2025-2026 Tigers Off Season Thread

[tiger2022]

Not lazy.  I have better things to do with my life.  I post on here when I am bored.

And if what goes on a Tigers message board is that important in your life, it has been a complete and utter failure.

[Tiger337]

2 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 agree on the ordering.  I was talking about quality rather than order.  You want those two pitching more innings than anyone else.  

[Tiger337]

16 minutes ago, tiger2022 said:

Not lazy.  I have better things to do with my life.  I post on here when I am bored.

And if what goes on a Tigers message board is that important in your life, it has been a complete and utter failure.

Never being happy with anything your favorite team does is also not the best way to go through life.  On the other hand, predicting that every player on that team is going to fail guarantees that you'll never be disappointed.  

Edited 3 hours ago by Tiger337

[Sports_Freak]

2 hours ago, Cruzer1 said:

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

 

10 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

I agree on the ordering.  I was talking about quality rather than order.  You want those two pitching more innings than anyone else.  

Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe not to start the season but first chance he gets to reset the rotation. Except, I think it may be Mize in-between the lefties.

[Biff Mayhem]

22 minutes ago, tiger2022 said:

Not lazy.  I have better things to do with my life.  I post on here when I am bored.

And if what goes on a Tigers message board is that important in your life, it has been a complete and utter failure.

In the time it took you to make these replies, you could have proven your case. Just admit you spoke out your rear and move on. People here would respect that bit of honesty. This pride adherence is astonishing. 

[roarintiger1]

I believe that Hinch now has the better ability to match up his rotation against the opponents' possible pitching and the teams they are facing.  Of course only with the proper amount of days rest.  

You have to like the moves the Tigers have made on their pitching staff.  Now, if the hitters can actually hit and lower their strikeout rates..............

[Tiger337]

52 minutes ago, Biff Mayhem said:

In the time it took you to make these replies, you could have proven your case. Just admit you spoke out your rear and move on. People here would respect that bit of honesty. This pride adherence is astonishing. 

I was going to add more, but I only talk to Biff when I'm bored.  

[Sports_Freak]

2 hours ago, Biff Mayhem said:

So you’ve got nothing and pride is preventing you from admitting that you stated a falsehood as truth. 
 

The person asserting that something was said has the onus to prove their assertion and saying “go back and read” is lazy. If you are really correct, you’ll show your proof. 

To be fair, many fans (and media) are dreaming about vintage JV coming back. Unrealistic expectations. 

Edited 1 hour ago by Sports_Freak

[Sports_Freak]

#35....Justin Verlander. 

[chasfh]

3 hours ago, tiger2022 said:

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

Receipts?

[Stormin]

46 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

To be fair, many fans (and media) are dreaming about vintage JV coming back. Unrealistic expectations. 

Dreaming and realistic expectations don't have to be mutually exclusive.  You can be excited  that JV is a Tiger again and hope JV performs well.  At the same time you can understand that the Tigers were probably a better team with Reese Olson in the rotation.

[IdahoBert]

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

[chasfh]

2 hours ago, tiger2022 said:

Not lazy.  I have better things to do with my life.  I post on here when I am bored.

But do you really have to come here and bore the rest of us? 😉 

[Tiger337]

5 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

Last season was his first season back after fullly recovering from surgery. He was an All Star pitcher. That's his track record. Flaherty is way too inconsistent. He just seems to be going along and has an inning where he imploded. And JV has had a hall of fame career but is in his twilight. Mize is going to have a monster season. Book it...

Flaherty has had multiple seasons that were better than what Mize had last year.  Making the allstar team does not make someone an allstar caiber player.  Baez and McKinstry were allstars last year too.  All three had pretty good seasons, but I wouldn't tout any of them as allstars.  Mize has a history of mediocre strikeout rates.  Last year was his best season so far. Maybe, he is ready to break out.  

[chasfh]

OK, so, in tiger2022's defense, I do believe many people, including in the baseball media, are expecting (a step up from "hoping") that Verlander will deliver a solid WAR-positive 30+ starts for the Tigers. And yes, that could happen. He did have a solid Verlander-like final two months last season. he placed 14th of 54 qualifiers in ERA- and FIP- In August and September, although he did place 35th in xFIP, which is a reddish-pink flag. So, he wasn't super dominant, and his results were a bit lucky.

Stick around long enough, and every player will fall off the cliff eventually in a career-ending way. The chances that happens to Verlander in 2026 are fairly high.

Flip side, Verlander is already a freak of nature and he could also potentially have a whole year that is close to what he did last August and September, which could make him a solidly mid-rotation guy. Anything better than that would probably be into the upper-90th percentile of expected outcomes.

 

[Sports_Freak]

7 minutes ago, chasfh said:

OK, so, in tiger2022's defense, I do believe many people, including in the baseball media, are expecting (a step up from "hoping") that Verlander will deliver a solid WAR-positive 30+ starts for the Tigers. And yes, that could happen. He did have a solid Verlander-like final two months last season. he placed 14th of 54 qualifiers in ERA- and FIP- In August and September, although he did place 35th in xFIP, which is a reddish-pink flag. So, he wasn't super dominant, and his results were a bit lucky.

Stick around long enough, and every player will fall off the cliff eventually in a career-ending way. The chances that happens to Verlander in 2026 are fairly high.

Flip side, Verlander is already a freak of nature and he could also potentially have a whole year that is close to what he did last August and September, which could make him a solidly mid-rotation guy. Anything better than that would probably be into the upper-90th percentile of expected outcomes.

 

So...are you saying JV is an early season favorite to win the Cy Young Award? 🤣🤣🤣

[Sports_Freak]

18 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Flaherty has had multiple seasons that were better than what Mize had last year.  Making the allstar team does not make someone an allstar caiber player.  Baez and McKinstry were allstars last year too.  All three had pretty good seasons, but I wouldn't tout any of them as allstars.  Mize has a history of mediocre strikeout rates.  Last year was his best season so far. Maybe, he is ready to break out.  

It would be the perfect time for Mize to have an outstanding season. He could possibly make several extra millions of dollars, going into his FA year. Of course, if there's a work stoppage....

[chasfh]

7 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Flaherty has had multiple seasons that were better than what Mize had last year.  Making the allstar team does not make someone an allstar caiber player.  Baez and McKinstry were allstars last year too.  All three had pretty good seasons, but I wouldn't tout any of them as allstars.  Mize has a history of mediocre strikeout rates.  Last year was his best season so far. Maybe, he is ready to break out.  

Also, while it's true Mize was named to the All-Star team, it was not necessatily because he was having a transcendent season.

First of all, Mize wasn't even one of the 59 qualified pitchers in baseball by July 15. He'd pitched 88 innings by then; a qualified pitcher would have pitched 96 innings.

But even if we widen the qualifying lens out to 81 innings, which results in 96 [ninety-six] pitchers, Casey would have ranked 50th in WAR, 31st in ERA, 32nd in ERA-, 44th in FIP, 45th in FIP-, 17th in xERA (pretty good), 47th in xFIP, and 43rd in xFIP-. Aside from the outlier xERA number, this is a solidly 50th to 60th percentile pitcher among all such qualifiers, not a top-of-the-league All-Star.

There are two reasons Casey was named to the All-Star team: (1) he had a 9-3 record, one of only 18 guys with nine-plus wins, thirteen of whom were named All-Stars; and (2) his team had the best winning percentage in baseball, good enough to yield six All-Stars, including Zach McStinky, of all people.

[Sports_Freak]

31 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Also, while it's true Mize was named to the All-Star team, it was not necessatily because he was having a transcendent season.

First of all, Mize wasn't even one of the 59 qualified pitchers in baseball by July 15. He'd pitched 88 innings by then; a qualified pitcher would have pitched 96 innings.

But even if we widen the qualifying lens out to 81 innings, which results in 96 [ninety-six] pitchers, Casey would have ranked 50th in WAR, 31st in ERA, 32nd in ERA-, 44th in FIP, 45th in FIP-, 17th in xERA (pretty good), 47th in xFIP, and 43rd in xFIP-. Aside from the outlier xERA number, this is a solidly 50th to 60th percentile pitcher among all such qualifiers, not a top-of-the-league All-Star.

There are two reasons Casey was named to the All-Star team: (1) he had a 9-3 record, one of only 18 guys with nine-plus wins, thirteen of whom were named All-Stars; and (2) his team had the best winning percentage in baseball, good enough to yield six All-Stars, including Zach McStinky, of all people.

Was Flaherty better? JV? Mize looks like the Tigers #3 starter, if you want to compare last year's stats. I dont think Hinch trusts him too much either, quickly pulling him during a playoff start.

[oblong]

alternate unis coming

[chasfh]

14 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Was Flaherty better? JV? Mize looks like the Tigers #3 starter, if you want to compare last year's stats. I dont think Hinch trusts him too much either, quickly pulling him during a playoff start.

My post contemplates only the thinness of the case for Mize deserving his 2025 All-Star bid. I contend that even though Mize was on the All-Star team, his season fell short of being what is reasonably considered All-Star level.

[chasfh]

10 minutes ago, oblong said:

alternate unis coming

S***! Please tell me these are new City Connects and not standard colored alternates they will be wearing throughout the week at home and on the road.

Oh, who am I kidding? That ship was always going to sail at some point. It's just a bummer that I had to live to see it.

[oblong]

3 minutes ago, chasfh said:

My post contemplates only the thinness of the case for Mize deserving his 2025 All-Star bid. I contend that even though Mize was on the All-Star team, his season fell short of being what is reasonably considered All-Star level.

I don't remember the specifics but were there situations of starters getting hurt or not wanting to play and Mize was next in line?

[chasfh]

Yeaaaaah, it's gonna happen, god damn it ...

Although if I am reading the "leak" tweet from the Tigers right, there are going to be two colors, including navy blue.

Well, the traditional look was nice while it lasted, but I guess the kids were always gonna end up winning that battle.

[casimir]

8 minutes ago, chasfh said:

It's just a bummer that I had to live to see it.

The alternative doesn't sound like fun.