5/12/25 6:40PM Red Sox @ Tigers

[romad1]

37 minutes ago, chasfh said:

You’re probably right, but part of me also wonders whether Bregman would have negatively affected the bonhomie in the clubhouse, not because I think he’s a bad guy necessarily, but injecting a new highly-paid mercenary into a clubhouse full of kids learning how to be big leaguers all together would definitely have shifted the vibe, and who knows whether for the better or the worse.

I think with no evidence that Gleyber Torres has been beneficial to Javier Baez.  Maybe a wingman of basically the same life experiences of playoffs, FA and being a free swinger. 

[RatkoVarda]

Bregman is going to opt out and go into free agency again, this time with no draft pick attached, and possibly with a monster platform season. He is currently on track for 8 WAR. So far, it looks like he made right call to go to Boston.

[Tigermojo]

3 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

Bregman is going to opt out and go into free agency again, this time with no draft pick attached, and possibly with a monster platform season. He is currently on track for 8 WAR. So far, it looks like he made right call to go to Boston.

I understand the fans emotions booing him but the Tigers offered an opt out after two years and Boston beat that. He looks smart for betting on himself so far.

[chasfh]

20 minutes ago, romad1 said:

I think with no evidence that Gleyber Torres has been beneficial to Javier Baez.  Maybe a wingman of basically the same life experiences of playoffs, FA and being a free swinger. 

I hadn't considered this but that makes a lot of sense. It must have been very isolating for Javy to be on the team last year as the only high dollar veteran guy, outside of Kenta Maeda who is both not Latin and not a hitter. Having a veteran on the team from that part of the world who produces at the plates and, bonus, Javy can bond with, could conceivably lead to both guys optimizing their performance.

I know nothing about whether they actually are bonding like that, so it's all hypothetical to me. But it makes sense.

[romad1]

2 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I hadn't considered this but that makes a lot of sense. It must have been very isolating for Javy to be on the team last year as the only high dollar veteran guy, outside of Kenta Maeda who is both not Latin and not a hitter. Having a veteran on the team from that part of the world who produces at the plates and, bonus, Javy can bond with, could conceivably lead to both guys optimizing their performance.

I know nothing about whether they actually are bonding like that, so it's all hypothetical to me. But it makes sense.

It also doesn't hurt that Baez is less hurt. 

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

I think the other reason Jobe’s here is because at a certain point, a kid can’t learn anything more from mowing down AAA hitters, and has got to either sink or swim at the big league level.

Most guys with as few IP as Jobe need reps, so the question is: has he crossed the boundary where getting the reps with the MLB team isn't costing you wins. So far, so good. The only other thing with Jobe is that he appears to be a 'young' 22 in that his manner and composure on the mound still appear somewhat immature - maybe nothing going to help that except getting older - so again, as long as that doesn't cost wins....

[chasfh]

5 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

Bregman is going to opt out and go into free agency again, this time with no draft pick attached, and possibly with a monster platform season. He is currently on track for 8 WAR. So far, it looks like he made right call to go to Boston.

I don't care how diplomatic Bregman is—he was never coming here this season.

We've talked ad nauseam about why he chose Boston over Detroit, with the ballpark and the opt-outs offered being the biggest reasons many of us concluded as much. But I think another reason we really didn't discuss all that much was also the AAV. The Tigers' offer would have resulted in an AAV of $28.5MM, which ain't a bad day's work. But the Boston contract's AAV is $40MM, and even setting aside the opt-outs, it makes a huge difference in the setting of marketplace expectations going into free agency coming off a $40MM AAV versus a $28.5MM AAV.

 

[chasfh]

1 minute ago, gehringer_2 said:

Most guys with as few IP as Jobe need reps, so the question is: has he crossed the boundary where getting the reps with the MLB team isn't costing you wins. So far, so good. The only other thing with Jobe is that he appears to be a 'young' 22 in that his manner and composure on the mound still appear somewhat immature - maybe nothing going to help that except getting older - so again, as long as that doesn't cost wins....

The Tigers are 7-0 in his starts, so, so good indeed.

Just about any pitcher is going to scuffle in his first extended exposure to big league hitters, but it's a little easier and more comfortable to work out the kinks at this level where your team is scoring six-plus runs a game for you.

[Tiger337]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

You’re probably right, but part of me also wonders whether Bregman would have negatively affected the bonhomie in the clubhouse, not because I think he’s a bad guy necessarily, but injecting a new highly-paid mercenary into a clubhouse full of kids learning how to be big leaguers all together would definitely have shifted the vibe, and who knows whether for the better or the worse.

That is always a possibility, but there is also a possibility he could have improved the environment even more.   Everything I've heard about him suggests he is a good teammate.  They haven't been affected by Torres's unwilingness to play other positions and Bregman openly stated he would be willing to move off third if necessary. 

[gehringer_2]

4 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

They haven't been affected by Torres's unwilingness to play other positions

Maybe he did when he came up, but I don't think Torres has the arm to play the left side any more, so maybe no loss that he's staying put.

If Javy's bat doesn't fall off a cliff, I'll predict he's likely to get the largest slice of the shared reps at 3B after Parker is back.

Edited yesterday at 01:49 PM by gehringer_2

[chasfh]

5 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Maybe he did when he came up, but I don't think Torres has the arm to play the left side any more, so maybe no loss that he's staying put.

uh huh

[Tiger337]

17 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Maybe he did when he came up, but I don't think Torres has the arm to play the left side any more, so maybe no loss that he's staying put.

If Javy's bat doesn't fall off a cliff, I'll predict he's likely to get the largest slice of the shared reps at 3B after Parker is back.

Baez's .398 BABIP suggests a lot of regression is coming.  I am fine with Torres playing second base.  The point I was making is that Torres did not have a good reputation as a teammate, but has not been a problem at all.  I doubt Bregman would have been either.  I still wish they got him.  I am really enjoying the team as is, but I think Bregman would have been a great addition.  

Edited yesterday at 02:06 PM by Tiger337

[chasfh]

Just now, Tiger337 said:

Baez's .398 BABIP suggests a lot of regression is coming.  

If Baez's BABIP were the team average of .313 (giggity), his suggested slash line would be .252/.289/.383, which, if you'd told me coming into the season he'd be hitting this with plus CF defense to cover for the top three guys on the depth chart who were all injured, I think I would have been OK with that.

[Tiger337]

3 minutes ago, chasfh said:

If Baez's BABIP were the team average of .313 (giggity), his suggested slash line would be .252/.289/.383, which, if you'd told me coming into the season he'd be hitting this with plus CF defense to cover for the top three guys on the depth chart who were all injured, I think I would have been OK with that.

That wouldn't be terrible, but I've rather have Bregman.  😄

[gehringer_2]

12 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Baez's .398 BABIP suggests a lot of regression is coming.  I am fine with Torres playing second base.  The point I was making is that Torres did not have a good reputation as a teammate, but has not been a problem at all.  I doubt Bregman would have been either.  I still wish they got him.  I am really enjoying the team as is, but I think Bregman would have been a great addition.  

of course they say winnng is the best team chemistry, so by that axiom, this underlying character if this year's team hasn't been tested very hard. Apropos of that, I did notice that Devers didn't play any 1B last night...

[chasfh]

7 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

That wouldn't be terrible, but I've rather have Bregman.  😄

I'd rather be in my early 30s. 😁

[Klondike]

1 hour ago, Tiger337 said:

Baez's .398 BABIP suggests a lot of regression is coming.  I am fine with Torres playing second base.  The point I was making is that Torres did not have a good reputation as a teammate, but has not been a problem at all.  I doubt Bregman would have been either.  I still wish they got him.  I am really enjoying the team as is, but I think Bregman would have been a great addition.  

Just Bregman's defense alone makes me wish they got him. So what if he hits 20 homers instead of 30. His defense would help our pitching. Too bad but wishes can't be horses

[Arlington]

The question is can he play tic-tac-toe.

[Sports_Freak]

4 hours ago, chasfh said:

The Tigers are 7-0 in his starts, so, so good indeed.

Just about any pitcher is going to scuffle in his first extended exposure to big league hitters, but it's a little easier and more comfortable to work out the kinks at this level where your team is scoring six-plus runs a game for you.

I wonder how many innings the Tigers have in mind for him this season? 125 innings? Surely not over 150 innings, right?

[gehringer_2]

45 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

I wonder how many innings the Tigers have in mind for him this season? 125 innings? Surely not over 150 innings, right?

IDK, if they give him a few 12 day breaks like the last one, or maybe an even longer one at the ASB, maybe he can go further than we expect without harm.

[Tiger337]

6 hours ago, chasfh said:

I don't care how diplomatic Bregman is—he was never coming here this season.

We've talked ad nauseam about why he chose Boston over Detroit, with the ballpark and the opt-outs offered being the biggest reasons many of us concluded as much. But I think another reason we really didn't discuss all that much was also the AAV. The Tigers' offer would have resulted in an AAV of $28.5MM, which ain't a bad day's work. But the Boston contract's AAV is $40MM, and even setting aside the opt-outs, it makes a huge difference in the setting of marketplace expectations going into free agency coming off a $40MM AAV versus a $28.5MM AAV.

 

You keep saying there was no way he would ever sign with Detroit, but I don't see any evidence that that is true.  Harris would not have stayed involved up to the end if there was no chance to get him.  If Boston didn't make that huge one-year offer, he may very well have taken Detroit's best offer.  

[holygoat]

7 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

You keep saying there was no way he would ever sign with Detroit, but I don't see any evidence that that is true.  Harris would not have stayed involved up to the end if there was no chance to get him.  If Boston didn't make that huge one-year offer, he may very well have taken Detroit's best offer.  

Bregman said he expected to sign with Detroit right up until Boston made their huge offer. 

[chasfh]

That could just be a case of 20-20 hindsight diplomacy.

He always raked at Fenway and not here. Right-handed power hitters who want to goose their stats don’t want to come here.

[chasfh]

I think one thing we can all agree on is that it’s fun to see Alex Bregman watching the team he spurned beat him and the team he chose.

[Tiger337]

Just now, chasfh said:

That could just be a case of 20-20 hindsight diplomacy.

He always raked at Fenway and not here. Right-handed power hitters who want to goose their stats don’t want to come here.

Does he use the same diplomacy with other teams that were involved in the bidding?  Did he tell the Chicago and Toronto media that he thought all winter that he was going to become a Cub/Blue Jay?