2025-2026 Tigers Off Season Thread

[1984Echoes]

If teams are avoiding Valdez...

I'd rather sign Valdez to a 3-4 year contract over what else is available.

More dominant.

[Stormin]

21 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

So you are assuming a big future for that comp pick.....

😉

As a side note, the Tigers drafted Christian Stewart with the comp pick they received for Max Scherzer. A few picks later the Braves drafted Austin Riley.

Edited yesterday at 02:03 AM by Stormin

[Tenacious D]

$35M a season?

 

[Tiger337]

16 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

$35M a season?

 

One WAR is worth about 9 million and Bregman is projected to be 3.5-4.0 WAR, so that comes out right.  How many years he can do that is certainly questionable, but his contract should be worth it in the early years.   

[papalawrence]

1 hour ago, Tenacious D said:

$35M a season?

 

70 mil is deferred. Not sure yet of the full details. So 21 mil per for 5 years, then 70 mil deferred

[chasfh]

17 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

This is a big difference between this and the prior regime. Say what ever else you will about Avila, he belived in drafting pitchers high and often exactly because they went down so often. I understand the other view but I'm not sure that just because there is a lot of uncertainly in doing it with great deliberation, that means you actually have any reasonable chance of assembling a play-off calibre pitching staff by chance pickups. 

I may be being unfair, as has been noted, Harris did pivot toward more pitching in the recent draft but they've had a lot of bad luck so we haven't seen anything out of it.

I’d rather focus on drafting hitting and go to the playoffs than focus on drafting pitching and lose 98 games a season.

That said, you can’t draft 100% hitters in the high rounds in perpetuity. You have to draft pitchers up there at some point.

[chasfh]

13 hours ago, RatkoVarda said:

Hoerner would be a fantastic fit. with Tucker moving on and Cassie traded, would the Cubs be interested in some LH power and trade 1 year of Hoerner for 3 years of Carpenter?

saves the Cubs, who are right at the CB tax level, about some money as well, about 9M.

With all the money the Cubs are throwing around, I’m wondering whether hampering themselves in RF defensively with a platoon guy to save $9MM is on their wish list?

When I said earlier that I’m coming around to the idea they keep Shaw and trade Hoerner, I’m not saying that’s what they should do, I’m saying that’s what I was thinking they end up doing. Personally, I believe it would be asinine for them to pick up five wins in Bregman and then trade away five wins in Hoerner and replace him with whatever Shaw would give them out of position at second—maybe a win, maybe two? Maybe none? Or maybe he gives them five wins there just with his bat? Who knows. It would be a huge risk for them to go all in at third and pitching only to potentially kneecap themselves at second. They are arguably the favorites for their Central right now.

[1984Echoes]

12 hours ago, Stormin said:

As a side note, the Tigers drafted Christian Stewart with the comp pick they received for Max Scherzer. A few picks later the Braves drafted Austin Riley.

OUCH!!!

[1984Echoes]

PS: I still think the Tigers should target Kyle Tucker.

Fits the "control the strike zone" mold.

Better fielding corner OF'er than we have on our roster.

Perfect veteran to match up when Clark eventually comes up...

Has some power to reach the RF seats (don't need 40-50 HR power IMO, I'll take the .380 OBP and the .960 OPS...).

And one of Greene (less likely) or Carpenter (most likely) can be traded for additional pitching. He (KC) of the .290 OBP last year, and .790 OPS and barely average fielding...).

Just my 2 cents.

[RatkoVarda]

2 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

PS: I still think the Tigers should target Kyle Tucker.

Fits the "control the strike zone" mold.

Better fielding corner OF'er than we have on our roster.

Perfect veteran to match up when Clark eventually comes up...

Has some power to reach the RF seats (don't need 40-50 HR power IMO, I'll take the .380 OBP and the .960 OPS...).

And one of Greene (less likely) or Carpenter (most likely) can be traded for additional pitching. He (KC) of the .290 OBP last year, and .790 OPS and barely average fielding...).

Just my 2 cents.

Tucker would make every team better; it would be a 180 degree shift for Harris and Co to sign a FA to a 350M+ contract

[chasfh]

25 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

Tucker would make every team better; it would be a 180 degree shift for Harris and Co to sign a FA to a 350M+ contract

It would also be a 180 degree shift for the top free agent on the market to choose a team like Detroit over the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, or Giants (or, these days, Blue Jays or Phillies).

[Tiger337]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

It would also be a 180 degree shift for the top free agent on the market to choose a team like Detroit over the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, or Giants (or, these days, Blue Jays or Phillies).

It can't happen if you don't try!

I have resigned myself though to the idea that the Tigers are not likely going to sign that level of free agent, not this year and maybe never.  Hopefully, they can keep their own stars in the future.

Edited 12 hours ago by Tiger337

[RatkoVarda]

22 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Hopefully, they can keep their own stars in the future.

when is Skubal a free agent?

[Tenacious D]

2 hours ago, chasfh said:

It would also be a 180 degree shift for the top free agent on the market to choose a team like Detroit over the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, or Giants (or, these days, Blue Jays or Phillies).

If we offer the best option, he’ll come.

[IdahoBert]

15 hours ago, papalawrence said:

70 mil is deferred. Not sure yet of the full details. So 21 mil per for 5 years, then 70 mil deferred

But if the world comes to an end, he’ll get screwed…

[IdahoBert]

3 hours ago, chasfh said:

It would also be a 180 degree shift for the top free agent on the market to choose a team like Detroit over the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, or Giants (or, these days, Blue Jays or Phillies).

It’s not like Philadelphia is a version of heaven on earth… But yeah, I hear ya. 

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, Tenacious D said:

If we offer the best option, he’ll come.

The Tigers are not the best option by any stretch for any player looking for a ring next year. The Tigers might be competitive for a Central team, but players surely don't think of them in the same category as the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Blue Jays, or Phillies. No amount of additional money will convince a top free agent already assured of well into nine figures to commit the rest of his career to a franchise that could blow it up and start all over at a moment's notice, which the Tigers have a recent history of doing. One more dollar won't compensate for that, obviously, but one hundred million dollars wouldn't do it, either, if we're talking about the difference between 400 from the Dodgers or Blue Jays, and 500 from the Tigers. At that level, the money doesn't matter—it's all about the rings.

You almost certainly will strongly disagree. You may even reaffirm that, as is always the case, no one here agrees on my assessment. That's fine. I already know what you think of me. I also know what I know, and I don't require you to know it, nor am I motivated to change your mind about it, or about anything else. I'm just here to give my opinion, like everyone else, and nothing more. There's plenty of room for more than one of those here.

[chasfh]

12 minutes ago, IdahoBert said:

It’s not like Philadelphia is a version of heaven on earth… But yeah, I hear ya. 

Depends—if your city hosts a team fronted by a GM who is spending oodles and oodles of cash on players and which will be in the running for a title for the foreseeable future, that is heaven on earth to players. That puts that team in the running for literally everybody. We were there, once, for a short while, maybe twelve or fifteen or so years ago. We may get there again, someday, but that ain't happening this winter, for certain, because no top free agent is going to commit to a team that is strongly rumored to be on the brink of trading their two-time Cy Young-award-winning pitcher and going into what they would fairly consider yet another rebuild.

Besides, don't sleep on Philly—they are an east coast city, 90 minutes from the center of the first world universe, with a team in that center's team's division, and as such is continually on the baseball media's radar. That makes for a pretty attractive locale for the best players in the game.

[Tiger337]

9 minutes ago, chasfh said:

The Tigers are not the best option by any stretch for any player looking for a ring next year. The Tigers might be competitive for a Central team, but players surely don't think of them in the same category as the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Blue Jays, or Phillies. No amount of additional money will convince a top free agent already assured of well into nine figures to commit the rest of his career to a franchise that could blow it up and start all over at a moment's notice, which the Tigers have a recent history of doing. One more dollar won't compensate for that, obviously, but one hundred million dollars wouldn't do it, either, if we're talking about the difference between 400 from the Dodgers or Blue Jays, and 500 from the Tigers. At that level, the money doesn't matter—it's all about the rings.

You almost certainly will strongly disagree. You may even reaffirm that, as is always the case, no one here agrees on my assessment. That's fine. I already know what you think of me. I also know what I know, and I don't require you to know it, nor am I motivated to change your mind about it, or about anything else. I'm just here to give my opinion, like everyone else, and nothing more. There's plenty of room for more than one of those here.

I don't think that's true.  Under Dombrowski, the Tigers sometimes signed expensive free agents  by making over the top offers.  I don't suggest they should or will do that now, but players can be bought.  

[chasfh]

3 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

It can't happen if you don't try!

I have resigned myself though to the idea that the Tigers are not likely going to sign that level of free agent, not this year and maybe never.  Hopefully, they can keep their own stars in the future.

He has been trying! Hasn’t worked yet.

[chasfh]

17 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

I don't think that's true.  Under Dombrowski, the Tigers sometimes signed expensive free agents  by making over the top offers.  I don't suggest they should or will do that now, but players can be bought.  

Now consider how the Tigers of 2011-14 were regarded versus the Tigers of today.

[Tiger337]

2 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Now consider how the Tigers of 2011-14 were regarded versus the Tigers of today.

They were able to sign Victor Martinez, Pudge Rodriguez , Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera (prior to free agency) before the 2011-2014 window.  Signing at the end of the window would have been a mistake.  

[chasfh]

33 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

They were able to sign Victor Martinez, Pudge Rodriguez , Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera (prior to free agency) before the 2011-2014 window.  Signing at the end of the window would have been a mistake.  

Pudge signed with the Tigers because he made a public demand of 4/40, and the Tigers were the only team that met his offer, so he had to take it.

Magglio was considered somewhat damaged goods at the time because of his knee issue that he got some controversial treatment in Europe for. Three different teams had backed out of talks with him earlier that week and he did not want to comply with the Mets' demand to have their doctors examine him before making an offer.

We traded for Miggy and then signed him to an extension right away which at that point was the fourth-highest in history, even before he played a minute for the team, but which Miggy said he agreed to because "I like it here. I've got a lot of friends here." There were already four other Venezuelans on the team, including Maggs and Carlos Guillen. I would say that's a clear extenuating circumstance that led to him agreeing to the extension, versus the lure of the Tigers team itself or the city of Detroit. I'll grant that's a debatable point, since we had also just recently been to a World Series, which counts for a lot.

Victor signed in 2011, the Venezuelan nature of the team long having been well-established, and which includied the greatest Venezuelan player in history, which made that a very attractive situation for him.

With Miggy, Victor, Verlander, and young talent like Alex Avila, Austin Jackson, Jhonny Peralta and Brennan Boesch (no, seriously!) leading them to a runaway division title in 2011, that made the franchise a lot a lot more attractive to free agents like Torii Hunter, Anibal Sanchez, Joe Nathan, and, of course, Prince Fielder over the next three years. Because who wouldn't want to come to a franchise loaded with stars, winning divisions, going to World Series, and throwing money around like drunken sailors?

That was a unique moment in Tigers history that we hadn't had before, or since (unless we regard Al Avila signing Javy and Eduardo as a high point in Tigers' free agency history).

Now compare all that to what we have now: a team that's considered to be on the way up—probably—but not only is it not loaded with highly-paid stars, it is, in fact, considered by many around the game to be on the verge of trading away the one established star they do have, and basically starting over. Not only that, but the team is also widely regarded as in the middle of picking a fight with that very same player on his last trip through arb. Whether that characterization is really even true—and it very well might not be like that—that is certainly how that episode is playing out there.

Regardless of how badly Scott Harris might want to sign a top free agent, who's going to sign up for and commit the rest of their career to that situation?

Believe me when I tell you, I don't like it any more than you do.

 

[Shelton]

For someone not motivated to change people’s minds on this topic, you sure are spending a lot of words trying to change people’s minds, Chas!

[chasfh]

Just now, Shelton said:

For someone not motivated to change people’s minds on this topic, you sure are spending a lot of words trying to change people’s minds, Chas!

Yeah? Is it working? 😉 😁

I know I'm not changing anyone's mind. We're all too old to change our minds, probably about anything, but certainly about any of this.

I'm probably an Asperger's guy, though. I get going on a point, and I will spool it out as much and with as much precision as I think I need to to get across the point, the whole point, and nothing but the point. And when I'm motivated to do so, I will get it done. And this topic motivates me. So, lucky you!