Heading into the 2022 Major League Baseball regular season, there was plenty of hope that our Detroit Tigers would not only finish at or above .500 for the season but that if everything clicked, they would make a run at a wild card playoff spot.
Yep, those were the days but as we know, things have not even come close to panning out for the Tigers as they have been one of the worst teams in baseball for the entire season.
In fact, the Tigers were so bad that owner Chris Ilitch, finally decided to fire general manager, Al Avila as the season was still going on.
Detroit Tigers reportedly considering 3 candidates for GM opening
Now, the Detroit Tigers are on a mission to hire their next general manager and according to Lynne Henning, three people are under ‘heavy consideration’ for the job. Henning did note that the overall group of candidates is much larger than the three people he mentions.
Josh Byrnes
Josh Byrnes, 52, Dodgers senior vice president of baseball operations. Byrnes the past eight years has been part of Andrew Friedman’s masterly ways that have turned the Dodgers into baseball’s showroom model for how a MLB franchise can operate.
Critics remain unimpressed by his earlier work as Diamondbacks GM, even if he drafted Max Scherzer and Paul Goldschmidt, among others, and where he hired a manager named AJ Hinch. They are unmoved by his latter stint as Padres GM. But he had low payrolls at each stop and helped both teams improve markedly. He also was an assistant with Theo Epstein during the Red Sox resurgence, after he had broken in with the Indians.
Given the breadth of his background, and his relationship with Hinch, it’s possible Byrnes is the man to beat.
Matt Slater
Matt Slater, Cardinals special assistant to the GM, player procurement. Another radiant resume here: Slater, 51, has been with the Cardinals for 15 years in all facets of personnel and scouting. He worked previously for nine years in scouting roles with the Dodgers, and earlier was with the Brewers. He has business and law degrees. He has been a student not only of John Mozeliak’s deft ways with the Cardinals, but has also been groomed by the likes of Pat Gillick, Rollie Hemond, and Bob Gebhard.
There are reasons, self-evident, why Slater is being taken seriously by the Tigers.
Sam Menzin
The primary internal candidate is Sam Menzin, 31, a Tigers assistant GM and vice president, who for the past 10 years has worked in the analytics, operations, and personnel sides for the Tigers. Menzin played baseball at Swarthmore College and is known to enjoy great favor with Hinch.
Nation, who do you think the Detroit Tigers should ultimately hire to be their next general manager?
Whoever gets the job will be limited as far as a bankroll goes. Miggy, Baez, and Rodriguez are all wasted money. Sure Miggy gets off the books after 2023, but whoever gets the job better hope Chris Ilitch opens up his check book for some better players.
Need:
Catcher
Middle infielder (unless Kriedler gets the job)
Power hitting outfielder (Aaron Judge?)
More pitching. Pineda wasn’t an answer.
My list of players the new GM should dump is to great to list. A few names are:
Candelaria, Barnhart, W. Castro, and Baddoo.
Just don’t go internal. We need new blood someone with new ideas. It’s not just the players it’s the structure of the organization. Scouting, coaching at the minot league level, the overall feeling of the organization. Hinch was a start. But we need new air in an old system.
Couldn’t agree more with this comment. Break it all down at the lower levels and build it back up. Need new blood, yup!
They should hire Michael Dault, the tiptoepro