LAKELAND, Fla. — Alan Trammell met George Steinbrenner once, “just briefly,” the should-be Hall of Fame shortstop said Sunday.
“I don’t even know if he realized who I was at that particular time, early in my career,” he said. “But as fans of the game, everybody was aware of George.”
The owner for whom Trammell works now with the Tigers, Mike Ilitch, has a far lower profile than The Boss did. Yet if you’re looking for the spiritual successor to the late Steinbrenner, for the new Yankees now that the actual Yankees have (at least temporarily) altered their stripes, then Joker Marchant Stadium should be your destination. Among the Yankees’ many challengers for an American League playoff slot will be this team that enjoyed a Yankees-esque winter under the leadership of a Steinbrenner contemporary and kindred spirit.
“You don’t hear too often, and I’m sure it’s happened a few times over the history of baseball, but they want to win one for the owner. They want to win for Mr. I.,” said Trammell, a special assistant to Detroit general manager Al Avila, “which is a pretty heavy statement and just a tribute to him and what he’s done for a number of years of trying to do whatever he can.”
One similar such instance comes to mind: When the 2009 Yankees won it all, they dedicated their 27th title to Steinbrenner, who died less than a year later. Title-less since ’09 and burned repeatedly by long-term investments, the Yankees — under the leadership of George’s son Hal Steinbrenner — have prioritized importing younger talent and smaller contracts until they rid themselves of some albatross pacts.
Ilitch, 86, was born in 1929; he’s nearly a year older than Steinbrenner would have been. He trails The Boss in baseball championships, 7-0, although his Detroit Red Wings have won the Stanley Cup four times. The Tigers have qualified for the World Series twice since he bought the team in 1992, falling short in both the 2006 and 2012 Fall Classics. Their last parade occurred in 1984, with Trammell winning Most Valuable Player honors.
“He would like nothing more than to have a championship in baseball,” Trammell said of Ilitch.
Ilitch supported that notion, in the wake of the Tigers’ disappointing 74-87 finish last year, with both his words and his actions. The Tigers launched their offseason by acquiring former Met Francisco Rodriguez from Milwaukee, and after they signed starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann to a six-year, $110 million contract, Ilitch made a rare appearance at the news conference.
“I want to win,” Ilitch proclaimed on Nov. 30. “I don’t care about the money. I want the best players.”
By the time spring training opened, the Tigers had spent a total of $271.75 million on free agents Justin Upton ($132.75 million), Mike Pelfrey ($16 million), Mark Lowe ($11 million) and Mike Aviles ($2 million). They also traded for Yankees reliever Justin Wilson and outfielder Cameron Maybin, who will begin the season on the disabled list after a pitch by the Yankees’ Luis Severino broke his left wrist.
“They made great moves,” designated-hitter Victor Martinez said. “As a player, it makes you feel good.”
It marked Avila’s first Hot Stove season as GM after succeeding his longtime boss Dave Dombrowski last August. Ilitch released a Steinbrennerian statement upon dismissing Dombrowski, saying, “Together, we’ve enjoyed some success, but we’re still in aggressive pursuit of our ultimate goal: to bring a World Series title to Detroit and Michigan.”
Right before the front-office switch, Dombrowski traded three of the Tigers’ impending free agents, including Yoenis Cespedes to the Mets, in an attempt to replenish the farm system.
“At that time, we thought we would be right back in it for this coming year,” Avila said. “We still have [Miguel] Cabrera, [Justin] Verlander. … We can’t rebuild at their age right now. Their situation, when you figured you had at least another year or two that you could keep on going.”
Cabrera turns 33 in April and is signed through at least 2023. Verlander is 33 and is signed through at least 2019. Given that, Verlander said, “I think [the front office is] going to sit down and say, ‘Do we have a chance to win? Yes? OK, let’s step on the gas.’ And that’s what they did.”
They’re headed into some heavy AL traffic. They’re well-equipped, though. And for better or worse, they’re more all-in than anyone else in baseball.