2025-2026 Tigers Off Season Thread

[IdahoBert]

I ruptured my right bicep years ago so I have what’s called a “Popeye bicep” which is a little unsightly, but the doctor I went to was a sports doctor and he said even Brett Favre didn’t have his repaired so I didn’t need to.

He did say he had surgically repaired one for a woman who was very thin and she had stopped wearing tops that showed her biceps because with her it was pretty ugly.

[casimir]

Sabermathmetrics?  Check.

Old guy injuries?  Check.

What's next on the list, chili recipes or cat pictures?

[alex]

13 hours ago, chasfh said:

They may end up doing so, but they may also be saying this in part to prime the market for an unexpected move on a bat. It's Negotiating 201 to make it look as though you're committed to zigging, so you can spring a zag on people if the price is right.

Agreed, IMHO, if they see a real opportunity and without being public about it - they will at least try. I would think Bregman, Bichette, Kim, Arenado and a maybe couple others (an OF?) might be looked at.

[RatkoVarda]

35 minutes ago, casimir said:

What's next on the list, chili recipes or cat pictures?

I am very worried it is going to be rehashing the offers to Correa and Bregman to determine if they were serious offers or not

[Tigermojo]

1 hour ago, casimir said:

Sabermathmetrics?  Check.

Old guy injuries?  Check.

What's next on the list, chili recipes or cat pictures?

Driveway drainage systems.

[chasfh]

14 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

This is not Dave Dombrowski!  I was surprised that Harris said that because he usually doesn't say anything, but management speak which is fine.  Regardless, after signing Torres, I am not expecting a big offensive acquisition.    

It was Jeff Greenberg who said that at the owners meetings last week, presumably reflecting the organization’s approach this winter. But it is very possible that we are very open to trading for an impact bat but want to look as though we could take it or leave it, in order to keep the price down. So we make the kind of statement Greenberg made to draw in teams interested in players in our system who might be more inclined to give in some during negotiations. Then, if we don’t get the deal we want, we just move along with what we already have in-house. For teams in a particular position, it’s a pretty common negotiating tactic that I don’t think is too sophisticated for Harris to grasp.

As things stand, our particular position may be that we’re not that far away from being a top ten offense even with what we have in the system. I demonstrated in another post that during the performance pullback in September, with the increased strikeouts and decreased walks and whatnot, it was the Avila pickups that dropped off, and that the Harris pickups stayed steady, and there was practically no difference in production between the two groups.

Edited 4 hours ago by chasfh

[RatkoVarda]

how about non-tender decisions?

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/11/2025-non-tender-candidates.html

Ibanez, Beau and Vierling (and Foley and Rainey are on here too)

[Tigermojo]

1 minute ago, RatkoVarda said:

how about non-tender decisions?

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/11/2025-non-tender-candidates.html

Ibanez, Beau and Vierling (and Foley and Rainey are on here too)

Lee and Ibanez seem to have similar skills.

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, casimir said:

Sabermathmetrics?  Check.

Old guy injuries?  Check.

What's next on the list, chili recipes or cat pictures?

You can’t go wrong with Carroll Shelby straight up, right from the package.

My dad became a chili connoisseur during his trip on the back nine, and would make it to the printed recipe. When my wife and I were driving Route 66, we were at the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, TX and I had a cup of their chili, and it was almost a carbon copy of my dad’s Carroll Shelby’s. I told the cafe people this, and they seemed borderline offended by the idea! Whoops!

There! Are there enough old man markers in that post for you? 😁

[Tiger337]

1 minute ago, chasfh said:

It was Jeff Greenberg who said that at the owners meetings last week, presumably reflecting the organization’s approach this winter. But it is very possible that we are very open to trading for an impact bat but want to look as though we could take it or leave it, in order to keep the price down. So we make the kind of statement Greenberg made to draw in teams interested in players in our system who might be more inclined to give in some during negotiations. Then, if we don’t get the deal we want, we just move along with what we already have in-house. For teams in a particular positions, it’s a pretty common negotiating tactic that I don’t think is too sophisticated for Harris to grasp.

As things stand, our particular position may be that we’re that far away from being a top ten offense even with what we have in the system. Even with the performance pullback in September, with the increased strikeouts and decreased walks and whatnot, I demonstrated in another post that it was the Avila pickups that dropped off, and that the Harris pickups stayed steady, and there was practically no difference in production between the two groups.

I know that there are businessmen who make public statements in an attempt to influence markets.  It has been my observation that the current Tigers administration doesn't have a history of doing that, but that can change.  I don't doubt that they could approach the off-season differently this time.  None of knows what they are thinking.   

[Tiger337]

1 minute ago, Tigermojo said:

Lee and Ibanez seem to have similar skills.

If they can't find a replacement for Ibanez among their assortment of infielders, then that would be a big fail.  I don't think there is reason to hold onto Ibanez at this point given his age and recent performance.   

[chasfh]

3 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

I know that there are businessmen who make public statements in an attempt to influence markets.  It has been my observation that the current Tigers administration doesn't have a history of doing that, but that can change.  I don't doubt that they could approach the off-season differently this time.  None of knows what they are thinking.   

You may not have seen a history of the Harris admin making statements to influence markets yet because we have not been in a position to deal at a higher level of the market yet. Harris has had to spend the first three years of his tenure cleaning up Avila’s mess, the damage from which was substantial. We weren’t even supposed to be contending by 2025! But the combination of finding good talent that;’s basically freely available and Hinch’s management of the team on the field accelerated our contention timeline some.

Either way, I would have expected they’d be in a position to made decent trades to improve by this winter anyway.

[Sports_Freak]

7 minutes ago, chasfh said:

You may not have seen a history of the Harris admin making statements to influence markets yet because we have not been in a position to deal at a higher level of the market yet. Harris has had to spend the first three years of his tenure cleaning up Avila’s mess, the damage from which was substantial. We weren’t even supposed to be contending by 2025! But the combination of finding good talent that;’s basically freely available and Hinch’s management of the team on the field accelerated our contention timeline some.

Either way, I would have expected they’d be in a position to made decent trades to improve by this winter anyway.

Looking around, Avila's "mess" has us in the playoffs the last 2 seasons in spite of the Harris mistakes. Alex Cobb? 15 million dollars wasted on a team with limited resources. Maeda? Trading for a 41 year old Morton? Or acquiring Paddack? A reject from a bottom feeder team? The Twins garbage. Harris has done a very good job rebuilding our empty farm system but I would never say he's done a good job with the major league team. His lack of bringing in talent thru trades or signing quality free agents is his biggest weakness. Say what you want about Avila but the foundation of the ML team is players he brought in.

[Tiger337]

18 minutes ago, chasfh said:

You may not have seen a history of the Harris admin making statements to influence markets yet because we have not been in a position to deal at a higher level of the market yet. Harris has had to spend the first three years of his tenure cleaning up Avila’s mess, the damage from which was substantial. We weren’t even supposed to be contending by 2025! But the combination of finding good talent that;’s basically freely available and Hinch’s management of the team on the field accelerated our contention timeline some.

Either way, I would have expected they’d be in a position to made decent trades to improve by this winter anyway.

They were in position last winter and I think this season and the playoffs proved it.  

[Sports_Freak]

2 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

They were in position last winter and I think this season and the playoffs proved it.  

I wish they could have signed Matthew Boyd. 2 years at 15m per season. Instead, wasted 15m on Alex Cobb. The upside on both players really favored Boyd, Cobb was planning to retire until all that money was thrown at him.

[chasfh]

17 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Looking around, Avila's "mess" has us in the playoffs the last 2 seasons in spite of the Harris mistakes. Alex Cobb? 15 million dollars wasted on a team with limited resources. Maeda? Trading for a 41 year old Morton? Or acquiring Paddack? A reject from a bottom feeder team? The Twins garbage. Harris has done a very good job rebuilding our empty farm system but I would never say he's done a good job with the major league team. His lack of bringing in talent thru trades or signing quality free agents is his biggest weakness. Say what you want about Avila but the foundation of the ML team is players he brought in.

I've seen posts implying something close to this, but this post is as close to giving Avila 100% credit for the 2024 and 2025 Tiger teams as I have ever seen.

[chasfh]

16 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

They were in position last winter and I think this season and the playoffs proved it.  

I remember this still being an open question last winter. I think probably more than half the posters here expected the team to fall on their face and finish below .500, and that most of the baseball media had us finishing out of the playoffs going into this past season. Either way, 20/20 hindsight notwithstanding, we fairly appeared to be more than one big trade or free agent signing from winning the division.

[Tiger337]

5 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I've seen posts implying something close to this, but this post is as close to giving Avila 100% credit for the 2024 and 2025 Tiger teams as I have ever seen.

Harris gives us a lot more hope of sustained success for years to come and that is really really imporant.  I am glad he is leading the organization..  As far as what they have done performance wise in the Majors the last two years, I give Avila as much credit as Harris.  

[Tiger337]

6 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I remember this still being an open question last winter. I think probably more than half the posters here expected the team to fall on their face and finish below .500, and that most of the baseball media had us finishing out of the playoffs going into this past season. Either way, 20/20 hindsight notwithstanding, we fairly appeared to be more than one big trade or free agent signing from winning the division.

The media!

As far as posters on this board, I would say their final record aligned with what the median poster expected.  

Edited 3 hours ago by Tiger337

[Edman85]

59 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

how about non-tender decisions?

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/11/2025-non-tender-candidates.html

Ibanez, Beau and Vierling (and Foley and Rainey are on here too)

I would add everybody DFA'd Tuesday. Also, Drew Sommers can't be outrighted the rest of the off-season. If they can get him to agree to a generous minor league deal, non-tendering him to bypass waivers makes some sense if they need the 40 man space down the line.

[chasfh]

I really do think that the Al Avila tenure has done lasting damage to the psyche of this fan base.

I believe the cynicism that so many have about Scott Harris—that he must be dishonest or stupid or conniving or a scaredy-cat or whatever other bad quality fans can ascribe to him—can really only have been borne from the disappointment of watching the franchise flop around like a fish on a boat for ten years due to the sheer incompetence and recalcitrance of the Avila regime, especially coming as it did on the heels of the successful tenure that preceded it. I can only conclude that many fans have simply come to expect that our favorite team’s front office will be ultimately terrible, regarding any intermittent success as a mask on the face of the arc of terribleness we must be fated to experience. And so some assume that Scott Harris will simply carry on that tradition in his own soul-crushing manner and turn us into the losers we're fated to become. We might as well hammer him now, because nobody wants to be that jerk who looks stupid for believing that what Harris is doing is the right approach, only to be disappointed by his inevitable failure.

Plus, not for nothing, I find it just simply gobsmacking that there is so much disdain and derision for a PBO who gave us two LDS appearances in his first three years after we’d gone a decade wandering in the desert under you know who. The rueful nostalgia I see people have for Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland is sad enough, but the misplaced nostalgia for Al freaking Avila, for god's sake, is downright pathetic.

I get how sad it is to feel abandoned, but it’s time for everyone to face facts: daddy ain’t never coming home after going out for cigarettes. The Kid is The Man now, he’s in charge, and he’s gonna be here well into his middle-age years. And we might as well get used to the idea, so why not give him at least one chance to implement the plan he says he’s working on? And if he fails at it and starts spinning his wheels a la Avila, that’s when I’ll jump on board the hatewagon along with everyone else.

[Tiger337]

LOL, There is no nostalgia for Avila.  I think you need to get over Avila.  Are you still agonizing over Randy Smith too?

[Dan Gilmore]

2 hours ago, casimir said:

Sabermathmetrics?  Check.

Old guy injuries?  Check.

What's next on the list, chili recipes or cat pictures?

It’s going to be a long off season…

[theroundsquare]

5 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

LOL, There is no nostalgia for Avila.  I think you need to get over Avila.  Are you still agonizing over Randy Smith too?

yes.  wtf with trading the cat

[Sports_Freak]

30 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I've seen posts implying something close to this, but this post is as close to giving Avila 100% credit for the 2024 and 2025 Tiger teams as I have ever seen.

No, not 100%. He was pretty bad at player development. And he had really high draft choices. But he did make some good moves and deserves some credit for the Tigers recent success. And I'm really not sure if Chris is putting payroll limits on Harris. If he is, wasting 15 million dollars is even more huge. Limited resources means getting free agent signing right. Torres seemed to have worked out but he kinda fell olin the Tigers lap. I mean, 2nd base wasn't a huge need at the time, the Torres signing came out of nowhere. But again, Harris has done a very good job at rebuilding our weak farm system. Hopefully, some of those players will soon help us.