SeattleMike

It's been like this through most of the Illitch family ownership. Two thirds of the seasons have been below .500, usually well below the mark. The Tigers had the second most wins of any AL franchise prior to 1990. Not many great teams but usually competitive.

Oh now I get it. You are suggesting there may be no players he will want to keep.

Why would you be rooting for this?

Mike cared but after his first season it took him 12 years to post another winning record. Ten winning seasons in 30 seasons under Illitch family ownership. By far the worst ownership group in Tigers history.

Plus he had two nice at bats. Earned a walk in his first AB (with a competent ump) and the HR.

2019 is underrated as one of the most god-awful teams in baseball history.

That will come later.

Santana was 18. And hardly overwhelmed, at least statistically. He was the youngest player in his league. He should be on everyone's top 20 list.

Castenallos?

Austin Meadows return will be a top 5 story is my guess.

No ghost runner in extra innings in postseason?

Dan Dickerson is clearly done with Soto.

Santana and Graham with HRs at Lakeland.

Strange state line for Santana for sure. Overall the guy has held his own as the youngest positional player in that league. A 117 RC+ for the year is pretty solid.

The only guy in the lineup who matters picked up 2 hits.

No sugarcoating how wretchedly bad this year's offense is. But the 2019 offense rivals this year for ineptitude. The 2022 offense is 1.13 runs worse than league average. The 2019 offense was 1.22 runs worse. If you look at the numbers by percentage this year's offense is 26% worse than league average and 2019 was 25% worse so one could argue this year is actually worse. Any way you slice it the Tigers have featured two historically bad offenses in two of the last four years.

Decades of failure to develop much positional talent has clouded the strides made by a number of Tigers positional players this year. May be a coincidence but certainly seems as though the new staff has made an immediate difference. I hope the new GM let's this play out.

I can't remember any time over the last few decades when the Tigers had at least two position players at every level doing interesting stuff with the bat. Will it yield any fruit? Who knows? But at least there are some intriguing performances up and down the system.

I guess he's no Christin Stewart.

If you need a guy who hits lefties Grossman might be worth a gamble. His OPS against lefties (in 79PA) is .988. Don't know how many contenders are in dire need of such a player, but if you covet a lefty masher (without much power mind you) Grossman would seem to fit the bill, especially when it will only cost you your 25th rated prospect (or to put it another way a fringy pitcher).

Santana OPS by month since May: May: 711 June: 780 July: 859 For season 686 (shows you how awful his April was). How an 18-year-old playing at A ball (where he is the youngest position player in the league) with his profile is not listed on every Tigers top 10 prospect is mystifying.

This season has left me perplexed. The record is not a surprise at all, given the injuries to the pitching staff. What is a surprise is the central reason for the lousy record. I figured the offense, which was slightly below average last year, could move into the average range. When Avila traded for Meadows I thought the offense would be fairly tough, top to bottom. No superstars but no duds. That most of the offense is 20-40 percent worse than league average is head scratcher. Anyway, before the season I expected 75-80 wins. That could still happen. Candy and Schoop could still get hot. Baddoo could as well. Tork could come back have a strong August and September. As could Greene. None of this is pie in the sky stuff. Usually there are a couple of guys overachieving whose regression oversets a few others who get hot. There is no one who screams regression at this point, at least on offense. The pitching is anyone's guess. Lots of regression possibilities there. But also some hope. Rodriguez? Manning? Bounceback from Skubal. Over the last 50 games the Tigers are 4 games under. Could play .505 baseball over the next 70 games? I think so.

The Tigers have so few rallies that the LOB failures are magnified.

The offense is garbage. The pitching/run prevention is MLB average." Every facet" is hyperbole.

He has never been close to this bad as a hitter. And he is still only 30. Maybe he's done, but I would bet he has a season next year closer to his norm. If he does he's worth keeping.