Tiger337

I am expecting trades and signings. They need at least one other proven position player too. Since the pitching free agent market is better than the hiting market this off-season, I am think they improve their pitching through free agency and hitting through trades.

He's a very capable left-handed starter. Somebody will offer something at least as good as the contract he is opting out off.

I don't know what's true and I don't take Rosenthal's story as gospel. I think it's more likely Rodriguez changed his mind and said no and then his agent said, "what if we can get them to extend it another year?". In the end though, I just want the Tigers to have a good pitcher on their team. Edit: Second edit made no sense, so I erased it!

I don't have any faith that they'll get five good healthy pitchers from that crew. I hope they sign a couple of starters. I'd like to see Olson and Long as part of the depth rather than two pitchers on which they rely.

When the trade didn't go through and the story about how it happened came out, you called him a weasel.

Maybe so, but he's still the best player on the team this year and his track record is good. I still don't see why rejecting the trade makes him a bad person. He has a right to do go or stay and even to change his mind at the last minute. If everybody did business like MLB and someone traded me from my job, I certainly wouldn't care about inconveniencing those who tried to trade me.

Yes! Most of my selections are pre-2000 for the reasons you mentioned. I probably spend as much time following the game now, but the details don't stick. I think when the information was more scarce, I absorbed every detail I could get my hands on. Today, there is information overload and I just look up players in whom I am interested at the moment rather than looking at everybody in the TSN team stats.

especially when it's because you highlighted the wrong box.

Yes, after he failed to trade him, if he let's him go and doesn't get a replacement, it will be viewed as a failure. Few fans don't care about the inner workings of the front office.

The Tigers really need to sign a couple of starters if Rodriguez is not coming back. I am not concerned whether he is a difficult person. I am only interested in his talent, like Jack Morris and Doyle Alexandr.

It will be interesting to see how many of those guys continue to move around next year now that they are more established. Anyway, they are all good players, so I don't think fans would complain if they were in Detroit. I think the complaint about the Tigers is that their multi-position guys are not good players. Maton and McKinstry playing all over the place is not being done because it's a smart new baseball move. They play all over the place, because they don't have anything better and they making the most of what they have. I am pretty sure Harris and Hinch would love to have allstars playing at 2B and 3B every day rather than positional flexibility.

Tony Phillips is another example, but how many players can play multiple positions well and also hit at a high level? Most utility players are utility players because they don't hit well enough to be regulars or because they are not elite at any one position. And if someone can hit and is above average at a specific position, is it a good trade off to start moving him around to positions where he doesn't field as well for the sake of versatility? I also think a lot of regulars are reluctant to move around to different positions. Many are even finnicky about where they bat in the order.

It's not worth much, because hardly any one in this forum knows enough about prospects to really understand their value. Maybe Avila, the former scout, actually knew something about him where he preferred him to some player ranked 17th out of 30 in some amateur list. Avila wasn't getting the job done overall, but I see a lot of people here raving about Tigers prospects every day and almost every one of those players was acquired by Avila.

I think I'm already there.

So, he's the the pitcher with an ERA over 5.00 every year, but he he always pitches like Cy Young versus the Tigers?

I think pitchers who are not highly regarded as prospects turn out out to be surprises more often than hitters. It maybe because pitchers are so fragile, that they are given every chance to succeed. I have no idea if Long will succeed. One game means nothing, but the fact that he was given the start shows that he is further along than a lot of other prospects.

MTU's got this nice reasonable poster with occasional troll thing going. That used to be my routine.

I don't really remember. There was a lot of anger towards Avila in general at that point. In reality, teams don't generally get top prospects at the deadline unless they are dealing a top starter or stud closer. I'll be happy when the Tigers are no longer in the position of deadline seller.

"we all"

Did we hate that trade? They traded a non-dominant soon to be 30-year old reliever for a minor leaguer with three last names. What is there to hate?

If they have a chance to get a starter worthy of nine figures, I would hope they don't back off because they already have five starters and Olson is one of their starters. Who knows though? I wouldn't be surprised if Harris and Hinch are planning to patch together a staff with bullpen days and swing men.

You don't know how many of this years starting pitchers will be both good and healthy next year. Based on past track record, I'll guess some of them won't be. I think they will need another starter even if Rodriguez stays.

The game has changed in that players are getting more rest days and spending more time on the DL. Thus, depth has become more important. However, I agree that there is nothing virtuous about putting together a roster of guys that play all different positions and havin not set roles. Platoons are great when it's Champ Summers and John Wockenfuss at designated hitter on a consistent basis, not so great when you've got a different second baseman and third baseman every day and none of them are elite fielders or hitting enough to be starters. The Athletics had a revolving door at second base in the 70s because they didn't have anyone who could play every day, not because they wanted it that way. It shouldn't be any different today.

Why don't the Tigers do this for Alex Lange?

Most fans seemed to be disappointed with Tony Clark, but looking back he was probably a little better than your average #1 or #2 pick. If Tork did as well as Clark, I would consider it a win. I would just hope he eventually has better hitters around him than Clark did.