2026 Trade deadline

[monkeytargets39]

It’s less that we can’t afford a star player and more that said star player has to want to be here.  

[casimir]

1 hour ago, monkeytargets39 said:

Do any of us actually care about all the stuff coming out about Skubal supposedly knowing he was hurt in January and not disclosing it because of arbitration?

I heard that, too.  I guess I wonder did he know to what degree he was hurt?  Was it comparable to his TJ?  Did he think he could just push through it like I would guess most athletes do?

[monkeytargets39]

13 minutes ago, casimir said:

I heard that, too.  I guess I wonder did he know to what degree he was hurt?  Was it comparable to his TJ?  Did he think he could just push through it like I would guess most athletes do?

Supposedly he knew something might be up but refused to get an MRI because he didn’t want an injury concern to affect his arbitration settlement.  Allegedly.  Then he pitched through it and we saw what happened with the loose bodies surgery.

[gehringer_2]

3 minutes ago, monkeytargets39 said:

Supposedly he knew something might be up but refused to get an MRI because he didn’t want an injury concern to affect his arbitration settlement.  Allegedly.  Then he pitched through it and we saw what happened with the loose bodies surgery.

*IF* and a huge *IF* indeed, that is true, I have a hard time believing an owner would want anything further to do with that player, no matter who he is  -- and if the Tigers talk nice the rest of the year but then let him walk at the end of the season without a serious offer, I'd take that as the reason.

[1984Echoes]

2 hours ago, Shelton said:

... They can sign him. The idea they cannot is silly...

It would be beyond irresponsible for the Tigers to sign Skubal to the contract that Boras will end up obtaining for him.

IMO.

I do NOT want him at that cost, and at the years he will end up with.

Sorry, but no thanks.

[holygoat]

6 hours ago, monkeytargets39 said:

Do any of us actually care about all the stuff coming out about Skubal supposedly knowing he was hurt in January and not disclosing it because of arbitration?

I do, because it came from his own mouth. Not having the elbow checked out in January because he was salty about the Tigers "taking him to court" (no Tarik, they took you to arbitration after you refused to negotiate a long-term contract, as is their right under the mutually negotiated CBA) may have tanked his team's post-season chances. Instead of having the surgery in January and being ready to go in April, he selfishly chose to hold off in hopes of securing a more favorable arbitration ruling. He quite literally placed his own interests ahead of his teams'. How many more games would the Tigers have won in May with a healthy Skubal in the rotation and a less strained bullpen? I've changed my opinion that the Tigers should keep Skubal if they're within a few games of the playoffs at the deadline to now wanting him traded regardless.

[chasfh]

14 hours ago, NorthWoods said:

I doubt he'd have much if any trade value as his price rises.

So you just want to flush Tork? I wouldn’t agree with that.

[chasfh]

14 hours ago, NorthWoods said:

Fiber capsules are much better.   Trust me on this.

Man, the median age of this joint is way higher than I’d even imagined. 

[chasfh]

12 hours ago, Shelton said:

They haven’t had a reason to spend big on anyone in a while. In the past they have. They are pushing up against the tax limit this season. They can sign him. The idea they cannot is silly. And it doesn’t really matter matter how much revenue to assign to him specifically.

Just seems like people are relying on old and inaccurate data about what the tigers can do financially. 

There is what a team can do financially, and then there is what a team will do financially. The former is about ability, which they all have; the latter is about a form of tacit collusion, which they almost all do. Not all of them do that, of course, because there are some high-profile counterexamples, but I would not put this particular Tigers ownership in the category of Wanton Market Busters.

[Edman85]

I don't necessarily think a 30 year-old pitcher should get a blank check. No matter how good he was from 27-29.

[LongLiveMaroth]

9 minutes ago, Edman85 said:

I don't necessarily think a 30 year-old pitcher should get a blank check. No matter how good he was from 27-29.

The back half of that contract will come to haunt someone. Especially one with known injury concerns. 

[casimir]

4 minutes ago, LongLiveMaroth said:

The back half of that contract will come to haunt someone. Especially one with known injury concerns. 

Agree.  I remember all too well how painful the back seven of Cabrera's contract and the end years of Martinez were.  I'm all for spending on good players, but I don't want to buy into albatross seasons.

[oblong]

Would a player having an MRI have affected any arbitration decision though?  I don't know that this kind of thing is what the arbitrators consider.  

[chasfh]

7 hours ago, holygoat said:

I do, because it came from his own mouth. Not having the elbow checked out in January because he was salty about the Tigers "taking him to court" (no Tarik, they took you to arbitration after you refused to negotiate a long-term contract, as is their right under the mutually negotiated CBA) may have tanked his team's post-season chances. Instead of having the surgery in January and being ready to go in April, he selfishly chose to hold off in hopes of securing a more favorable arbitration ruling. He quite literally placed his own interests ahead of his teams'. How many more games would the Tigers have won in May with a healthy Skubal in the rotation and a less strained bullpen? I've changed my opinion that the Tigers should keep Skubal if they're within a few games of the playoffs at the deadline to now wanting him traded regardless.

First of all, lol subconsciously influenced his decision. “Subconsciously.”

Secondly, I would expect practically every player in his position would have made that same decision. I wouldn’t think he’s unique in that regard.

Lastly, for such a seemingly smart guy, it was exceedingly dumb of him to say that publicly, and doubly so to use practically fightin’ words while saying it.

[chasfh]

3 minutes ago, oblong said:

Would a player having an MRI have affected any arbitration decision though?  I don't know that this kind of thing is what the arbitrators consider.  

Good question. Any precedents from teams going to arbitration with a player who had a long-term injury at the time?

[NorthWoods]

15 hours ago, tiger2022 said:

  Harris is like 1 for 30 on his moves so far.

Selected Andy Ibáñez off waivers from the Texas Rangers.

Signed Brenan Hanifee as a free agent.

Signed Michael Lorenzen as a free agent.

Selected Tyler Holton off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Traded Carlos Guzman (minors) to the Chicago Cubs. Received Zach McKinstry.

Drafted Kevin McGonigle in the 1st round (37th pick) of the 2023 amateur draft. Player signed July 21, 2023.

Traded Michael Lorenzen to the Philadelphia Phillies. Received Hao-Yu Lee.

Signed Jack Flaherty as a free agent.

Signed Gleyber Torres as a free agent.

Traded Josh Randall (minors) and R.J. Sales (minors) to the Washington Nationals. Received Kyle Finnegan.

Various degrees of "hits" but certainly not misses.

[Shelton]

35 minutes ago, chasfh said:

There is what a team can do financially, and then there is what a team will do financially. The former is about ability, which they all have; the latter is about a form of tacit collusion, which they almost all do. Not all of them do that, of course, because there are some high-profile counterexamples, but I would not put this particular Tigers ownership in the category of Wanton Market Busters.

Well that is what my point is. The tigers absolutely can. Whether or not they will is a different discussion so I agree. But I don’t agree that they certainly won’t. 
 

All of these concerns apply equally to the other teams, too, as you noted. 

I think there is a big disconnect in how the media declares what some teams have to do vs what other teams have to do when presented with very similar scenarios, and I don’t think it’s right to just wave it away by saying “yeah but those other teams have more money” because to me that is irrelevant when the smaller team still has “enough” money, and that’s true of almost every team. 
 

Whether or not a particular group will actually use it is another story, and I think it’s often just a matter of time. Until this offseason Harris hadn’t signed a 100MM contract, until he did. He never came close to the luxury tax, until he did. 
 

The fact that they have practiced such austerity up until this offseason presents them with the ability and opportunity to do a deal that might qualify as market busting. 
 

I would need to think about it a lot more to figure out whether I think they should. 
 

 

[monkeytargets39]

56 minutes ago, Edman85 said:

I don't necessarily think a 30 year-old pitcher should get a blank check. No matter how good he was from 27-29.

Draft ‘em, develop them and let them leave via free agency 

 

works for Cleveland 

Edited July 23 by monkeytargets39

[Edman85]

1 hour ago, oblong said:

Would a player having an MRI have affected any arbitration decision though?  I don't know that this kind of thing is what the arbitrators consider.  

This was my thought, but I didn't read the Stavenhagen article in detail.

[AlaskanTigersFan]

58 minutes ago, Shelton said:

Well that is what my point is. The tigers absolutely can. Whether or not they will is a different discussion so I agree. But I don’t agree that they certainly won’t. 
 

All of these concerns apply equally to the other teams, too, as you noted. 

I think there is a big disconnect in how the media declares what some teams have to do vs what other teams have to do when presented with very similar scenarios, and I don’t think it’s right to just wave it away by saying “yeah but those other teams have more money” because to me that is irrelevant when the smaller team still has “enough” money, and that’s true of almost every team. 
 

Whether or not a particular group will actually use it is another story, and I think it’s often just a matter of time. Until this offseason Harris hadn’t signed a 100MM contract, until he did. He never came close to the luxury tax, until he did. 
 

The fact that they have practiced such austerity up until this offseason presents them with the ability and opportunity to do a deal that might qualify as market busting. 
 

I would need to think about it a lot more to figure out whether I think they should. 
 

 

Trade him now regardless. That's been my stance since last year even..... 

In the off season, offer him 5 years at 45 million per for a total of $225 million. When he turns it down, the team that signs him longer than that will be paying for a pitcher on the decline, the front office can save face saying they did what they could. 

[Shelton]

I think Stavenhagen happened upon Skubal at a particular time and with him in a particular mood and Skubal got caught saying something stupid that he probably didn’t mean to say the way he did.

My guess is that Cody shared the quotes with his editor and they felt like they hit a gold mine and now we have a “Story”.

I think the story being told here is being clouded a bit by hindsight. Whatever was going on with him at the time didn’t stop him from simply pushing through and training and going to the WBC and starting the season. It’s easy to say after the fact, and after the surgery was successful, that he had some suspicions in January. And yes, when you are in a negotiating period of course you are going to be less likely to share anything that might hurt your position. 
 

After getting the contract award on Feb 3 he also didn’t get it checked out, and it seems hard to believe that heading into his contract year he would take a risk of putting something off and potentially costing him a lot more than whatever the arbitration contract dispute was. 
 

So, I think whatever he was actually feeling was incredibly minor, and it indeed took until that start in late April for it actually be a thing. Not sure why he decided to word things the way he did, but it makes him look bad. I’m sure he regrets saying it the way he did, but I suspect he is getting caught up in being the face of the trade deadline.

[Tenacious D]

I can't imagine that an injury would actually influence the arbitration process negatively.  And if this were real, it would have surfaced by now.  Nothing to see here.

Separately, back in the real world, we sit at 48-54 and have 10 games left prior to the trade deadline (8/30.

4 v Royals 

3 v Orioles

3 @ A's

If we go 7-3, we'd be 55-57.  Would that be enough to avoid selling Skoobs and Mize?

In any scenario, I would move Torres if there was an interested buyer.  I've seen enough of Lee that I would ride him for the rest of the season and playoffs--I don't think there is much of a drop-off.  Any payroll savings would allow us to deploy to a reliever, given our luxury tax implications.  I doubt there will be a market for Gleyber, though, considering his salary and productivity.  Anything we get in return is irrelevant.

Edited July 23 by Tenacious D

[Shelton]

2 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

I can't imagine that an injury would actually influence the arbitration process negatively.  And if this were real, it would have surfaced by now.  Nothing to see here.

Separately, back in the real world, we sit at 48-54 and have 10 games left prior to the trade deadline (8/30.

4 v Royals 

3 v Orioles

3 @ A's

If we go 7-3, we'd be 55-57.  Would that be enough to avoid selling Skoobs and Mize?

In any scenario, I would move Torres if there was an interested buyer.  I've seen enough of Lee that I would ride him for the rest of the season and playoffs--I don't think there is much of a drop-off.  Any payroll savings would allow us to deploy to a reliever, given our luxury tax implications.  I doubt there will be a market for Gleyber, though, considering his salary and productivity.  Anything we get in return is irrelevant.

I think we need both Lee and Torres to keep this offense propped up. 
 

If they go 7-3 and trade Skubal or Mize then fire everyone. 

[TigerNation]

16 minutes ago, Shelton said:

I think we need both Lee and Torres to keep this offense propped up. 
 

If they go 7-3 and trade Skubal or Mize then fire everyone. 

I'm confused why some people want to trade our 4th best hitter.

[Tenacious D]

1 minute ago, TigerNation said:

I'm confused why some people want to trade our 4th best hitter.

I'd rather have a reliever than Torres.  We've been on our ride since June 1st without him.

I'm assuming we have to drop a salary to pick up another.