Edman85

They signed before filing and never exchanged figures.

Yeah but it is important to note the file number is not the final offer from negotiations, but instead a strategic number to try to win the arbitration case, and it is done blind. Matt Garza, I believe, once settled once the team and his agent filed the same number.

Reading the fine print, it looks like that deal where they can open up the salary comparisons beyond the 5 year guys means the Tigers can add Skenes (league minimum) to the comparison pool.

But the arbitrator can only choose one of the two numbers, so if the team knew Boras was asking for 30+ why not go low and try?

CBA Dump...

I was kinda joking that they aren't ponying up for his final year of control, so the answer to the thread title is "no!" I mean this doesn't guarantee that is the case next year, but it has seemed pretty clear the sides are far apart on the long term.

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.

Let's go one-by-one before painting with that brush... Jack Flaherty: Free Agent signing with an opt out. Didn't opt-out. Kyle Finnegan: Deadline Rental. Re-signed. Rafael Montero: Deadline Rental Tommy Kahnle: Free Agent signing on one-year deal Alex Cobb: Free Agent signing on one-year deal Jason Foley: Non-tendered for salary/injury reasons Sean Guenther: Non-tendered, roster space/injury. Re-signed. Alex Lange: Released, roster crunch Chase Lee: Traded, roster crunch Chris Paddack: Deadline Rental Tanner Rainey: Non-tendered, roster space. Re-signed Paul Sewald: Deadline Rental Jose Urquidy: Free agent signing on one-year deal. Randy Dobnak: Deadline Rental/salary dump. Troy Watson: Minor League free agent find. Re-signed. Nick Margevicius: Minor League free agent find. RJ Petit: Lost in Rule 5 Matt Seelinger: Minor League free agent find. Re-signed. Wilkel Hernandez: Long time org soldier. Jordan Balazovic; Minor League free agent find. Woo-Suk Go: Minor League free agent find. Re-signed Any minor league free agent signed to a second contract is eligible for free agency after the year. But the upper levels were littered with injuries last year. It's why the Tigers went so hard for depth at the deadline. It's also why a bunch of free agents were signed as stop gaps. Heck, guys like Watson and Seelinger were such stopgaps, but they realized they may have found something in them. Minor league free agency after the season is pretty common for most AA and AAA pitchers, so the Tigers didn't really have that anomylous of a season in that regard. What really happened is they had a ton of rental pitchers from the deadline who were gone. I also didn't include Codi Heuer here, who was released in September. Released being a procedural thing because he was injured and couldn't be outrighted. They also had six guys they had to protect (and clearly a 7th in Petit they probably should have if they had room) , had 7 guys to activate from the 60-Day IL, and the last two 40 man moves have been contributors off the 2025 team who were not going to clear waivers. You are basically having to lop off a potentially valuable piece every time you sign a Major League free agent right now, so there are diminishing returns. You get some relief in February when you can 60-Day IL Jobe. That is probably your next MLB Free Agent move.

They only care about one state's right... Or actually a second until 3.5 years ago.

Next question... If they charge him, and the rat****ers in the current admin squash it as we anticipate, would he be protected from double jeopardy laws in 2029 when adults are in charge again?

I didn't know this about 5+ year guys having additional leverage in arbitration. MLBTR's estimation for Skubal is likely way under. He could get 30+ https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/47538606/mlb-2026-tarik-skubal-detroit-tigers-record-arbitration-contract Also, given the unprecedented nature of this, one of the sides could very well want to go to trial. Don't read anything into that. There have been plenty of studies out there that players who go to arbitration are not any less likely to re-sign.

Some are. There is some actual criticism out there from people who just flat out don't understand.

The Tigers had 41 pitchers who ended the year on either the Detroit or Toledo roster. 9 were on the IL at season's end. 20 have hit free agency, either through traditional means, minor league free agency, or non-tender/off-season crunch. One more was traded because of roster crunch and one more was lost to the Rule 5. 9 of those pitchers who hit free agency have been re-signed. They need depth and they straight up need to fill the rosters. They also have a packed 40 man roster, so taking fliers on major league deals forces you to put a valuable piece through waivers, so the bar there is going to be super high. Do you think they DFA'ed Malloy for fun? Going one level lower, of the 20 pitchers (including 4 injured, one on development lost) on Erie's season end roster, 8 of them hit free agency. Pena has re-signed and was among the signings that people are blindly bashing. Kuhn re-signed as well but was nabbed in the Minor League Rule 5. So you need roughly 55 or so pitchers in the top 3 levels, and you also want about 10-15 extra in spring training just to see what sticks. The Tigers if they sat idle, would have had 31 plus whoever in West Michigan was ready for AA minus anybody still out with injury. No wonder they are hitting the minor league free agent pitching market hard. No wonder they non-tendered Mattison, Little, and Darnell so they could re-sign them to sweetened deals and bypass waivers. No wonder they took four pitchers in the Minor League Rule 5 draft. They need the bodies.

I mean this in the nicest way possible. People who criticize minor league free agent signings are tacitly admitting their limits of baseball roster management knowledge.

I do not bet with sports books. The house wins there, and if the house doesn't win, they cut off the people who do win. I do small pools with friends, primarily for two reasons. I can usually come out ahead there because of my sports knowledge and analytics ability. Not always. It does add some low stakes and gets friends interested in things. No more than a couple hundred bucks down in a given year, and I usually come out on top. It does get frustrating in football season when out with friends and they are so concerned about their parlay. Gambling addiction is a scourge that wrecks a lot of lives.

Arb filing/figure exchange day! The Tigers will very likely pony up for Skubal in 2026 today.

Maybe we are both right? This guy may be on a spree.

I implore you to unfollow that account. https://jjoycelynch.substack.com/

Dog Killer Noem will melt in hell one day.

Probably had her foot on the break and lost control when she was shot because her body wasn't functioning anymore.

Exactly, shoot the tires.

Prediction #2. The ICE Agent becomes a right wing celebrity, escapes charges, and speaks at the 2028 GOP Convention.

I will bet my left nut that the talking points that arise include Ashley Babbit.

He's been saying untrue stuff and getting people to believe it for a decade now. Why stop now?