OT: Pitchers and Catchers report in 4 weeks from yesterday (Tigers)

Submitted by Rodriguesqe on

I was going to post about how they just acquired former 1st rounder Mikie Mahtook but that seems less than thread worthy. They also designated for assignment Anthony Gose. Maybe this can be just a general Tiger talk thread since spring training is now in sight? 

Normally I'd be a little bitchy about the Tigers with the state of the franchise as it is. But, Michigan basketball isn't getting the job done these days. Other favorite distractions not meant to be discussed on this board aren't getting the job done either.

So I'm getting myself pumped for these Tigers. Night after night we should have a starter worth watching, and a pretty good lineup. It may have been smart to trader Verlander and Cabrerra but in their cases I don't mind being dumb.

superstringer

January 18th, 2017 at 7:35 PM ^

IT IS ALL FUTILE. As a Cubs fan, I have a totally new outlook on spring training. THE REST OF ALL OF YOU SUCK AND THE WORLD CHAMP CUBBIES ARE GONNA CRUSH ALL OF YOUR HOPED AND DREAMS. AGAIN!!


Nope. Still feels weird.




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

WMUgoblue

January 18th, 2017 at 7:39 PM ^

I still find it hard to believe the Tigers traded Maybin to shed salary and that ended up being the only payroll deduction move they made. Mahtook is a project but he hits lefties so he can certainly platoon in CF but the Tigers didn't do nearly enough to truly contend for anything other than a wildcard.

Bambi

January 18th, 2017 at 8:06 PM ^

Not a Tigers fan but this offseason has just been confusing. Front office says they want to have a fire sale and start the reubild. Not the most fun thing to hear as a fan but smart for the future, it will replenish a depleted farm system, and the Tigers have a lot of attractive pieces to dangle and get good returns on.

Then they trade Maybin. Signals the start of the rebuild, but then no other moves are made. When you come out and say youre gonna rebuild and trade everything, then go actually do that. Especially when the one piece you do trade is one of the only "younger" guys and one who could have had value for the franchise whether you wanted to rebuild or try and be competitive.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

January 18th, 2017 at 8:14 PM ^

They never really said they were having a fire sale.

And the fact is, if you can't get back quality rebuilding pieces for your salary dump, then there's no point.  If they could've gotten back real actual ballplayers for the big contracts, then sure.  Given what they got back for Maybin - some no-control bazooka from the worst system in baseball - that should've been a signal that the market wasn't there.

Maybe it's better to trade the Verlanders and Cabreras of the world for star prospects.  But it's much better to wait out the high salaries and rebuild on the fly while still trying to make the playoffs, than to trade your Verlanders and Cabreras for some double-A shortstop who bats .240.

Bambi

January 18th, 2017 at 8:33 PM ^

I mean true, Avila didn't say fire sale. But he said that the roster was going to "change" and get "leaner" and talked about how the organization was working above its means and they didn't want to continue on the trend of being detrimental to the organization.

Yes, you want to get quality pieces back. But implying that because the return for Maybin, a 29 year old who just has career year which overall was pretty average and can't stay healthy, wasn't fantastic means the market wasn't there isn't true.

Almost every other potential trade piece (Cabrera, JD, Kinsler, Verlander, etc.) are all-star caliber players. Look at the deals that have been made since the deadline and the returns. Eaton, Sale, Chapman, Miller, Beltran, Lucroy, Melancon, Bruce, etc. were all traded since July and netted big returns with at least one top level prospect involved. Now a lot of the Tigers pieces are a bit older, but so was Beltran and the Tiger's players are still playing at the same level or higher than some of these names. With teams like the Astros still looking for pitching and the Nationals begging to make a deal all offseason, if the Tigers couldn't find any value for these guys, that's an indictment on them and not the market.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

January 18th, 2017 at 10:34 PM ^

First off, comparing in-season trades to offseason ones is apples to oranges.  A team trading to make a playoff run is going to give up more than one in the offseason, especially when that offseason includes a new CBA that makes it way more problematic to take on gargantuan salaries.  Almost all those guys you mentioned are in-season trades.  They don't compare.  Eaton and Sale are the only offseason trades.

And Verlander and Cabrera both make gargantuan salaries.  Sale, for example, is six years younger than Verlander and makes less than half of what Verlander does.  His contract is insanely team-friendly.  The market for him was always going to be high.  No comparison between a 28-year-old ace making $12 million, and a 34-year-old ace making $28 million.

On the flip side, I notice you didn't mention Clay Buchholz, who is no Verlander but no slouch either.  He got traded for an infielder who hit .254 in high A ball.  That is the very definition of a salary dump.  That's what the market is doing to teams who need to shed salary.

ldevon1

January 18th, 2017 at 8:25 PM ^

to a rebuild. That was the media. He said all players were available if the right deal was offered. Maybin had a dream season and he missed a ton of games with injuries, which has been the case the past 2 seasons. I think they believe that might be his career, without all the production, going forward. If the pitching can somehow stabilize itself, and the young guys get a little better, they can make some noise. At least I'm hoping they can. Go Tigers!

cali4444

January 18th, 2017 at 7:49 PM ^

I was so passionate about all the Detroit teams along with UofM.  Now all thats standing is my love for Michigan football. Getting older sucks.

JMK

January 19th, 2017 at 4:15 AM ^

I grew up in the 1980s. Michigan was good in football and basketball, the Tigers were great, the Pistons and Red Wings were improving, the Lions ... occasionally had a RB worth watching. Other than the Lions, I definitely had an overly optimistic vision of the sports status quo.




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

VictorBlue

January 18th, 2017 at 8:00 PM ^

My family bought tickets to the Big League Spring Opener against the Orioles. We made the mistake of telling our 6 and 3 year olds that we were going to a baseball game and now we get asked every five minutes when we are going to Florida. It does this dads heart good to have two boys that love baseball!

rainingmaize

January 18th, 2017 at 10:17 PM ^

The Indians are loaded this year, and they probably will be the favorites in the AL. That being said, the Tigers should have a shot. They return basically the whole team that was a couple games short of the playoffs last year. Add in some projected improvement from the younger Tigers pitchers and Castelleanos, combined with baseball being a weird sport, the Tigers should have a shot.

ckersh74

January 18th, 2017 at 9:56 PM ^

We still don't have a CF. That's a pretty big hole in the outfield, folks. 

The bullpen still has questions, and we're still asking an awful lot out of Norris, Boyd and Fulmer. There isn't much behind them, and that's even making the assumption that Zimmerman will be healthy all year. I don't want to see BUCK FUTTER!! getting shelled in the 3rd inning like he was a few times last year. 

We still have no depth at 2B, if we decide to trade a 35 year old Kinsler. And if you think he's going to have another season like last year, you're fooling yourself. 

This team needs a whole lot to go right to make a run, even in this division. The AL Central looks like the Cleveland Indians and the Four Dwarfs.