For a team that has so much talent on paper, talent for which it has paid a pretty penny, one would think that the Detroit Tigers would have received a better return on investment than they have. Despite looking like an American League Central Division powerhouse in recent years, getting as far as the World Series in 2012 and also reaching the Fall Classic as an AL Wild Card team in 2006, the Tigers have not been able to consistently go deep into the playoffs.
Detroit Tigers catcher James McCann (34) talks with pitcher Justin Verlander (35) against the Chicago White Sox in the seventh inning of a baseball game in Detroit Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
To add insult to injury, Detroit has also not won a World Series since 1984.
And in spite of all that, former GM Dave Dombrowski handed big contract after big contract to players on the roster or in free agency that, despite making sense at the time, are just liabilities and money pits waiting to happen. Sure, Detroit has slowly gotten younger players like Jose Iglesias and Nick Castellanos involved, but the fact that big spending took place under Dombrowski’s successor Al Avila last offseason is concerning.
Simply put, without finding a way to restock the minor league system and build a championship team through youth as opposed to putting all the money in aging veterans, the Detroit Tigers’ future is not looking like a pretty picture.
2015 Overview
Detroit Tigers’ Nick Castellanos (9) and James McCann, second from right, stand on the mound as starting pitcher Matt Boyd turns the ball over to manager Brad Ausmus in the third inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)e: 3 Ways Business Owners Can Innovate For The Economic Upturn.
Detroit thus missed the playoffs after winning the division the past four consecutive years and to add further insult to injury, the team payroll at season’s end was $162.16 million. That put 2015′s cost-per-win at an unacceptable $2.19 million, especially considering how the Tigers’ AL Central rival Kansas City Royals won the division and the World Series and spent almost $40 million less.
And the saddest part of all is that Avila has kept up Dombrowski’s habits of spending a lot of money on talent, with Detroit’s 2016 payroll at $199.5 million. Sure, there’s every chance that last year was a fluke and 2016 will finally be the year that the Motor City can once again claim a World Series, but a dangerous precedent is still being set. Unless the Tigers find a way to trim their budget and get more low-priced youth involved, the next few years could go from bad to worse.
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