The State of Detroit Sports Teams: 2022 year-in-review

 

    As the year comes to an end, I think it is only fair that we take a look back at the 2022 year for our beloved Detroit sports teams. 2022 has been an up-and-down year to say the least. That includes these young, inexperience Detroit teams. With that being said, let's dive right in and get started.

Detroit Tigers: Injury Bug and Disappointments

    The hopes for this 2022 Detroit Tigers team were high going into the season as the offseason prior to the start of the year was the busiest for the franchise in quite a few years. The most notable of moves were the trades made for both Tucker Barnhart, the Red's gold-glove catcher, and Austin Meadows, the young Ray's slugging outfielder and the signings of all-star shortstop Javier Baez and stud-pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez. With these offseason additions along with the promising young talent the Tigers had coming into the season, such as Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene, these Tigers seems to be on a collision course with becoming one of the best young, talented teams in the Major Leagues. However, as we know this would not be the case. The Tigers would finish 66-96, good for fourth in the A.L. Central. We would see struggles all season, from Spencer Torkelson basically forgetting how to hit a baseball, to having 17 different pitchers starting ball games for the club this year as our entire pitching staff seemed to deal with injuries all season. Akil Baddoo would have a bad year after finishing last season as one of the most talked-about young players on the Tigers. Javier Baez had a down season and at one point the 39-year old Miguel Cabrera was the best hitter on the team again. There were two bright spots that came out of this disappointing season, Riley Greene emerged as a defensive force in centerfield and Tarik Skubal solidified his position as a top young pitching talent. 2023 will be an interesting season for the Tigers as they have already signed Matt Boyd to a one-year deal after having traded him before the 2022 season, Spencer Turnbull should be returning from Tommy John surgery after missing the entire 2022 season and they signed Michael Lorenzen to a one-year deal to bolster the pitching for this young team. A potential starting rotation of Eduardo Rodriguez, Matt Boyd, Michael Lorenzen, Matt Manning and Spencer Turnbull, with both Skubal and Mize starting the season on the IL, the pitching for this team looks promising, the hitting leaves a little to be desired, but I expect the Tigers to either improve by 5-10 games or to finish the same as they did in 2022, in 2023.

Detroit Pistons: Young and Hungry

    The Detroit Pistons have a lot to look forward to in the next 3-5 years with their average age on this team being the fourth youngest in the league at 24.7 years old. However the Pistons finished an abysmal 2021-22 campaign at 23-59, 14th in the Eastern conference. The 21-22 campaign would have some promising outcomes as Cade Cunningham and Sadiq Bey would prove to be the future cornerstones in this franchise for the foreseeable future.  As the 2022 offseason rolled around, Troy Weaver would begin making moves as he was apart of a four-team trade between the Pistons, Bucks, Clippers and Kings, where the Pistons would trade away Josh Jackson, Trey Lyles, and a 2023 and 2024 second-round picks, and received Marvin Bagley III, a 23 year old big man. The next big move made by Weaver was to trade star player Jerami Grant and the 46th 2022 draft pick to the Portland Trailblazers in exchange for the 36th pick in the 2022 draft, along with a 2025 first-round pick via Milwaukee, a 2025 second-round pick and a 2026 second round pick. Weaver was not done yet as he jumped in on a three-team trade with the Hornets and Knicks. The trade would play out as follows:

• Knicks Receive:
• Conditional 2025 1st round-pick from the Pistons (via Milwaukee)
• Pistons Receive:
• 2022 draft rights to Jalen Duren (via Charlotte)
• Kemba Walker (via New York)
• Hornets Receive:
• 2023 first-round pick (from Denver via Oklahoma City and New York)
• 2023 second-round pick (via New York)
• 2023 second-round pick (via Utah)
• 2023 second-round pick (most favorable of Dallas/Miami)
• 2024 second-round pick (via New York)

    This was huge for the Pistons as they already used their 5th overall pick to draft guard Jaden Ivey from Purdue, they were able to get big man Jalen Duren as well. Weaver would make one final splash before the season as he traded Saben Lee and Kelly Olynyk to the Jazz in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic. The Pistons have not gotten off to a good start this year, as Cade Cunningham will be out for the season due to having season ending surgery to fix an injury sustained early in the season. However this season turns out, the future is bright for the Pistons.

Detroit Lions: Question Marks

    Let's set the record straight, the Lions franchise has been horrible for 65 years, winning just one playoff game in that time frame, in 1991. I do not blame this on any of the players we have had over the years, obviously having arguably the best running back and wide receiver ever in Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson, I do not blame it on the coaching staffs we have had, I don't even blame it on the general managers we've had in the front office. The number one enemy of the Lions has been the ownership, the Fords. The only thing that the Fords have been concerned with is making money, and the sad part is, this fanbase is so loyal that they continue to pay their hard earned money to watch these teams. Okay, tangent aside, this team has had many questions marks throughout this season. Is Dan Campbell the coach we need? Is Jared Goff the quarterback for the foreseeable future? Can this young team be good fast enough?

    The Lions finished the 2021-22 campaign at 3-13-1 good for 4th in the NFC north division. This was expected a bit after Dan Campbell taking over what was a horrible crop of talent from the Quintricia years. The hopes were high going into the 2022 draft where the Lions had 8 picks, including 2 first round picks, their own and the Rams from the Matthew Stafford Trade. The Lions and new GM Brad Holmes used those picks to draft as follows:

• Round 1, Pick 2 - EDGE Aidan Hutchinson, Michigan
• Round 1, Pick 12 - WR Jameson Williams, Alabama
• Round 2, Pick 46 - EDGE Josh Paschal, Kentucky
• Round 3, Pick 97 - S Kerby Joseph, Illinois
• Round 5, Pick 177 - TE James Mitchell, Virginia Tech
• Round 6, Pick 188 - LB Malcom Rodriguez, Oklahoma State
• Round 6, Pick 217 - EDGE James Houston, Jackson State
• Round 7, Pick 237 - CB Chase Lucas, Arizona State

    We are currently in Week 15 of the 2022-23 season, and after going 1-6 in the first 7 games of the season, they have managed to go 5-1 in the last 6, and every single one of these rookies have made an impact in one way or another in the course of this season. This has to be the best draft the Lions have had in the history of the team. Brad Holmes has proved he truly is the draft guru everyone was saying he was when he was with the Rams front office. They have a matchup with a tough Jets team that has been a shock this year as well this Sunday. The Lions have shown much improvement in the last 6 games and could ride this wave of momentum to a wild card playoff birth. Watch out for this team in the coming years.

Detroit Red Wings: More Detroit Youth

    The Red Wings have been somewhat of a disappointment in recent years compared to the 1990's and 2000's teams that made the playoffs every year for 25 years straight from the 1990-91 season to the 2015-16 season. Since then the Red Wings have not had a winning season, let alone a playoff birth. However, I think they are finally finding the right pieces, between players, coaches, and front office staff. The ownership has brought in a Detroit Red Wings legend to be their general manager in Steve Yzerman. Since 2019 when Yzerman has taken over, there has been a major over hall to this team. Steve Yzerman has brought in a lot of young talent to this team with the average age being 26 years old. Some of the notable young players he has brought in including 2021 rookie of the year Moritz Seider, Elmer Soderblom, and Lucas Raymond. These player have made an impact alongside veteran players Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi. This Red Wings team has been fun to watch at the start of this season, but have hit a skid as of late. I think this team could be fun to watch for the next few years.

    Overall the state of Detroit sports is currently hitting its turn around and is back on the rise with each team being fun to watch, at the very least. I am excited to see where these teams go in the coming years. Stay tuned as I am sure I'll be watching and covering them for the foreseeable future.

Massive Contracts in the MLB

   

        In the last three to four MLB seasons we have seen a major increase in long-term, big money contracts for talent of all ages. Historically, however, long-term contracts have been a bad investment for all teams across the board. For a long time I have always considered, as a best option to curb this issue would to be to enforce a contract-length cap, like the NBA does with their "max contracts". This would allow teams to save money both in the short run and the long run as the contracts' salary would be lower and if a player did not pan out, it would be easier to let them out of their contract or to find a suitable trade partner. I am going to take a look at a few of the worst long-term contracts in MLB history along with a few more recent long-term contracts to state my case for a contract length cap.

• Miguel Cabrera: 8-years, $248 million

            I am starting with this contract, because, as a long-term Detroit Tigers fan, this has been a pain to watch in recent years. Now, is Miguel Cabrera going to go down as one of, if not the greatest right-handed hitter of all time? Absolutely, but has he been worth the amount of money we are paying him on this contract since 2016? Absolutely not. 2016 was the year that they signed the big guy to this extension, ironically, this was his last big year. In 2016, he was an all-star, hitting .316/38/108 in 158 games. Since 2016, he has averaged just 109 games a year hitting .268/10/51. Obviously, this is a rapid, steep decline for a man that is being paid $31 million a season. Taking into consideration that Cabrera was 33 when they signed him to the extension, he was already towards the end of the prime of his career, but no one expected as rapid of a decline for the big guy. Since 2016, the Tigers have been perennial basement-dwellers in the A.L. central and Cabrera has done nothing to help the team get out of the basement. If he were not signed to such a big contract, we could spend that money on younger talents and really start a big rebuild.

• Prince Fielder: 9-year, $214 million

            Here we are once again, speaking on yet another long term deal that the Tigers did that would turn out to be a bit of a raw deal for the team. In the 2011-2012 offseason, the Detroit Tigers signed Prince Fielder to a 9-year, $214 million deal. At the time of his signing, there was a lot of high hopes for the Tigers as Fielder was touted as one of the top 10 players in the league. However, in just 5 short years, Fielder would be forced to retire due to injury and be out of the sport entirely.  

            Fielder had just 2 seasons with the Tigers before being traded to the Rangers, along with cash considerations for all-star second baseman Ian Kinsler. In those two years, Fielder did what he was brought in to do, protect Miguel Cabrera in the lineup and be a productive player for the Tigers. In both seasons with the Tigers, Fielder would play in all 162 games. His better of the two years was in 2012, in which he hit .313 with 30 home runs and 108 RBIs. Fielder would have a down year in 2013, hitting .279 with 25 home runs and 106 RBIs. Fielder would be traded to the Rangers in the 2013-14 offseason where he would play 3 seasons where he would play in only one full season in 2015 with a bit of a resurgence, however with 2014 and 2016 being injury riddled, eventually Fielder would be forced to retire due to a career-ending neck injury. This was a major case of what-could-have-been and both the Rangers and Tigers would continue to pay him until the 2020 season, eating up some of their cap space with a player who no longer could play for either team.

• Bobby Bonilla: 25-year, $29.8 million

            This will go down as the single-most stupid contract in the history of baseball. There is quite the backstory to this contract however, and I think it is important to highlight that backstory. The Mets inked Bonilla to a 5-year, $29 million deal in 1991. He had a productive first three-and-a-half years with the Mets as he amassed 73 home runs and a 128 OPS+ from 1992-1994. The Mets dealt Bonilla to the Orioles halfway through the 95' season, and in the following 4 seasons, Bonilla would play for four different teams. Ironically as it is, Bonilla rejoined the Mets in 99' and was released the following season. Upon his release, he was still owed $5.9 million. This is where the Mets made the worst financial decision in the history of baseball, the went into an investment partnership with the infamous Bernie Madoff, who convinced Mets ownership that it would be "more financially viable to defer payment for Bonilla's contract, spreading it across 25 years (2011-2035) with eight percent interest." This is the spark of what would become infamously known as Bobby Bonilla day. Every July 1st since 2011, the Mets have paid Bonilla exactly $1,193,248.20 like clockwork. If you'd like to read more about this infamous ownership blunder of the Mets, check out this post on blognews.com "Bobby Bonilla Day, explained: Why does the former Mets star get paid every July 1?"

Modern-Day contracts that could end badly

        I believe the best examples to look at for potential bad contracts are the contracts we have seen given to 3 of the top shortstops in the game of baseball today; Xander Bogaerts, Trea Turner, and Carlos Correa. The contract details are as follows:

• Xander Bogaerts: 11-year, $280 million deal with the San Diego Padres
• Trea Turner: 11-year, $300 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies
• Carlos Correa: 13-year, $350 million deal with the San Francisco Giants

        The one major thing that stands out to me about these contracts is that each of these talented stars will be in their early 40's, in fact they'll all be turning 41 by the time their deals are up. All three of these talented shortstops certainly deserve to be paid, and paid accordingly for their talents, however, if Miguel Cabrera is any indication on what a long term contract can pay off to be when the talent is in their 40's by the end of their contract, these could turn out to be very bad investments for each of these teams. Now, maybe I end up being incorrect and these 3 men turn out to be the Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers of the MLB, but if history is any indicator of what could happen, I think we are in for some rough times ahead. 

Restructuring MLB Contract Details

        My proposal to fix this issue and not see these contracts and future contracts turn out like Miguel Cabrera's contract is to set a contract length cap. We've seen this work out for the NBA where stars are on a 4 or 5 year rookie contract depending on where they are drafted, and they become unrestricted free agents and can sign max contracts that max out at 4-years. I think this would be a great idea for the MLB to incorporate. Right now, the way contracts work for drafted players currently, is that they are obligated to a team for a minimum of 6 years, from being on a 3-year rookie deal, to 3 years of being salary arbitration eligible. They cannot explore free agency for 6 years, making these men be the ages of 24-28 years old depending on when they are drafted. MLB contracts and free agency has needed a revamp for a long time, and I think when it is finally looked ate, this is something that needs to be looked at as well. Teams and players could both benefit from this kind of deal, making it ideal in the big picture, I am sure there is much more to consider, but this could help control team payroll as well.