2025-2026 Tigers Off Season Thread

[theroundsquare]

Now Nick C. is available gratis.  I mean, for the minimum, but you know.  

[Jake Elwood]

Didn't Nick burn his bridges on the way out?

[Longgone]

19 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Maybe there wasn't people on this message board saying we'll get the same JV as the 2011 JV but I've been hearing some casual fans (and un-informed media) talking with unrealistic expectations. Verlander is 43 years old for goodness sake. He's not a crafty leftie like Professor Rogers was. He'll have flashes of his old self, hopefully. But people who really know the game know not to expect 200 innings with 200 strikeouts.

People are excited he's back because they genuinely like the guy and he represents an era of Tiger baseball that was fun and memorable. No one expects him to be the Verlander of 2011, but if he can be the Verlander of 2025, that'd be great.

[1984Echoes]

8 hours ago, tiger2022 said:

Obviously, you haven't read some of the posts on here.  

Please post one quote in here saying Verlander is going to be just as good as his first stint here.

Need a receipt please.

[VegasTiger]

3 hours ago, oblong said:

alternate unis coming

Nuts, I was hoping they were just talking about JV.

[theroundsquare]

15 minutes ago, Jake Elwood said:

Didn't Nick burn his bridges on the way out?

that's one way to put it [at least from the public perspective]

[Sports_Freak]

2 hours ago, chasfh said:

Harris fail. 😁 

 

 

[Motor City Sonics]

15 hours ago, holygoat said:

Nobody here -- and I mean precisely zero people here -- think Verlander is gonna be the ace he was back in the day. Not a single person thinks that. Everyone -- and I mean everyone -- expects him to be a serviceable 4th/5th guy in the rotation and great influence in the locker room a la Kenny Rogers.

 

10 hours ago, Cruzer1 said:

I think Hinch might assign Skubal, then Flaherty, then Valdez just to keep the two lefties apart in the rotation.

I think the same thing - keep the lefties apart a bit.      Hopefully no bruised egos.   

 

I kind of want a rain out in one of the first two series because I'd LOVE to see JV pitch in the 5 slot and  the home opener and the Skubal game 2 on the homestand. 

But that's just me being silly.  

[gehringer_2]

5 hours ago, IdahoBert said:

Justin Verlander revealed he called Scott Harris, Chris Ilitch, and AJ Hinch “as soon as the season ended.” He wanted to return to the Tigers.

“I grew up in front of the fans in Detroit. I grew up in Detroit,” he said Thursday.

“At first, it didn't seem like there was much room for me. We had some very candid conversations, Scott and I, and unfortunately, there were some things that happened recently where some innings they were planning on — aren't going to be filled, so l think that opened the door. That's not the way you want it to go. Obviously, a lot of young talent here. They've done a great job of bringing guys in. But I'm happy to wear the Old English 'D' again and happy to be here.” 

— Brad Galli WXYZ

One thing about JV is that he has always seemed like a guy with his feet firmly planted on the ground. I can respect a guy that reported his situation with that kind of candor and tact.

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

Right, Flaherty did better in stats which are predictive of future performance including things like stuff+ which attempt to directly measure ability.  

How do stats measure mental stamina?  Flaherty's problems don't seem to be related to his physical pitching abilities at all, the deficits seem to be more in his concentration/mental energy. That could be one reason besides just bad luck that his stats look better than his results. Of course if that is that case it's also the kind of thing a guy might get better at mastering as this matures more.

[Sports_Freak]

38 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

How do stats measure mental stamina?  Flaherty's problems don't seem to be related to his physical pitching abilities at all, the deficits seem to be more in his concentration/mental energy. That could be one reason besides just bad luck that his stats look better than his results. Of course if that is that case it's also the kind of thing a guy might get better at mastering as this matures more.

I don't have any stat to back this up, just a (failing) memory but it seems like Jack had many starts where he would give up multiple runs in an inning after throwing several innings and not giving up any runs. I never thought it was mental or lack of concentration but yeah, you make a good point.

[Motor City Sonics]

38 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

I don't have any stat to back this up, just a (failing) memory but it seems like Jack had many starts where he would give up multiple runs in an inning after throwing several innings and not giving up any runs. I never thought it was mental or lack of concentration but yeah, you make a good point.

He had a weird season.  He'd be absolutely dealing and then a bad inning, but sometimes they left him in and he'd go right back to dealing.    

[chasfh]

3 hours ago, IdahoBert said:

This is really cool thanks for posting. I’m glad how JV said that he was not a “mercenary.” 
 

Interesting how he said when he went to Houston in 2017 he had his "mind blown" by the analytics.

[papalawrence]

Watching JVs presser. Harris usually seems uncomfortable in front of the camera. 

[chasfh]

2 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

 

We were ranked 7th in runs scored before stumbling down the stretch. I don't think the problem was that the offense sucked. I think the problem was that a good offense stumbled down the stretch.

I am not tearing my hair out over lack of All-Star bat added the offense. To all appearances, Harris is counting on improvement from hitters we already have on board. He's got us to within one game of the ALCS two years in a row. I know I'm on an island here, but if he does not add an All-Star bat to the offense, then I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

[gehringer_2]

13 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Interesting how he said when he went to Houston in 2017 he had his "mind blown" by the analytics.

I've always felt there was a fair amount of revisionist history about 2017. I imagine part of it was just that JV wanted (quite properly) to say good things about his new team and team mates  - and I don't care what anyone ever says, nobody gets traded from their first team and doesn't have mixed feelings at best about the management they are leaving.

The truth was he was already back pretty much to 100% form in Detroit before he left.  In his last 11 Tigers starts his era was 2.31, he struck out 84 in 74 IP against only 20BB, and only gave up more than 3 runs once. The idea that he had to get to Houston the figure how to pitch again doesn't really square with the facts. That's not to say Houston wasn't doing a much better job with their analysis, just that that wasn't what made the difference for JV. The real change came in about June while he was still in Det and recovered his old arm angle, which he had gotten away from during the abdominal injury. That brought back the old fastball, and with the better FB, the effectiveness on all his breaking stuff, which he said Houston helped with, went up. But every breaking ball is tougher opposite a better FB.

Edited 22 hours ago by gehringer_2

[casimir]

2 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

 

I think the same thing - keep the lefties apart a bit.      Hopefully no bruised egos.   

 

I kind of want a rain out in one of the first two series because I'd LOVE to see JV pitch in the 5 slot and  the home opener and the Skubal game 2 on the homestand. 

But that's just me being silly.  

The first two series are at San Diego and at Arizona.  I’d say the odds of a rainout are just a bit slim.

[casimir]

23 hours ago, Tenacious D said:

I’m very excited for Verlander to be back, but if we’re being honest, Reese is probably a better pitcher at this point in their careers.

 

21 hours ago, casimir said:

Maybe.  Availability is an ability.  Olson struggles with that.

I wanted to come back to this.

I think I know what you mean about once each pitcher is on the mound.  Olson should have a better future ahead of him.  As far as right now in terms of pure stuff or ability, maybe one is better than the other, I don’t know.

Verlander is old, but has a track record of pretty good health.  Tack on his experience.  Unfortunately Olson can’t stay healthy, whether that’s just his body, or pure bad luck, or whatever.  It’s tough to see it.

[gehringer_2]

34 minutes ago, chasfh said:

We were ranked 7th in runs scored before stumbling down the stretch. I don't think the problem was that the offense sucked. I think the problem was that a good offense stumbled down the stretch....

agree with all this. I don't think the Tigers are worried about the offense either. Most the key players are still either still approaching or in their primes - almost no-one on the downside other than maybe Javy and McKinstry and fair chance of adding at least one ++ hitter in McGonigle.

The flip side is that other than McGonigle and Anderson I don't see a lot of depth if guys start getting hurt. Two of the "insurance policies" from last season - Baddoo and Malloy are gone. But there are no perfect teams.

Edited 21 hours ago by gehringer_2

[Jason_R]

3 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

Maybe he'll let Skubal know how much happier he was playing for the Tigers and how he wished he never would have left? And Skubal will SEE the love a returning hero gets coming back to Detroit? And Skubal will tell Scott Boras to take a hike? 😆

Look at Sergei Fedorov. He has regretted leaving for 30 years. There probably isn’t a day of his life where he doesn’t wonder what if he had stayed. 

[casimir]

2 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

 

I still think there’s reasonable expectation for improvement from the offense due to a year of maturity.  Granted, the first halves from Baez and McKinstry are likely not repeating.  I have doubts about Jones repeating as well, but that’s just a RHH in a platoon at DH, so not too worried about that.

But a young core of Torkelson, Keith, and Greene should be on the incline still.  Dingler can be added, too, but I’d be careful with expecting too much offense out of a catcher.  I wouldn’t think Carpenter and Torres have plateaued yet.  Vierling should be able to add some competent at bats, too.  SS and CF might be concerning for a bit, but there’s some damn good defense pit of those positions, so it isn’t like they’re complete negatives on the roster.

[NorthWoods]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

We were ranked 7th in runs scored before stumbling down the stretch. I don't think the problem was that the offense sucked. I think the problem was that a good offense stumbled down the stretch.

I am not tearing my hair out over lack of All-Star bat added the offense. To all appearances, Harris is counting on improvement from hitters we already have on board. He's got us to within one game of the ALCS two years in a row. I know I'm on an island here, but if he does not add an All-Star bat to the offense, then I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

McGonigle will be the all star bat

[Tiger337]

2 hours ago, chasfh said:

We were ranked 7th in runs scored before stumbling down the stretch. I don't think the problem was that the offense sucked. I think the problem was that a good offense stumbled down the stretch.

I am not tearing my hair out over lack of All-Star bat added the offense. To all appearances, Harris is counting on improvement from hitters we already have on board. He's got us to within one game of the ALCS two years in a row. I know I'm on an island here, but if he does not add an All-Star bat to the offense, then I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Or maybe a weak offense played over their heads in the first half.  I think it's somewhere in between.  I don't believe they have the 7th best offense in baseball, nor do I believe they have a terrible offense. 

[Tiger337]

1 hour ago, NorthWoods said:

McGonigle will be the all star bat

That is a real possibility.  If so, it will make a big difference.  

[1984Echoes]

Also...

The trade deadline can be used to add a bat if a problem with injuries or underperformance starts to cost games.

There are several months to evaluate how the bats are doing...

IMO, our offense is a non-issue.

It will be good enough to win lots and lots of games.

IMO.