RatkoVarda

9 hours ago, Tigermojo said:

"Detroit also forfeits draft capital because Valdez rejected a qualifying offer from the Astros. They’re a revenue sharing recipient so it’s the lowest penalty, their third-highest pick in the 2026 draft. That’s currently slated to be their Competitive Balance Round B selection, which is 69th overall. The Tigers could look to trade that pick — Competitive Balance selections are the only ones that can be traded — rather than losing it as the compensatory pick. They’d then forfeit their third-round selection (#98 overall), but another team might be more willing to give up something of value for the higher draft choice and accompanying slot value that makes it worthwhile for Detroit to lose the third-rounder."

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/02/tigers-framber-valdez-agree-to-three-year-deal.html

this entire paragraph at mlbtraderumors is dead wrong. the CB picks can be counted when determining a team's 3rd pick, but, unless traded, the CB pick CANNOT be the pick that is forfeited, so they are going to lose the 98th pick for signing Valdez. Kind of incompetent for them not to know the rules.

the story actually is this: the Tigers have gamed the system a little bit, as they are losing their 4th overall pick for signing a free agent

Ilitch now has the Tigers with a Top 10 payroll and less than 17M from the first competitive balance tax line.

Someone needs to reign in his irresponsible spending!

1 minute ago, Tigermojo said:

Boras getting Pittsburgh involved seemed to move things along for Valdez.

$32 million for Skubal means Boras is looking to break records in November.

Boras does not rep Valdez

I still think they are a RH bat short, as Jones is unlikely to repeat his 2025, Vierling is just solid and coming off multiple injuries. Maybe they do something at the end of ST, or maybe they wait and see how it goes, possibly with Anderson or Lee.

18 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

Anyone hoping that Skubal wins?  Genuinely curious.  All my life I’ve sided with the team over the players and wondering if anyone feels differently.

I'm 100% for the players

32 minutes ago, AlaskanTigersFan said:

https://www.cleveland.com/guardians/2026/02/tarik-skubal-arbitration-case-could-completely-revolutionize-mlbs-salary-system.html - Amazing article explaining how Skubal is basically representing the players and the Tigers are representing MLB and the owners. I highly recommend. 

 

If Skubal wins, it will transform arbitration. Teams will no longer have 6 years of control of players.... Skenes will make $40 million next year..... How will these smaller teams be able to afford good players? Small market teams will be squeezed anytime they get a good player.....  Tampa and Pittsburgh will be selling their franchises next year if Skubal wins......... They'd have too. 

Skenes may make that much in his last year of arbitration, but until then, he is limited in what comps he can use in arbitration. maybe the new CBA would allow different comps to be used, but the current one would not.

I think they are going into playoff mode in March, so minutes will get tighter, and giving Ivey any run, a guy who is not in your PO rotation, makes no sense

cannot package Huerter's contract with others

wish they had found a way to dump LeVert's contract

Donsunmu would have been better add I think

Minny got huge $ benefit from dumping Conley, and it should have cost them more

they move up 6-8 spots in the 1st round and get a guy who JB probably won't play any meaningful minutes

Ivey had little value indeed

8 hours ago, Stormin said:

The A's were failing from a financial perspective which is why they are moving to Las Vegas. 

We do not know this to be true.

I have no problem believing the A's were not making as much money as they thought they could make if Oakland or another jurisdiction gave them a sweetheart stadium deal.

So if "failing" is not maximizing profits, then maybe this is true.

But in some recent years the A's made huge profits.

1 hour ago, oblong said:

every time someone complains about 'fraud' in MN I think of this:

1 hour ago, Hongbit said:

I can hardly wait for some idiot to post today’s Mario Nawful tweet on how kicking a car in grounds for justified murder a week later.   

appears they targeted him due to his past actions, so that's Capital Murder, not manslaughter

Keith Law rates them #7 system

It’s an extremely top-heavy system, but the Tigers have three of the top 20 prospects in the sport, and I think most GMs would gladly take three prospects of that caliber and a system of nothing else — which isn’t true of the Tigers, I’m just speaking hypothetically — over a system that is much deeper in future big leaguers but doesn’t have those future stars. And if Bryce Rainer comes back healthy and picks up where he left off, it might be three of the top 10 prospects in the sport by Memorial Day.

1 minute ago, RedRamage said:

Here's my crazy idea: If a team is under the floor, they fined the amount they are under, and that fined money is give to the players on that team. This would mean there is zero benefit to the owner to be under the floor as they're going to be paying that money anyway.

this is the current NBA system; has happened a few times, where a team has payroll lower than floor, and the players all got one share of the delta as a bonus

so they are laying the groundwork for 2028 to invalidate any results from Democratic areas, especially ones where those black people live. Look for Philly, Detroit, Chicago and other urban areas to have this sort of "investigation" so they can throw out the 2028 results.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-agents-search-election-hub-in-fulton-county-georgia

domestic terrorism charges coming, no?

Polian denied it. Says he voted for Belichick.

if we get a Dem administration on Jan 20, 2029, all the MAGA trash needs to be immediately rounded up to face swift, brutal justice

36 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

Holmes said it would be "irresponsible" to depend on Manu to be the starting LT next season.

can Manu at least replace Skipper?

Neither of these teams is great. Mahomes is at home. Would have been a great year to get in the playoffs and see what happens. Oh well. Life is unfair; sports are unfair. Cannot abide another Pats title.

2 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

If it plays out that we end up getting a Comp pick for a Skubal exit, the poor player that gets selected will be unfairly scrutinized by podcasters, local radio personalities and casual fans. 

someone noted that they selected AAA All-star Christin Stewart with the pick they were awarded when Max Scherzer left, so that's something to look forward to to 2031

29 minutes ago, ToledoTigerFan said:

The only way to get Skubal to not hit the open market is to knock his and Boras' socks off with an offer. Say like 3-years, $180 million. This allows Skubal to potentially cash in again plus it allows the Tigers to get a massive contract off of the books fairly quickly. Hopefully, CI will pry open his wallet quickly enough to get such a deal done. 

that would be a horrible deal for Skubal - pitchers get injured and he has already been injured

he is not foregoing $200M+ of guaranteed money to sign for 3 years

and there would be more picks available to make a modest trade if Holmes did not piss away picks to move up to grab Arnold, Manu, Vaki, TeSlaa, Martin, Fraizer, and others.