Tiger337

I hope so too especially since it's easier to make the playoffs now. It's gone from 15% to 37.5%. So, you would expct an average team to make the playoffs 1 or 2 times in 10 years in the 80s but 3 or 4 times today.

yes

Look at him and keep your eyes open. Limit the blinking.

So, next year will be like 77. Just 7 more years until the World Series! 76-87 were my Tigers fan glory years, so repeating that would be fun. Except I'm old and cynical now.

Back then I was like Echoes. Every Tiger prospect was going to be great! That worked out in the late 70s, early 80s.... Then it didn't work anymore.

Possibly true, but I don't really know. It may be that they haven't spent because they didn't feel they were ready for the next step. The elder Ilitch took a long time before he started spending. I know Chris Ilitch is rumored to be cheap and disinterested, but maybe they will surprise us. There are surprise teams in the free agent market every year. I am really hoping they ultimately have a healthy payroll in the near future, because it won't be fun rooting for a team that can't even keep their team together once they become good.

Given their history in terms of innings pitched and injuries, all five being healthy and pitching full seasons seems pretty unlikely. Pitchers have a good track record coming back from TJ surgery but they also tend to lack durability and some get injured again. I definitely want to see them add another starter.

Don't listen to the salary scolds.

There are exceptions to every trend! Winfield was a freak though - very big but also gifted athletically. Frank Thomas certainly fits the big guy lasting a long time profile. Both of those guys played in the steroid era too, so who knows?

I find it interesting that some people are so easily rating Cabrera over Kaline. Kaline has always been regarded as a god in Detroit and I grew up thinking that his numbers didn't match his status. So, I kind of get it. In later years, I came to the conclusion that he really was a great all around player who lasted a long time and worthy of much of the adoration. Cabrera was a better hitter than Kaline, but not THAT much better whe you consider the eras in which they played and Kaline was a far better defender and had more good years in Detroit.,

Bigger players tend not to age well. I can't say with any certainty that his late career injuries were due to extra weight, but there is a correlation between body mass and propensity to injury especially as you get older.

That is what I recall as well. That was the second baseman's play. Cabrera was below average at both first and third. He was an elite hitter and all his value came from that.

You've got to consider personalities. 😆

Yamamoto or Snell plus Jung Hoo Lee. Trade Carpenter and a young infielder for a 2B/3B who can field. Not sure who is available.

The Padres were one of the most underachieving teams ever, so I'm not sure Soto and Tatis made players better.

7th seems about right. He and Heilmann are close, but Heilmann had a damn good peak and more good years than Cabrera. The other wildcard is Verlander. It's hard to compare pitchers and hitters, but they both peaked at the same time and I think Verlander had a slightly bigger impact most years.

He is 42nd in OPS+ (a stat which I consider to be a very important offensive stat) among players with at least 5,000 PA. Kaline made a substantial defensive contribution as well. Also, when I make a ranking like this, I only look at years they played with the Tigers, so that lowers Cabrera's counting stats. I would not even consider putting him ahead of Cobb, Kakine and Gehringer.. The highest I could go is 4th.

I would not have put him ahead of Gehringer and Kaline. Maybe 4th.

Now that Cabrera is done, where does he fit among Tigers all-time? It's a bit of a challenge because his peak years were so good, but he had so many down years at the end. Giving value to both peak and longevity, here is a quick list: 1. Cobb 2. Kaline 3. Gehringer 4. Greenberg 5. Verlander 6. Heilmann 7. Cabrera 8. Whitaker 9. Trammell 10. Crawford.

With Tatis' and Soto's contracts, you'll get the peak version and the last 7-years version.

With Cabrera retiring, there are no more hitters who batted against the Expos.

I would not be unhappy if they signed him, but I would never making signing a reliever a top priority.

I have seen no evidence of Gaetz being a smart guy.

No, WAR is not the only stat, but it's better than WHIP. The main problem with the Tigers pitchers is that they can't stay healthy and any stat that doesn't include innings pitched is not going to explain that. Personalties? What makes you think that Manning, Mize and Skubal have better personalties for success than Fulmer and Boyd? Neither one of us knows these guys personally. You know, I really hope this current group does better, but it's tough to predict which young players will succeed. i know you think every Tigers prospect is going to be the next great thing. I wish I could be that way, but I can't. 😀