tiger2022

I'd much rather have billionaire owners make and keep all the money than players get any of it. If these super rich people don't want to spend, then they don't spend. You'll give cheap ass owners like Ilitch and excuse to not spend yet again.

A lot of people are looking for ways the Tigers can sign Skubal, but he's going to have options and he will be looking for teams that will spend on other players so he has a legit great team behind him. Is that the Tigers? No, it's not. He was never signing with the Tigers. Just like some fans think the Pirates have a shot to sign Skenes. Neither of those will ever happen.

I've noticed there are a few posters who think just Harris's presence has made all the players that much better. Like he was hired and suddenly the players figured out how to play baseball just because he was part of the organization.

I don't think GMs have a magic switch that makes players good suddenly. Players either have the talent or they don't. Some just take longer to become successful, if ever. Avila had a bunch of very high draft picks and those guys started playing better once he left. Harris getting hired has nothing to do with those guys turning into better players. Next, some posters are going to claim it was Harris who made Skubal into a Cy Young winner. Giving the guy credit for something he had no influence over is silly. I'll give him credit for building the farm system to where it is, but as for the big league club...he hasn't done much to improve it. Maybe the present isn't a priority to him because it doesn't seem like he cares about it. But GMs are still subordinate to the owner, the guy doling out the money, so I question what Harris can and cannot do as far as spending and signing guys.

Dark horse? Chris Paddack is still a FA. Maybe the Tigers will sign him.

So you're saying a GM has the power to suddenly make awful players good? When they hired Harris, Dingler, Skubal, Greene, etc suddenly learned how to play baseball. That's not even remotely close to being true in any sort of universe...including drug induced opium dens.

In his first two seasons, Bonds hit .221 and .228 against LH pitchers. Sounds like a perfect platoon player. I would prefer to just stick your best player out there

I guess that's a valid point but if a guy has pop ( like Carpenter) and potential i'd rather give him a shot than some guy who is a complete borderline player

Yes it is. Remember this is a job to these people. If they are a full time player, they are going to make more money.

I agree with the bullpen influencing the game, but I think platooning players can have a negative effect on them. Not allowing lefties to hit against lefties just because of reasons hurts young guys in the long run. Why not let Carpenter hit against everyone? Hinch probably would have platooned Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, or Babe Ruth because you know lefty on lefty. Platoons are fine at the catcher position just because they need days off.

What exactly did Harris do for that to happen? The Tigers just got really lucky with their wins and losses. It was all Avila's guys that were already on the roster. He didn't add anyone to help. I also don't blame him for the Tigers losing the division like they did last season. I thought they overachieved for the first 3/4 of the season. I do blame him for going into the season with Jace Jung and Trey Sweeney as the starting side of the infield. I do blame him for not putting much effort into improving the team, instead waiting to care about the results once the guys he drafted are Tigers His trade deadline sucked but they had such a big lead and I get it that he is more concerned about looking like a draft genius hoping his guys have good futures so he had no desire to trade any of his magic beans. But there were a few bats he could have tried for (Josh Naylor) I also don't know how much freedom he has from Ilitch. I'm guessing Ilitch has the strings to the money bags pulled pretty tight. But I feel they haven't tried or will try to improve going into next season. And as a fan, that sucks because 5 years or whatever it will be before all the high school kids are established in the majors (if ever) is so far down the road to me that I don't care

I don't see it. Skubal is leaving and I doubt he is going to act like a lunatic when he leaves. He doesn't need to justify to anyone.

Managers and coaches really don't matter much. If you don't have talent, it won't make any difference. People always get angry at the hitting coaches, but what can a hitting coach do other than small things? He's not going to turn someone who sucks into a great hitter. Managers can lose games but don't have much to do with winning them...unless they have garbage cans.

Plus the local Chicago politicians need extra revenue from which they can embezzle and steal.

Barry Bonds hit 762 home run His father Bobby Bonds, hit 332 home runs His cousin, Reggie Jackson, hit 563 home runs His godfather, Willie Mays, hit 660 home runs

Harris has done absolutely nothing to help the mlb team. Every non-relief pitcher that has provided anything has been an Avila player (except Torres and I suppose Flaherty). It' unacceptable how poorly Harris has tried to even help the roster. It's almost like he doesn't care and is only waiting for his draft picks to get to the majors. He did nothing at the beginning of last year, made the team worse at the trade deadline, and has signed a 38 year old relief pitcher so far this season. Maybe it's Ilitch confining him but it's almost like he does all his shopping at a garage sale.

Hope you're kidding. That isn't a good strategy. Hope everything falls in place perfectly and get super lucky?

Freeman, Altuve, and Machado would seem to have a decent shot at it. And way down the road, Juan Soto. Vlad Jr has over a 1,000 hits at 26 but his career will play out like Miggy's...out of shape in his early 30's. But base hits don't get you paid like mashing 35 home runs a year does, so guys concentrate on home runs.

Cabrera was a natural hitter, but if you drink too much alcohol, eat too many pastries, not work out ever, you are washed up at 33.

I can't imagine the Tigers paying Bichette what he would command for a salary. Just not going to happen. Also, Ibanez is a great guy to have in the organization. He isn't going to hurt you at the plate and he can play competent defense at multiple positions. Even if he doesn't stick the whole year, he can play half the season at AAA and come up for injuries, etc

Why is anyone surprised he is going after Bassett? This is what Harris does. He signs guys for short term contracts hoping they can play above their skill level and those guys are people like Bassett who can never get a long term contract. If it works out, great. If not, he goes the way of Charlie Morten. It might be how he wants to run the team or Ilitch might have given him orders not to spend money. I would prefer Harris finds a solid major league pitcher and minor league FA's so he can have starting pitchers at AAA who can come up and make 4 or 5 starts after Olson, Mize, and the others have their annual trip to the IL.

They won't trade him in that situation. But if they are 6 games out, what happens? Harris will want to trade him. Ilitch will probably be okay with trading him.

I think Harris's priority is different than a fan's priority. I want the Tigers to win the World Series. Harris wants the Tigers to be competitive while pinching pennies and hoping in yhe future the guys in the minors can come up and keep the team above .500. He wants to not get fired so he doesn't spend money or trade any magic beans for guys that can help the team. If everything works out like they have the last 2 seasons, that is all he cares about.

I just don't see how Skubal even entertains the idea of signing a long term contract with the Tigers. He wants to win a WS title. Everything will need to play out perfectly for that to happen in Detroit. A penny pinching owner and a GM who is petrified to make any moves to try to improve the team doesn't play out well for the long term. Skubal doesn't care about how maybe the guys in AA will work out and become competent mlb players in the next 4 to 7 years... by that time the core of players on this current iteration of the Tigers will be playing somewhere else. Can this group get it done without adding talent to the roster? I don't think it can and Skubal knows that too. "The World Series should be the standard from everyone in the organization" comment he made sure sounds like he lacks confidence in the front office. He'll be gone by the trade deadline.

I believe the Tigers know there is 0% chance their FA offer to Skubal will even be remotely competitive to offers from the Mets, Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees, Rangers, Giants, etc. They know Skubal will not sign with the Tigers because he wants to win and the Tigers aren't going to spend for top tier FA's like the other teams I mentioned. Their payroll is so much lower than the other teams and that affects the players that the team can put around him. For the Tigers or any team with a low payroll to compete, things have to fall in place perfectly for them. And the last 2 years have been best case scenario for the Tigers. Look at this off season: the Tigers have done basically nothing to improve.