It has been almost a month since the Tigers parted ways with GM Al Avila, and since Lynn Henning of The Detroit News notes that ownership puts a high priority on keeping matters close to the vest, there hasn’t been much public news about potential targets to take over the front office. However, Hennig lists current Tigers assistant GM Sam Menzin, Dodgers senior VP of baseball ops Josh Byrnes, and Cardinals special assistant to the GM Matt Slater as “three people are believed to be under heavy consideration” for the full-time general manager role.
Several other front office members from multiple teams were also mentioned as plausible further candidates, though Henning was more circumspect about naming any of this group as surefire names in the hunt — Twins assistant GM Daniel Adler, Braves VP of scouting Dana Brown, Cardinals assistant GM Randy Flores, Guardians assistant GM James Harris, Orioles VP and assistant GM Sig Mejdal, Astros assistant GM Pete Putila, and Rays VP of baseball operations Carlos Rodriguez. Former Tigers director of baseball operations Mike Smith could also potentially receive consideration.
There is no shortage of work ahead of Detroit’s next baseball operations leader, given how the Tigers have floundered in a season that was supposed to mark their return to contention. While it isn’t expected that the Tigers will step back entirely into rebuild mode, the next GM will have to both make the big league team better while also bolstering the farm system at the same time. According to league officials speaking with Henning, upgrading the Tigers’ international development system will be a priority, and “trades are expected to be made with more aggression and more initiative than was practiced by Avila.” The next front office will also need to focus on how to better apply analytics to development and on-field work.
Byrnes is the most familiar name to baseball fans, and the former Padres/Diamondbacks GM is also the only one of the known candidates with experience in leading a front office. Byrnes ran the D’Backs from 2006-2010 and then the Padres from 2011-14, in both cases being fired around midway through his final season with the organization. Of those eight full and partial seasons for Byrnes, only two (2007 and 2008 with Arizona) resulted in a winning record, and the 2007 NL West-winning Diamondbacks were the only Byrnes team to reach the postseason.
Still only 52 years old, Byrnes’ long career in baseball has also included stretches as an assistant GM and VP with the Rockies, Red Sox, and (since 2014) Dodgers, and Byrnes has been a part of two World Series-winning front offices. Back in August, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman suggested Byrnes as a natural candidate for Detroit given Byrnes’ past familiarity and working relationship with Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, who will be remaining with the team and will have some influence in the hiring of the next GM.
Menzin is also naturally a familiar face for Hinch, and Henning writes that the assistant GM “is known to enjoy great favor with Hinch.” Only 31 years old, Menzin already has a decade of experience in Detroit’s front office, starting as an intern and gaining experience working within several different departments of the Tigers’ baseball operations. Since Avila’s firing, Menzin has also been as the de facto interim general manager.
Slater doesn’t have any ties to Hinch or the Tigers organization, and given the amount of work that might need to be done, it is possible he might be attractive to the club as a fresh voice. The 51-year-old Slater’s specific role with the Cardinals is in player procurement, with the St. Louis website describing him as the franchise’s “senior talent evaluator.” The Cards’ excellent track record at finding and developing homegrown talent is certainly a point in Slater’s favor, and he has been with the team since 2007. Before coming to St. Louis, Slater also worked in a number of different scouting and baseball ops roles with the Brewers, Orioles, and (for nine years) Dodgers.
Hoping for Pete Putila
Take sig from the Os would be your best option if your going rebuild route.
@BmoreBallitics: shhh
Lol true true
I would be very surprised that Illitch will find someone outside the organization to run the Tigers. My gut tells me its going to be Sam Menzin.
The Illitch family operates on nepotism. They value loyalty above all, even when basic common sense dictates otherwise.
Don’t get your hopes up folks, for any radical changes for the Tigers organization.
It will be business as usual.
I hate to agree. But, I must. The entire front office needs replacing. Otherwise, you just wind up with more Avilas, as the current crop has been put there by Al.
Your gut is wrong. Illitch needs to bring in someone from outside the current organization & inject new blood. The guys internal have never been a GM. Al Avila was always an assistant GM and acted like one when he got promoted. They need an aggressive GM with knowledge of international drafting & analytics.
Illitch needs to bring in someone from outside the current organization & inject new blood. The guys internal have never been a GM. Al Avila was always an assistant GM and acted like one when he got promoted. They need an aggressive GM with knowledge of international drafting & analytics.
Would take this with a grain of salt. Lynn Henning is not known for the accuracy of his reporting.
I was about to post the same thing about Hack Henning. He also is as bold faced liar as he announced his retirement two or so years ago, effective immediately.
I was about going to post something. But in addition he said he was retiring effectively immediately a couple years or so ago.
Gotta love delayed posting. lol
Lynn Henning is close to Tigers ownership and Front Office officials.
What Henning writes about and says is based on “insider information”.
It has been that way even in the Dombrowski Era.
Look at Henning’s columns in the last few months of the Avila era
that signaled a change in direction and that Avila was on the “hot seat”.
Any of them would likely be an improvement over Al Avila. Heck, a cardboard cutout would do a better job than Avila.
I’m cool w/ hiring a STL guy. Easier said than done, but it’s the direction I want for the Tigers.
It seems like the cards are always in the hunt. Might be a good hire… especially if he got rid of all of Al’s cronies.
Having ties to a trash canager is a good thing?
Time to move on.
Time for a new hobby.
Absolutely
Jeff Luhnow
Never understood promoting someone into a permanent spot after you fired his boss. If they fired the GM to keep the in house guy that’s one thing. But I’d bring in someone from the outside and start fresh
He came up in (and has only ever worked in) the awful system they now need to completely overhaul. If I’m Chris I listen intently to what Menzin identifies as problem areas, then I absolutely bring in an outside hire to implement solutions. Please don’t hire from within
Tigers just finished overhauling the system. It was done under the guidance of their analytic dept. They changed minor league managers and coaches to bring in people who could better implement the system. I just don’t see the organization changing direction the year after implementing it. But I do agree, don’t hire from within.
Tigers will pilfer someone out of Atlanta’s front office – that’s how it goes.
The Ilitch Way has always been secretive, keep everything in-house, and who cares what the unwashed think. At least Mike tried very hard to win after a decade-plus of Chris-like historic floundering.
Sam Menzin will get a better chance at landing this job than he warrants. That’s because the decision makers already know he can be entrusted with guarding the quasi-mini-cartel-like Ilitch Secrets (registered trademark).
They’re weird about that.
Nothing wrong with keeping things close to the vest. Worked well for Dombrowski.
Or, it could simply be the fact that daddy’s boy is just looking for another stool pigeon, a “yes man”? Someone that will not be able to truly build a team in the correct way… The new GM needs to be one that can ruffle a few feathers and do what really needs to be done to build a winner.. I don’t see daddy’s boy letting that happen.
I think they need to focus on a GM with experience in building a winner, experience is the keyword. The Tigers are going to need a GM that isn’t just building a big league roster, they need a GM that is going to rebuild the whole organization.
The consistent winning teams have proven that winning starts with quality scouting and player development. The Tigers have graded below average in both since 2015. They also need to hire a manager and staff that embraces Tiger baseball. Winning is a culture and Al Avila killed that.
As far as the big league roster goes, they have no choice but to surround Baez with affordable veterans in my humble opinion. Most but not all of the young talent on the roster isn’t developing into MLB regulars. Maybe that changes with the right combination of veterans to help push then.
Whoever takes this job has their work cut out for them. Al Avila has to go down as one of the worst GMs in recent memory. My condolences.
Amiel Sawdaye from D-backs!!
My guess is that they take somebody from the Phillies. Spite is a real thing! Haha
Take that, Dombrowski!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TAKE WILLIAMS FROM THE WHITE SOX
Who should they hire?
And…..
For whom does the bell toll?
Your gut is wrong. Illitch needs to bring in someone from outside the current organization & inject new blood. The guys internal have never been a GM. Al Avila was always an assistant GM and acted like one when he got promoted. They need an aggressive GM with knowledge of international drafting & analytics.
Your gut is wrong. Illitch needs to bring in someone from outside the current organization & inject new blood. The guys internal have never been a GM. Al Avila was always an assistant GM and acted like one when he got promoted. They need an aggressive GM with knowledge of international drafting & analytics.
Avila was Illitch yes man.
Hopefully his replacement will tell him to change his ways otherwise this team will be going nowhere
That is what happened with Dave Dombrowski and Mike Ilitch.
Dombrowski told Mike Illich is was time for a complete teardown and rebuild in the 13-’14 timeline.
Based on Dombrowski track record of skillful trading, the Tigers would have received much bigger returns if Dombrowski had been allowed to trade their core of star players for many multiples of top young prospects and promising young major league players.
Instead, Mike Illitch fired Dombrowski and the Tigers team has never been at the same level of competitiveness since Dombrowski was let go.
The Tigers would be legitimate contenders now, like the Orioles, if Mike Illitch had let Dombrowski do his job and rebuild the roster with smart trades and the Draft.
Clearly, Al Avila, a very nice guy, was not the right man for the job. POB and GM positions are “skill positions”.
Ownership cannot just put anyone in the chair.
Owners cannot just program and computer to dictate trades, signings and free agent signings. There is a lot more to it than that.
Arte Moreno made similar mistakes.
He did not hire top baseball people and let them work their magic.
He meddled constantly and Angels fans see the results.
Jeff Luhnow built the current Astros power house, perennial contender.
The guy that followed Luhnow has had an easier job of just adding to
a baseball powerhouse and one of the best teams in baseball.
Luhnow was disciplined for the players who instigated the cheating scandal.
Luhnow was not involved personally.
Luhnow and AJ were both disciplined for a
“failure to supervise properly”.
Luhnow, Hinch and other managers and coaches were made the “scapegoats”
for a baseball wide problem of sign stealing that has been going on for over 100 years and that continues to this day.
It was a deal made by MLB, Owners and the Players Union
to shield the culprits/players from suspensions and fines.
Management became the “fall guys” for the guilty players.
I don’t see that Cashman and others were ever disciplined
for playing and winning with rosters full of cheating roided up players who looked like big time wrestling “cartoon characters” and won multiple titles cheating
Luhnow’s lawsuit against the Astros shows 22,000 text messages involving MLB’s investigation of the sign stealing scandal
including frequent mentions of the Red Sox and Yankees.
Luhnow is not featured in any of the messages.
Luhnow contends that a deal was made between Astros Owner and
the MLB to make Luhnow the “scapegoat” for the sign stealing scandal.
youtube.com/watch?v=Fi6I6kG0_Ec
The Tigers and Chris Ilitch must make an “outside hire” to change the culture
of the Tigers organization: a revamped farm system, skillfull drafting including in the later rounds (the Dodgers, Astros, Rays, Yankees etc.. always find great young, future major league impact players drafting in the 20-30 position even better than the Tigers find drafting in the “top 10 position), Smarter international signing, smarter trades, smart signing of free agents without massive overpays, better training and less injuries, better coaching and player development, and much, much more.
That is a lot to ask for in a new POB or GM Hiring.
That is why a seasoned veteran like Jeff Luhnow makes the best sense for the Tigers.
The Tigers need a Dave Dombrowski caliber hire and Dave D is not available Jeff Luhnow is a Dave Dombrowski caliber hire.
The Tigers fans do not have the patience to go through an “on the job training new GM” for another 5-10 years…
Chris Illitch should not turn this into another Matt Millen situation.
or a “lottery ticket” hire.
Make the smart decision. Take the heat and the flack from the haters, and then move on…