Tigers#1
02-25-2003, 09:24 AM
By Tom Krasovic
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 24, 2003
PEORIA, Ariz. – Habitual losers in Mission Valley, the Padres expect to do better when they move to downtown San Diego and a more lucrative ballpark in 2004.
Randy Smith says he likes their chances, but the former Padres and Tigers general manager offers a cautionary tale.
Smith was GM of the Tigers when they moved into Comerica Park in 2000, and he said ownership's desire to "make a splash" in the new park left the whole franchise all wet.
"The owner threw the plan out the window," Smith said. "An owner's ability to stay patient and stick to his convictions, to me, is the most crucial thing in an organization. The plan can be constantly evolving. But if it is constantly changing in different directions, the organization has no chance to be successful."
Padres GM Kevin Towers hired Smith, his predecessor, as a consultant last October.
Smith was fired by the Tigers last April after six consecutive losing seasons on the job.
Since moving into Comerica, the Tigers have posted three losing seasons. They've lost 202 games in the past two years, and last year's attendance was down 1 million from 2000.
In the most revealing public remarks he's made on his Tigers tenure, Smith said recently that coherent planning became impossible in both the year before and after the Tigers moved into Comerica, because club owner Mike Ilitch "kept changing the payroll."
Smith said that Ilitch raised the player payroll in 2000 far more than the baseball staff preferred – "We weren't ready to win," Smith said – and that the owner again surprised the staff following the season by ordering payroll cuts to below $55 million.
"We'd been told that the payroll would be more than $70 million in 2001," Smith said.
Following the 2000 season, Tigers president John McHale Jr. left the club. He ultimately joined the commissioner's office as a vice president.
"John left because of what it was," Smith said. "You can't have one year where you raise the payroll and decide to buy guys, and the next year you're going to cut the payroll. You just can't have huge swings. It just doesn't work."
Ballpark costs could have been a factor. The Tigers reportedly took a $60 million hit after they moved into Comerica because of unexpected costs.
Smith said another twist came in March 2001, when he said Ilitch told him to sign outfielder Bobby Higginson to a multiyear deal. The four-year, $35.6 million pact, which was backloaded, now stands as one of the worst contracts in the franchise's long history.
"I didn't want to sign Bobby Higginson," Smith said.
As the Padres' GM in 1993-94, Smith traded for future All-Stars Ken Caminiti, Steve Finley, Brad Ausmus, Andy Ashby and Trevor Hoffman.
He said the Padres were closer to becoming a contender in late 1994 than were the Tigers before raising the payroll in 2000. He said that assessment factored into expanding the payroll to get Caminiti and Finley, who turned around the franchise, which won division titles in 1996 and '98.
The 2000 Tigers wound up 79-83 and in third place, the franchise's best division finish since 1993. But within a few months, Smith was forced to trade some of his expensive players, including his catcher Ausmus.
"Different philosophies can be successful, but the key to all of those is the courage to stick to your convictions, to follow through on the plan," Smith said. "It takes courage because everybody wants a quick fix.
"If you're going to go with your young players, and have them develop and evolve, and then add to them through free agency and trades – you can't just give up on that and say, 'Go out and buy some guys,' and then give up on that at the end of the year and say, 'Let's go back to what we were doing before.' "
Privately, several Padres staffers have said the two-year delay in their franchise's move downtown probably was a good thing, because several of the team's young players are getting vital time to develop.
"You jack up the payroll when it's appropriate," Smith said. "Teams are mature because they are mature, not because of some magic ballpark opening. And not because it's been X number of years since you've won."
Smith also advises tailoring personnel to a ballpark, but he said most amateur draft classes take 6-7 years before making an impact.
Anticipating the move into a big park with a huge gap in left-center, from 1996-2001 Smith focused more on acquiring amateurs who were left-handed pitchers and hitters, and defensive wizards for center field.
But this year, the Tigers are bringing in their park's fences.
"Again, all of a sudden, things are changing from your plan," Smith said.
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 24, 2003
PEORIA, Ariz. – Habitual losers in Mission Valley, the Padres expect to do better when they move to downtown San Diego and a more lucrative ballpark in 2004.
Randy Smith says he likes their chances, but the former Padres and Tigers general manager offers a cautionary tale.
Smith was GM of the Tigers when they moved into Comerica Park in 2000, and he said ownership's desire to "make a splash" in the new park left the whole franchise all wet.
"The owner threw the plan out the window," Smith said. "An owner's ability to stay patient and stick to his convictions, to me, is the most crucial thing in an organization. The plan can be constantly evolving. But if it is constantly changing in different directions, the organization has no chance to be successful."
Padres GM Kevin Towers hired Smith, his predecessor, as a consultant last October.
Smith was fired by the Tigers last April after six consecutive losing seasons on the job.
Since moving into Comerica, the Tigers have posted three losing seasons. They've lost 202 games in the past two years, and last year's attendance was down 1 million from 2000.
In the most revealing public remarks he's made on his Tigers tenure, Smith said recently that coherent planning became impossible in both the year before and after the Tigers moved into Comerica, because club owner Mike Ilitch "kept changing the payroll."
Smith said that Ilitch raised the player payroll in 2000 far more than the baseball staff preferred – "We weren't ready to win," Smith said – and that the owner again surprised the staff following the season by ordering payroll cuts to below $55 million.
"We'd been told that the payroll would be more than $70 million in 2001," Smith said.
Following the 2000 season, Tigers president John McHale Jr. left the club. He ultimately joined the commissioner's office as a vice president.
"John left because of what it was," Smith said. "You can't have one year where you raise the payroll and decide to buy guys, and the next year you're going to cut the payroll. You just can't have huge swings. It just doesn't work."
Ballpark costs could have been a factor. The Tigers reportedly took a $60 million hit after they moved into Comerica because of unexpected costs.
Smith said another twist came in March 2001, when he said Ilitch told him to sign outfielder Bobby Higginson to a multiyear deal. The four-year, $35.6 million pact, which was backloaded, now stands as one of the worst contracts in the franchise's long history.
"I didn't want to sign Bobby Higginson," Smith said.
As the Padres' GM in 1993-94, Smith traded for future All-Stars Ken Caminiti, Steve Finley, Brad Ausmus, Andy Ashby and Trevor Hoffman.
He said the Padres were closer to becoming a contender in late 1994 than were the Tigers before raising the payroll in 2000. He said that assessment factored into expanding the payroll to get Caminiti and Finley, who turned around the franchise, which won division titles in 1996 and '98.
The 2000 Tigers wound up 79-83 and in third place, the franchise's best division finish since 1993. But within a few months, Smith was forced to trade some of his expensive players, including his catcher Ausmus.
"Different philosophies can be successful, but the key to all of those is the courage to stick to your convictions, to follow through on the plan," Smith said. "It takes courage because everybody wants a quick fix.
"If you're going to go with your young players, and have them develop and evolve, and then add to them through free agency and trades – you can't just give up on that and say, 'Go out and buy some guys,' and then give up on that at the end of the year and say, 'Let's go back to what we were doing before.' "
Privately, several Padres staffers have said the two-year delay in their franchise's move downtown probably was a good thing, because several of the team's young players are getting vital time to develop.
"You jack up the payroll when it's appropriate," Smith said. "Teams are mature because they are mature, not because of some magic ballpark opening. And not because it's been X number of years since you've won."
Smith also advises tailoring personnel to a ballpark, but he said most amateur draft classes take 6-7 years before making an impact.
Anticipating the move into a big park with a huge gap in left-center, from 1996-2001 Smith focused more on acquiring amateurs who were left-handed pitchers and hitters, and defensive wizards for center field.
But this year, the Tigers are bringing in their park's fences.
"Again, all of a sudden, things are changing from your plan," Smith said.