Avila looked at his watch. “There’s a few things we can do yet to make this team better,” he said. “We still have work to do.” The Tigers didn’t make any more deals in the

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Detroit — The seeds of the Tigers’ infatuation with Javier Báez — well, for general manager Al Avila, anyway — may have begun back in 2018. Avila, as the club was entering the full tear-down phase of the rebuild, was with the team for a two-game series at Wrigley Field that August. He became animated as

Detroit — Emotions were mixed, certainly. But true to the character he exhibited through seven seasons here, some of them excruciatingly challenging, Matthew Boyd was positive and upbeat Tuesday night after the Tigers officially announced they would not be tendering him a contract for 2022. “I just wanted so badly to be on a championship