2026 DETROIT TIGERS REGULAR SEASON THREAD

[chasfh]

 

[1984Echoes]

We dumped Dylan Smith for absolutely nothing?

That just seems odd to me...

Why would Harris do that?

[KL2]

1 hour ago, 1984Echoes said:

We dumped Dylan Smith for absolutely nothing?

That just seems odd to me...

Why would Harris do that?

It was unlikely to ever be much. Limited history as a relief, got squeezed off 40 man, so no team was going to give up anything for him. Those guys are out there. Some find a career as reliever, most don't. 

Edited March 31 by KL2

[1984Echoes]

Honestly, I thought he was a decent Tigers reliever and there were/are better candidates to dump for a spot...

[KL2]

8 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

Honestly, I thought he was a decent Tigers reliever and there were/are better candidates to dump for a spot...

Ok, Guess scott felt differently.

 

Those guys at the bottom of a roster a dime a dozen. Smith was just victim of adding good guys at the top and needing to protect others. Smith hadn't shown much so we wasn't gonna bring anything useful back, especially being DFA'ed

[1984Echoes]

The question though... which could be only in my mind...

Is if he was the right guy to DFA?

I get it he's at the bottom of the roster... I was just thinking there was at least one or two guys even lower...

Hence my comment that I thought he was decent.

So, gotcha, Scott felt differently...

I'm still wondering what exactly was in the Dylan-recipe that Harris thought he didn't taste so good.

No need to answer.,,

Just wondering/ my mind is wandering off into left field again...

[chasfh]

Edman pointed out some of the internal financial calculations that likely went into the Dylan Smith decision in another thread.  

 

[1984Echoes]

Thank you!

[Sports_Freak]

Games on free TV this season;

 

 

[CMRivdogs]

I'm seeing reports of JV to the 15 Day DL. Retroactive to last Wednesday...

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/tigers-place-justin-verlander-on-15-day-injured-list.html

Quote

 

The Tigers announced that Justin Verlander has been placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to April 1) due to inflammation in his left hip.  Right-hander Keider Montero was called up from Triple-A Toledo to take Verlander’s spot on the 26-man roster.

While there isn’t yet any indication that the hip problem is particularly serious, it does add to the lengthy list of injuries that have piled up for Verlander in recent years, which isn’t surprising given how the righty is now in his age-43 season.  After missing almost all of the 2020-21 seasons due to Tommy John surgery, Verlander has been placed on the IL five times in the last four seasons.  He missed about five weeks in 2023 due to a teres major strain and a month of the 2025 season due to pectoral soreness, and the 2024 campaign saw Verlander limited to 90 1/3 innings because of shoulder inflammation and then a lingering neck injury.

 

[NorthWoods]

3 hours ago, CMRivdogs said:

I'm seeing reports of JV to the 15 Day DL. Retroactive to last Wednesday...

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/tigers-place-justin-verlander-on-15-day-injured-list.html

 

Was announced during the game and addressed in the post game interviews.   Hip discomfort.

I'd rather he wait until it warms up some more to pitch.

[oblong]

JV also said it’s not that bad and he could have played if he needed to but everyone agreed this is not the time of the year to do that. 

[chasfh]

16 hours ago, CMRivdogs said:

I'm seeing reports of JV to the 15 Day DL. Retroactive to last Wednesday...

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/tigers-place-justin-verlander-on-15-day-injured-list.html

 

Just how NBC planned it! 😝

[chasfh]

13 hours ago, NorthWoods said:

Was announced during the game and addressed in the post game interviews.   Hip discomfort.

So … replacement surgery? 😉

[IdahoBert]

There’s no new game thread up for the game in Minneapolis Monday where I can vent about this but at game time it is supposed to be 33° and probably feel 8 to 10° colder. Good God. How will pitchers get a grip on the ball? How will it affect Daniella? 
 

[Sports_Freak]

3 hours ago, IdahoBert said:

There’s no new game thread up for the game in Minneapolis Monday where I can vent about this but at game time it is supposed to be 33° and probably feel 8 to 10° colder. Good God. How will pitchers get a grip on the ball? How will it affect Daniella? 
 

Baseball is a summertime game. Start in mid-May and end in September. 😆

[tiger2022]

1 hour ago, Sports_Freak said:

Baseball is a summertime game. Start in mid-May and end in September. 😆

When they add another 8 playoff teams, they'll be playing forever.  

Mr. October....someone will be Mr. Thanksgiving soon.

[chasfh]

7 hours ago, IdahoBert said:

There’s no new game thread up for the game in Minneapolis Monday where I can vent about this but at game time it is supposed to be 33° and probably feel 8 to 10° colder. Good God. How will pitchers get a grip on the ball? How will it affect Daniella? 
 

However it affects Daniela, we probably won’t be able to see it.

[Tiger337]

On 3/31/2026 at 4:56 PM, chasfh said:

Edman pointed out some of the internal financial calculations that likely went into the Dylan Smith decision in another thread.  

 

The financial stuff that Edman detailed matters in how the transaction was processed (cash deal versus player swap), but I question whether it had much if any impact on the decision to let him go.  I would hope it didn't anyway.  I think they have the most depth on the 40-man roster than they had in my lifetime and they don't have guys that can easily be dropped now.  He's a reliever who may be useful, but probably doesn't have a great deal of upside.

[Tiger337]

4 hours ago, tiger2022 said:

When they add another 8 playoff teams, they'll be playing forever.  

Mr. October....someone will be Mr. Thanksgiving soon.

I am pretty sure they will add four more teams (which is too many) when they expand but I don't see them adding 8.  

[DTroppens]

On 4/3/2026 at 8:54 AM, Sports_Freak said:

Games on free TV this season;

 

 

Cable is so much and I'm not the type of person to get a bunch of website services. I'm still seriously thinking about dropping cable just because how much it costs just to have it. And, I've been listening to games the last two seasons a ton for just that reason. I wrote out a list of games that will be on regular TV (network TV) at the start of the season, and wondered if we'd get a list of actual over the air local games eventually like we did late last season. I am so close to pulling the cable plug but what keeps me from doing it is the Pistons actually. Even when the Pistons are crap, I still really enjoy watching their games over the winter. And now that they are good, well, that's even better. 

But I really have zero issue with listening to Tigers games and Wings games for the most part. Even the Lions I've done it a few times the last three seasons. Gosh, when I was a kid almost every home game was blacked out so I was doing that with the Lions for almost half their games. The Tigers, I was doing it for two-thirds of the games. The Pistons and Wings - I think maybe they had 10 to 15 games on TV? Maybe it was 20. I probably saw More Maple Leaf games on TV through Hockey Night in Canada than I did Wings games. I really can convert back. And with a list of another nine games (I guess I missed the first one already) and what we can see after the game I could live with that. 

An average of a game a week on regular TV (make them all road games if they want) would be ideal. Or even just 20.

[Tiger337]

16 minutes ago, DTroppens said:

An average of a game a week on regular TV (make them all road games if they want) would be ideal. Or even just 20.

I would be fine with this too, although I fully understand why others would not like it.  I went through a period where I was watching all the Tigers games on TV and I enjoyed it, but I started taking it for granted.  Now, watching a game on TV is nothing special and I prefer listening to the radio most nights now while I do other stuff.  In the old days, I didn't get to watch as many games and being able to watch the Tigers on TV was something special to look forward to.  Now, I assume they'll be on and I get irritated when they aren't on for the one night during the week when I want to watch a full game.  

[DTroppens]

19 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

I would be fine with this too, although I fully understand why others would not like it.  I went through a period where I was watching all the Tigers games on TV and I enjoyed it, but I started taking it for granted.  Now, watching a game on TV is nothing special and I prefer listening to the radio most nights now while I do other stuff.  In the old days, I didn't get to watch as many games and being able to watch the Tigers on TV was something special to look forward to.  Now, I assume they'll be on and I get irritated when they aren't on for the one night during the week when I want to watch a full game.  

Right now, it's "my choice" so I can see that - getting irritated when it's not a choice. But, the few times it happens now, it hasn't been a big issue. Maybe with more games it will. I lived in Illinois for four years at the end of the 1990s (how I found the motownsports message board) and the early 2000s, so I only had the internet and the occasional game against either the White Sox or Cubs on WGN to enjoy. I pretty much never missed those games when I could help it. And that's kind of how it was as a kid. They had about 50 games on TV. It doesn't sound like a lot, that's more than 30% of the games so it wasn't like we were starved for games. But, when they were on TV, it was a big deal. You treated it special. We didn't take it "for granted." Even in 1984 with all the Game of the Weeks, the Monday Night Baseball games maybe 65 games were on TV? Seemingly, somehow many of the "highlight" games somehow ended up being a lot of those games.  But I didn't feel deprived of TV games in 1984.

When I am inside, I'm usually doing things and then turn around after I hear a play and watch the replay. I pay attention to the TV less than the radio actually. Well, that's not 100 percent true. With the pitch clock (the greatest thing that ever happened to baseball), I certainly focus on the game way more than I did four years ago. It's easier to watch knowing you will see a pitch about every 25 seconds. But, my attention to the radio is much better. By June I'll be out on a deck, maybe out with my parakeet and an old Sporting News folder of old newspapers and listening to the games. If they are on the west coast and the weather is nice, I may be out there in the dark until 1:30 a.m. You know what? I really enjoy the game that way. I even did this for a few playoff games. I'm not losing anything. I'll see the highlights later.

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, DTroppens said:

 but what keeps me from doing it is the Pistons actually. Even when the Pistons are crap, I still really enjoy watching their games over the winter. And now that they are good, well, that's even better. 
 

Fanduel will be officially dead as soon as this basketball and hockey season conclude, so you'll have a clean slate finding where they will be next season.

[DTroppens]

It will be interesting to see what happens to the Pistons.