After taking a glimpse at this winter’s free agent acquisitions, it’s pretty clear that Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch only knows two speeds: zero and full throttle.
Although first-year general manager Al Avila downplayed more high-profile signings after agreeing to a five-year, $110 million deal with starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, we should’ve known more was coming.
Why? Well, let’s just say Ilitch laid all his cards out on the table during Zimmermann’s introductory press conference (quotes via ESPN):
“I’ve been in baseball for a lot of years. I didn’t care about spending money. They get the players, and I spend, and I don’t worry about it because they have good judgment.”
As if that wasn’t already music to the ears of Tigers fans, he reiterated himself once more:
“I don’t care about the money. I want the best players.”
So, with a hole out in left field and two very capable sluggers in Justin Upton and Yoenis Cespedes still available at the time, it was hard to believe the Tigers weren’t pursuing one of them. It turns out they were, took advantage of the slow-moving free agent market and nabbed Upton on a six-year, $132.75 million deal.
Making that move official also gave them this distinction:
#Tigers become 2nd team in #MLB history to sign two $100M+ free agents in 1 offseason. My Upton column: https://t.co/D7xfoBYPm0 @FOXSports
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 19, 2016
We’ve seen how willing the Tigers have been to spend for the sake of putting a winner on the field, but will they find success? After all, they’re hoping to erase the frustration of a 74-87 campaign, which put them in the AL Central basement last season.
Considering there’s a ton of future money committed to both Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander, taking on these large contracts probably wasn’t the best business move. However, Cabrera is still one of the best hitters in the game, he isn’t getting any younger and someone has to take advantage of that.
What’s most important to Detroit’s 86-year-old owner is winning a World Series during his lifetime. Although these signings complicate the long-term view for the organization, the Tigers are smart for throwing caution to the wind at the moment and worrying about the consequences later.
Why? Because Cabrera is one of those once-in-a-generation type hitters that’s still producing at an elite level, and they need to do something about it before it’s too late.
Earlier this week, David Schoenfeld of ESPN wrote an article about how the Los Angeles Angels – for a few different reasons – could be wasting Mike Trout’s prime years on the field.
He’s clearly one of the best players on the planet, but what has that gotten the Angels? They’ve made the playoffs just once in the past four seasons, and got swept right out of the Division Series in that one opportunity. Now, a reluctance to spend this winter for fear of exceeding the luxury tax threshold means Trout won’t have a whole lot of support around him in the lineup.
Schoenfeld makes some valid points, but there’s one big detail worth noting – Trout is only entering his age-24 season. Will he keep producing 8.0-plus WAR seasons for the next four or five years? Your guess is as good as mine, but nobody should put it past him. Either way, they likely still have a couple years to figure this all out, get their payroll under control and experience some success while Trout is still in his prime.
When it comes to Detroit’s biggest offensive threat, time is not their friend. Cabrera did win his fourth AL batting title in five years and brought home yet another Silver Slugger award in 2015, but as he enters his age-33 season, he’s now closer to the end of his career than the start of it.
The Tigers experienced much more success during Cabrera’s prime years than the Angels have with Trout so far (four postseason berths, including three ALCS appearances and one trip to the World Series), but each club has won the same amount of World Series titles during that time: zero. As Ilitch has already outlined, that’s the barometer.
http://gty.im/491195520
Cabrera posted his customary .338/.440/.534 triple slash last season, but the organization got a firsthand look at what life is like without Miggy – and it wasn’t pretty. Injury limited him to just 119 games, which was the first time he appeared in less than 148 games since his rookie year in 2003.
Knowing this, is it a coincidence that the Tigers missed the playoffs for the first time since 2011? Probably not.
Detroit has some solid offensive players in Ian Kinsler, J.D. Martinez and Victor Martinez (if he can bounce back from an awful 2015), but Cabrera is the heart and soul of this lineup. To go from worst to first, another dependable big bat was needed. Plus, V-Mart’s dreadful .667 OPS from a year ago has made him an untrustworthy offensive source heading into his age-37 season.
As good as Cabrera is, his prime is coming to an end. It stinks to say that, but it’s true.
Since he’s such a phenomenal hitter, the eventual downturn of his career will take longer than the average player because, well, he’s no average player. While fans would like to think he’ll be worth the $32 million Detroit will be paying him in 2023 as a 40-year-old, they’ll probably be happy once he’s off the payroll at that point.
Just ask the Angels if they feel that way about Albert Pujols yet.
Cabrera’s current contract will eventually turn into a major payroll issue, but that was the price to pay in order to enjoy the last bit of elite production from their first baseman. Those future problems would certainly feel more justified if there were a couple championship flags flying at Comerica Park.
It’s easy to point at these two free agent signings (along with the trades they made for Cameron Maybin and Francisco Rodriguez) and say the Tigers are a postseason contender, but now they must go out and prove it. In an AL Central division that includes the defending world champion Kansas City Royals and some solid pitching staffs, it will be real tough to do.
The Tigers’ window to bring home a World Series title for Ilitch and the city of Detroit with Cabrera on board may have already closed, but you’ve got to give credit where it’s due in this case.
Angels owner Arte Moreno said Los Angeles would do whatever it takes to win this winter, but that wasn’t exactly the case. Ilitch said the same thing, but backed up his words with concrete action. Whether the Tigers end up being successful in their quest for a championship or not, we can’t say they didn’t try like hell to make it happen.
Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter so we can get through a winter without baseball together: @mmusico8.
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