by Holly Horning You see the comments online: “The Tigers can afford to give Tarik Skubal a big new contract. Give him what he wants.” (Scott Boras only works with a bidding war forma…
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FIVE FOR FRIDAY.
Totally Tigers
You see the comments online:
“The Tigers can afford to give Tarik Skubal a big new contract. Give him what he wants.” (Scott Boras only works with a bidding war format.)
“The Tigers should have traded Tarik Skubal 2 years ago when they could have gotten a haul of MLB-ready players.” (You don’t trade a CYA winner right after you make the playoffs unless you want fans to riot.)
“Skubal only pitched 6 innings in a playoff game. Mickey Lolich would have thrown a complete game.” (Stats don’t support CGs or a player’s long-term health. MLB has only 1-2 complete games now per year.)
“Spencer Torkelson’s Fielding percentage is .998%. Why are people complaining when he’s a pretty solid fielder.” (F% is no longer a usable stat. It’s DRS, OAA and FRV that are used to give an accurate picture of a player’s fielding skills.)
“Scott Harris needs to be fired.” (After just 3 years, 2 playoff appearances and 1 season that may be a disappointment. Qualified GMs don’t grow on trees.)
“Chris Ilitch is cheap and needs to sell the team.” (Since 2023, Ilitch has invested over $1 billion in improvements alone and the 2026 payroll of $210 mill ranks #10 in MLB.)
Sure sounds familiar.
Who are these fans?
They’re fans stuck in baseball history and wondering why their baseball team makes “bad” decisions.
Hanging onto beliefs and stats from decades ago that no one uses anymore.
Not understanding that each team is worth billions and is run with the same principles that govern all big businesses.
They believe a team is capable of turning into a World Series contender in just 1-2 years after remaking their entire organization.
And they don’t understand that decisions made by Front Offices are regularly guided by the trends and changes to the game which statistical studies continually churn out.
These fans are unhappy ones. Constantly complaining about what is wrong with their team and suggesting outdated ideas they believe would fix things. Ideas that maybe worked 40-60 years ago.
Fans become unhappy because they don’t understand why Front Offices make the decisions they do that differ greatly from how things used to be done.
So how can we help these fans become happier ones? To enjoy the games more?
By helping them understand that they need to look beyond the roster and update on the trends and practices that have overtaken the sport.
Here are just a sampling of issues that will help ease their frustrations and understand today’s logic and strategy at a better and more modern level.
1 through 5 in the link.
