2025 Detroit Tigers General Discussion Thread

[Motor City Sonics]

On 8/22/2025 at 9:57 PM, chasfh said:

Worst non-pitcher hitter in major league history with more than 200 career plate appearances (career OPS+: 11).

Wait, worse than Ray Oyler? 

[Motor City Sonics]

Tigers open vs. Padres in 2026.     I love the fact the MLB wants a World Series rematch for the opening weekend !

[Hongbit]

6 hours ago, papalawrence said:

Would you trade Ranier for Byron Buxton this off season? I know he is often injured. I believe he has 3 years at 11 mil per remaining. He is 32. Minn might consider it since they are in rebuild mode. I've lived in Minneapolis 25 years now, and he is probably my favorite non Tiger. He's just hurt so much.

I personally see Rainer as the 2nd best prospect in the organization.  I think ceiling can be higher than Clark.   There are only a handful of major leaguers that I’d trade him for and all but Paul Skenes are untouchable by their current teams.   

 

[chasfh]

6 hours ago, papalawrence said:

Would you trade Ranier for Byron Buxton this off season? I know he is often injured. I believe he has 3 years at 11 mil per remaining. He is 32. Minn might consider it since they are in rebuild mode. I've lived in Minneapolis 25 years now, and he is probably my favorite non Tiger. He's just hurt so much.

I don’t think I would give up a #35 shortstop prospect for an injury-prone 32-year-old underachiever.

[SoCalTiger]

Watching the Oakland er A's series it seems clear we are best suited having Meadows in Center, Baez at short and McStinky at third for the playoffs. We don't pitch nor hit quite good enough to give runs away on defense. McStinky is not a shortstop over long stretches and Keith is not a good defender anywhere on the diamond. 

[Tiger337]

On 8/22/2025 at 9:57 PM, chasfh said:

Worst non-pitcher hitter in major league history with more than 200 career plate appearances (career OPS+: 11).

That is pretty bad, but the all-time champion in hitting futility is this guy: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bergebi01.shtml

21 OPS+ in 3,234 PA 

But he was gritty and clutch and had a veteran presence.  

[SoCalTiger]

I have also come to the conclusion that we should focus our money on signing Greene not Skubul long term since he is much more possible and Tarik is not. Great fielder - middle order power bat with hitting skills and current face of the Tigers along with Skubs. 

[papalawrence]

Cobb rehab shut down for now. Tick tock, tick tock Clarice.......

[Tenacious D]

1 minute ago, papalawrence said:

Cobb rehab shut down for now. Tick tock, tick tock Clarice.......

I think Urquidy is more likely this season.  Even with rosters expanding, why take on Cobb now?

[Edman85]

Rosters only expand by two guys now, only one pitcher. It gets talked about like it's still 40.

[alex]

39 minutes ago, Edman85 said:

Rosters only expand by two guys now, only one pitcher. It gets talked about like it's still 40.

True observation.

IMHO, rosters should be 27-28 anyways (42 total man roster). For Sept. 1 maybe up to 30. The 40 man Sept. roster was way too many (very rarely did teams actually get to 30 though). With said baseball takes its time making any changes.

[Sports_Freak]

2 hours ago, Tenacious D said:

I think Urquidy is more likely this season.  Even with rosters expanding, why take on Cobb now?

Because Harris paid him 15 million $$'s. If they give Cobb 2 or 3 starts and he gets shelled, it would just to be to satisfy Harris' decisions.

[monkeytargets39]

7 hours ago, SoCalTiger said:

I have also come to the conclusion that we should focus our money on signing Greene not Skubul long term since he is much more possible and Tarik is not. Great fielder - middle order power bat with hitting skills and current face of the Tigers along with Skubs. 

Money should be given to both to extend.  In 2 years, contracts like Javy, Cobb, Flaherty, Kahnle, and Gleyber will all be off the books.  
 

The roster will likely be infused with 3-5 rookie deals (Clark, McGonigle, Briceno, Liranzo, Lee—plus Rainer should be a year or two behind them) along with the fairly cheap Keith contract.  Mize, Olson, Jobe, Meadows, Wenceel, Malloy, Melton, and most of the other bullpen arms should still be easily affordable to sign or still in arbitration years.  The only other key players they’ll need to probably make solid bids to keep by that point are Carpenter, Tork and Dingler—who will be sought after but are flawed so they won’t be getting top dollar offers.  Plus, that’s assuming no one from the group of guys like Anderson/Campos/Hamm/etc blossom into big leaguers.

 

If we aren’t going to spend to keep two of the best young stars the organization has ever had, then what the hell are we ever going to spend on?  Not like we project to need to spend tons of money to extend a ton of our current core.  McKinstry, Ibanez, Vierling, Rogers, Jones, etc all have pretty easy production to replace—especially talking about what they’ll be two+ years from now.

[SoCalTiger]

19 minutes ago, monkeytargets39 said:

Money should be given to both to extend.  In 2 years, contracts like Javy, Cobb, Flaherty, Kahnle, and Gleyber will all be off the books.  
 

The roster will likely be infused with 3-5 rookie deals (Clark, McGonigle, Briceno, Liranzo, Lee—plus Rainer should be a year or two behind them) along with the fairly cheap Keith contract.  Mize, Olson, Jobe, Meadows, Wenceel, Malloy, Melton, and most of the other bullpen arms should still be easily affordable to sign or still in arbitration years.  The only other key players they’ll need to probably make solid bids to keep by that point are Carpenter, Tork and Dingler—who will be sought after but are flawed so they won’t be getting top dollar offers.  Plus, that’s assuming no one from the group of guys like Anderson/Campos/Hamm/etc blossom into big leaguers.

 

If we aren’t going to spend to keep two of the best young stars the organization has ever had, then what the hell are we ever going to spend on?  Not like we project to need to spend tons of money to extend a ton of our current core.  McKinstry, Ibanez, Vierling, Rogers, Jones, etc all have pretty easy production to replace—especially talking about what they’ll be two+ years from now.

I think there are limits to the spending and Skubul might be 200 million more...250 to 450 or 275 to 475 ? PLUS PITCHERS BREAK. 

[monkeytargets39]

18 minutes ago, SoCalTiger said:

I think there are limits to the spending and Skubul might be 200 million more...250 to 450 or 275 to 475 ? PLUS PITCHERS BREAK. 

I get that there’s a risk for pitchers….but if we aren’t going to pony up for Skubal, then who would we ever go after?  Even when he hits free agency after next year, he will still be on the right side of 30, has a triple crown, a multiple time all-star, a cy young winner, and aside from his one injury—has been very durable.  He even recovered from that injury quickly and effectively.  He’s got a strong frame, good mechanics (although the leg kick may not age well) and is an ultra-competitor.

 

Id much rather sign him for what he brings to the table than continue to shuffle around guys like Cobb/Flaherty/Maeda/etc. and ultimately spend 30-40 million a year on hoping they bounce back and fill out a rotation.  Plus we aren’t going to have to really pay up big in the next several years on Jobe/Olson/Melton…so why not allocate the money to keep Skubal?  If he gets hurt, he gets hurt.  If he doesn’t, then we have our pitcher of the generation who can anchor a rotation for the next decade.  
 

Plus it’s not a great look to trade him or let him walk when the current core of the fan base just watched us get next to nothing for Verlander, Scherzer, Sanchez, JD Martinez, Suarez and Adames.

Edited 16 hours ago by monkeytargets39

[SeattleMike]

1 hour ago, monkeytargets39 said:

Money should be given to both to extend.  In 2 years, contracts like Javy, Cobb, Flaherty, Kahnle, and Gleyber will all be off the books.  
 

The roster will likely be infused with 3-5 rookie deals (Clark, McGonigle, Briceno, Liranzo, Lee—plus Rainer should be a year or two behind them) along with the fairly cheap Keith contract.  Mize, Olson, Jobe, Meadows, Wenceel, Malloy, Melton, and most of the other bullpen arms should still be easily affordable to sign or still in arbitration years.  The only other key players they’ll need to probably make solid bids to keep by that point are Carpenter, Tork and Dingler—who will be sought after but are flawed so they won’t be getting top dollar offers.  Plus, that’s assuming no one from the group of guys like Anderson/Campos/Hamm/etc blossom into big leaguers.

 

If we aren’t going to spend to keep two of the best young stars the organization has ever had, then what the hell are we ever going to spend on?  Not like we project to need to spend tons of money to extend a ton of our current core.  McKinstry, Ibanez, Vierling, Rogers, Jones, etc all have pretty easy production to replace—especially talking about what they’ll be two+ years from now.

Carpenter won't be a free agent until his age 31 season. Dingler is under team control through his age 32 season. I wouldn't bother extending either. Most guys who start late tend to fade pretty rapidly by age 32 or so anyway. The only guy currently on the roster (not named Skubal) worth an extension is Greene, who will be a FA as a 28-year old. I suspect, however, that window may have closed. Greene has little incentive to agree to a long-term deal unless it's comparable to what Vlad Jr. received. And I doubt the Tigers want to commit to Greene into his late 30s. 

[casimir]

I have a wholly unqualified opinion that Greene’s body won’t last long enough for a long term deal to make sense.

[chasfh]

11 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

That is pretty bad, but the all-time champion in hitting futility is this guy: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bergebi01.shtml

21 OPS+ in 3,234 PA 

But he was gritty and clutch and had a veteran presence.  

And he was a plus behind the plate, which, back then, was truly all that mattered.

It’s true that Bill Bergen was a cut below, but even so, basically no catchers could hit back them. That was barely a requirement of them.

[chasfh]

4 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

Because Harris paid him 15 million $$'s. If they give Cobb 2 or 3 starts and he gets shelled, it would just to be to satisfy Harris' decisions.

Any examples where Harris has done this in the past?

[Tiger337]

2 minutes ago, chasfh said:

And he was a plus behind the plate, which, back then, was truly all that mattered.

It’s true that Bill Bergen was a cut below, but even so, basically no catchers could hit back them. That was barely a requirement of them.

More like several cuts below.  Sure, catchers didn't need to hit back then but Bergen was really extreme.  Nobody came close to being as bad as him.  

[chasfh]

Just now, Tiger337 said:

More like several cuts below.  Sure, catchers didn't need to hit back then but Bergen was really extreme.  Nobody came close to being as bad as him.  

That’s true. I’m merely hypothesizing why Bill Bergen was even able to hold his job. No way a team carries a catcher who hits like that today, even if he is as good a backstop as Bergen was. The guy literally hit like a pitcher.

[Tiger337]

3 minutes ago, chasfh said:

That’s true. I’m merely hypothesizing why Bill Bergen was even able to hold his job. No way a team carries a catcher who hits like that today, even if he is as good a backstop as Bergen was. The guy literally hit like a pitcher.

Your reasoning is probably correct, but his career is still remarkable.  

[lordstanley]

19 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Tigers open vs. Padres in 2026.     I love the fact the MLB wants a World Series rematch for the opening weekend !

And the home opener is against the Cardinals. Good, after what they did to us in 2006, let them stand there all stiff and bored and envious while the Tigers collect their 2025 World Series rings and raise a banner.

[tiger2022]

On 8/27/2025 at 7:20 AM, Motor City Sonics said:

Is it me, or can the Tigers NEVER seem to beat the A's on the road,  no matter where that is.   Just never.  It seems like it.  

Do they just mentally check out when they play this team?  

Right now the A's have a really nice lineup and the Tigers have some pretty awful pitching.  

Tough to win that scenario.

[tiger2022]

8 hours ago, chasfh said:

That’s true. I’m merely hypothesizing why Bill Bergen was even able to hold his job. No way a team carries a catcher who hits like that today, even if he is as good a backstop as Bergen was. The guy literally hit like a pitcher.

So you're saying he was like Babe Ruth?