The Firing-Special Section
It’s awfully hard to argue that either Phil Garner or Randy Smith deserved to keep his job…Replacing Smith wasn’t at all difficult — Dombrowski chose himself, to no one’s surprise — but it’s a lot easier to find a manager in the winter than the spring. But ESPN’s loss could be Dave Dombrowski’s gain; yes, Buck Showalter is both available and eager, and the Tigers could do a lot worse.
Felipe Alou, fired last year as Montreal’s manager, was considered a top candidate to wind up with the Tigers’ job.
“I’m interested in managing,” Alou said from his home. He would not say whether he had been contacted by Detroit officials.
“I’m interested in managing,” Alou said from his home. He would not say whether he had been contacted by Detroit officials.
So now we get a few days into the season, when the foundation of the Tigers’ 2002 season already has been laid, and now the Tigers pull the trigger? The timing of these moves is purely public relations damage control, a premature strike to placate already-disgusted fans before the disgust deepens even more. ..The problem is that, since Ilitch purchased the team in 1992, there hasn’t been a plan. The owner has treated the Tigers like an afterthought to his far more important stewardship of the NHL’s Red Wings.
Billfer (me):
Unless Luis Pujols does a phenomenal job with this team, he won’t remain the coach. The names already being mentioned are Buck Showalter, Felipe Alou, Jim Leyland …While some of those may be decent managerial candidates (except for Leyland, please no Leyland), this whole thing is as much a PR move as it is anything else. If the Tigers can get permission from San Diego, they will pursue Alan Trammell.