2025-2026 Tigers Off Season Thread

[SoCalTiger]

17 hours ago, 1984Echoes said:

It seems like Harris's preference is high school 5-tool guys that take some time to develop... But have the higher upside.

With a focus on MUST have a high hit tool to recognize pitches and strikes (command the zone) as a priority... and power to develop as however it may (low or high... hit seems more important than power, but he's not searching for zero power guys either, it seems, at least in the earliest rounds...).

That doesn't mean he won't trade for a "professional hitter" type like JHM or draft a Max Anderson... even if they don't have a glove... but those appear to be secondary options not his 1st option. And I'm not going to blame him for trying to get "professional bats" into our system that meet his strike zone criteria. It'll take a while to change the system from Avila's 45-hit 55-power (if they develop properly and can find the ball) approach into Harris's 60-Hit 55-Power (if it develops) 5-tool athlete approach.

It least it seems that way to me. 

So, no more Jung's in the 1st... or Rey Rivera's or Stewart's in the 2nd... would he have drafted Parker? I don't think so, with that weak hit tool... doesn't fit Harris's profile... Same with Izaac Pacheco... hit tool is just too low.

I've always wanted a high hit tool first over power... with excellent defense included...

Harris fits my draft philosophy to a "T".

But I hope he can find some pitching too...

I agree with you. Let's hope he dominates the draft since he seems more comfortable there than in free agency and trading. 

[SoCalTiger]

1 hour ago, Tiger337 said:

I wish they had one of these every year - not an expansion draft, but more like a high level rule 5 draft.  There would  probably be some legal or contractual reasons why it wouldn't be liked by certain parties, but it would make the off-season so much fun.  

Number 7 :

 

 

Posted January 17

Here is how I would "fix" MLB and settle the upcoming labor negotiations :

1. Eliminate all deferrals .

2. We don't need a salary cap but we do need a Floor. This will spread the signing of free agents to ALL teams and not just five or six. There are only 30 teams and if you can't spend at the minimum sell and get out. This makes all teams better.

3. Have a "Cap Tax" that is 2 times the floor. Say the floor is 200 million then the "Cap Tax" starts at 400 million and is 100 % tax on the overage and  the teams first round pick in the next seasons draft. The tax stays the same each year but more draft picks are lost for habitual abusers. 

4. TV and radio revenue share. 40  % of every teams media revenue is put into a pot and distributed to all the teams. 

5. No more draft gimmicks. Worst team drafts first etc. Given the "Floor" tanking is  less likely. 

6. Eliminate the international signing period and have a second Draft instead or roll both drafts into one. 

7. Each year the Final four teams must offer a portion of the 40 man roster to the non playoff teams. This would be two  rounds. The World champion can freeze 25 players, the runner up 30 players and the other two 35 players Each. It would be an exciting event at the conclusion of the year and help teams be competitive. 

8. Arbitration is limited to years 4 and 5 and  players are free agents after year five. No draft pick lost or gained. 

9. Rosters expanded to 28 and pitchers to 15 to help wear and tear. We need out star hurlers on the filed and deeper bullpens help smartly managed teams.

11. Eliminate the runner on second ( larger rosters assist this) until the 13th inning. 

10. Make the contract 10 years. 

[NorthWoods]

16 hours ago, Edman85 said:

Pre 2021, it was

AAA: Toledo

AA: Erie

A+: Lakeland

A: West Michigan

SS-A: Connecticut/Oneonta

Now it is:

AAA: Toledo

AA: Erie

A+: West Michigan

A: Lakeland

 

There's also a Rookie league team in Lakeland that would have essentially replaced CT/Oneonta.

[Edman85]

18 minutes ago, NorthWoods said:

There's also a Rookie league team in Lakeland that would have essentially replaced CT/Oneonta.

That team already existed, though.

[NorthWoods]

2 hours ago, Edman85 said:

That team already existed, though.

No argument, I was pointing it out because you left it off your "Now it is" list and including it gave a more complete picture of their North American minor league system.

[gehringer_2]

4 hours ago, Edman85 said:

I went down a 1997 Expansion Draft rabbit hole this morning...

Anyways, you could protect 15 players in total... after both teams took turns picking one player combined from each team, you could protect 3 more, and again in the next round. Anybody in the organization with major league service, or who has reached Rule 5 eligibility was eligible to be drafted.

Let's say MLB very abruptly decides there are two expansion teams starting in April and you need to protect 15 eligible players*, who would they be? Which 4 would you protect in the next round (assuming 1 of your top 4 gets taken)? Which 4 would you protect in the next round (again, assuming 1 of your top 4 gets taken)?

*Safe to assume that any prospects who need to be protected were protected from the Rule 5 Draft, so you can likely just focus on the 40-Man Roster unless any of the minor league signings this year really catch your fancy.

I'll go:

Pitchers: Kyle Finnegan, Jack Flaherty, Kenley Jansen, Jackson Jobe, Troy Melton, Casey Mize, Reese Olson, Tarik Skubal, Will Vest

Catchers: Dillon Dingler

Infield: Colt Keith, Spencer Torkelson, Gleyber Torres

Outfield: Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene, Wenceel Perez

Round 2: Tyler Holton, Kenley Jansen, Parker Meadows, Zach McKinstry

Round 3: Drew Anderson, Brant Hurter, Keider Montero, Matt Vierling

 

 

Pretty tricky, but I thought I'd put that out there.

I might not protect Torres. He's expensive and he's one and done, so he might not be that interesting to an expansion team - depending on how/what they are trying to build.

[Tiger337]

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

I might not protect Torres. He's expensive and he's one and done, so he might not be that interesting to an expansion team - depending on how/what they are trying to build.

They could draft him and then trade him.  

[gehringer_2]

10 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

They could draft him and then trade him.  

true. Ed didn't give us much detail in his hypothetical - that's the kind of thing there may or may not be rules about when a real situation arises.

[Sports_Freak]

On 1/25/2026 at 12:28 PM, Edman85 said:

I went down a 1997 Expansion Draft rabbit hole this morning...

Anyways, you could protect 15 players in total... after both teams took turns picking one player combined from each team, you could protect 3 more, and again in the next round. Anybody in the organization with major league service, or who has reached Rule 5 eligibility was eligible to be drafted.

Let's say MLB very abruptly decides there are two expansion teams starting in April and you need to protect 15 eligible players*, who would they be? Which 4 would you protect in the next round (assuming 1 of your top 4 gets taken)? Which 4 would you protect in the next round (again, assuming 1 of your top 4 gets taken)?

*Safe to assume that any prospects who need to be protected were protected from the Rule 5 Draft, so you can likely just focus on the 40-Man Roster unless any of the minor league signings this year really catch your fancy.

I'll go:

Pitchers: Kyle Finnegan, Jack Flaherty, Kenley Jansen, Jackson Jobe, Troy Melton, Casey Mize, Reese Olson, Tarik Skubal, Will Vest

Catchers: Dillon Dingler

Infield: Colt Keith, Spencer Torkelson, Gleyber Torres

Outfield: Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene, Wenceel Perez

Round 2: Tyler Holton, Kenley Jansen, Parker Meadows, Zach McKinstry

Round 3: Drew Anderson, Brant Hurter, Keider Montero, Matt Vierling

 

 

Pretty tricky, but I thought I'd put that out there.

Very good post and it looks like a lot of work. The only thing I could possibly add it that the second round may not be right if any of those players were picked by the expansion teams.

And this would pretty much guarantee that Harris would lose his best prospects. A smart expansion team would take the youngest players with the longest team control they could find. I would think Harris may protect some of these young prospects over some veterans with only a couple/few years of team control. The bottom line is...I'm glad we dont have to go thru this...😅😅

[Tiger337]

55 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Very good post and it looks like a lot of work. The only thing I could possibly add it that the second round may not be right if any of those players were picked by the expansion teams.

And this would pretty much guarantee that Harris would lose his best prospects. A smart expansion team would take the youngest players with the longest team control they could find. I would think Harris may protect some of these young prospects over some veterans with only a couple/few years of team control. The bottom line is...I'm glad we dont have to go thru this...😅😅

The assumption is that the draft would only involve unprotected players on the 40-man roster which doesn't include any of their biggest prospects

Edited Monday at 11:33 PM by Tiger337

[Sports_Freak]

47 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

The assumption is that the draft would only involve unprotected players on the 40-man roster which doesn't include any of their biggest prospects

Ahhh...yeah, I caught that after I posted. I was waiting to get yelled at. 😆😆

[Tiger337]

3 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Ahhh...yeah, I caught that after I posted. I was waiting to get yelled at. 😆😆

I'm nicer than Edman though.  

[KL2]

On 1/25/2026 at 1:57 PM, SoCalTiger said:

Number 7 :

 

 

Posted January 17

Here is how I would "fix" MLB and settle the upcoming labor negotiations :

1. Eliminate all deferrals .

2. We don't need a salary cap but we do need a Floor. This will spread the signing of free agents to ALL teams and not just five or six. There are only 30 teams and if you can't spend at the minimum sell and get out. This makes all teams better.

3. Have a "Cap Tax" that is 2 times the floor. Say the floor is 200 million then the "Cap Tax" starts at 400 million and is 100 % tax on the overage and  the teams first round pick in the next seasons draft. The tax stays the same each year but more draft picks are lost for habitual abusers. 

4. TV and radio revenue share. 40  % of every teams media revenue is put into a pot and distributed to all the teams. 

5. No more draft gimmicks. Worst team drafts first etc. Given the "Floor" tanking is  less likely. 

6. Eliminate the international signing period and have a second Draft instead or roll both drafts into one. 

7. Each year the Final four teams must offer a portion of the 40 man roster to the non playoff teams. This would be two  rounds. The World champion can freeze 25 players, the runner up 30 players and the other two 35 players Each. It would be an exciting event at the conclusion of the year and help teams be competitive. 

8. Arbitration is limited to years 4 and 5 and  players are free agents after year five. No draft pick lost or gained. 

9. Rosters expanded to 28 and pitchers to 15 to help wear and tear. We need out star hurlers on the filed and deeper bullpens help smartly managed teams.

11. Eliminate the runner on second ( larger rosters assist this) until the 13th inning. 

10. Make the contract 10 years. 

A floor without a cap is terrible. Will just lead to bad contracts that hamper franchises or overpaying one young player and limiting free agency.

[Tenacious D]

Petzold with the scoop…

 

[Tiger337]

Silvestri will fit in well with the rest of team.  He's got the look.  

 

[chasfh]

On 1/26/2026 at 9:15 PM, KL2 said:

A floor without a cap is terrible. Will just lead to bad contracts that hamper franchises or overpaying one young player and limiting free agency.

Overpaying young players! Well, we can’t have that!

😉

Edited 5 hours ago by chasfh

[Sports_Freak]

I miss the days of the "XXX days until spring training starts" thread. I think Yooper used to start it?

[CMRivdogs]

I started a "conversation" on ChatGPT last night about the workings of a combination salary cap and floor. Basically came up with the possibility of a soft salary cap with a hard floor.

The floor would be around 80-90% of median league payroll. Teams would have to fall within that range with active MLB salaries no avoid any penalties, loss of a percentage of revenue sharing, compensation picks, other draft picks etc. I never got into enforcement last night.

On the other end a soft cap. Anything above say 130% of the cap gets penalized. Loss of draft picks, International bonuses and pools. The penalties would be on a sliding scale. (The Dodgers would probably get hit hard). Marginal tax rates 40%-75%-100%.

Revenues marked only for pensions, minor league pay and revenue sharing enforcement. Also no artificial contract voiding. I didn't get much deeper into the woods, but there needs to be discussions about Ichiro type of contracts where big money is deferred over a very long time.