At last I can sleep easy knowing that my beloved Tigers haven't been cheating. Since the moment the news of the Houston Astros cheating broke, my life has been in peril and my fandom in question. Could I have been hoodwinked into rooting for a cheating ball club? What would that say about me as a person if I was unknowingly stooping so low? While that all would be a tough pill to swallow, I don't have to worry about that because thanks to my guy Al, my Tigers have been acquitted of all suspicions.
The Detroit Tigers have lost 114, 104, and 98 games the last 3 seasons. In other words the Tigers have been really shitty. I appreciate Al Avila being honest with fans and the media, but the Tigers have literally been the worst team during that stretch. If the Tigers were using technology to cheat, they need to fire whoever was running that operation because they're basically brain dead. Yes, the Tigers have been playing Triple-A guys and washed up vets but judas if those guys knew to just sit on a fastball they would be able to at least hit .250 instead of the cool .200 that most guys hit last season.
A little PR 101 for Al Avila here, it's super dumb to use the phrasing "in recent years". By saying that, he's absolving the Tigers for recent years but also saying "please don't ask about when we were winning the AL Central". Do I think the Tigers were using sign-stealing technology during that stretch? Yes and no. Yes, in some capacity I'm sure they were working to tip batters off as to what pitch was coming but in an old-school sense like all teams do. I don't think they used buzzers inside the jersey or smashing trashcans like Houston. If you're suddenly in the camp saying that Detroit was cheating in that stretch, please refer to the Tigers playoff performances during their run as kings of the central and I will assure that they were not cheating.
Last point I'll make, is that even if the Tigers were using sign-stealing technology in recent years, their pitching staff would find a way to still lose the game. That being said, pitchers and catchers report in 17 days and 61 days until opening day. Can't wait for Michael Fulmer #comebackszn, maybe a few more Miggy bombs (before he tears another bicep) and Kirk Gibson rambling about who knows what on TV. Again credit to Al Avila for being a good guy and admitting that the Detroit Tigers have not recently used any sign-stealing technology, now please draft the next Mike Trout.
So the fact that Al Avila thinks that he needs to publicly say "Don't worry we have NOT been stealing signs or cheating" is a little alarming. The Tigers have basically been playing as a Triple-A team so the only way they even sniff being a .500 team is if they were to cheat like the Astros.
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