2025-2026 Tigers Off Season Thread

[casimir]

1 hour ago, Shelton said:

yeah, you are right  I forgot that they increased the supply of interleague games so much that they do average about 3 per day over the course of the season, so early on you could have more days with 5 (or 7, 9, etc) for sure.

Opening weekend there are five interleague matchups 

the next set of series has seven

The third set of series has seven

The fourth set has five

The fifth set has seven

 

So, I think it’s safe to say the interleague series distribution is definitely front loaded. It could be for various reasons, but if I had to guess it would be for money reasons. They probably prefer increased division matchups down the stretch to maximize drama. And to the extent these odd matchups provide a level of novelty, maybe it helps get people to the park early in the year when attendance and interest tends to lag.

Ability to make up a rainout could definitely be a factor, although teams had the same issue with non-division league matchups because the teams don’t make more than one trip to any team outside of their division. That does sometimes lead to the weird late season situation where a make-up from earlier in the season is played at the opponent’s stadium with home/road flipped, which is not an option for the interleague.

Anyway, it sure seems like the league is blowing through the interleague games early. Nice catch.  

 

Nice work checking out the schedule.

To your point about money, yes, that's the answer to all your questions.

One of the other things that popped into my head about front loaded interleague was a parallel to college football.  A majority of out of conference games are played early on.  Then you get your in conference games which help shape the conference races.  There might be some intent behind that, too.  Maybe moreso than weather concerns.

[chasfh]

I have found there is some front-loading in March-April, some backing off in September, and fairly even distribution May through August.

Interleague Series (2+ consecutive games) by Month - 2026 Season

Month	Series	Games
Mar-Apr	52	150
May	39	117
June	41	122
July	40	120
August	40	119
Sept	28	84
TOTAL	240	712

[Edman85]

Frontloading may have something to do with rainouts and not having a chance to make them up later in the year with a doubleheader. The earlier you have one-off series, the more likely you are to find an off-day to make it up later in the year.

Also, I am sure the league is trying to backload divisional games as much as possible.

[Sports_Freak]

On 3/7/2026 at 3:35 PM, chasfh said:

People will be interested in the beginning of the season if Kevin McGonigle is on the team and we’re beating the hell out of National League teams out of the gate.

No, I absolutely guarantee that if he goes hitless in the first 2 games, some fans will wildly over-react. Especially if the Tigers lose. 

[Sports_Freak]

On 3/1/2026 at 11:59 AM, 1984Echoes said:

I don't think that's even a question.

Baez is on the team, his roster spot is not in danger.

I think the guys "on the bubble" are Jones (bad in the field), Meadows (not hitting), Wenceel (decent bat, decent OF'er, but not a starter and can't play IF like McKinstry or Cruz) and Trei Cruz (switch-hitter, can play both OF and IF... could he knock off one of the above...?)

I'm not declaring any winners/ losers today...

But I do favor Wenceel and Trei Cruz at the moment.

So you think it's a spring training competition? Old school...😄

[tiger2022]

The rosters are pretty much set going onto spring training.  There might be one spot open on the offense and maybe a RP here or there 

The plan was probably to get McGonigle on the roster at some point in the season.  I don't know if they manipulate his service time or not, but that probably is involved in the decision.  

And if Meadows makes the team, it is only a matter of time before he is set down to AAA 

[Motor City Sonics]

They might end up trading Jace Jung.   They have so many left-handed hitting utility guys.      But if they don't trade him, I think he actually makes the opening day roster (because of Lee's injury).   Maybe Trei gets the call because he can bat Right, But Jung is finally showing something and this may be his chance.   

[IdahoBert]

On 3/10/2026 at 7:14 PM, monkeytargets39 said:

I enjoy inter league play because it allows fans from all teams opportunities to see stars on teams from the other league.

Example:  I went to the Dodgers/Tigers game this past year with a couple family members and got to see Ohtani and crew.  This year I’m going to go to a Tigers game at Wrigley.  Those types of things didn’t have the possibility to exist when I was younger outside of a World Series.

Yeah, there was a mystique about the meeting of teams from the two different leagues back then. It happened in spring, which really didn’t count, and in the All-Star game and the World Series. But although I get wistful about some baseball related stuff, this is something I don’t miss.

I like seeing teams from the National League at least once a year. It’s like getting more than socks for your birthday and getting a real present instead. It would’ve been great seeing Ernie Banks at old Tiger Stadium, and Willie Mays, and Sandy Koufax.