After A Year Long Search, The Detroit Tigers Have Finally Hired Jeff Greenberg To Be Their New General Manager
Eh, okay. Honestly, it’s hard for me to really feel one way or the other about this. I’m not overwhelmed and jumping off of walls as my heart fills with abundant positivity, but I’m not throwing shit at the wall either. The Tigers are still in that phase where you’re trying to figure out whether or not Scott Harris knows what he’s doing. I think there’s been a lot of positive things that I’ve seen from the organization this year.
The 2023 Detroit Tigers, while not good, have been way less painful than we thought. The farm system has drastically improved. They’ve brought in a new influx of scouts that have helped develop some young players and an analytics department that has greatly improved. Harris has a philosophy, and he’s trying to stick to that. The Major League roster needs improvement. That’ll be the next step. Can they field a team next year that can win the American League Central? We’re going to find out.
As far as Greenberg is concerned, I’m willing to trust anybody who worked under Theo Epstein at any point. He was the assistant general manager for Jeff Loyer several years back with the Cubs before getting a job with the Chicago Blackhawks. I was surprised when I read that. It’s pretty rare to see a baseball guy go to hockey for a short period. But now he’s back in baseball, and it looks like he and Harris will be a tag team here. They obviously have a relationship. Both of these guys came from Chicago.
At this point next year, I’m going to have a much better idea regarding where this organization is headed. We will know soon whether Scott Harris knows what he’s doing. The one thing that I can say to his credit up to this point is that he’s been very consistent with his philosophy. He’s bringing in his guys. No one has actually said it, but he’s essentially trying to be Theo Epstein part two. Have a philosophy, stick to that philosophy, and bring in the smartest guys possible.
On paper, all of that sounds great. The ball is now in the court of Tigers owner Chris Ilitch. Scott Harris and company can build as strong a core as possible, but at a certain point, the checkbook is going to have to be opened up. And when it is opened up, don’t fucking sign, Javier Báez. Sign good players. If that happens, then in several years, we could be talking about the Detroit Tigers as a well-oiled machine. One can only hope.