2026 DETROIT TIGERS REGULAR SEASON THREAD

[Tiger337]

1 minute ago, chasfh said:

It's possible we could have Max for the rest of the year and still not give him the 140 ABs he'd need to clear rookie status.

Qualification Limits

• At-bats: Fewer than 130 career regular-season at-bats.

• Inning pitched: Fewer than 50 career regular-season innings pitched.

• Roster days: Fewer than 45 total days spent on an active major league roster during the championship season 

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

No one is saying he needs to remain up with the team until the end of the season. Use him now when we need him (Vierling injury) and then send him back down to stay under the 45 days. Seems smart to me.

[NorthWoods]

Just now, CaliforniaDreaming said:

No one is saying he needs to remain up with the team until the end of the season. Use him now when we need him (Vierling injury) and then send him back down to stay under the 45 days. Seems smart to me.

Possible unless he gets on a tear, then they wouldn't dare send him down would they?

[Tiger337]

Bringing up Clark now certainly seems to indicate that they are still trying to win.  When you are within five games of a playoff spot, you have to remain competeitive and committed to winning and sometimes that means sacrificing potential future awards for the present even if the preceding stretch of ghames was disappointing.   I only wish they did it sooner, but perhaps they didn't feel he was ready yet.

Unless they have a fire sale, they can still have a chance to win if they trade Skubal.  If they can immediately improve their offense in a trade of Skubal, everybody else stays, Flaherty gets back soon and Montero goes back to they pen,  losing Skubal won't kill their chances of contending.  

[Tiger337]

2 minutes ago, CaliforniaDreaming said:

No one is saying he needs to remain up with the team until the end of the season. Use him now when we need him (Vierling injury) and then send him back down to stay under the 45 days. Seems smart to me.

If he hits, I think they have they keep him up.  You are right though if he isn't adding anything, they can send him down.  

[CaliforniaDreaming]

1 minute ago, NorthWoods said:

Possible unless he gets on a tear, then they wouldn't dare send him down would they?

If they are still out of contention they would. If he carried them back into the playoff race, then keeping him up makes perfect sense despite the cost.

[Tiger337]

3 minutes ago, NorthWoods said:

Possible unless he gets on a tear, then they wouldn't dare send him down would they?

I think it could be damaging to organization morale if that happened.   

[CaliforniaDreaming]

The odds of any single player winning ROY are so slim (competition, injury, etc) that it hardly seems like it should be a determining factor in these decisions.

[Edman85]

11 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Qualification Limits

• At-bats: Fewer than 130 career regular-season at-bats.

• Inning pitched: Fewer than 50 career regular-season innings pitched.

• Roster days: Fewer than 45 total days spent on an active major league roster during the championship season 

 

Can anybody spot the really key wording in the 45 days rule?

If Clark is sent down for fewer than 20 days, he gets that service time, but the rule isn't service time. If he gets injured, that is service time bit not time on the active roster.

If Clark is optioned in Septmber, he still gets service time, but he isn't on the active roster.

[4hzglory]

Just now, CaliforniaDreaming said:

The odds of any single player winning ROY are so slim (competition, injury, etc) that it hardly seems like it should be a determining factor in these decisions.

While that is true, it doesn't hurt if you are 15 games away.   And there have been a number of draft picks awarded for not only the ROY, but also Cy Young & MVP votes.  McGonigle is evidence as to why it's significant.  The Pirates are the other end, they gave away picks by not having Skenes up right away.  

If this decision was being made in June it would make more sense to me, but it's strange roughly 15 games from preserving the status.  It definitely shows me that they are still trying to win even with the liklihood they trade Skubal.

[4hzglory]

2 minutes ago, Edman85 said:

Can anybody spot the really key wording in the 45 days rule?

If Clark is sent down for fewer than 20 days, he gets that service time, but the rule isn't service time. If he gets injured, that is service time bit not time on the active roster.

If Clark is optioned in Septmber, he still gets service time, but he isn't on the active roster.

It's hard to believe they send him down though, unless he really struggles.

[AlaskanTigersFan]

12 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Bringing up Clark now certainly seems to indicate that they are still trying to win.  When you are within five games of a playoff spot, you have to remain competeitive and committed to winning and sometimes that means sacrificing potential future awards for the present even if the preceding stretch of ghames was disappointing.   I only wish they did it sooner, but perhaps they didn't feel he was ready yet.

Unless they have a fire sale, they can still have a chance to win if they trade Skubal.  If they can immediately improve their offense in a trade of Skubal, everybody else stays, Flaherty gets back soon and Montero goes back to they pen,  losing Skubal won't kill their chances of contending.  

I'm praying the last week has showed that the Tigers are NOT a playoff team. They have a lot of work to do. If Harris goes for it, he needs to be let go at seasons end. And I really like the guy too and it'd be a shame.... 

[NorthWoods]

4 minutes ago, 4hzglory said:

 It definitely shows me that they are still trying to win even with the liklihood they trade Skubal.

Which may be the message they want out there even as they trade Skubal.

[4hzglory]

Just now, NorthWoods said:

Which may be the message they want out there even as they trade Skubal.

Exactly.  That message, that they aren't giving up, is as much PR for the players to keep fighting even when Skubal (and potentially Torres/others) are traded.

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Perhaps they wanted to bring him up to debut in a minor league stadium to help his transition to the major leagues. 😉

[Tiger337]

Just now, AlaskanTigersFan said:

I'm praying the last week has showed that the Tigers are NOT a playoff team. They have a lot of work to do. If Harris goes for it, he needs to be let go at seasons end. And I really like the guy too and it'd be a shame.... 

Red Sox fans were saying the same thing about their team before they got hot.  Tigers fans were saying it in 2024.  The current Tigers have more talent than you keep saying.  Perhaps they can get better with a creative deadline and that can include trading Skubal.  I am hoping Harris tries to be creative and ballsy at the deadline rather than just trading everybody for the best list of prospects available.  I don't know what that entails or even if it's a possible, but having a fire sale for the best collection of prospects isn't going to excite me.     

[DTroppens]

Well, I knew this had to be being talked about somewhere. Maybe I should drop the thread?

This is the right thing to do. Even after the Tigers trade Skubal (a must now), it doesn't mean you are just "trashing" the season. But the team can still fight for a spot and bring up a player like Clark and see what he has as well during this period. Why not? He may provide a spark or prove to be a rookie that still needs some seasoning or just needs to get his feet wet before he establishes himself at this level. I'd rather learn where he is this season instead of waiting until the start of next season. 

If he's ready to make an impact now, great. If not, that's fine too. Get that process started now. Give him some PAs in MLB now so that he has a framework to use to help his development during the offseason and next season. Honestly, this was made much easier to do after yesterday's game. There is a way more "nothing to lose" mindset (at least for me) now that I think moving forward is now more of "looking to the future" and maybe with some luck, the team can still contend. Forty-eight hours ago, it feels like the mindset was still "we're guns a blazing doing what we can to contend" and that was the overwhelming mindset with the potential of future player development (like bringing Clark up) being a secondary mindset.

Edited July 30 by DTroppens

[casimir]

22 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Red Sox fans were saying the same thing about their team before they got hot.  Tigers fans were saying it in 2024.  The current Tigers have more talent than you keep saying.  Perhaps they can get better with a creative deadline and that can include trading Skubal.  I am hoping Harris tries to be creative and ballsy at the deadline rather than just trading everybody for the best list of prospects available.  I don't know what that entails or even if it's a possible, but having a fire sale for the best collection of prospects isn't going to excite me.     

I wonder where this team could go with an OF bat and a 2 or 3 RPs added.

I don't know if its out there to be had, but trading Torres for an OF of similar ilk and going with Lee at 2B would be a move to make.

[SoCalTiger]

I do not understand the trade Skubal and keep Mize. Either you're all in or all out to me. But Harris has the job for a reason so we shall see. This is his opportunity to shine.

[Hongbit]

11 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Red Sox fans were saying the same thing about their team before they got hot.  Tigers fans were saying it in 2024.  The current Tigers have more talent than you keep saying.  Perhaps they can get better with a creative deadline and that can include trading Skubal.  I am hoping Harris tries to be creative and ballsy at the deadline rather than just trading everybody for the best list of prospects available.  I don't know what that entails or even if it's a possible, but having a fire sale for the best collection of prospects isn't going to excite me.     

You are a data guy, Lee.   Are the Red Sox streak and what happened in 2024 anomalies or are they things that you can forecast a percentage of happening?  

86 or 87 wins is what it will most likely take to make the playoffs either by division or wild card.    That means they would have to go 35-18 the rest of the way.  That’s a .660 winning percentage.   The Dodgers are the best team in baseball and they are only at .630.    They and the Brewers are the only teams above .600.    

It seems like it would be chasing fantasy to stay in the race.  

[KL2]

4 minutes ago, SoCalTiger said:

I do not understand the trade Skubal and keep Mize. Either you're all in or all out to me. But Harris has the job for a reason so we shall see. This is his opportunity to shine.

One is a FA after the season. One is not. 

[4hzglory]

6 minutes ago, KL2 said:

One is a FA after the season. One is not. 

They both are FA's.  However for me it's how much surplus value would you get over the comp pick, especially if you think you still have a chance to make the playoffs - which I do.

Skubal clearly should bring more value in a trade compared to the 1st round pick and after yesterday, should definitely be moved.  

Mize would have to bring isn't likely to bring back way the comp pick it in value, even though he'd have to bring some extra to even consider a trade.  So the value of keeping him and still trying to get into the playoffs (which the Clark move indicates) and either resigning him, or getting the extra 1st round pick makes a lot of sense to me and is what I would do if I were Harris.

[Tiger337]

7 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

You are a data guy, Lee.   Are the Red Sox streak and what happened in 2024 anomalies or are they things that you can forecast a percentage of happening?  

86 or 87 wins is what it will most likely take to make the playoffs either by division or wild card.    That means they would have to go 35-18 the rest of the way.  That’s a .660 winning percentage.   The Dodgers are the best team in baseball and they are only at .630.    They and the Brewers are the only teams above .600.    

It seems like it would be chasing fantasy to stay in the race.  

2024 was an anomaly, but this team has more talent than that.  I look at the rosters of the teams ahead of them and I am not impressed.  I think the Tigers are as good or better than the teams they need to catch.  I don't think 86 wins is necessarily needed. Fangraphs has them at 24% probaility this morning.   That's a percentage which tells me that trading Skubal is probably the right thing to do, but it's not a percentage where catching up is a fantasy.  

[Tiger337]

20 minutes ago, casimir said:

I wonder where this team could go with an OF bat and a 2 or 3 RPs added.

I don't know if its out there to be had, but trading Torres for an OF of similar ilk and going with Lee at 2B would be a move to make.

Adding old relievers would not be a good idea.  However, adding a younger starter and moving Montero and someone else to the bullpen might work.  

[4hzglory]

1 minute ago, Tiger337 said:

2024 was an anomaly, but this team has more talent than that.  I look at the rosters of the teams ahead of them and I am not impressed.  I think the Tigers are as good or better than the teams they need to catch.  I don't think 86 wins is necessarily needed. Fangraphs has them at 24% probaility this morning.   That's a percentage which tells me that trading Skubal is probably the right thing to do, but it's not a percentage where catching up is a fantasy.  

100% agree. This team has the talent to catch the teams in front of them.  But at 24% probability, trading Skubal is the right move IMO.

 

And 2024 was definitely an anomaly at the time, but while not quite as bad of odds, Cleveland had a real similar comeback last year.  Is it a fluke it happened 2 years in a row?  Or is it going to become more normal.  Boston doing what they did after being 11-12 games under .500 had pretty microscopic odds of happening.