2024 - 2025 Detroit Tigers Offseason

[chasfh]

46 minutes ago, Cruzer1 said:

And I think the Tigers are loaded at catcher.

We are—from 2027 on. At the moment, they could use a better second banana than Dillon Dingler.

[casimir]

1 hour ago, monkeytargets39 said:

Or Carlos Pena, or Isaac Paredes, or Matt Joyce, or Willy Adames….

They aren’t pitchers.

[Tenacious D]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

We are—from 2027 on. At the moment, they could use a better second banana than Dillon Dingler.

I think Dingler will develop, but agree we are wafer-thin at C right now.  None of the guys at Toledo look viable if needed for an extended period.  You could make the case that Jake Rogers staying healthy is pretty critical to our success in ‘25.

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, Tigermojo said:

I think the Boras four all had opt outs last year didn't they?

Player options or team options? Chas laid out a deal where the team had options as well as the player  - as in the Tigers had the option to buy out Cabrera's last season. Actually that might even the answer to the question if Cabrera was a Boras client -- but I have no idea.

[IdahoBert]

3 hours ago, Cruzer1 said:

And I think the Tigers are loaded at catcher.

They appear not to think so

[IdahoBert]

8 hours ago, chasfh said:

PECOTA hates the Tigers. 

 

I presume this means they’re predicting a seismic regression. 

[Tigermojo]

22 minutes ago, IdahoBert said:

I presume this means they’re predicting a seismic regression. 

I think most of those projection systems just take an average from the last few years.

[Toddwert]

11 hours ago, casimir said:

Shades of Tyler Alexander.

Guarantee Faedo gets a strikeout Tigers twitter is gonna get dumb

[Tenacious D]

“Gonna?”

[chasfh]

7 hours ago, IdahoBert said:

I presume this means they’re predicting a seismic regression. 

I think it’s more they believe the Twins are the clear favorites in the Central. But they do have us at 80-82, same as the Guardians.

[Toddwert]

38 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

“Gonna?”

ok true im glad a quit following those people

[oblong]

WHy HASnT ScOTTy BoY doNe anyTHINg?

Hair

 

[Tiger337]

I think projection systems don't work great for teams with a lot of young unproven players.  There is too much variaton in possible outcomes.  

Edited 16 hours ago by Tiger337

[chasfh]

Color the writers at Yahoo unimpressed with the Tigers' offseason.

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-offseason-grades-grading-every-teams-winter-from-an-a-for-the-dodgers-to-fs-for-the-mariners-and-padres-221333389.html

Detroit Tigers: C+

• Signed 2B Gleyber Torres to a 1-year deal

• Signed SP Alex Cobb to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Tommy Kahnle to a 1-year deal

• Signed SP Jack Flaherty to a 2-year deal

As with Kansas City, Detroit’s surprise run to the playoffs dramatically shifted our perception of where the franchise sits in its competitive cycle. In turn, there were expectations for the Tigers to ratchet up their spending this winter in hopes of bolstering an ultra-young roster that proved its mettle against Houston and Cleveland in October and appears eager to take the next step. Instead, the Tigers have run a similar playbook to recent offseasons: little to no trade activity and short-term free-agent contracts for veterans trying to reestablish their value.

Strangely enough, the team’s first two additions cost the same: 1 year, $15M to Torres and Cobb. Torres should provide much-needed reliable production to a troublingly thin lineup. I quite like his addition, even if it prompts some uncomfortable questions about the future of former No. 1 pick Spencer Torkelson, with Colt Keith expected to move to first in deference to Torres.

Kahnle should be a nice veteran complement to the bevy of younger arms who shined in various bullpen roles in 2024. Cobb, though, is more of a head-scratcher. Yes, he was an All-Star as recently as 2023, but he has had hip surgery since then, and that rehab plus myriad nail and blister issues limited him to five total starts in 2024. How the 37-year-old Cobb performs relative to Charlie Morton and Justin Verlander — who also received 1-year, $15M pacts this winter — will be one of the more interesting subplots this season. The Tigers clearly needed rotation reinforcements beyond Tarik Skubal. I’m not sure Cobb will provide such support, but the February return of Flaherty should help in that department.

Free agent Alex Bregman looms as the most obvious opportunity remaining for Detroit to make a big splash, given his relationship with manager AJ Hinch and clear positional fit on a Tigers roster that has a lot of intriguing young infielders but nothing resembling a cornerstone. Bregman would seem to check a lot of boxes for the kind of veteran star a team in Detroit’s position could build around, but the Tigers have thus far been unwilling to meet his hefty contract demands. If that changes and they spend big to land him, the whole narrative about their winter will shift. If not, this offseason could end up feeling like a fairly big missed opportunity.

 

Of course, the writers (who are the Cespedes Family BBQ guys with their hyperfan cred) are grading the Tigers on the same criteria as those fans who believe all the Tigers have to do is stop going to the Hyundai player dealer for their free agents and start shopping at the Rolls Royce player dealer and simply pick a player off the shelf from there.

They also stop just short of explicitly stating that they'll give the Tigers a good grade only if they sign Bregman.

[Edman85]

29 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

I think projection systems don't work great for teams with a lot of young unproven players.  There is too much variaton in possible outcomes.  

And this is kinda shown in the probability plots for the Tigers. There is a wide range for them. The thing fans ignore is the fact that the wide range includes negative too.

Edited 15 hours ago by Edman85

[gehringer_2]

this will be another pitching centric team. They'll go as far as pitching health lets them. The fly in the ointment is that if Gleyber and Keith can't hold up the right side of the IF, the pitching might not look as good as it should.

[RatkoVarda]

10 hours ago, Tenacious D said:

I think Dingler will develop, but agree we are wafer-thin at C right now.  None of the guys at Toledo look viable if needed for an extended period.  You could make the case that Jake Rogers staying healthy is pretty critical to our success in ‘25.

I call this the Al Avila Special - if everything works out, then they will be OK.

Dingler could very well out-hit Jake; or be in Toledo by July.

Harris has got to have someone better than Nido as the 3rd option; right?

Same for SS. If Sweeney bombs, they have McKinstry and Kreidler, if Baez is done.

[Tenacious D]

2 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

I call this the Al Avila Special - if everything works out, then they will be OK.

Dingler could very well out-hit Jake; or be in Toledo by July.

Harris has got to have someone better than Nido as the 3rd option; right?

Same for SS. If Sweeney bombs, they have McKinstry and Kreidler, if Baez is done.

Still have Leonard and Navigato in the system that could be plugged into SS, but I think they would punt on offense and put Kreidler in for his stellar D (and send out an APB for Zach Short).

[gehringer_2]

10 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

Still have Leonard and Navigato in the system that could be plugged into SS, but I think they would punt on offense and put Kreidler in for his stellar D (and send out an APB for Zach Short).

our pitchers would probably go on strike with Navigato and Gleyber up the middle together....

[chasfh]

47 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

this will be another pitching centric team. They'll go as far as pitching health lets them. The fly in the ointment is that if Gleyber and Keith can't hold up the right side of the IF, the pitching might not look as good as it should.

If by this you are saying we will be great pitching and poor hitting, I don't think we know that yet.

If you mean merely that our pitching will rank better than our hitting, I think there's a good chance of that.

[chasfh]

43 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

Still have Leonard and Navigato in the system that could be plugged into SS, but I think they would punt on offense and put Kreidler in for his stellar D (and send out an APB for Zach Short).

Why Zack Short? He's on the verge of washing out of baseball entirely. Or are you saying so because he's the one devil you know?

[Tenacious D]

8 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Why Zack Short? He's on the verge of washing out of baseball entirely. Or are you saying so because he's the one devil you know?

Half-joking—definitely not an ideal scenario.  Wonder if we didn’t already have Baez if we would have reunited with Iglesias as the RH platoon with Sweeney, with the ability to play more if Trey ****s the bed.

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, Tenacious D said:

Half-joking—definitely not an ideal scenario.  Wonder if we didn’t already have Baez if we would have reunited with Iglesias as the RH platoon with Sweeney, with the ability to play more if Trey ****s the bed.

Even half joking is too much. 😉

Really, if Harris re-signed Zack Short to give him hundreds of innings at SS, even as a stopgap, I would seriously question whether he's actually trying to win this year.

[Tenacious D]

You’re overthinking it.  Substitute “easily available external SS option in-season” with Zach Short, if that helps.

[Tiger337]

You can't win a championship with Zach Short on your roster.