2024 - 2025 Detroit Tigers Offseason

[SoCalTiger]

St Louis retooling and looking to move Goldy Anarando  Contreras and Gray. Not sure any work for us but if salaries are cut they could be stop gap help. 

[chasfh]

If I had to guess about a Tork trade one way or the other, I would guess that Harris would trade him for players with a future rather than players with a past.

 

Edited Wednesday at 11:19 AM by chasfh

[RatkoVarda]

8 hours ago, SoCalTiger said:

St Louis retooling and looking to move Goldy Anarando  Contreras and Gray. Not sure any work for us but if salaries are cut they could be stop gap help. 

Goldy is a free agent, but all could fit, some more than others.

Salaries are not relevant; STL would not need to pick up any money; Tigers can add $100M to payroll and still not be in the top half of payroll in 2025

[SoCalTiger]

1 hour ago, RatkoVarda said:

Goldy is a free agent, but all could fit, some more than others.

Salaries are not relevant; STL would not need to pick up any money; Tigers can add $100M to payroll and still not be in the top half of payroll in 2025

Some will probably go to player extensions but yes it 's good place to be for sure.

[gehringer_2]

While I think history argues that as many FA signings are busts as are winners, the one thing I have come around on is don't try to scrimp. It's the 2nd tier guys like Zimmermann and Baez where you get burned trying to save money. IOW when looking at FA's I think the downside risk is far more important than the contract cost in the value equation. You are better off paying higher dollar for the player that is most likely to produce than hedging on the cost side and ending up having to write it all off. 

TL,DR version - if you  are going, go after Bregman.

 

Edited Wednesday at 04:16 PM by gehringer_2

[Tiger337]

11 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Ha, would love it.   My daughter is a freshman at McGill University. I believe Olympic Stadium is derelict, but perhaps the 27,000 seat football stadium on campus could be tinkered with enough for baseball in the short term. 

If they can play major league games in Jarry Park, they can play them in a 27,000 seat football stadium.  Jarry Park is definitely the coolest park I have been to.  

[kdog]

27 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

While I think history argues that as many FA signings are busts as are winners, the one thing I have come around on is don't try to scrimp. It's the 2nd tier guys like Zimmermann and Baez where you get burned trying to save money. IOW when looking at FA's I think the downside risk is far more important than the contract cost in the value equation. You are better off paying higher dollar for the player that is most likely to produce than hedging on the cost side and ending up having to write it all off. 

TL,DR version - if you  are going, go after Bregman.

 

Good point. Either go full hog on the big guys or sign one and two year deals. 

On Bregman, I don't see them investing in a 30+ year old guy at the end of his prime.

Edited Wednesday at 04:43 PM by kdog

[gehringer_2]

55 minutes ago, kdog said:

On Bregman, I don't see them investing in a 30+ year old guy at the end of his prime.

He's a young man compared to Arenado or Goldschmidt though. 😉

[Tigermojo]

I'm fine with continuing the youth movement. They've been burned too many times on long term deals.

[chasfh]

I would be very surprised if we went for a guy in Bregman's class, which would probably necessitate something like a six-year commitment. We are not in the position where we can use one big guy to put us over the top, because we are just now starting to scale up the mountain. At the point we finish in first place with a seasoned team, meaning, not a team half of whose roster is rookies who played competitively in the minors earlier that season, then someone at the level of Bregman makes sense. Not before.

[Edman85]

Repeat after me.

Akil Baddoo and Alex Lange are not eligible for arbitration (unless they mysteriously got days of service for days in the minor leagues).

Akil Baddoo and Alex Lange are not eligible for arbitration (unless they mysteriously got days of service for days in the minor leagues).

Akil Baddoo and Alex Lange are not eligible for arbitration (unless they mysteriously got days of service for days in the minor leagues).

Akil Baddoo and Alex Lange are not eligible for arbitration (unless they mysteriously got days of service for days in the minor leagues).

[monkeytargets39]

Would be surprised if either is on the 40 man roster by spring

[Tiger337]

28 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I would be very surprised if we went for a guy in Bregman's class, which would probably necessitate something like a six-year commitment. We are not in the position where we can use one big guy to put us over the top, because we are just now starting to scale up the mountain. At the point we finish in first place with a seasoned team, meaning, not a team half of whose roster is rookies who played competitively in the minors earlier that season, then someone at the level of Bregman makes sense. Not before.

The Tigers have a small payroll and have shown that they can put together a strong pitching staff without spending a lot.  So, it makes sense to spend some money on position players.  It's not going kill them to take a chance on a guy in Bregman's class if the right match is available.  

[HeyAbbott]

I would like Alanzo at first and trade Tork.

[oblong]

I agree with G2’s take on going but if the person is available. But you don’t need the mid level FAs. That’s the kind of player this org should now be able to fill internally. 

[alex]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

I would be very surprised if we went for a guy in Bregman's class, which would probably necessitate something like a six-year commitment. We are not in the position where we can use one big guy to put us over the top, because we are just now starting to scale up the mountain. At the point we finish in first place with a seasoned team, meaning, not a team half of whose roster is rookies who played competitively in the minors earlier that season, then someone at the level of Bregman makes sense. Not before.

Who do you think they might go after and who 'would' interest you?

[chasfh]

53 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

The Tigers have a small payroll and have shown that they can put together a strong pitching staff without spending a lot.  So, it makes sense to spend some money on position players.  It's not going kill them to take a chance on a guy in Bregman's class if the right match is available.  

I'm not saying they wouldn't benefit from going after a guy like Bregman. They would, at least next year. Most teams would. I'm saying I'd be surprised if this version of the Tigers made that move. I'd also be surprised to see him leave Houston.

[chasfh]

38 minutes ago, HeyAbbott said:

I would like Alanzo at first and trade Tork.

Alonso has the same problem Yandy Diaz has: can't defend at first. If we move on from Tork, I believe we'll want a guy who can save our infielders as well as hit.

[chasfh]

17 minutes ago, alex said:

Who do you think they might go after and who 'would' interest you?

I wouldn't mind seeing us take a run at Christian Walker. He can hit and draw a walk, is a gold glove defender, and has World Series experience. He's 34 next year so it probably won't take six solid years to sign him, but he might take 3/55 or 4/70 with team options tacked onto the end. He's from Pennsylvania so he probably won't have the same reticence to come to a city like Detroit that a sun belt or west coast kid might, although he may balk at playing in a ballpark perceived to be death to right-handed home run hitters.

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

I would be very surprised if we went for a guy in Bregman's class, which would probably necessitate something like a six-year commitment. We are not in the position where we can use one big guy to put us over the top, because we are just now starting to scale up the mountain. At the point we finish in first place with a seasoned team, meaning, not a team half of whose roster is rookies who played competitively in the minors earlier that season, then someone at the level of Bregman makes sense. Not before.

I'm more optimistic. Bottom line is they did win 86 whether did it in a highly nonlinear fashion or not. Not pushing for Bregman in particular but if you add a 4 WAR player to 3B where they got very little value other than the 42 games Vierling started there and a 3 WAR starter (the possibility of which is good whether internally or externally) and consider that you don't really have a single player on the downside of his career other than Javy,  I think I'm looking at a 90+ win team. That would put me solidly into win mode management.

[chasfh]

12 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

I'm more optimistic. Bottom line is they did win 86 whether did it in a highly nonlinear fashion or not. Not pushing for Bregman in particular but if you add a 4 WAR player to 3B where they got very little value other than the 42 games Vierling started there and a 3 WAR starter (the possibility of which is good whether internally or externally) and consider that you don't really have a single player on the downside of his career other than Javy,  I think I'm looking at a 90+ win team. That would put me solidly into win mode management.

Going after an established third baseman for a number of years is basically the Tigers admitting that they believe none of the internal options they have for future third basemen will be adequate enough, and I'm not sure they have reached that conclusion yet with Jace Jung. Maybe they have, but I think I would be surprised if they have already.

No, I am not recommending foregoing Alex Bregman for Jace Jung.

[Shelton]

Sign Bregman

[gehringer_2]

24 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Going after an established third baseman for a number of years is basically the Tigers admitting that they believe none of the internal options they have for future third basemen will be adequate enough, and I'm not sure they have reached that conclusion yet with Jace Jung. Maybe they have, but I think I would be surprised if they have already.

No, I am not recommending foregoing Alex Bregman for Jace Jung.

As of now I'm looking at Jace as the first developmental move the Tigers have made that I think is not going to work out.  Not that Jace  may not hit in the majors, but because he doesn't strike me as adequate or likely to become adequate at 3B. Now I can hope I'm wrong and they see something I don't, but that is where I would put my wager today if forced to. Supposedly, he was a good 2B before they moved him, but I have only what the org has said in that regard so we can judge how much we believe that or not. I'm not sure how you unlock his potential value as a 2B with Keith in front of him, and he apparently has no shot at working out as a SS (which seems odd if can play 2B but has the arm for 3B. Of course the arm he has shown so far is one reason I'm skeptical about him at 3rd and that would carry over at SS) . Not sure where I would go with Jace. I'd be tempted to send him back to Toledo to verify he can be a good 2B, and if he does, then cross the bridge of whether you trade him or try moving Keith to 3B to make room for him there. Or start him on super Util training at AAA.

Edited Wednesday at 09:47 PM by gehringer_2

[Tiger337]

10 minutes ago, Shelton said:

Sign Bregman

Correct.  

[alex]

1 hour ago, Shelton said:

Sign Bregman

I do think the Tigers will 'think' about it. I personally am not so sure Houston is going to commit long term to another position player

I do think the Tigers will 'think' about Bregman. I personally am not even 50% sure Houston is going to committ long term to another position player as they have already with Altuve and Alvarez. They also have Tucker to think about after next season - and he is younger. They only went so far with Correa and Springer as we remember. This same approach may hold true for Alex - if it is going to take 6 yrs Houston, or any team, may balk at it. Maybe 4 years parlayed into something with options might work.

Oddly, or not, I remember the interview with Bregman after the Tigers beat the Astros. He was upset but also pretty complimentary towards the Tigers, IMHO.

The thing we forget is how important depth is. Jung can help us here as there are always injuries and he could play 2B or 3B (maybe learn 1B). Maybe he is a trade possibility if a team really likes him and that team has a player the Tigers desire. We have some INFs coming through the system: Lee, McGonigle, Rainer, etc.

This off season will be a bit different. I do see them going after another veteran SP to line up behind Skubal. Gray from StL has two years left with an option. That may be something the Tigers like and StL may look to deal him. I also like the idea of Buehler.

Edited Wednesday at 10:34 PM by alex