Stormin

On Forbes, the highest value WNBA team is around $400M with annual revenue of around $25M. Forbes doesn't list income for WNBA teams. I not sure any are profitable. NHL franchises are valued between $1B and $4B, all were profitable in 2025 with income exceeding $100M in somes cases, payrolls are generally around $100M. RedWings are valued higher and bring in more income than the Tigers May not be high profile in some areas, but the NHL is doing alright financially.

Boras has Petzold on speed dial.

I am not rooting for a side in Skubal arbitration, but curious about the outcome. I doubt the Tigers are dumb enough to say that Skubal is not currently one of, if not the best pitcher in baseball. I also think the Tigers would also be foolish to bring up David Price. The Tigers would be best served by focusing on service time and what pitchers are being paid in 2026. Wheeler's 2026 salary is $42M, but has 12 years of service and 40.2 career WAR. Sale's 2026 salary is $18M, Sale has been as good as Skubal the last 2 seasons, Sale won a Cy Young his last complete season, Sale has 15 years of service, Sale has 57.3 Career War. Ray's 2026 salary is $25M, Ray has won a Cy Young, Ray has 11 years of service and 20.3 Career WAR. Crochet (5 years) and Webb (6 years) have similar service time to Skubal (5 years) and both have a salary under $25M in 2026. If service time is taken into account, the $22.5M estimate for Skubal on Spotrac.com seems reasonable. The challenge for Skubal/Boras may be convincing an arbitration panel that current market value (if Skubal were a free agent) trumps service time even though the arbitration system is largely built around service time.

The Tigers record has improved each of the last three seasons and the Tigers have made the post season, and won a series, each of the last two seasons. If this trend is the result of having the luckiest SOB GM in MLB, my hope is that the GM continues to be a lucky SOB and gets the Tigers to the World Series.

Apparently Jose Rameriez is worth $25M AAV, Bo Bichette is worth $42M AAV, and Kyle Tucker is worth $60M AAV. hmmm ... I would think the Rameriez contract would be a desirable comparison for the Tigers front office in Skubal's arbitration case.

Aaron Judge was a comp pick.

Random thought: How many posts have appeared on the Padres message board over the years regarding the selection of Matt Bush #1 in the 2004 draft when Justin Verlander was selected #2 by the Tigers?

Rangers traded 5 prospects for Mackenzie Gore. None were top 100: 50 FV, 45 FV, 45 FV, 45 FV, 40 FV. Jordan Yost and four lower ranked prospects would be a similar Tiger prospect package. Gore seems like a lefthanded version of Casey Mize with one more year of club control. Highly touted prospect that has not reached projected ceiling but had a strong first half in 2025.

There are only six former Tiger players, who had their best seasons in Detroit, who have entered the HOF by way of the BBWAA ballot (All others elected by veterans' committees) Ty Cobb Mickey Cochrane Charlie Gehringer Harry Heilmann Hank Greenberg Al Kaline JV and Miggy will join the list (assuming Scherzer goes in as a National). Skubal has the potential to be on the list in the future. Independent of all other concerns, there is real value in having Skubal try and win a third straight Cy Young as a Tiger (Greg Maddox and Randy Johnson are the only pitchers who have won more than 2 consecutive Cy Young awards).

Tenacious D stated that the Mets were the best potential trade partner for Skubal and I agree. The Tigers may have been able to get 3 top 100 prospects, but I don't think the Tigers could get a top 20. Personally, if the Tigers do not get a top 20, 60 FV, All Star potential, prospect as a headliner in return - I would rather see Skubal pitch for the Tigers and see what the Tigers can obtain with the comp pick. To be honest, I may prefer the Tigers keep Skubal in any case because Skubal is just fun to watch. I don't see the Dodgers trading away their top prospects for one year of Skubal. The Dodgers don't need Skubal to win this year. The Dodger roster is aging. The CBA may not allow the Dodgers to buy as many players in the future - the Dodgers will need their young prospects. The CBA may allow the Dodgers to continue to buy players - the Dodgers can sign Skubal next year.

The Tigers have several pitchers with a top half of the rotation ceiling (Flaherty was a good #2 in 2024, Olson if he can stay healthy, Mize's fastball is actually up a tick since TJ - but he faded in 2025, Melton has good stuff, Jobe has good stuff). I agree that health will be a big factor. Their performance will probably oscillate year to year. It will be fun to watch them and see how their performances align. Dan Petry was only a strong #2 for a couple years, but one of those years was 1984 (4.2fWAR). Milt Wilcox had his best year in 1984 (3.6 fWAR). I don't think it is being overly optimistic to say that Mize, Olson, Jobe, and Melton likely have not played their best season.

The Tigers need to win a World Series for you. It's wonderful!

He was drafted as a running back by the Chicago Bears, so I don't know if Norm was that slow. The left handed throws from second base would have been a challenge.

" You can get into the HOF if you hit 377 HRs, .862 OPS, 139 OPS+ and are a slow base runner and a poor fielder? Why didn't the Tigers let me play second base? -- Signed Norm Cash" 🙂

In the 18 games the Tigers won when Mize pitched, Mize averaged 1.77 earned runs per game. In the 21 games the Tigers won when Skubal pitched, Skubal averaged 1.33 earned runs per game.

The media likes to point point out that the Tigers were 21-10 in games that Skubal pitched and a .500 team without Skubal. The Tigers were 18-10 in games that Mize pitched.

What is the problem people have with Casey Mize? He pitched 149 innings, had a 14-6 record, a 3.87 ERA, and only costs the team $6M.

Wilbur Wood and Mickey Lolich seemed to be in a contest to see who could pitch the most innings. Mickey pitched 376 innings in 1971. Wilbur pitched 376.2 innings in 1972.

On the latest Tiger Territory podcast, Cody Stavenhagen said scouts at the winter meetings considered Troy Melton to be a "60 FV" player. Kevin McGonicle: 65 FV on 2025 MLB top 100 Max Clark: 60 FV on 2025 MLB top 100 Jackson Jobe: 60 FV on 2024 MLB top 100 Troy Melton: 60 FV according to recent scouting assessments Most teams consider 60 FV prospects untouchable in trade talks. There are only 20 players, and just 3 pitchers, rated 60 FV on the 2025 MLB top 100 prospects list.

True - but some teams can sign a player to a 10 year $400M contract and they are called "serious about winning" when the team is more serious about driving up franchise value. Most teams will encounter a financially detrimental impact for huge contracts so they don't agree to those type of contracts. In the end, it is more about $ than winning for every owner and every player.

I am not a big fan of the "serious about winning" narrative. Like every other MLB team, the Dodgers ownership group is serious about winning to the degree that winning increases financial return. The market value of the Dodgers franchise has increased from ~$5B has increased ~$8B dollars since signing Ohtani. They own most of the Southern California market and have a guaranteed multi billion regional television contract that no other team can match. Japan and other portions of Asia are now also part of the Dodger market with revenue coming from corporate sponsors and Dodger apparel sales on the other side of the ocean. Even with a $400M payroll, the Dodgers generate more annual income than the annual revenue of some other MLB teams. The primary goal of every single MLB franchise owner, all valued at over $1B dollars, is generating a positive financial return on their $1B plus investment. The primary goal of every MLB player is also to be paid $.

I understand wanting Tong, Sproat, William, Vientos, and Valdez over one year of Skubal. I just suspect the Mets will also prefer Tong, Sproat, Williams, Vientos, and Valdez over one year of Skubal.

Some data points. Jonah Tong is the the #46 overall rated prospect. Franklin Perez was the #39 overall rated prospect. While not probable, impact players have been drafted with compensatory picks (Kevin McGonigle, Austin Riley)

Two part exercise on Skubal / prospect trade possibilities: Part 1: Pretend Skubal plays for another team. Which of these prospects would you trade away for one year of Tarik Skubal? Kevin McGonigle Max Clark Bryce Rainer Josue Briceno Jordan Yost Hao-Yu Lee Part 2: Now revert back to Skubal being on the Tigers. Would you be happy if the Tigers traded away Tarik Skubal for a player similar to the prospect you selected in Part 1?

True - but the opposite is also true. People speculating that the Tigers could get a huge return don't make transactions for the Dodgers. There doesn't seem to be an indication from anyone involved, fan or otherwise, that a team will sacrifice a top flight young pitcher for one year of Skubal. There are reports that Mets Mclean is untouchable Reports that Dodgers don't want to trade Sheehan (or even Glasnow) Red Sox are reluctant to trade more young pitchers (Tolle/Early) I am sure the Tigers could get good prospects, but probably not a team's #1 prospect. The Tigers went down this path on the JV trade when the Astros declared their #1 prospect untouchable (Kyle Tucker) and the Tigers settled for Franklin Perez.