2025-2026 Tigers Off Season Thread

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, casimir said:

I would say a lack of “I” has killed the internet as well as making every day life more complicated, but that’s just my opinion.

One thing both the internet and 24 hr news programming are combining to kill is any kind of concision in the use of the English language. When all you have is time to fill, clicks to generate and influencer rep to burnish, there is never any point is using less than 2 minutes to say what can be said in 15 seconds. For a long time at least, with print, there was some motivation to be concise because there is no credit for typing (or even dictation) time, but with AI available to spew unlimited ASCII, that last bastion of efficient media communication is likely doomed as well.

[theroundsquare]

On 12/5/2025 at 7:31 PM, KL2 said:

Yeah my comment was more getting at Tork is a top half first basemen in the league and we’re trading him to make room for a guy we know little about could be better could be worse in time.

i get people have totally soured on tork, but he’s not as bad as many portray and not sure we should be moving any player for a downgrade.

i don't suggest this because i'm sour on tork.  i think he has value, and it is value that the tigers might be able to translate into a different kind of value (i.e., different position, something like that), with a possible play for upside with keith.  also, to somebody else's point, keith isn't as good as tork defensively, today, but given a chance he can probably be much better than he is  keith needs a position where he can learn and grow.  he hasn't had that.  and it's not like tork is keith hernandez

[buddha]

can the hall of fame get less relevant?  what a joke.

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, theroundsquare said:

given a chance he can probably be much better than he is 

I wonder about that. Keith should be/could become a better ground ball fielder at 1st then ST, then but when he played 1st he was very stiff receiving throws, just didn't seem to have a comfort level or even the flexibility for it. He might learn it, but he's got far enough to go I would call success a sure thing, 

But by far the most likely scenario for Colt is they park him at 3rd this season and by the end the season we either have a solid lineup piece for several years, or they'll be looking to off load him a la Castellanos.

[KL2]

3 hours ago, theroundsquare said:

i don't suggest this because i'm sour on tork.  i think he has value, and it is value that the tigers might be able to translate into a different kind of value (i.e., different position, something like that), with a possible play for upside with keith.  also, to somebody else's point, keith isn't as good as tork defensively, today, but given a chance he can probably be much better than he is  keith needs a position where he can learn and grow.  he hasn't had that.  and it's not like tork is keith hernandez

If you take an average/good piece off the team you aren’t doing anything to improve value, you’re just shuffling chairs. It’s why prospects are traded for today value.

if you move tork for “value” let’s say a No.3 pitcher, you’ve weakened the lineup to make room for an unproven guy. You just shifted the hole in the dam. Now if you meove a Keith or other players you keep the lineup as is but made that other area stronger. 

the only way your idea works is if you think Keith is gonna produce a 2.2 war (what tork did, 5th best on team) soon. So far he’s done little to show that. 
 

Your whole idea is based on the idea Keith needs somewhere “to learn and grow.” That concept works if your building we are already a playoff team. Let’s add to what we have an upgrade not just shift holes.

Edited Monday at 03:21 AM by KL2

[Tiger337]

2 hours ago, buddha said:

can the hall of fame get less relevant?  what a joke.

Kent is more like Kinsler than guys like Grich and Whitaker.  

[buddha]

1 minute ago, Tiger337 said:

Kent is more like Kinsler than guys like Grich and Whitaker.  

its an absolute joke.

the biggest laugh is not giving bonds or clemens enough votes to even stay on the ballot!  because of roids!  or schilling because of politics.

and instead you vote in ortiz!  and pudge!  and bagwell!  and now kent!  ortiz was CAUGHT but because he's fat, happy, and plays for the red sox he gets a pass.  pudge miraculously lost 100 pounds in one summer which just happened to be the summer they started testing.  bagwell and kent suddenly got quite large and starting hitting homers but could never have done roids...

come on.  sportswriters are some of the dumbest hypocritical beings on the planet.

i was always on the fence about whitaker and trammell.  theyre "hall of very good" for me.  but if youre going to let in the likes of harold freaking baines and jeff freaking kent, then by all means whitaker and trammell both belong.

[Tiger337]

20 minutes ago, buddha said:

its an absolute joke.

the biggest laugh is not giving bonds or clemens enough votes to even stay on the ballot!  because of roids!  or schilling because of politics.

and instead you vote in ortiz!  and pudge!  and bagwell!  and now kent!  ortiz was CAUGHT but because he's fat, happy, and plays for the red sox he gets a pass.  pudge miraculously lost 100 pounds in one summer which just happened to be the summer they started testing.  bagwell and kent suddenly got quite large and starting hitting homers but could never have done roids...

come on.  sportswriters are some of the dumbest hypocritical beings on the planet.

i was always on the fence about whitaker and trammell.  theyre "hall of very good" for me.  but if youre going to let in the likes of harold freaking baines and jeff freaking kent, then by all means whitaker and trammell both belong.

yup, if you don't put Bonds and Clemens in then you can't put Otiz in.  Pudge and Bagwell are a little different in that nothing was proven.  Kent doesn't belong regardless.    

[Tenacious D]

Do they publish who were on the veterans committee voting?

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

go I would call success a sure thing, 

ooops

"would NOT.."

 

[Edman85]

7 hours ago, Tenacious D said:

Do they publish who were on the veterans committee voting?

Yes, Trammel was on this panel. I know Jayson Stark and Tyler Kepner were too. I forget the whole list off hand.

A few years ago I stopped caring about the Hall of Fame. There's too much to get upset about, why waste emotion on who does and doesn't get in?

[SoCalTiger]

4 hours ago, Edman85 said:

Yes, Trammel was on this panel. I know Jayson Stark and Tyler Kepner were too. I forget the whole list off hand.

A few years ago I stopped caring about the Hall of Fame. There's too much to get upset about, why waste emotion on who does and doesn't get in?

I will stop caring after Sweet Lou gets in. Trammel should be fined for allowing the human"Fence Post" Kent get in. 

[chasfh]

15 hours ago, buddha said:

can the hall of fame get less relevant?  what a joke.

At least they didn’t let Mattingly and Murphy in, after both were rejected 15 times by the writers and even a couple times by various veterans committees.
 

[Tiger337]

25 minutes ago, chasfh said:

At least they didn’t let Mattingly and Murphy in, after both were rejected 15 times by the writers and even a couple times by various veterans committees.
 

Neither is any worse than Jim Rice, but he is one of the poorest choices.  

[buddha]

20 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Neither is any worse than Jim Rice, but he is one of the poorest choices.  

that's the problem when you let in marginal guys like rice or baines or morris.

[AlaskanTigersFan]

Tigers could get some help via rule 5. There's some interesting candidates. I like these 3 the most. 

 

Yohendrick Piñango, OF, Blue Jays

Piñango is one of the best available hitters in the Rule 5 draft. He has an excellent combination of solid upper-level production—.258/.361/.430 with 14 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A—with nearly impeccable analytical data. He hits the ball as hard as almost anyone in the minors—92 mph average EV and a 109 mph 90th EV—and he does it with well-above-average contact rates and solid swing decisions.

Piñango is a left fielder only, and he’s a fringy defender there. That’s a profile that doesn’t get picked all that often, but there are few 23-year-old lefthanded hitters like this in the Rule 5 draft.

 

 

Brandon Birdsell, RHP, Cubs

Entering 2025, Birdsell looked likely to make his major league debut as a depth starter for the Cubs down the stretch. Instead, he dealt with persistent elbow pain, missing the first two and a half months of the season before returning for four starts with Triple-A Iowa and being shut down for good with an elbow injury. Birdsell had elbow surgery in early September with Dr. Keith Meister, and while the exact details of the surgery are unknown, it sounds more likely to be an internal brace than a full Tommy John surgery.

Birdsell is unlikely to see action at all in 2026. This makes him an easy stash for a team willing to hold him on a 40-man roster spot for the entire season. There’s a high likelihood that Birdsell is fully healthy heading into 2027 spring training, and he could at that time compete for a rotation spot. He would need to stick on the active roster for a total of 90 days to fulfill Rule 5 requirements if he doesn’t pitch in 2026.

Over the last two seasons, Birdsell has 80 Triple-A innings and has pitched to a 4.05 ERA with 87 strikeouts to 26 walks. Over that time, he’s generated ground balls at a rate of 43.8% with a swinging-strike rate of 12.6%. Birdsell’s pitches across the board were down in 2025, as he went from sitting 95 mph on his cut-ride four-seam fastball in 2024 to 93.5 and losing an inch of vertical break. He also throws an upper-80s-to-low-90s cutter, a low-to-mid-80s curveball and a firm upper-80s changeup. All of his pitches have fringe-average stuff, but if he can return to his 2024 velocity and shape on his four-seamer, he could be a viable No. 5 starter or swingman in 2027.

Peter Heubeck, RHP, Dodgers

A third-round high school pick in the 2021 draft, Heubeck is Rule 5-eligible for the first time after spending all of 2025 with Double-A Tulsa. He made 16 starts spanning 66.1 innings before he hit the injured list in late July with rotator cuff inflammation that ended his season.

Prior to the injury, Heubeck was putting together a fairly strong season with Tulsa, where he was striking out 27.7% of batters while holding opposing hitters to a .196 batting average. Heubeck’s 13.2% swinging-strike rate is above average for a starter, and he’s shown the ability to consistently miss bats.

Heubeck leads his four-pitch mix with his four-seam fastball, a pitch that sits 93-94 mph with 18-20 inches of induced vertical break and moderate cut from a 5-foot-8 release height. The lower release on his fastball and high spin efficiency allow Heubeck to create a flat approach angle despite poor extension. His mid-to-high-80s cut-slider is his primary secondary, and it’s a well-commanded pitch that shows average bat-missing capabilities. His two-plane curveball has extreme depth with nearly 20 inches of induced vertical break on average. It’s a tricky pitch to command, but when batters swing at it, they miss at a high rate. Heubeck has poor command with his changeup, and he hardly throws it. However, it didn’t miss a high rate of bats in a limited sample.

Heubeck could potentially up the usage on his breaking balls and air out his fastball in shorter outings out of the pen, making him an intriguing Rule 5 option. 

[Edman85]

I doubt the Tigers dabble in the Rule 5.

[AlaskanTigersFan]

1 minute ago, Edman85 said:

I doubt the Tigers dabble in the Rule 5.

I don't think they will either. But they do have 1 spot open on the 40 man roster...... 🤔

[Edman85]

5 minutes ago, AlaskanTigersFan said:

I don't think they will either. But they do have 1 spot open on the 40 man roster...... 🤔

That is spoken for (Drew Anderson).

[chasfh]

13 hours ago, buddha said:

its an absolute joke.

the biggest laugh is not giving bonds or clemens enough votes to even stay on the ballot!  because of roids!  or schilling because of politics.

and instead you vote in ortiz!  and pudge!  and bagwell!  and now kent!  ortiz was CAUGHT but because he's fat, happy, and plays for the red sox he gets a pass.  pudge miraculously lost 100 pounds in one summer which just happened to be the summer they started testing.  bagwell and kent suddenly got quite large and starting hitting homers but could never have done roids...

come on.  sportswriters are some of the dumbest hypocritical beings on the planet.

i was always on the fence about whitaker and trammell.  theyre "hall of very good" for me.  but if youre going to let in the likes of harold freaking baines and jeff freaking kent, then by all means whitaker and trammell both belong.

Yeah, a lot of times it strikes me less as the Hall of Fame and more as the Hall of Guys I Like.

Honestly, I don’t mind Kent going in. I thought for a while he’s had a credible case at least for discussion. What I can’t believe is Carlos Delgado getting nine votes. What?! Carlos Delgado?! Why, because he finish his career as a Met? He has no rings, no MVPs, only two all-star appearances, and a whole bunch of meh seasons. He came perilously close to being enshrined in the Harold Baines wing of the Hall of Fame. Thank god good sense prevailed among enough voters. Carlos Delgado shouldn’t be able to enter the Hall of Fame without having to buy a ticket. 

[Edman85]

 

[Tigermojo]

Anderson $7 million with a $10 million team option for '27.

[oblong]

4 hours ago, chasfh said:

Yeah, a lot of times it strikes me less as the Hall of Fame and more as the Hall of Guys I Like.

Honestly, I don’t mind Kent going in. I thought for a while he’s had a credible case at least for discussion. What I can’t believe is Carlos Delgado getting nine votes. What?! Carlos Delgado?! Why, because he finish his career as a Met? He has no rings, no MVPs, only two all-star appearances, and a whole bunch of meh seasons. He came perilously close to being enshrined in the Harold Baines wing of the Hall of Fame. Thank god good sense prevailed among enough voters. Carlos Delgado shouldn’t be able to enter the Hall of Fame without having to buy a ticket. 

What’s funny is I thought “Carlos Delgado was on a ballot??? It never dawned on me he’d be considered”. Then I looked up his stats and he was actually better for a longer period of time  than I remember.  .  Not saying what you said isn’t true though. 

[Tigermojo]

https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/tigers-sign-pitcher-drew-anderson

Harris quotes about Mr. Anderson:

“He made a really good impression with us in the spring of ‘24,” Harris said. “I thought he worked really well with our pitching group. I thought he accessed some additional velocity and fastball quality that he carried to Korea with him. In Korea, he was able to hold his velocity across a pretty big workload for a starter. He also added a kick-change that became a real swing-and-miss weapon for him. He still has a curveball.”

“We feel like with the added swing-and-miss secondary pitch, and the familiarity and the foundation of innings, that he can be a real addition to our team,” Harris said. “We’re really excited to add him.”

“At this point in December, generally we’re just trying to add as much pitching as we possibly can, trusting that we’re going to be able to figure it out in partnership with A.J.,” Harris said. “I think the thing that really sticks out with Drew is that it’s not just the foundation of innings, it’s the performance, too. The [rate of] bats that he was able to miss in Korea [was] pretty staggering.”

[1984Echoes]

So...

Worth a shot in spring training.

If nothing else he can be a 6th/7th/8th starter for Detroit (in Toledo) pending 2026 seasonal/ injury needs.