Tiger337

5 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

PS: If you add in 4 WAR between Baez/Torres...

That's 16-18 WAR from those 6 guys...

if we can actually get that...

Then I think we're having a good year.

Just my 2 cents.

FanGraphs has those two at 3.5, so that's 13 total for 6 players.  I am not saying thay can't reach as high as you stated.  Just trying to give an unbiased estimate.  

6 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

I don't see any improvement from Baez or Torres coming...

But I think Dingler, Tork, Greene & Keith can definitely put up better numbers (both fielding as well as hitting)...

I mean... they could also regress... growth is not always linear...

But I think those 4, depending on offseason approach (are they dedicated to improvement?), or recognizing a change in approach is needed (looking at you Greene) and fixing it... or just "young guy still growing/ getting better" (Keith and Dingler) has me optimistic that we could get some growth from these... young guys.

Just a WAG:

I'm hoping for a bare minimum of 12 WAR from those 4 guys. And REALLY looking for 14 WAR. But maybe that is too far a reach.

I don't think those 4 are incapable of providing that performance though...

FanGraphs projects 9.4 combined for those 4 players.  

5 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

No, but we should if he thinks that re-signing Gleyber Torres and adding a 38 year old relief pitcher along with a bunch of no-name minor league contracts constitutes an off-season.  

He has also re-signed Flaherty and Finnegan.  So, basically, we have the same team coming back plus a 38-year old relief pitcher.  That's the same team that went through an epic collapse last year.  It's also mostly the same team that made an epic comeback in 2024 and was arguauably the best performing team in the first half of 2025.  So, what do they have?

I was hoping for more and there is still time.  

1 minute ago, Tiger337 said:

What don't you like about Matt Shaw, the person?

Oh, I figured out what it is...

By the way, I see that he went to the same high school as Mark Fidrych.  

22 minutes ago, chasfh said:

That should spell the end of Matt Shaw in Chicago, although if the Cubs end up trading Nico Hoerner instead, they deserve to miss out on the playoffs next year.

I don’t like Matt Shaw the person, but maybe Scott Harris should go after Matt Shaw the player to play third base for us. We have the prospect capital to pay for him.

What don't you like about Matt Shaw, the person?

Mize pitched like an allstar for a couple of months, but I wouldn't call him allstar caliber based on his whole body of work.  If he pitches the same next year as last year, I'd say he is an average starter.  I do think they could get Max Anderson for him, but that's pretty close to Chas's stated 10-20 range.  He's right around 10 depending on the list.  I wouldn't be OK with that, but they might get a little more.  Still, I'd rather have Mize than anything they could get.  

I don't trust Olson to stay healthy.  I'm not even sure he's healthy now.  Anderson is going to be 32 and has never done anything in the Majors, so I'm not expecting a lot from him despite his big season in Korea.  Bassitt is old, but has consistently pitched 170+ solid innings per year.  He's not exciting, but I like his chances this year better than Anderson.

10 minutes ago, buddha said:

i think emotion and an incredible sense of competitiveness got him there as well as incredible athletic talent.

if you dont think great athletes can be petty and hold grudges over "business" and minor transgressions, i direct your attention to Michael Jeffrey Jordan.  sometimes minor slights drive great athletes.

im not saying this is happening with skubal, but dismissing it out of hand because "well, they know its a business" is just as likely to be false.

I wonder how **** Allen would have reacted to arbitration?  

17 minutes ago, buddha said:

how do we know he doesnt?

again, these guys are human.  youre right, they know its a business, but we all work in business.  and not everyone is mature enough to let things go.  i imagine boras has told him everything that you've said, and everything you've said about it being a "business" and he's not a middle schooler is correct, but that doesnt mean he wont take offense, wont hold a grudge, and wont think about it the next time he has leverage....which should be in about 10 months.

Dombrowski did not like the process and wanted to avoid it every year.  

22 minutes ago, buddha said:

as someone who manages a lot of people, if i went into an open process like arbitration and said all sorts of things about how they didnt deserve the same salary as x, y, or z, there would be hurt feelings.  no matter how much money they made.

i know "its a business", but its still hard to hear that your employer doesnt think youre worth what you think youre worth.  baseball players arent robots.

I could imagine Eduardo Rodriguez going into a passive aggressive snit.  

27 minutes ago, 4hzglory said:

It's not one or the other per say.  It's is he worth $1 more or less than the mid-point of $25.5 mil.  If the formula says he's worth $25 mil, the arbitrator goes with $19 mil. If the forumula says he's worth $26 mil, they go with $32 mil.

But if the Tigers had offered 25 million, the mid-point becomes 28.5.  So, they would have better chance of winning.  Offering 19 makes sense if you think that the arbitrator will arrive at a figure between 19 and 25.5.  I am assuming that is what they think.  Either that, or they underestimated the 32 million figure.  

11 minutes ago, Edman85 said:

I turned 11 Randy Smith's first season, so maybe that's why this doesn't include me? 😄

I turned 11 after the 1973 season, so I saw a 90 loss season at age 11 and 102 loss season at age 12.  My Tigers glory years were from age 13 (Mark Fidrych in 1976) to age 23 (1987, the best Tigers pennant race ever).  

9 minutes ago, chasfh said:

You are correct. It is also correct that you habituate a forum loaded with participants who grew up during the greatest period of year-to-year roster retention in big league history, and it can be hard to think beyond the principles of the game you committed to memory when you were eleven. 

Edman will probably learn that lesson in 20 years! Hopefully, he will see another Tigers championship by then.  And hopefully, you and are still able to understand what's happening at that time.  

7 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I think this is sometimes true and not always true. 

Just like everything else in the world.  

11 minutes ago, Tigermojo said:

They just put LA and every east team at the top. Completely meaningless article. 

That too.  I don't know why people get worked up about random power rankings based on opinions.  

15 minutes ago, AlaskanTigersFan said:

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-power-rankings-inaugural-2026-edition?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage - Tigers are 13th! WTF are we doing. Trade SKubal now. 

I see #1 in the AL Central.  That's gets them into the playoffs.  Once that happens, anything is possible.  

The best part of this arbitration discussion is that it demonstrates that there are posters here that are even nerdier than me.  😉

23 minutes ago, Edman85 said:

I guess this thread can be closed now, eh? Here comes the arbitration freak out I knew was coming as soon as I read Passan's article today.

I didn't think the thread was about arbitration.  

No player has ever won an arbitation salary of more than 20 million.  However, based on performance  the 32 million dollar seems very reasonable to me.

I know the arbitation scolds will scold me for that.

12 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

I like what Harris has done with the bullpen. He has 3 closers for Hinch to mix and match. Hopefully, we'll be like KC was several years ago and shorten games up. Having a lead going into the 6th inning would mean a win in most games. Bullpens really do decide many of the games these days...

Three closers, but still no dominant reliever.  That's OK, but I wouldn't say that their bullpen is a real strength.  On the other hand, give Hinch some reliever depth and he can take it a long way.    

39 minutes ago, buddha said:

i dont think we can say there were no better alternatives to paddack and morton.

1) it would hard to be worse; and 2) we dont know who else was ultimately available.

part of me misses dombrowski and his ability to find quality mlb players for prospects.  part of me also dreads the idea of dombrowski trading mcgonigle for a 37 year old closer with an 89 mph fastball because he has "experience" and knows how to "get the job done."

and lets be honest, dombrowski would never have drafted mcgonigle to begin with...

Dombrowski would not have traded McGonigle for a 37 year-old closer.  He would have traded Max Anderson for him.  He would have traded McGonigle for a young star hitter close to free agency like he did for Cabrera.  I don't want that kind of GM.  I kind of want a GM with Harris's analytic and patient approach but with some of Dombrowski's boldness on occasion. Maybe, we'll see that eventually with Harris.   

I think a lot of time when people mock minor league or waiver acquisitions, they are just being humorous and not being critical.  

Complaining about stuff is good for the forum.  I think once the season starts, it's best to accept the roster and enjoy the season.  Then start complaining again at the deadline!

I don't remember Chas defending the acquistions of Paddack and Morton.  He usually defends non-moves rather than moves.  

I have one fantasy league that I've been in for about 20 years.  Everybody puts in $200 at the beginning of the season.  The money is divided among the top 3 in the league at the end of the season.  It makes the season more fun, but that's the extent of my gambling activities.  I agree it's good to stay out of professional gambling.  It is designed to screw you and it feeds off addictions.