Detroit Tigers Ongoing 2016 Thread

[broncosmitty]

Now you can focus on the Broncos and the good season they are having in Kalamazoo zoo zoo zoo

Gotta keep rowin that boat!

I talked a lot of trash up in Mt. Pleasant last night. Good times were had by all, or Atleast me.

 

[Wazmankg]

Well that sucked. 3 runs total in 2 must win games against one of the worst teams in baseball. That just shouldn't happen with this lineup. Go ... idk... Cubs I guess. Why not.

 

[dengel6]

Victor needs either to lose 30 pounds or retire. He's fat, slow and can't hit in clutch situations. How much is he owed next season? $18 mil ?????????

 

[dengel6]

Victor needs either to lose 30 pounds or retire. He's fat, slow and can't hit in clutch situations. How much is he owed next season? $18 mil ?????????

 

[Iffster]

Kind of ironic that the Tigers, who are noted for their big offense, may see two pitchers take home individual awards. Fulmer seems likely for ROY and Verlander has to be a favorite for the CYA

 

[Howie115]

Tigers, Lions, MSU.... God, what a shitty sports weekend.

 

[Howie115]

Well that sucked. 3 runs total in 2 must win games against one of the worst teams in baseball. That just shouldn't happen with this lineup.

Tiger hitters struck out 27 times in two must-win games. That's real "clutch" right there.

Teheran is a decent pitcher. Saturday's starter was a complete bum.

 

[Wazmankg]

Victor needs either to lose 30 pounds or retire. He's fat, slow and can't hit in clutch situations. How much is he owed next season? $18 mil ?????????

He's always been fat and slow. The biggest issue with Victor is that he'll be 38 when next season starts.

 

[broncosmitty]

Tigers, Lions, MSU.... God, what a shitty sports weekend.

Bears get a win.

Atlanta is still the worst team in the NL.

And Indiana is a day closer to basketball.

 

[Iffster]

Offensively, I don't see many changes this winter....

Kinsler 2b
Maybin cf
Cabrera 1b
VMart dh
JD Martinez rf
Upton lf
Castellanos 3b
McCann c
Iglesias ss

With the exception of Iglesias, contracts and lack of alternatives will keep this lineup intact. Iggy will probably return...he is just the easiest to replace....and his disappearance is just a personal wish, too.
As far as the bench...their will be some changes, I hope. I can visualize Romine returning due to his versatility. Salty (FA) will be replaced with an inexpensive, nondescript, journeyman catcher. Tigers need to invest in a quality 4th outfielder. Collins/Moya/Gose were not the answer. So....Romine, a catcher, a good 4th outfielder, and....HERE is where having a DH that can't also play the field hurts. Your fourth bench player has to ALSO have versatility. Yeah, like Mike Aviles! LOL. No. Not advocating his return, but you will need another player on the bench who can play at least a couple of positions.
Is it possible that maybe as many as 11 of the 13 position players on Opening Day 2017....are guys they already have?

 

[broncosmitty]

Was Collins on the Opening Day roster?

Cuz I assume he's the fourth outfielder.

 

[BUD]

Tigers, Lions, MSU.... God, what a shitty sports weekend.

Tigers, Lions, Pats.. That sucked. The Wolverines win over Wisky on Saturday afternoon made my sports weekend a bearable sports weekend

 

[Iffster]

Was Collins on the Opening Day roster?

Cuz I assume he's the fourth outfielder.

Tigers need to do better than Collins. There are some free agents out there that would serve as 4th outfielders. They'd cost in the range of $4-5mil, but if they were forced to play full time for awhile, I'd feel much better than having Collins playing every day and having to put "anyone" out there when a lefty starts. Old Tigers Rajai Davis and Austin Jackson are free agents. Michael Bourn would supply a lefty in center and left. Collins (despite his fine 'finger' work) has a limited ceiling. His numbers in the minors (.260 BA/.416 SA) have not been super. Next year, if one of the three outfielders go down for a month+, I'd like to see something better than the hodge-podge thrown out this season. (Buy short on catcher...spend the cash on a 4th outfielder)

 

[Howie115]

Offensively, I don't see many changes this winter....

Kinsler 2b
Maybin cf
Cabrera 1b
VMart dh
JD Martinez rf
Upton lf
Castellanos 3b
McCann c
Iglesias ss

McCann is not as bad a hitter as his .221 average showed, but I'd still like to see a lefty backup C to spell him and keep him to about 125 games. Not Salty, though. I know some of you hate him, but it won't bother me much to keep Iggy at SS. If you go out and get a slight uptick in offense/power but someone who plays marginal defense, you'll lose more games than you gain.

Barring injuries and assuming Zimmermann gets back to somewhat "normal" performance levels, I think the rotation is pretty much set as well: Verlander, Fulmer, Norris, Zimm and Boyd. The bullpen is where the bulk of the changes need to be. F-Rod is in an option year. He saved 44 games in 49 chances, which isn't bad, but he's clearly on a downturn in his career (3.24 ERA, career-low 8.0 K/9). I think Alex Wilson and Kyle Ryan fit their roles well, and Bruce Rondon was a surprise (2.97 ERA, 11.1 K/9). Setup relief was atrocious. Anyone and everyone we used in that role is expendable, IMO.

 

[Iffster]

McCann is not as bad a hitter as his .221 average showed, but I'd still like to see a lefty backup C to spell him and keep him to about 125 games. Not Salty, though. I know some of you hate him, but it won't bother me much to keep Iggy at SS. If you go out and get a slight uptick in offense/power but someone who plays marginal defense, you'll lose more games than you gain.

Barring injuries and assuming Zimmermann gets back to somewhat "normal" performance levels, I think the rotation is pretty much set as well: Verlander, Fulmer, Norris, Zimm and Boyd. The bullpen is where the bulk of the changes need to be. F-Rod is in an option year. He saved 44 games in 49 chances, which isn't bad, but he's clearly on a downturn in his career (3.24 ERA, career-low 8.0 K/9). I think Alex Wilson and Kyle Ryan fit their roles well, and Bruce Rondon was a surprise (2.97 ERA, 11.1 K/9). Setup relief was atrocious. Anyone and everyone we used in that role is expendable, IMO.

I agree...if Zimmermann is near normal (spring training will tell us that), the rotation is set. Not super, but OK. But it raises the question of what to do with Sanchez and Pelfrey? As for the latter, they might just let him go to spring training and either pitch himself into an out-right release, or (hopefully) to a point that another team might pick up a small amount of the remaining $8mil. Sanchez could be in the same boat but maybe a bigger issue. I'd hate to see Detroit with a $16mil mop-up guy/part-time starter....but I don't see him having any value in trade unless Detroit picks up 75-80% of his contract and expect little to nothing in return.

Bullpen:
Alex Wilson? OK.
Rondon? OK/He's cheap. But I'd write his name down in pencil.
F-Rod? If they want to look elsewhere, I'd have no problem. They don't have an in house replacement...so?
Kyle Ryan? OK. Only because he is left handed. If he was a righty? See below.
The rest.....Bus tickets. Mark Lowe can pick up the lunch tab at the lunch counter at the bus station, as he will be carrying $4.5mil after the Tigers pay him off. (If Avila Sr is there too...maybe he can pop for desert)

 

[Howie115]

Bullpen:
Alex Wilson? OK.
Rondon? OK/He's cheap. But I'd write his name down in pencil.
F-Rod? If they want to look elsewhere, I'd have no problem. They don't have an in house replacement...so?
Kyle Ryan? OK. Only because he is left handed. If he was a righty? See below.
The rest.....Bus tickets. Mark Lowe can pick up the lunch tab at the lunch counter at the bus station, as he will be carrying $4.5mil after the Tigers pay him off. (If Avila Sr is there too...maybe he can pop for desert)

Yeah, I'm not suggesting Rondon close in place of F-Rod. Given the choice, I'll still take the experienced guy if there are no better options. But Rondon showed enough to hang around if he has a good spring. He had a 0.96 WHIP this year and cut down his walks a lot (5.5/9 last season, 3.0/9 this season). That said, he didn't pitch in a lot of high-pressure situations this year.

 

[broncosmitty]

Tigers need to do better than Collins. There are some free agents out there that would serve as 4th outfielders. They'd cost in the range of $4-5mil, but if they were forced to play full time for awhile, I'd feel much better than having Collins playing every day and having to put "anyone" out there when a lefty starts. Old Tigers Rajai Davis and Austin Jackson are free agents. Michael Bourn would supply a lefty in center and left. Collins (despite his fine 'finger' work) has a limited ceiling. His numbers in the minors (.260 BA/.416 SA) have not been super. Next year, if one of the three outfielders go down for a month+, I'd like to see something better than the hodge-podge thrown out this season. (Buy short on catcher...spend the cash on a 4th outfielder)

I think he's fine for a fourth outfielder.

He's cheap. And isn't horrible. And he hits left handed. That's pretty key imo.

 

[Iffster]

I think he's fine for a fourth outfielder.

He's cheap. And isn't horrible. And he hits left handed. That's pretty key imo.

I am confused why you would want to settle for "cheap and not horrible"? Whoever the 4th outfielder ends up being, he is backing up 3 starting players. I'd be willing to spend a little to get a guy that could do that well. For several of reasons, this could be the last real shot at ''rings'' for the core of this team. Why hesitate to spend a few million now? They've been throwing money around like crazy for the last few years....one more crazy deal won't kill 'em. Even if it ends up being another Mark Lowe.

 

[broncosmitty]

I am confused why you would want to settle for "cheap and not horrible"? Whoever the 4th outfielder ends up being, he is backing up 3 starting players. I'd be willing to spend a little to get a guy that could do that well. For several of reasons, this could be the last real shot at ''rings'' for the core of this team. Why hesitate to spend a few million now? They've been throwing money around like crazy for the last few years....one more crazy deal won't kill 'em. Even if it ends up being another Mark Lowe.

It's a bench position and we have a full time DH that makes bank. It's never been a position we've seen Mr. I spend on. I don't see it happening now.

Id love some stud power hitter that runs well and can play all three spots well, I just don't think that is available for a guy who isn't going to start. You mentioned Michael Bourne, who can hit left handed, but I don't really feel he's an upgrade over Collins at this point in his career. And I don't feel Collins is much of anything tbh. Just don't see much payroll being added.

Plus, Jones is there waiting. Don't want to see him sitting all year in Detroit, but he can be brought up when needed. I really don't see him making the roster out of ST, unless JD gets dealt. Then everything would change anyway.

 

[Iffster]

Rumors of Ausmus' demise, but none concerning Avila. Would not be surprised if Ausmus is sacrificed to appease the fans. I don't see the logic...but at least they haven't resorted to throwing virgins into one of the furnaces at the Rouge. (I think that's a Lion's fans thing).

It would be funny(?) if the Tigers fired Ausmus, and the very next day he was hired by the Rockies, D'Backs, or another team with an opening. I am also looking forward to the possibility of Porcello and Scherzer taking both CY Awards.