AlaskanTigersFan

They would have done so if they were going to. He gone homey.

Sasaki, Sheehan, Hope, De Paula. Done deal. Make it happen Harris.

Gotchu fam. Like I said, we in the minority. A lot of people want to pin their hopes on one arm taking us to the promise land (We WITH YOU PIRATES FANS!!!!!!). But I wanna play the moneyball approach. Spread out that WAR value to multiple players. Either way, we can't go wrong.

Naaa you're good bro. I just want to make sure it doesn't go down that train track, that's all 🙂

Skubal and Liranzo for Payton Tolle, Kutter Crawford, Kyle Harrison and Kristian Campbell. Who says no? (Look at what the Red Sox are doing).

Ummmmmmmmmmm............... Lol

So...... this is how the wars in Westeros from Game of Thrones started..... People had the same idea for the greater good (We all want the Tigers to do well) but people had varying differences and it slowly crept into being personal attacks that festered. Let's please keep it civil. I get there's huge disagreements (1984, remember, I think you and I are the STRONG Minority here). At the end of the day, we all just want the Tigers to do well and hopefully bring home a World Series just like fans of all other 29 clubs. Some of us just think we (as a team), just aren't quite there yet and would prefer some more tools in the toolbox to increase our chances more over the next five or six years versus just next year. The other thing too, is MLB is a business. Free Agents will chase the money 90% of the time. Players know there will be trades. Young players will play hard because they 1.) Want to make it to the show, and 2.) Get the chance to hit Free Agency to get PAID. I think we can all agree on that, that minor leaguers will always play hard to make it. End of the day, we'll wait to see what happens. If there is a trade, it'd most likely happen this week, probably by Friday. If it doesn't happen by then, I'd mortgage my house to say Skubal will be starting on opening day for the Tigers. So let's wait and see. The anxiousness is building but at the end of the day, we are arguing in favor of a winning organization where we can't really lose. If we don't trade Skubal, then we hopefully can overperform and make it to the playoffs next year. If we trade Skubal, then we'll have three or four new toys to watch as the young Tigers turn into a championship team with Harris's players. Not Avila's. Either way, we're sitting pretty. Time to enjoy it.

This is the point I'm trying to make. I posted earlier in this thread too that we would need to add 3 Juan Soto's just to make our lineup a TOP 5 Lineup in baseball. That's how bad our lineup is. People overlook this. We are TERRIBLE! Pitching isn't much better either. Are there parts, sure. But trading Skubal would be a moneyball thing (Yes I'm referencing the movie for the point sake). He's our Giambi. We need to remake his WAR in the aggregate. If we can get Hope, De Paula, Alex Freeland and Roki Sasaki from the Dodgers, you phaggin DO IT! If you can only get Hope and Freeland for SKubal, you DON'T do it. I think it will take 3 top 30 prospects and a major leaguer to get Skubal. Chances of that happening, slim, but possible. Harris HAS to extract value to go with McGonigle, Clark, and Rainer. You have to build the team. Trading Skubal is your best chance to do that.

NGL, as I started reading this, I was like, "I can't believe I'm not quoted.... Ooop there I am. ONLY ONCE!?!" 😄😄😄😄 Good post though. A little dramatic but I get it 🙂

I took advantage of the Black Friday sale for Baseball America. In their chat for the Tigers, that's EXACTLY what has happened the last two drafts. Baseball America emphasized that the Tigers have focused heavily on drafting pitchers the last two drafts but its too early to tell. That and they took a lot of chances on kids that were hurt but extracted value because of that. They are very bullish on the lower minors pitching staff's for the Tigers organization.

I don't think they will either. But they do have 1 spot open on the 40 man roster...... 🤔

Tigers could get some help via rule 5. There's some interesting candidates. I like these 3 the most. Yohendrick Piñango, OF, Blue Jays Piñango is one of the best available hitters in the Rule 5 draft. He has an excellent combination of solid upper-level production—.258/.361/.430 with 14 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A—with nearly impeccable analytical data. He hits the ball as hard as almost anyone in the minors—92 mph average EV and a 109 mph 90th EV—and he does it with well-above-average contact rates and solid swing decisions. Piñango is a left fielder only, and he’s a fringy defender there. That’s a profile that doesn’t get picked all that often, but there are few 23-year-old lefthanded hitters like this in the Rule 5 draft. Brandon Birdsell, RHP, Cubs Entering 2025, Birdsell looked likely to make his major league debut as a depth starter for the Cubs down the stretch. Instead, he dealt with persistent elbow pain, missing the first two and a half months of the season before returning for four starts with Triple-A Iowa and being shut down for good with an elbow injury. Birdsell had elbow surgery in early September with Dr. Keith Meister, and while the exact details of the surgery are unknown, it sounds more likely to be an internal brace than a full Tommy John surgery. Birdsell is unlikely to see action at all in 2026. This makes him an easy stash for a team willing to hold him on a 40-man roster spot for the entire season. There’s a high likelihood that Birdsell is fully healthy heading into 2027 spring training, and he could at that time compete for a rotation spot. He would need to stick on the active roster for a total of 90 days to fulfill Rule 5 requirements if he doesn’t pitch in 2026. Over the last two seasons, Birdsell has 80 Triple-A innings and has pitched to a 4.05 ERA with 87 strikeouts to 26 walks. Over that time, he’s generated ground balls at a rate of 43.8% with a swinging-strike rate of 12.6%. Birdsell’s pitches across the board were down in 2025, as he went from sitting 95 mph on his cut-ride four-seam fastball in 2024 to 93.5 and losing an inch of vertical break. He also throws an upper-80s-to-low-90s cutter, a low-to-mid-80s curveball and a firm upper-80s changeup. All of his pitches have fringe-average stuff, but if he can return to his 2024 velocity and shape on his four-seamer, he could be a viable No. 5 starter or swingman in 2027. Peter Heubeck, RHP, Dodgers A third-round high school pick in the 2021 draft, Heubeck is Rule 5-eligible for the first time after spending all of 2025 with Double-A Tulsa. He made 16 starts spanning 66.1 innings before he hit the injured list in late July with rotator cuff inflammation that ended his season. Prior to the injury, Heubeck was putting together a fairly strong season with Tulsa, where he was striking out 27.7% of batters while holding opposing hitters to a .196 batting average. Heubeck’s 13.2% swinging-strike rate is above average for a starter, and he’s shown the ability to consistently miss bats. Heubeck leads his four-pitch mix with his four-seam fastball, a pitch that sits 93-94 mph with 18-20 inches of induced vertical break and moderate cut from a 5-foot-8 release height. The lower release on his fastball and high spin efficiency allow Heubeck to create a flat approach angle despite poor extension. His mid-to-high-80s cut-slider is his primary secondary, and it’s a well-commanded pitch that shows average bat-missing capabilities. His two-plane curveball has extreme depth with nearly 20 inches of induced vertical break on average. It’s a tricky pitch to command, but when batters swing at it, they miss at a high rate. Heubeck has poor command with his changeup, and he hardly throws it. However, it didn’t miss a high rate of bats in a limited sample. Heubeck could potentially up the usage on his breaking balls and air out his fastball in shorter outings out of the pen, making him an intriguing Rule 5 option.

I'm strictly playing devils advocate here........ If you were the GM of the Tigers, would you rather have one year of Skubal, or would you rather have the next 6-8 years of Clark, McGonigle and Rainer (assuming in this scenario they weren't already in the Tigers Farm system)?

They'll be getting a ton back for him in players that are either just getting in the league (think Roki Sasaki) or players in AAA (like top 20 prospects in the game). The return will help them. If they took the money they'd sign Skubal and shift it to someone like Kyle Tucker, they could rebuild the team VERY quickly. Clark and McGonigle are STUDS. They have a bery good chance to make it. Now they can also crap the bed, but they have a good chance to to make it. Then you have three. Not to mention, if they go after Bregman, that's one heck of a lineup at the end of this year..... They'll get a top pitching prospect back in return. They don't need him to be a #1. They need him to be a #2. Jobe should be back late this year/next year. he's your number one. The point is, the Tigers can do this if they use intelligence. But if they screw this up, it'll set them back to a huge degree. I always say look at the Angels when they screwed up Ohtani. This is the EXACT same thing.

Driving to church, I found a much shorter/condensed version on my google. But it is 100% EXACTLY WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING FOR MONTHS! And no, I'm not Buster Olney. But maybe I should be. I love how he says if you can trade 1 year of team control for 18 years of team control OR MORE, you HAVE TO DO IT! That's EXACTLY what I have been saying. Good to know I line up with professional GM's. Now we'll see if the trigger actually gets pulled. I'll believe it when I see it. Should it happen, yes. Will it happen.... meh?¿ 🫤

That's my point. All the other teams that added players like Juan Soto already had multiple stars..... Tigers don't even have one. Trade Skubal, get future stars to go with Cark, McGonigle. Then you have 5. WS in 2 years and for the next decade..... Simple. Skubal should be traded or Harris should be fired.

San Diego and NY also had 2-3 other superstars on their teams at the time in their lineup..... The Tigers got 0..... (You could make a case for Greene, but he's not Aaron Judge or Tatis......). Trade Skubal.

Jim Bowden proposed this. I'd take that deal. Pray Glasnow is healthy. I'd rather have Roki than Glasnow but this would be a good haul for Skubal.

Musta been Mike Morath.... lol. Every game I went to of his, he got shelled except for the one game he took the perfect game into the 8th. I was in a suite that game invited by Fox Sports. I was also at Galleraga's Perfect Imperfect game too. I must be bad luck.... fml.

No thanks. He'd cost Max Clark at least. If not Clark and Rainer. Rather have the two kids.

I was literally going to mention these two along with Bobby Higginson. Carlos and Pudge are what brought the Tigers back from the dead which then forced Illitch to get Ordonez. But it started with Carlos, then Pudge. Bonderman shoulda taken Mr. Snappy to the BP and been a closer. Probably would have won a few Cy Youngs and gave Eric Gagne a run for his money as the best reliever back then. Bobby Higginson made THE BEST throw I have ever seen. I've never been more convinced someone was on roids moreso than him (joking, but not. We all know Barry Bonds but shpppshhhh). Bobby Higginson made a throw from the RF corner that was a MISSILE to 3B to cut someone down. I screamed so loud at my brother to come see it, saying there'd never be a play like that ever again. Best throw of all time. It literally looked like he had an Angel from the movie Angel in the Outfield helping him throw it. To this day, I will go to my grave saying it was the best throw by an outfielder in MLB history...... One other underappreciated Tiger would be Brandon Inge. Dude played non stop, never complained and always was the glue for the Tigers. He also spent a ton of time with fans before and after games. Great guy. He also drove a red ferrari which was hard to miss. I grew up in Pinckney and would drive through Dexter all the time where he lived, and you could always tell when he was in town..... I guess he has a sports complex between Brighton, South Lyon right off US-23 now that he runs. I'd love to try and talk with him sometime. Always seemed like a cool dude.

I'd love to see the mound moved back 6 inches or so. I think that'd give more reaction time for hitters. Not sure what would be better to help hitters, lower a mound or move it back a little.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6856840/2025/12/03/mlb-vanishing-doubles-triples-rule-change/?campaign=15944149&source=athletic_targeted_email&userId=27759195 - Proposed by the athletic.com, they think there should be an OF line that determines the depth of how deep OF'rs can play. (TLDR) The theory behind this is that there are fewer doubles and triples now than there ever has been. So forcing outfielders to play more shallow (just by a couple feet) could create thousands more doubles and hundreds more triples a year...... Thoughts on this? Also, last year, they floated the idea to bring in a batter that could pinch-hit one time (even if they were already in the lineup) in a game at any point. But teams only get one chance..... I believe the Savannah Bannanas do something like this but I know it was floated around MLB last year to make the game "more exciting" before they instituted the pitch clock. I'd love your thoughts on this? For the first idea, I don't like the line personally. I think advanced data has made an adjustment and we just kind of have to live with that..... As for the miracle pinch hitter, I'd love to see that option available only if a game goes extra innings! So from inning 10 on (in the regular season only!). I think that'd add some excitement and also speed up some games too. What do you guys think? Or are there any other rules that are kind of crazy that you'd think of.... ?

4.00+ ERA with a 1.20 WHIP +

I'd like to give him AND Beuhler a shot. See what Fetter can do w/ them.