A year ago at this time, A.J. Hinch was barred from baseball, watching games from his couch. Now he's guiding the Tigers back toward contention.
"That's why I hired him," GM Al Avila said Monday on the Stoney & Jansen Show. "I believe he's one of the best, if not the best manager in all of baseball. I think he should be considered for Manager of the Year based on everything that he's done this year. He's building that winning culture within our clubhouse.
"That's one of the reasons that instead of trading Jonathan Schoop we decided to sign him and keep him around. He's been one of our best payers and we want to keep on winning as many games as we can. We want to build a winning culture. You can only do that now by keeping the guys that you feel are going to help you get to that point."
Hinch has been in this conversation before. He finished everywhere from second to fifth for AL Manager of the Year during a five-year tenure in Houston in which the Astros went from one of the worst teams in baseball to one of the best. But his reputation was tarnished by his role in the club's sign-stealing scandal. Hinch could have shut it down, and he didn't. He served his one-year suspension from MLB, owned his mistake and now he's back to winning games in Detroit.
The Tigers won the fewest games in baseball from 2017-20. And this season looked like more of the same after their 9-24 start. But Detroit has gone 53-46 since, with Hinch helping a young team find new ways to win. Chicago's Tony La Russa and Tampa's Kevin Cash will garner most of the attention for Manager of the Year in the AL, and rightly so. But if the 62-70 Tigers can claw past .500 in the face of a brutal September, Hinch will have an interesting case himself.
"In our case right now, we're much more athletic than we've ever been, in particular our defense in the outfield. And then as you see A.J. use the team, he's bunted more and stolen more bases this year than he ever has in his career. He's adjusting to what the team is," said Avila.
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The Tigers are tied for fifth in the AL in stolen bases and tied for sixth in sac bunts, their highest rankings since 2014 and 2013, respectively. They also have their lowest rotation ERA (4.12) since 2014, and Hinch's hire of pitching coach Chris Fetter is one reason why. Whether or not Hinch gets votes for the league's top manager, the Tigers have clearly found the right leader for their future.
Speaking of the future, Avila also discussed Detroit's plans for an offseason in which owner Chris Ilitch has stated his willingness to spend. While it might entice the Tigers to splurge for one of many star shortstops on the market -- Carlos Correa, anyone? -- Avila said they'd rather spread their money across the roster.
"You take it case by case, but I think we've learned through history that if you put all your eggs in one basket, that's not the best way of going about doing it. You have to have good players at every position. You have to have a well-balanced team. ... If you need to bring in some power, some defense in the middle infield, there's different ways of building the team. But you certainly don't want to put 40 percent of your payroll or something like that in one player, because then what do you do with the rest of it?" he said.
The Tigers have learned this lesson the hard way with Miguel Cabrera, who accounts for about 35 percent of their payroll this season despite a sub-.700 OPS. Of course, Detroit inked Cabrera to an eight-year, $248 million extension that didn't kick in until his age-33 season. That would be a lot different than committing to a star like Correa who turns 27 in September. Avila openly acknowledged that shortstop is the Tigers' biggest weakness.
"That's fair, for sure. I mean, we see it every day," he said. "From an offensive perspective in particular, there's a weakness there. That is one area where we certainly need to improve."
Avila said the Tigers "are keeping a close eye on" prospect Ryan Kreidler, a strong defensive shortstop who's been raking in Triple-A Toledo since a promotion in mid-August.
"We do feel we have a guy there that might be able to help us in the future," Avila said. "Then again, we have to evaluate the Major League guys and what might be out there on the free agent market, too."
Kreidler is a good example of one of the biggest questions facing the Tigers this winter: how close are their top prospects to contributing in Detroit? Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene obviously headline this conversation.
"That's where you have to make some tough decisions in the offseason, because you really do believe that these guys will be playing for us in the near future," Avila said. "Is that going to be from the get-go (of 2022)? Is that going to be the middle of the season? Or do we have to wait until 2023? That's going to determine a lot of what we do this offseason," said Avila.
One position where you can expect the Tigers to stand pat is catcher. Avila said he likes what the club has in the duo of Eric Haase and Jake Rogers.
"We're very happy with Eric, he's really blossomed. His defense has really improved to the point where he can be an everyday catcher. Obviously he's hitting enough to be an everyday catcher. ... He's really worked hard and he's put himself in a great position. Jake Rogers was really making good progress himself. We love his defense as you know, and we thought his bat was coming along. Unfortunately he had the arm injury (in July), but we're hopeful that he can get back on track. With those two guys we have a pretty good future behind the plate," Avila said.
