Tigermojo

Lots of question marks there. Who plays short? When does Tork get called up? Miggy happy with full time DH? A lot of players look at him as one of the best all-time. Clubhouse issues? Hill stays healthy? Greene gets called up?

Hopefully their improved approach to sabermetrics can help with that. They definitely need more arms because I don't see much improvement from the defense.

I'm sure they'll add whatever cheap arms they can. They needed a lot of guys this year and not all of them will be back next year.

Just because we sign a shortstop doesn't mean Kreidler can't be useful. We don't have anyone signed long term at second or third.

Barnhart looks like the perfect fit for 2022 and possibly in the mix for 2023 when Rogers is back. Definitely the type of catcher Hinch wants. I wonder how much input he has with the roster. I read it wrong, I thought he had an option for 2023 but the $7.5 million option is for 2022.

The options are definitely limited. Maybe Dingler gets off to a hot start and gets promoted.

I think the Tigers proved this year they could win with smart baserunning. They didn't necessarily need a big home run hitter. They do have some power potential with Torkelson, Greene and Cameron. The later two also have speed. The outfield looks pretty set to me. I expect Baddoo, Hill and Grossman out of spring training with Greene and Cameron getting significant time as the season progresses. An established shortstop would be a big upgrade along with Schoop at second. That should solve the black hole they fielded up the middle. They improved so much at baserunning. I'd like to see some similar improvements on defense. That probably means less flexibility and more specialization from Hinch. Schoop should play second. Baddoo in left and Grossman in right. Torkelson at first once he makes the team. Let the regulars get very comfortable at their positions. They have other players who can move around. They probably keep a lot of the same position players next year with a couple upgrades. Shortstop is the obvious area for improvement but the pitching staff could really use some upgrades in the rotation and bullpen.

Projected arbitration amounts from mlbtraderumors: Tigers (13) Michael Fulmer – $5.1MM Matthew Boyd – $7.3MM Drew Hutchison – $900K Ian Krol – $900K Joe Jimenez – $1.8MM Jeimer Candelario – $5.9MM Niko Goodrum – $2.9MM Jose Cisnero – $1.9MM Victor Reyes – $1.3MM Grayson Greiner – $800K Spencer Turnbull – $1.8MM Dustin Garneau – $1.6MM Harold Castro – $1.5MM

My favorite comments came from Hinch between 7:00 to 7:40. He's talking about improvements this year and wraps it up by saying players will be going into next year with a completely different mind set. Now everyone is on the same page. They have bought into the program. They have seen the improvements and can continue to build on that experience. I think everyone saw how a switch was flipped after April for this team. Now the switch will remain on going into 2022 and that's pretty exciting to me. I think will see a big difference from spring of 2021 to spring of 2022. Hinch talks a lot about winning the day and using pressure on himself, on his team and on the opponent. There's always room for improvement from everyone in the organization.

I never would have believed, at the start of the season, the Tigers would be flirting with .500 in the last week of the schedule. It's been a really entertaining year.

Back to lurking. 🤫