SoCalTiger

17 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

translation: "Here we are at 35 and 65 again..."

I think they will win 75 to 77 games and be interesting and at times entertaining so count me as bullish at this point even without Skuball.

“ Due to an abundance of caution we have decided not to have Tarik pitch this season”….AJ Hinch August 2023

4 hours ago, Edman85 said:

I noticed Andy Ibanez on Team Cuba for the WBC. So he will be out of camp from roughly March 1 until Cuba is done.

Should be plenty of infield/dh at bats to go around, assuming Baez, Schoop, and Cabrera are playing as well.

Cuba and Netherlands (Schoop) are in the pool in Taiwan (Please call it Taiwan. Chinese Taipei nomenclature is Chinese propaganda), so that is a bit of extra travel time/adjustment.

Hope Schoop got his Taiwan 🇹🇼 visa in time. Or should I say Formosa since he his playing for the Netherlands and the Dutch were the first western explorers to land there and called it Formosa which means Beautiful Island 🏝 which it is indeed. 

Just now, 1984Echoes said:

Are you telling me that because I supported Avila I'm NOT ALLOWED to question Hinch...

like, ever?

That seems like some kind of draconian punishment that I am receiving here...

nah Hinch is squarely back to needing to prove himself in 2023 because last year was way worse than the success he had in 2021. He's a manager and they LIVE in the frying pan.

1 hour ago, Longgone said:

It's not an exciting trend, but there's not enough data to be determinative.

Good point but Dan Dickerson and his Booth mates all echoed this endlessly last summer and it remains  the key issue going into 2023 so the data will build and I hope the result is far different. Tork and Greene remain the two most important parts of our future success. Without them we are indeed back to a rebuild. 

The issue with Torkelson is his inability to hit middle middle fastballs. Until he does that he’s toast. 

I am very happy with Harris running the show and also believe he is the real deal. Having said that we have not seen a draft, a major free agent investment ( meaning can he make solid choices not that he hasn't yet since it's not time yet) and as G-2 mentions can he stem the arm blowouts if that's even possible.

I also think Hinch is better than most assuming Avila was forcing his hand the last two years to play "Al's Hires". And I know matchups are "the in strategy" and maybe really the way to go but I still think players that know where and when they will play can prep and perform better. I mean they don't all have to be utility players and knowing what your position or maybe two positions are has to help development. So I would like to see them pick a spot or at most two for a player and give them reps there. Or at least experiment at AAA. But maybe thats "old School" and out dated thinking ?

And yes keep an eye on the future by playing the kids with upside over the flat lining vets which Harris has publicly stated they will and probably  the reason we do not have third baseman. 

1 hour ago, casimir said:

George Santos is taking credit for it.

Or any politician will 😀

1 hour ago, 1984Echoes said:

I relayed that exact conversation just above (pg. 165).

Yes you were first..I should read all the posts first 😀

3 hours ago, casimir said:

I am guessing Avila was on the crapper or something when it was time to draft Skubal.  Someone else made that move.  That's my theory.

It was Scot Boras that called the Tigers encouraging them to draft Skubal. 

4 hours ago, chasfh said:

To be fair, Paredes did end the season with 2.2 WAR with plus-D at third base, a 114 OPS+, and he had a pretty good August.

Even so, it's asking a lot for a 23-year-old to be consistently good month after month through an entire season, especially a guy coming directly out of the frying pan of a system that has routinely failed the development of their minor leaguers and directly into the fire of a team expected to contend for a ring. I'll be interested to see how Paredes does after spending an entire winter working under their direction.

I hope Meadows can perform well in 2023 because this trade is grand larceny year to date. And I wager Parades will do well. He is exactly the type of player Harris is targeting and Al traded him with a High Draft Pick for a player in decline at escalating cost. 

My lineup is more based on who will get the most AB's over the season. I have Greene and Baez 1 and 2 because I think they are the two best hitters we have. I am also thinking Miggy plays very little and Badoo beats out Carpenter.

But I expect to be wrong as this is a tough call in January.

Greene CF

Baez. SS

Meadows RF

Haase  C

Maton 3B

Verling LF

Torkelson 1B

Schoop 2B

Badoo DH

Greene CF

Baez. SS

Meadows RF

Haase  C

Maton 3B

Verling LF

Torkelson 1B

Schoop 2B

Badoo DH

2 hours ago, casimir said:

Cow tippin’ party?

Maybe but more my impression that Chaffin will just keep on truckin and pitch where he wants. Just doesn’t seem like a troubled or over serious dude. 
 

The odds are against us but I wouldn’t be shocked to see him back in Detroit anchoring the pen similar to the Boyd signing 

I think Harris is trying to sign Chafin to a one year deal. No intel on this just a hunch. I think Chaffin like Detroit and it’s proximity to his farm. Party on. 

It’s possible  that Cisneros appeal might be his willingness or ability to always pitch allowing other bullpen arms their required rest ? Every pen can use a “rubber “ arm guy to keep the pen as a whole fresh. I kind of remember Hinch saying that about Cisneros but I could be mistaken. 

8 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

You've been lied to your whole life.  The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can move forward.  

 

 

And by the people you're told to trust which is also a lie. 😀

I think Nevin is out of options so he will get a long look at third base against lefties is my guess with Maton playing third against righties and some second base as well. 

19 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I have wondered about the Trayce Thompson situation because the whole thing was just so weird.

Released by the Padres on May 14, signed by the worst-hitting-team-in-baseball Tigers on May 19, killing it in Toledo for a month (.299/.352/.639 in 25 games ) after killing it in El Paso (.316/.385/.860 in 16 games), and instead of being promoted to Detroit, gets sold by the worst-hitting-team-in-baseball Tigers to the Dodgers on June 20, for whom he goes on to crush it for the rest of the season (.268/.364/.537 in 70 games).

It makes zero sense. What gave with that?

Al "gave" his job for that among other things.....

I remember reading Harris saying after moving Jimenez for Mallory that "trades are hard" which I interpreted as all GM's are griping their prospects tight and valuing the same things as Harris does. That plus as Chasfh noted about Harris being caught by surprise by the high cost of free agency in both dollars and years has led to some missed opportunities resulting in Harris lamenting about commiting innings and AB's to youngsters because thats all that's left to do. 

He has my full support but I was hopeful of adding one "foundation" or at least solid piece this off season and was guessing maybe Contreras who can catch, play some left field and oh yes HIT. Maybe Mallory will prove to be that addition or something might still happen. I think it's better to play the youngsters rather than sign older retreads for 1 to 2 years but I would like to see a balance as G2 and RatkoVara stated. We could always just bench, trade or release these short term guys "if" a youngster proved superior and yet have the parachute if they don't. 

1 hour ago, Tenacious D said:

In an ideal world, here is your 2025 team (assumes no external acquisitions):

C Dingler/Rogers

1B Torkelson 

2B W. Perez 

SS J. Baez

3B Keith

LF Malloy

CF Greene

RF Carpenter

DH Jung

SP Skubal

SP Mize

SP ERod

SP Turnbull

SP Manning

Pen: Lange, Madden Wentz, Dylan Smith, Vest, Flores, Olson

Sorry, I’m bored.

We're all bored so given the 22 players on your list what's the over / under for the number actually on the team say July 1 2025 ?  I will start with 8

2 hours ago, RatkoVarda said:

couple of names to consider in trades that no one asked for:
Baty - would cost a ton; long term piece hopefully

Madrigal - zero power, but may have bat to ball skills Harris wants

Josh Smith and Ezekiel Duran - blocked in Texas; Smith (LH) is wasted in LF

Victor Robles - just 25, elite RH CF defender w/2 years of control left, would pair nicely with Greene (transitioning to a corner) and Parker Meadows (in 2024)

Nolan Gorman - may K too much for Harris, but miscast as 2b

Oswaldo Cabrera (SH) - miscast as OF

Dominic Canzone - 3rd string LH 1b/OF in Arizona

Eguy Rasario - blocked in SD, but a RH bat

Vidal Brujan - over hyped prospect who has shown zero power/production in small samples; Metzler would have insights

Great list. Send it to Scot but observe the Do Not Disturb sign on the hotel door. 

Can't believe Tucker got 2 years. It's been a crazy free agency. Madrigal would be worth a shot. Pretty clear now that Harris only wants to add position players with potential multiple years of control or, as pointed out on the board, no position players want to rebuild their resume hitting in Comerica. 

Wow Mets not shy. Time to mine their third stackers in the minors. 

1 minute ago, RatkoVarda said:

sounds like a calculated risk

Harris did promise some of those didn't he or is Mallory in that category.