2025-2026 Tigers Off Season Thread

[roarintiger1]

We just need Jones to turn into JD Martinez and he will be fine in a Tiger uniform.   

[Tiger337]

4 minutes ago, papalawrence said:

Tigers Territory today talked about Jansen. Kind of meh, his secondary metrics were down. They compared statcast to Vest. They basically said it's good to have him in case Vest or Finnegan get hurt. I know he's 24 saves from 500 but I doubt the Tigers guaranteed him the full time closer role. I think Hinch will give him a lot of that load but also mix it up as he does.

 

I agree with this.  Jansen is good to have for one year, but he's no different than Vest or Finnegan.  They still lack a dominant reliever.  Teams can win with reliever depth though espeially with Harris/Fetter managing the bullpen.  I am more concerned with the starters.  I fear Olson won't give them many innings.  They really another reliable starter.  

[Tigermojo]

Malloy has options at least. Jones being a butcher in the field doesn't help his case.

[chasfh]

27 minutes ago, papalawrence said:

Tigers Territory today talked about Jansen. Kind of meh, his secondary metrics were down. They compared statcast to Vest. They basically said it's good to have him in case Vest or Finnegan get hurt. I know he's 24 saves from 500 but I doubt the Tigers guaranteed him the full time closer role. I think Hinch will give him a lot of that load but also mix it up as he does.

They mentioned something that is probably true - Detroit has likely made other pursuits and are getting declined. King recently reportedly turned his attention to 3 teams - Yankees, Red Sox and Orioles. Maybe/likely Harris did make pitches to the other top relievers and they just said no. And Harris doesn't seem one to ever overpay. 

MLB is not unlike the Premier League. They have their own "Big Six" there—Man City, Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham—which draw in the elite soccer players of the world. Certain clubs pop up the table and generate consideration occasionally, like Leicester City or Newcastle United or Aston Villa or West Ham. But year in, year out, it's that Big Six, and those teams ended up at the top of the table five years ago, ten years ago, 15 and 20 and 25 years ago—just as they will this May. All the other teams bob in and out of the League, and essentially serve as chum for the Big Six, which use the others to sharpen themselves up for Champions League play.

If an elite soccer player wants to both get super paid and help their personal brand, those are the six teams they will focus on. Superstars are not going to end up signing with Brentford or Burnley or Wolverhampton Wanderers, because that would be career death. I mean, yeah, those clubs are in the Premier League, but let's be real: they are not premier teams.

This is allowed to happen in England, and really, most soccer countries, because those systems are truly capitalist, with teams being promoted and relegated based on where they land in the table, and if a team is financially struggling, I mean really struggling, they'll be allowed to simply "wind up", meaning go out of business. C'est la vie. There is no meaningful revenue share, or any other aid teams receive to maintain competitive balance. The lords of the Premier League couldn't give less of a **** about competitive balance, because six teams make the lion's share of the money for them, so that's where they focus all the eggs, and they lean into that and hard.

And so Baseball has also evolved to become similar. The difference between Baseball's Big Six situation and that of the Premier League is not as stark, but it is there. We won't see the Texas Rangers suddenly get their act together and become dominant year after year like the San Antonio Spurs were for a quarter of a century; or the Kansas City Royals become an elite team like the Kansas City Chiefs did for a decade running; and flip side, the New York Yankees and New York Mets could never become league ciphers like the New York Jets or Brooklyn Nets have, because those leagues operate their businesses to spread out the competitive balance in a way Baseball has practically refused to consider, at least thus far.

As long as Baseball runs its business like so, things are not going to magically change. The Tigers will never become an elite team year in and year out because we don't simply have the market size or national media cachet that the Big Six do, but also, we do not have the geographical/divisional proximity of a Philadelphia or Baltimore or Toronto or San Diego, who serve as a sort of Next Six level, that can help us get the occasional Pete Alonso or Kyle Schwarber or Fernando Tatis or Shohei Ohtani. We are a second tier market toiling away in flyover country. Elite players simply won't consider coming here as long as there is even a hint of interest from those other teams.

We don't have the resources or cachet to out-zig those teams, so we have to focus on out-zagging them. It's our only chance. That's what the Ilitch/Harris front office is working on at the moment, and I am comfortable rooting for that instead of pining away for something that will never happen, like a Soto or Ohtani or Snell or Japanese superstar signing here. I think we have basically one chance to crack the Next Six level that could last for half a decade or more, and that's re-signing Tarik Skubal. If we miss out on him, though, I think we are going to have to remain basically The Little Engine That Could, zagging our way to occasional relevance now and then.

[SoCalTiger]

45 minutes ago, chasfh said:

MLB is not unlike the Premier League. They have their own "Big Six" there—Man City, Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham—which draw in the elite soccer players of the world. Certain clubs pop up the table and generate consideration occasionally, like Leicester City or Newcastle United or Aston Villa or West Ham. But year in, year out, it's that Big Six, and those teams ended up at the top of the table five years ago, ten years ago, 15 and 20 and 25 years ago—just as they will this May. All the other teams bob in and out of the League, and essentially serve as chum for the Big Six, which use the others to sharpen themselves up for Champions League play.

If an elite soccer player wants to both get super paid and help their personal brand, those are the six teams they will focus on. Superstars are not going to end up signing with Brentford or Burnley or Wolverhampton Wanderers, because that would be career death. I mean, yeah, those clubs are in the Premier League, but let's be real: they are not premier teams.

This is allowed to happen in England, and really, most soccer countries, because those systems are truly capitalist, with teams being promoted and relegated based on where they land in the table, and if a team is financially struggling, I mean really struggling, they'll be allowed to simply "wind up", meaning go out of business. C'est la vie. There is no meaningful revenue share, or any other aid teams receive to maintain competitive balance. The lords of the Premier League couldn't give less of a **** about competitive balance, because six teams make the lion's share of the money for them, so that's where they focus all the eggs, and they lean into that and hard.

And so Baseball has also evolved to become similar. The difference between Baseball's Big Six situation and that of the Premier League is not as stark, but it is there. We won't see the Texas Rangers suddenly get their act together and become dominant year after year like the San Antonio Spurs were for a quarter of a century; or the Kansas City Royals become an elite team like the Kansas City Chiefs did for a decade running; and flip side, the New York Yankees and New York Mets could never become league ciphers like the New York Jets or Brooklyn Nets have, because those leagues operate their businesses to spread out the competitive balance in a way Baseball has practically refused to consider, at least thus far.

As long as Baseball runs its business like so, things are not going to magically change. The Tigers will never become an elite team year in and year out because we don't simply have the market size or national media cachet that the Big Six do, but also, we do not have the geographical/divisional proximity of a Philadelphia or Baltimore or Toronto or San Diego, who serve as a sort of Next Six level, that can help us get the occasional Pete Alonso or Kyle Schwarber or Fernando Tatis or Shohei Ohtani. We are a second tier market toiling away in flyover country. Elite players simply won't consider coming here as long as there is even a hint of interest from those other teams.

We don't have the resources or cachet to out-zig those teams, so we have to focus on out-zagging them. It's our only chance. That's what the Ilitch/Harris front office is working on at the moment, and I am comfortable rooting for that instead of pining away for something that will never happen, like a Soto or Ohtani or Snell or Japanese superstar signing here. I think we have basically one chance to crack the Next Six level that could last for half a decade or more, and that's re-signing Tarik Skubal. If we miss out on him, though, I think we are going to have to remain basically The Little Engine That Could, zagging our way to occasional relevance now and then.

Super post. bang on. If I may add dominant "Villain " teams are actually good for the league overall. Fans love the drama and passion they bring. It's why the Yankees and Dodgers sell out their away games as well. It's not going to change because even the cheap owners benefit from it and the League sure as heck is not killing their golden goose and getting fired for it. So yes "pay to play" and draft and develop are the only option. And "rigid" Harris is following through. We are lucky to have him despite the sloooooow process. 

[Edman85]

I forget where I saw it and lost the tab, but Tyler Mattison said he is re-signing with the Tigers "after the Rule 5 Draft." I'm still waiting on those transactions (Darnell and Little too), as well as the Anderson/Finnegan/Jansen signings going official.

Edited 3 minutes ago by Edman85

[Edman85]

3 hours ago, papalawrence said:

Someone like Sommers or Horn?

Sommers cannot be outrighted until March because he was added to the 40-man after August 15. It won't be him.