Will Tigers Pony up for Skubal

[AlaskanTigersFan]

Just now, CMRivdogs said:

Dang, your fantasy leagues must be real hoots

They are man. Strat-o-matic baseball is the best. Part of a league been going on since the 70's..... Crazy league.  

[CMRivdogs]

4 minutes ago, AlaskanTigersFan said:

They are man. Strat-o-matic baseball is the best. Part of a league been going on since the 70's..... Crazy league.  

Belonged to an APBA League for a long while. (Universal Baseball Association) What began as a face to face league evolved to a mail league. I left after too many discussions about the same issue every year. I miss it but really have no desire to go back.

I've been playing a lot of OOTP-Go lately. I like the on line algorithm. Not getting any great offers for Skubal, however

[chasfh]

56 minutes ago, AlaskanTigersFan said:

You already answered your own question. 

The trade I WANT to happen is Skubal for Andrew Painter, Aiden Miller and Justin Crawford. *IF* the Phillies re-sign Schwarber, this is VERY realistic to happen. They will be all in next year and a rotation of Skubal, Wheeler, Nola, Luzardo........ WOW! This all hinges on if the Phillies re-sign Schwarbs though. They won't go for Tucker as their window of contention is 2-3 years. So they need immediate impact, then Dave can leave an go on to the next team.

The two more likely scenarios are a trade to Seattle or a trade to the Mets. 

Seattle - Colt Emerson, Lazaro Monetez and Harry Ford for Skubal

Mets - Benge/or Williams, Tong, Sproat for Skubal. Even though I've been saying this for 3 weeks (look back on this thread), now media must be listening to me: "The Mets might be at the front of that line. A previous report from The Athletic's Will Sammon, noted the Mets "are expected to get involved" in Skubal trade talks. Sammon also opined that the Tigers' asking price may be "two top-level starting pitchers and a position player prospect."

And you really can't rule out the Dodgers. I know that's very cliche, but Sasaki + De Pala + Alex Freeland could be a possibility too.

The only hesitation I have with this is the Dodgers are trying to be the destination for Japanese superstars. They've invested a ton of money into Japan and now stream every home game in Japan. So for them to give up Sasaki who I really think legit, may be the most underrated player in MLB, would be beyond unfathomable to the Japanese. So that's the only reason I don't list this as likely to happen even though that's the cost.

TLDR: If the Phillies sign Schwarber, Skubal better start packing. If not, listen on the Mariners and Mets making the most noise. There could always be a surprise team, but those four in my opinion are in a category all on their own..........

I'll give you credit for stepping up with trade possibilities. There are any number of guys here who would have said, it's not MY job to come up with the trade it's Harris's he should just DO IT unless he totally SUCKS which he DOES!

So kudos to you on that.

I will say that your return packages contain either pitchers who will be nearly as good as Skubal possibly as soon as next year, or players at positions we already have logjams at (infield, catcher). So I'm not sure what that means for our own top prospects, unless your idea also includes liquidating our own guys for Hunter Brown or Andrew Abbott or some other controllable Cy Young-level guy.

So let me set that part aside and ask you this: if we were to trade Skubal for any of these packages, would you be happy for the Tigers to take a step back and miss the playoffs next year, and perhaps the year after, for the promise of a string of playoff appearances anchored by controllable players starting in 2028? Would missing the playoffs for the next two years after making it to the LDS the last two years be an acceptable tradeoff for you to make?

[gehringer_2]

26 minutes ago, AlaskanTigersFan said:

The point I was trying to make is that statistics and evaluation of prospects through advanced metrics make it more likely to "hit" on a prospect than ever before. Bat speed, launch angle, hard hit%, Barrel % etc.... these weren't around 20 years ago. By looking at these and other stats, we can now identify higher pedigree prospects than ever before.

Can there still be duds? Of course! You're asking a guy to hit a 2.75" ball being thrown at 100 mph, under in some cases 54 feet, with a reaction time of less than half a second....... Not everyone is super human. But like it was stated in Moneyball, Pete told Billy Bean after he was asked if he'd take Bean in the first round, "I'd have taken you in the 9th round, no signing bonus....." 

Times have changed............. (That conversation never happened IRL, but you get the point).

the unknowns that remains are around how much all the physics metrics get to the last, hardest part of hitting as a player levels up to the top tiers, and that is the tougher decision making. i.e., Your ability to barrel up more balls better  than the next guy against AA pitching isn't necessarily 100% indicative of your ability to see and react to spin at MLB command and velo levels. Recognizing better disguised pitches and decreased processing time are parts that remain as hurdles that are harder to project from lower level data. That  - and of course injuries, are residual uncertainties even with the tech.

To me the irony is that the better metrics do tell you almost everything about a pitcher today - those more subtle vision/processing issues don't apply to their art, but the injury risk with pitchers is so high today that the increased certainty about their stuff still leaves huge overall uncertainty there as well. 🤷‍♂️

Edited Tuesday at 03:04 PM by gehringer_2

[Tiger337]

1 hour ago, AlaskanTigersFan said:

The point I was trying to make is that statistics and evaluation of prospects through advanced metrics make it more likely to "hit" on a prospect than ever before. Bat speed, launch angle, hard hit%, Barrel % etc.... these weren't around 20 years ago. By looking at these and other stats, we can now identify higher pedigree prospects than ever before.

Can there still be duds? Of course! You're asking a guy to hit a 2.75" ball being thrown at 100 mph, under in some cases 54 feet, with a reaction time of less than half a second....... Not everyone is super human. But like it was stated in Moneyball, Pete told Billy Bean after he was asked if he'd take Bean in the first round, "I'd have taken you in the 9th round, no signing bonus....." 

Times have changed............. (That conversation never happened IRL, but you get the point).

I understood your point the first time.  I just don't understand what Bill James has to do with it.    

[AlaskanTigersFan]

26 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I'll give you credit for stepping up with trade possibilities. There are any number of guys here who would have said, it's not MY job to come up with the trade it's Harris's he should just DO IT unless he totally SUCKS which he DOES!

So kudos to you on that.

I will say that your return packages contain either pitchers who will be nearly as good as Skubal possibly as soon as next year, or players at positions we already have logjams at (infield, catcher). So I'm not sure what that means for our own top prospects, unless your idea also includes liquidating our own guys for Hunter Brown or Andrew Abbott or some other controllable Cy Young-level guy.

So let me set that part aside and ask you this: if we were to trade Skubal for any of these packages, would you be happy for the Tigers to take a step back and miss the playoffs next year, and perhaps the year after, for the promise of a string of playoff appearances anchored by controllable players starting in 2028? Would missing the playoffs for the next two years after making it to the LDS the last two years be an acceptable tradeoff for you to make?

Yes. I would. (I don't think you'd have to sacrifice 2027 as well, but yes, I'd sacrifice 2026).

But I also think next year would be an adjustment anyways while waiting for McGonigle, Clark, Briceno and Liranzo to make their debuts and break in. Not to mention, hopefully Jobe should be back in August (fingers crossed). There's your true core to add to Greene, Dingler, Keith and Carpenter (hopefully Tork too but we'll see). Sacrifice next year for a decade run. Boston basically did it with their big 3 this year. I fully expect Mayer, Campbell and Anthony to be studs. 

Tigers could make plenty of trades with Meadows, Max Anderson (who very well could be our 3B of the future if he keeps this up), Lee, Wencel Perez etc........ to add to their pitching. There's a logjam there which could get us some decent pitchers. 

Keep in mind though, I'm the minority here by far. Also too, I am legit the only person on this board who thinks we've overperformed the last two years as well. If you look back to the beginning of last season, I posted that I'd be happy if we were a .500 team this past year and that the previous year was an aberration.  Glad I was wrong. 

You can stop reading here, now I'm just bored to prove a point:
________________________

Fangraphs Team Stats for 2025
Tigers were EXACTLY league average offensively - 100 wRC+ (19th in the league)
5th in SO % - 24.8%
19th in BB% - 7.8
21st in Average - .241
24th in OBP - .306
16th in Fielding -  -8.2
16th in WAR - at 36.3

Not going to lie, I'm astonished we made the playoffs. The only thing we made a top 15 in as an offensive category was the one thing you wanted to be dead last in and that's Strike Out Percentage....... 

On Paper, this team sucks. Barely league average. Almost last in OBP. So yes, if I could trade Skubal and get all of those in the top 10-15 range....... I'd do it. 

I get it WAR is an arbitrary number, and you can make the argument it legit doesn't mean **** since the Tigers were one inning away from the ALCS. But the TOP 10 TEAMS in MLB had an AVERAGE WAR of 51.73. THAT'S 15 POINTS HIGHER than the Tigers. We would literally need to add 3 Juan Soto's to our lineup to be a TINY bit better than AVERAGE offensively to the top 10 teams in the league. Let that sink in. 

That is why I think the Tigers have overperformed the last two years. And that is why the Tigers should trade Skubal. But hey, just my $0.02.



 

[SoCalTiger]

2 hours ago, AlaskanTigersFan said:

You already answered your own question. 

The trade I WANT to happen is Skubal for Andrew Painter, Aiden Miller and Justin Crawford. *IF* the Phillies re-sign Schwarber, this is VERY realistic to happen. They will be all in next year and a rotation of Skubal, Wheeler, Nola, Luzardo........ WOW! This all hinges on if the Phillies re-sign Schwarbs though. They won't go for Tucker as their window of contention is 2-3 years. So they need immediate impact, then Dave can leave an go on to the next team.

The two more likely scenarios are a trade to Seattle or a trade to the Mets. 

Seattle - Colt Emerson, Lazaro Monetez and Harry Ford for Skubal

Mets - Benge/or Williams, Tong, Sproat for Skubal. Even though I've been saying this for 3 weeks (look back on this thread), now media must be listening to me: "The Mets might be at the front of that line. A previous report from The Athletic's Will Sammon, noted the Mets "are expected to get involved" in Skubal trade talks. Sammon also opined that the Tigers' asking price may be "two top-level starting pitchers and a position player prospect."

And you really can't rule out the Dodgers. I know that's very cliche, but Sasaki + De Pala + Alex Freeland could be a possibility too.

The only hesitation I have with this is the Dodgers are trying to be the destination for Japanese superstars. They've invested a ton of money into Japan and now stream every home game in Japan. So for them to give up Sasaki who I really think legit, may be the most underrated player in MLB, would be beyond unfathomable to the Japanese. So that's the only reason I don't list this as likely to happen even though that's the cost.

TLDR: If the Phillies sign Schwarber, Skubal better start packing. If not, listen on the Mariners and Mets making the most noise. There could always be a surprise team, but those four in my opinion are in a category all on their own..........

The Mets trade would have to start with McLean or no trade. 

[AlaskanTigersFan]

12 minutes ago, SoCalTiger said:

The Mets trade would have to start with McLean or no trade. 

Would love to get him, but they want to contend next year. McLean is the furthest advanced between the three. He'd be their #2 starter. (I think the Mets would sign Cease if they got Skubal). 

[chasfh]

59 minutes ago, AlaskanTigersFan said:

Yes. I would. (I don't think you'd have to sacrifice 2027 as well, but yes, I'd sacrifice 2026).

I think you have a lot of company on this. I simply disagree with this idea completely, even if the step back were to entail only 2026, which I don't think is necessarily a given.

The Detroit Tigers are on a definite momentous path of contending for a World Series in 2026. Not just make the playoffs next year—the Kansas City Royals hope they will simply make to the playoffs next year. That's not us. We are clearly trajecting toward the World Series.

With Skubal in the fold, a few of the right offseason and deadline moves, and progress from key young players, we are on a clear path to get the World Series next year. I don't know any general manager worth his s**t who, while on that trajectory, would put an immediate halt to it so he could position his team to get back to that same place no sooner than three years from now, which is 2028, at best, and probably more like 2029 or even 2030.

For one thing, the fans would go absolutely ape**** after winning playoff series the last two years, and now being told that the payoffs are no longer the primary goal the following year. Okay? That would be bad enough.

But what is arguably even worse is that Harris would lose the players in the organization with such a strategy. What does it tell a Riley Greene or Spencer Torkelson—or, fine, if you don't give a **** what those guys think, then a Dillon Dingler, or a Jackson Jobe, or Kevin McGonigle or Max Clark or a dozen other ranked young talents—that you as a general manager are willing to halt an organization's progress toward a World Series now for the expressed purpose of putting us back on that same track to make the World Series three or four years from now?

And not only the players in this organization, but also, the free agents outside of this organization. What halfway decent free agent in his right mind is going to sign with a team operating with the expressed intent of going backward the year they come aboard? Who on god's green earth would want to sign up for that? And not only free agents this year, but free agents every single year Scott Harris is running this team. No top-tier free agent would ever want to devote the best earning years of his life to an organization who has proved that, at any given moment, they are willing to blow it all up and go backwards because it might pay out four or five years now. Trading Tarik Skubal this winter is practically guaranteed to limit our prospective free agent pool to guys who are willing to sign one-year prove-it deals, and nothing more, for the rest of Harris's tenure with us. 

And, bonus: Harris would be undertaking such a strategy when not only is there no immediate payroll pressure building on him, but the payroll pressure is actually easing on him.

That just strikes me as absolutely bonkers.

Now: I get that it strikes you as absolutely bonkers that I would want to hang onto Skubal and take a chance that the team collapses in 2026, misses the playoffs anyway, fails to sign Skubal long term, loses him to the market, and all we get is some ****ty draft pick for him, if that. I can see why someone would want to avoid that circumstance at all costs which, obviously, includes the cost of giving up a generationally-talented pitcher in his prime for the next year.

So, it would be fair of you to ask me: am I, chasfh, willing to roll the dice, keep Skubal for possibly one and only one more year, and perhaps miss out on the playoffs, lose him afterwards, and start over with the guys we have left?

And I would answer: yes! Yes! A thousand more times yes!

And I say that because we are in a position of contending for a World Series now. That hasn't come around these parts very often and, not to put too fine a point on it, I ain't getting any younger. And I do not want to give that up just to play not to lose in some vague, indeterminate future. But, also, I would want Scott Harris to demonstrate to players both inside and outside the organization that when it's our time to compete, we put the pedal to the floor, instead of putting the car in the garage. To me, that's probably the most important consideration Scott Harris should have as he reviews the options he has before him this winter.

I love ya, man, but we're gonna have to disagree on this and keep arguing about it for the next few months.

[Jason_R]

One thing about analytics is that this mindset can lead some to believe that the game is played on a spreadsheet. It is not.

I agree that with Skubal, internal improvements, and a few key FA investments, this team could make a deep postseason run. 

As a front office and as an ownership group, you have to demonstrate to your team and the league that you intend to compete as hard as you can. It would be a massive failure not to go all-in on at least one more season with Skubal. 

[ToledoBrian]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

I think you have a lot of company on this. I simply disagree with this idea completely, even if the step back were to entail only 2026, which I don't think is necessarily a given.

The Detroit Tigers are on a definite momentous path of contending for a World Series in 2026. Not just make the playoffs next year—the Kansas City Royals hope they will simply make to the playoffs next year. That's not us. We are clearly trajecting toward the World Series.

With Skubal in the fold, a few of the right offseason and deadline moves, and progress from key young players, we are on a clear path to get the World Series next year. I don't know any general manager worth his s**t who, while on that trajectory, would put an immediate halt to it so he could position his team to get back to that same place no sooner than three years from now, which is 2028, at best, and probably more like 2029 or even 2030.

For one thing, the fans would go absolutely ape**** after winning playoff series the last two years, and now being told that the payoffs are no longer the primary goal the following year. Okay? That would be bad enough.

But what is arguably even worse is that Harris would lose the players in the organization with such a strategy. What does it tell a Riley Greene or Spencer Torkelson—or, fine, if you don't give a **** what those guys think, then a Dillon Dingler, or a Jackson Jobe, or Kevin McGonigle or Max Clark or a dozen other ranked young talents—that you as a general manager are willing to halt an organization's progress toward a World Series now for the expressed purpose of putting us back on that same track to make the World Series three or four years from now?

And not only the players in this organization, but also, the free agents outside of this organization. What halfway decent free agent in his right mind is going to sign with a team operating with the expressed intent of going backward the year they come aboard? Who on god's green earth would want to sign up for that? And not only free agents this year, but free agents every single year Scott Harris is running this team. No top-tier free agent would ever want to devote the best earning years of his life to an organization who has proved that, at any given moment, they are willing to blow it all up and go backwards because it might pay out four or five years now. Trading Tarik Skubal this winter is practically guaranteed to limit our prospective free agent pool to guys who are willing to sign one-year prove-it deals, and nothing more, for the rest of Harris's tenure with us. 

And, bonus: Harris would be undertaking such a strategy when not only is there no immediate payroll pressure building on him, but the payroll pressure is actually easing on him.

That just strikes me as absolutely bonkers.

Now: I get that it strikes you as absolutely bonkers that I would want to hang onto Skubal and take a chance that the team collapses in 2026, misses the playoffs anyway, fails to sign Skubal long term, loses him to the market, and all we get is some ****ty draft pick for him, if that. I can see why someone would want to avoid that circumstance at all costs which, obviously, includes the cost of giving up a generationally-talented pitcher in his prime for the next year.

So, it would be fair of you to ask me: am I, chasfh, willing to roll the dice, keep Skubal for possibly one and only one more year, and perhaps miss out on the playoffs, lose him afterwards, and start over with the guys we have left?

And I would answer: yes! Yes! A thousand more times yes!

And I say that because we are in a position of contending for a World Series now. That hasn't come around these parts very often and, not to put too fine a point on it, I ain't getting any younger. And I do not want to give that up just to play not to lose in some vague, indeterminate future. But, also, I would want Scott Harris to demonstrate to players both inside and outside the organization that when it's our time to compete, we put the pedal to the floor, instead of putting the car in the garage. To me, that's probably the most important consideration Scott Harris should have as he reviews the options he has before him this winter.

I love ya, man, but we're gonna have to disagree on this and keep arguing about it for the next few months.

I gotta say, I'm with Chasfh on this, ALL in on 2026 with Skubal, Greene, Dingler, Melton etc + spend more of the Illitch's $.  I understand Bregman, but not convinced he would come here.  Maybe Bichette for SS (3B in the future). McGonigle to start the year with the big club (chance at an extra pick for hardware like Hunter Brown).  1 big SP, 1 RHH RF, load up on top tier RP and let er rip in 2026.  It's been too long since 2006, let alone 1984 and we aren't getting any younger...LOL. Take 2026, and worry about SP again in 2027.

[4hzglory]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

I think you have a lot of company on this. I simply disagree with this idea completely, even if the step back were to entail only 2026, which I don't think is necessarily a given.

The Detroit Tigers are on a definite momentous path of contending for a World Series in 2026. Not just make the playoffs next year—the Kansas City Royals hope they will simply make to the playoffs next year. That's not us. We are clearly trajecting toward the World Series.

With Skubal in the fold, a few of the right offseason and deadline moves, and progress from key young players, we are on a clear path to get the World Series next year. I don't know any general manager worth his s**t who, while on that trajectory, would put an immediate halt to it so he could position his team to get back to that same place no sooner than three years from now, which is 2028, at best, and probably more like 2029 or even 2030.

For one thing, the fans would go absolutely ape**** after winning playoff series the last two years, and now being told that the payoffs are no longer the primary goal the following year. Okay? That would be bad enough.

But what is arguably even worse is that Harris would lose the players in the organization with such a strategy. What does it tell a Riley Greene or Spencer Torkelson—or, fine, if you don't give a **** what those guys think, then a Dillon Dingler, or a Jackson Jobe, or Kevin McGonigle or Max Clark or a dozen other ranked young talents—that you as a general manager are willing to halt an organization's progress toward a World Series now for the expressed purpose of putting us back on that same track to make the World Series three or four years from now?

And not only the players in this organization, but also, the free agents outside of this organization. What halfway decent free agent in his right mind is going to sign with a team operating with the expressed intent of going backward the year they come aboard? Who on god's green earth would want to sign up for that? And not only free agents this year, but free agents every single year Scott Harris is running this team. No top-tier free agent would ever want to devote the best earning years of his life to an organization who has proved that, at any given moment, they are willing to blow it all up and go backwards because it might pay out four or five years now. Trading Tarik Skubal this winter is practically guaranteed to limit our prospective free agent pool to guys who are willing to sign one-year prove-it deals, and nothing more, for the rest of Harris's tenure with us. 

And, bonus: Harris would be undertaking such a strategy when not only is there no immediate payroll pressure building on him, but the payroll pressure is actually easing on him.

That just strikes me as absolutely bonkers.

Now: I get that it strikes you as absolutely bonkers that I would want to hang onto Skubal and take a chance that the team collapses in 2026, misses the playoffs anyway, fails to sign Skubal long term, loses him to the market, and all we get is some ****ty draft pick for him, if that. I can see why someone would want to avoid that circumstance at all costs which, obviously, includes the cost of giving up a generationally-talented pitcher in his prime for the next year.

So, it would be fair of you to ask me: am I, chasfh, willing to roll the dice, keep Skubal for possibly one and only one more year, and perhaps miss out on the playoffs, lose him afterwards, and start over with the guys we have left?

And I would answer: yes! Yes! A thousand more times yes!

And I say that because we are in a position of contending for a World Series now. That hasn't come around these parts very often and, not to put too fine a point on it, I ain't getting any younger. And I do not want to give that up just to play not to lose in some vague, indeterminate future. But, also, I would want Scott Harris to demonstrate to players both inside and outside the organization that when it's our time to compete, we put the pedal to the floor, instead of putting the car in the garage. To me, that's probably the most important consideration Scott Harris should have as he reviews the options he has before him this winter.

I love ya, man, but we're gonna have to disagree on this and keep arguing about it for the next few months.

You summarized my feelings completely.  This isn't about trading hurting our future by raiding the top 3 farm system for 2026.  This is about keeping the momentum going, knowing the future isn't lost if (more likely when) Skubal leaves for draft pick compensation as we have one of the top farm systems in the game. 

As you said, trading Skubal sends a message to the current guys and current and prospective FA's that when given a legitimate opportunity to compete for a championship, we are going to punt it for the future out of fear we will lose the best pitcher in the game the next season.  It also shows them that we aren't even willing to try and keep him.  I do think the Tigers will make Skubal a legitimate offer in FA.  I think it is 99% likely another team makes an offer considerably higher that would make no sense to match.  But if the Tigers make an offer that would make Skubal the highest paid pitcher both by AAV and total $, players will know they are willing to try.  And players would understand IMO.  Just like their pursuit of Bregman last year.  Trading Skubal would all but guarantee the Tigers would be only getting FA's who need to rebuild their value, and that once homegrown players reach FA, if they are any good, they are likely gone.

Like Jason_R said, this isn't a spreadsheet or a SIM league.  

[TcFlint]

5 hours ago, chasfh said:

If we trade Skubal, our trajectory will go backward, not forward.

I can hardly imagine the ****storm that would rain down on Harris if he were to trade Skubal and we miss the playoffs next year.

Wrong!  With Jobe, McGonigle, Anderson, Clark, Olson, Melton, Bicerno, Hamm, Green, Torkelson, Dingler, free agent signings, and whatever prospects we get for Skubal (if he is traded) we will NOT go backwards!!!  One more year only for Skubal and a prospect in 2030 is malpractice IMO and is more than likely what we are going to get.

Edited Tuesday at 06:32 PM by TcFlint

[4hzglory]

5 minutes ago, TcFlint said:

Wrong!  With Jobe, McGonigle, Anderson, Clark, Olson, Melton, Bicerno, Hamm, Green, Torkelson, Dingler, free agent signings, and whatever prospects we get for Skubal (if he is traded) we will NOT go backwards!!!  One more year only for Skubal and a prospect in 2030 is malpractice.

For the reasons Chas said, I think trading Skubal when we are in the position we are in is malpractice.

[Tiger337]

I think a likely contender with the best pitcher in the league has to try to win now.  You don't know when that opportunity will happen again.  You don't know what kind of team they'll have in a couple of years. Maybe the hitters are slower to develop than expected.  Maybe they do just fine, but they don't have enough pitching after Skubal leaves.  They have a chance to win now.  Opportunities like this are why teams go through re-building processes.  They need to take advantage of it.   That, of course, means making some meaningful additions in the off-season to maximize their chances.  

Edited Tuesday at 06:39 PM by Tiger337

[4hzglory]

Just now, Tiger337 said:

I think a likely contender with the best pitcher in the league has to try to win now.  You don't know when that opportunity will happen again.  You don't know what kind of team they'll have in a couple of years. Maybe the hitters are slower to develop than expected.  Maybe they do just fine, but they don't have enough pitching after Skubal leaves.  They have a chance to win now.  Opportunities like this is why teams go through re-building processes.  They need to take advantage of it.   

100%

[IdahoBert]

I feel like the GEICO caveman around here when I see the level of the posts people are composing, but I do agree with all the shmart people.

Keep Skubal and add as much genuine hitting and pitching fire power as possible that doesn’t block the pathway of our can’t miss future stars.

Work whatever magic it takes to ensure the arms of our pitchers don’t fall out of their sockets next year and make sure that our hitters don’t forget how to hit in the last month of the season.

Then try to sign Skubal after 2026 even though he probably won’t sign with us and there may be no season anyway in 2027. 

[Tenacious D]

If we’re being honest, our rotation is very uncertain for next year, which may require us to keep Skubal regardless.  Flaherty could opt out (we’ll know soon), Olson’s health and dependability are questionable, Mize is a likely trade candidate (they don’t trust him and probably aren’t re-signing him).  That leaves Skubal and Melton.  I suspect they will sign at least one SP, maybe two, but their track record has been shopping in the reduced aisle.

[SoCalTiger]

Keep Skubal and sign Bregman seems like an off season we are heading towards.

[Tigermojo]

I'd like to see Harris be more bold this offseason. He's played it pretty safe, adding more quantity to the roster. Now it's time to add quality. Both years they've gone into the post season with Skubal and question marks in the rotation. 

[chasfh]

30 minutes ago, Tigermojo said:

I'd like to see Harris be more bold this offseason. He's played it pretty safe, adding more quantity to the roster. Now it's time to add quality. Both years they've gone into the post season with Skubal and question marks in the rotation. 

Didn't Harris try to be bolder last season by offering the highest dollar contract to Alex Bregman, who turned it down? So it would not make sense for Harris, as we are closer to being a World Series contender now than we were last winter, for him to start pulling up short on effort this winter.

The $64 question will be, as always: will players choose to come to Detroit over going east or west? There are several palpable reasons many wouldn't—too far from family; bad ballpark for RHHs; nobody speaks Spanish here; nobody speaks Japanese here; town's a dump; town's a dead end for their personal brand; iffy prospects when it comes to winning; probably a few more escaping me now.

All these are real concerns we would have to overpay to overcome. The biggest one in our favor is the iffy prospects for winning part—meaning, not so iffy anymore. We should have proven we are going in the right direction—but there may still be some non-believers in the game out there which might cost us a shot at a number of guys. Trades might be more of the way we have to go over wooing free agents at the top of the market.

Should be an interesting time once it really gets going next week.

[oblong]

If the Tigers traded Skubal their season ticket sales would nosedive.  No, that’s not a reason to not do it if the right deal comes along but it is a reason to think long and hard about making a move just to prove to Twitter that you “have balls”.  And the bottom line does affect the roster eventually.  

[AlaskanTigersFan]

6 hours ago, chasfh said:

I think you have a lot of company on this. I simply disagree with this idea completely, even if the step back were to entail only 2026, which I don't think is necessarily a given.............

Yep. No fault there. Like I said, I'm of the minority and I know it. But I want you to screen shot this. If come the All-Star break and we are 7 games below .500, just remember this post lol. 

Naww, I hope I'm wrong and really hope you're right. I just don't see it happening. Not with our lineup. We need help, and the reinforcements we get this year from the farm, might need another year to really help us. So I think it's a moot point. I really hope I'm wrong. I just don't think I am....... (But hey, I've been wrong two years in a row!)

If we keep Skubal great. As long as he doesn't throw out his arm on opening day, I'll be happy as a clam. But if he does, I will be the only person really on this board saying "I told you so.........". 

(Taking a picture now and putting it on my calendar to have this emailed to me mid-year next year. Let see who was right 😁)

[TcFlint]

It is okay to disagree, and we do.  The Dodgers or Blue Jays (two huge spenders) would have embarrassed the Tigers.  One more year of Skubal does not get us to the World Series next season in my opinion unless we sign an another top notch pitcher, a 3B and another slugger, not to mention additions to a tired bullpen.  Do any of you really think Scott Harris is capable of getting this done?  After next year, I think some of you will regret keeping Skubal for 1 season and getting only one 2029 or 2030 rostered player, if they make it that far.  Regardless what happens I will be cheering on our Tigers.

Edited Wednesday at 12:25 AM by TcFlint

[chasfh]

2 hours ago, TcFlint said:

Regardless what happens I will be cheering on our Tigers.

We definitely agree on this one!