State of the Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are at the bottom of an epic teardown/rebuild.  2020 is likely not the year they start to show improvement at the MLB level.  Tigers fans will have to be content with an improving farm system bolstered by a series of very high draft picks.

Ownership: 

When long term owner Mike Ilitch died in 2017, "win one for Mr I" became a moot issue.  Team ownership passed on to Ilitch Holdings chaired by his son, Christopher, who is also the controlling owner of the Tigers.  Mike Ilitch made his stash, valued at $6.1 Billion in 2016, as the founder of Little Ceasar's Pizza.  Chris Ilitch recently proclaimed he intends to own the Tigers for the long run and pointed to farm system rankings as evidence the team is on the right track.

Grade C.

Management: 

Tigers GM is Al Avila a long time baseball executive who started out scouting in Latin America for the Marlins for whom he signed Livan Hernandez and Miguel Cabrera.  He was a protege of Dave Dombrowski and took over as GM of the Tigers in 2015 when Dombrowski left.  Avila tends to be more of a traditional GM who trusts scouting over data.

Ron Gardenhire is entering his third season managing the Tigers after a long run as Manager of the Twins.  He has yet to show anything special in terms of managing skills other than the ability to stick around for a long time.

Grade C.

Current Roster:

Starting Nine: Austin Romine C, CJ Cron 1B, Jonathan Schoop 2B, Jeimer Candelario 3B, Niko Goodrum SS, Christin Stewart LF, Jacoby Jones CF, Cameron Maybin RF, Miguel Cabrera DH.

Bench:  Grayson Grenier C, Harold Castro IF, Jordy Mercer IF, Victor Reyes OF.

Starting Rotation:  Matthew Boyd LHP, Jordan Zimmermann RHP, Spencer Turnbull RHP, Ivan Nova RHP, Daniel Norris LHP.

Bullpen:  Joe Jimenez RHP(Closer), Buck Farmer RHP, Gregory Soto LHP, Jose Cisnero RHP, Bryan Garcia RHP, Rony Garcia RHP, David Mckay RHP.

This roster rivals the Orioles for worst in MLB. 

Grade F.

Farm System: 

Years of high draft picks are starting to have an impact on the system as the Tigers accumulate high ceiling prospects they hope to unleash in a wave to open an window of contention.  #1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson boosts the hitting side while RHP's Casey Mize and Matt Manning give hope on the pitching side.  2019 first rounder Riley Greene looks like a future plus bat too. The system probably needs a couple more top 10 draft picks to be top notch.

Grade B