Tiger337

I find it interesting that some people are so easily rating Cabrera over Kaline. Kaline has always been regarded as a god in Detroit and I grew up thinking that his numbers didn't match his status. So, I kind of get it. In later years, I came to the conclusion that he really was a great all around player who lasted a long time and worthy of much of the adoration. Cabrera was a better hitter than Kaline, but not THAT much better whe you consider the eras in which they played and Kaline was a far better defender and had more good years in Detroit.,

Bigger players tend not to age well. I can't say with any certainty that his late career injuries were due to extra weight, but there is a correlation between body mass and propensity to injury especially as you get older.

That is what I recall as well. That was the second baseman's play. Cabrera was below average at both first and third. He was an elite hitter and all his value came from that.

You've got to consider personalities. 😆

Yamamoto or Snell plus Jung Hoo Lee. Trade Carpenter and a young infielder for a 2B/3B who can field. Not sure who is available.

The Padres were one of the most underachieving teams ever, so I'm not sure Soto and Tatis made players better.

7th seems about right. He and Heilmann are close, but Heilmann had a damn good peak and more good years than Cabrera. The other wildcard is Verlander. It's hard to compare pitchers and hitters, but they both peaked at the same time and I think Verlander had a slightly bigger impact most years.

He is 42nd in OPS+ (a stat which I consider to be a very important offensive stat) among players with at least 5,000 PA. Kaline made a substantial defensive contribution as well. Also, when I make a ranking like this, I only look at years they played with the Tigers, so that lowers Cabrera's counting stats. I would not even consider putting him ahead of Cobb, Kakine and Gehringer.. The highest I could go is 4th.

I would not have put him ahead of Gehringer and Kaline. Maybe 4th.

Now that Cabrera is done, where does he fit among Tigers all-time? It's a bit of a challenge because his peak years were so good, but he had so many down years at the end. Giving value to both peak and longevity, here is a quick list: 1. Cobb 2. Kaline 3. Gehringer 4. Greenberg 5. Verlander 6. Heilmann 7. Cabrera 8. Whitaker 9. Trammell 10. Crawford.

With Tatis' and Soto's contracts, you'll get the peak version and the last 7-years version.

With Cabrera retiring, there are no more hitters who batted against the Expos.

I would not be unhappy if they signed him, but I would never making signing a reliever a top priority.

I have seen no evidence of Gaetz being a smart guy.

No, WAR is not the only stat, but it's better than WHIP. The main problem with the Tigers pitchers is that they can't stay healthy and any stat that doesn't include innings pitched is not going to explain that. Personalties? What makes you think that Manning, Mize and Skubal have better personalties for success than Fulmer and Boyd? Neither one of us knows these guys personally. You know, I really hope this current group does better, but it's tough to predict which young players will succeed. i know you think every Tigers prospect is going to be the next great thing. I wish I could be that way, but I can't. 😀

The family wanted to keep the cancer diagnosis private, but dbag Schilling revealed it anyway. RIP Tim Wakefield.

Cabrera was the best acquisition the Tigers made in my lifetime. I couldn't believe they were able to get him in that trade.

This doesn't make sense. You said that Manning, Mize and Skubal were ALREADY better than Fulmer, Boyd and Norris. I showed that they aren't. They might do better going forward, but they are not ALREADY better.

Not true. Fulmer by himself did as much in first two seasons (9.4 WAR) as Skubal. Manning and Mize combined so far (also 9.4 WAR).

I don't really understand the argument that he has to see what he has for a year before making moves. He has all the stats, videos and scouting reports he wants on demand. He knew what he had in terms of players. I can see the argument that he was focused on making off-field organizational changes and wanted get that all in place before making big moves.

Even Manning has not impressed me much. Even when he is healthy, his performance is off and on. Skubal is very impressive. He just needs to stay healthy.

I was actually going to say Mize, Manning and Turnbull but I though it was too subtle. Anyway, I would be willing to bet that none of Mize, Manning and Skubal becomes Verlander or Scherzer. They are far more likely to become Fullmer, Boyd and Norris. However, I am hoping they fall somewhere in between.

Wentz, Faedo and Brieske

The youth on the left don't remember any of them and don't care. That's different from the elderly on the right who still talk about Reagan. The left wants progress. The right used to want everything to stay the same. Now it wants regression back to the 1950s? Or is it the 1860s?