2023-24 Detroit Tigers Offseason Thread

[Tiger337]

Speaking of 7, I just found this video of the Cesar Gutierrez game.  I did not know it existed.  7 for 7 for number 7.  

https://www.mlb.com/video/cesar-gutierrez-goes-7-for-7

Edited February 7, 2024 by Tiger337

[casimir]

24 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Speaking of 7, I just found this video of the Cesar Gutierrez game.  I did not know it existed.  7 for 7 for number 7.  

https://www.mlb.com/video/cesar-gutierrez-goes-7-for-7

Looks like it was game 2 of a doubleheader.

He was a .243/.275/.299 hitter that season.  Take away the 7 hits (6 singles and 1 double) and he's still a lousy hitter.

[Tigermojo]

First televised game is Feb. 25. I'm excited for that.

[LongLiveMaroth]

 

[casimir]

If you had Nick Maton to the Orioles for cash, take a bow.  You didn’t, but go ahead and claim it anyway, nobody cares.

[SoCalTiger]

Mike Elias is the best GM in the league and will play Nick at second base where he belongs. 

[Timmitch55]

11 hours ago, LongLiveMaroth said:

 

Bigbie and Hurter will surprise 

[chasfh]

18 hours ago, casimir said:

Looks like it was game 2 of a doubleheader.

He was a .243/.275/.299 hitter that season.  Take away the 7 hits (6 singles and 1 double) and he's still a lousy hitter.

I believe it was Curt Gowdy who told us that instant-star “GoGo” (or did he say “Coco”?) was lifted for a pinch-hitter 48 times that season.

[chasfh]

9 hours ago, SoCalTiger said:

Mike Elias is the best GM in the league and will play Nick at second base where he belongs. 

It’ll be a tense battle between Maton and Ramon Urias for that 26th spot. More likely he’ll be a rover in Norfolk with a super short leash since he can’t be optioned anymore.

[Sports_Freak]

19 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

Speaking of 7, I just found this video of the Cesar Gutierrez game.  I did not know it existed.  7 for 7 for number 7.  

https://www.mlb.com/video/cesar-gutierrez-goes-7-for-7

Nice find. Going by my weak memory, I remember him as a great glove, no hit player.

[chasfh]

19 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

Speaking of 7, I just found this video of the Cesar Gutierrez game.  I did not know it existed.  7 for 7 for number 7.  

https://www.mlb.com/video/cesar-gutierrez-goes-7-for-7

With the zombie runner in place, this might have elevated to the status of unbreakable record.

[1776]

Courtesy of Bill Dow of vintagedetroit website. The good old days.
 

https://www.vintagedetroit.com/37th-annual-babe-ruth-birthday-bash-at-nemos-february-3rd/

[roarintiger1]

On 2/7/2024 at 1:40 PM, Tiger337 said:

Speaking of 7, I just found this video of the Cesar Gutierrez game.  I did not know it existed.  7 for 7 for number 7.  

https://www.mlb.com/video/cesar-gutierrez-goes-7-for-7

A good rightfielder would've caught that short pop fly.  Just sayin'

[Tigeraholic1]

Fresh shot from today, getting close.

[Tiger337]

 

[Edman85]

[casimir]

16 minutes ago, Edman85 said:

That bat would be glorious at the top of this team’s lineup.

[RandyMarsh]

One of the more underappreciated baseball players of the last 40-50 years imo.

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, casimir said:

That bat would be glorious at the top of this team’s lineup.

In his last season, at age 40, in 485 AB he finished the season only one point below his career OPS+ (109). Pretty rare.

[RandyMarsh]

11 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

In his last season, at age 40, in 485 AB he finished the season only one point below his career OPS+ (109). Pretty rare.

Sweet Lou missed alot of time but his OPS+ was much higher than his career rate in each of his last 5 seasons. I was too young to really remember how well he looked out there though but judging by his rate stats it certainly appeared that he had plenty left in the tank. 

[Toddwert]

2 hours ago, RandyMarsh said:

One of the more underappreciated baseball players of the last 40-50 years imo.

that guy was an Rickey Hendersonesque On Base machine ... one of my favorite tigers of that era

[Tiger337]

3 hours ago, Edman85 said:

Fielder got all the attention, but he was only the third best player on that team.  

[Tiger337]

1 hour ago, RandyMarsh said:

Sweet Lou missed alot of time but his OPS+ was much higher than his career rate in each of his last 5 seasons. I was too young to really remember how well he looked out there though but judging by his rate stats it certainly appeared that he had plenty left in the tank. 

Whitaker's OPS+ by progressive age quartiles:

20-24 94

25-29 119

30-34 122

35-38 131

He was hitting well enough at the end that he could have served as a platoon DH at the very least.  The Tigers wanted him back for another season and Trammell tried to talk him into a 20th season together, but he wasn't interested.  There were also rumors that the Yankees were interested in him after his last season, but that would be just sacrilegious.   

[RandyMarsh]

5 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Whitaker's OPS+ by progressive age quartiles:

20-24 94

25-29 119

30-34 122

35-38 131

He was hitting well enough at the end that he could have served as a platoon DH at the very least.  The Tigers wanted him back for another season and Trammell tried to talk him into a 20th season together, but he wasn't interested.  There were also rumors that the Yankees were interested in him after his last season, but that would be just sacrilegious.   

Definitely glad he didn't go to the Yankees. I was 12 years old then and he was my favorite player(well aside from Fielder who everybody loved in my age group) but I didn't pay any attention to off the field stuff nor really how well they looked from a health standpoint. I just watched them at the plate and if they did well there that was good enough for me, paid no attention if they were always banged up or were struggling in the field etc and certainly didn't pay any attention to offseason rumors. 

Edited February 10, 2024 by RandyMarsh

[gehringer_2]

10 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Whitaker's OPS+ by progressive age quartiles:

20-24 94

25-29 119

30-34 122

35-38 131

He was hitting well enough at the end that he could have served as a platoon DH at the very least.  The Tigers wanted him back for another season and Trammell tried to talk him into a 20th season together, but he wasn't interested.  There were also rumors that the Yankees were interested in him after his last season, but that would be just sacrilegious.   

The work to prep for and the grind of a major league season when you are almost 40 and your team is probably going to lose 90 is not an easy sales pitch. Blame ownership and the FO for not having a team on the field he wanted to play on.