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By Steve Adams | at
Email a copy of 'Offseason Outlook: Detroit Tigers' to a friend
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rodcarew
The window for Detroit is closing. Relief pitching is the name of the game today and Detroit does not have an answer as they keep trying to patch the pen together with has-beens.
benharvey26
Justin Wilson, Bruce Rondon, Alex Wilson, and Joe Jimenez sound like a solid core to me.
Rbase
If they add a top-notch closer, it would have the makings of one of the best bullpens in the game. Heck, the Cubs won it all with a bullpen that their manager lost almost all confidence in by the time the world series came around.
TheMichigan
I feel that Romine will be retained, he can basically play all 9 positions well and he’s not that much of a liability with the bat
chasfh 2
Only in the spirit of “no major leaguer is truly much of a liability with the bat” is this true. Of 376 big leaguers with 175+ PA last year, Romine was 66th worst, which places him squarely in the bottom quintile of that list of hitters.
Of course, a utility players’ main usefulness is in putting a warm body on the field to plug in a hole at this moment, so having a great bat there is a luxury. He does have a plus glove, too, so we can always use that at the end of the bench.
Wainofan
What kind of package would the tigers ask for from mets, angels, etc for kinsler?
Rbase
From the Mets, the Tigers will probably ask for Matz, but it’s very unlikely that the Mets would be willing to deal him. Maybe a package around Nimmo and Lugo would be enough. I don’t think the Angels have anything that the Tigers would be interested in prospect-wise.
southi
Yeah, I would find it difficult to believe that the Angels have something in their organization that would net them Kinsler (of course not including any hypothetical around Trout). Kinsler has two more seasons left on this contract before he becomes a free agent heading into 2019.
While I do expect the Tigers to cut some payroll, I don’t see them doing a total teardown by any means. I’d expect that any deal they make for their star contributors will need to have at least some decent components that would contribute at the major league level in 2017.
New Law Era
All of the Mets’ main starters are untouchable. With all of them healthy they stand the best chance against the Cubs as WS favorites. Mets don’t need to make such a trade.
stymeedone
I wouldn’t expect the Tiger to look for starting pitching, unless they trade away starting pitching. They currently have 7 starters returning from last year, if all remain healthy. What they are lacking is depth in position players, and they would need a replacement for whoever they are trading. Other than Machado, if they move Iglesias, they really don’t have ready replacements at any position. As they currently have an opening in CF after moving Maybin, if the Mets want Kinsler, the Tigers would likely want an IF or a CF back. I don’t think they match up well with the Mets.
Megadro2000
Mets would have to give something along wheeler More
thunder12k
From the Mets, you aren’t going to get deGrom, Harvey or Metz for Kinsler. Don’t think the surprising rookie duo of Lugo or Gsellman are enough. Doesn’t seem like the Mets are interested in moving prospects Dom Smith or Ahmed Rosario but most of their other minor leaguers should be in play. If the Mets find a solution at catcher, then they could offer d’Arnaud in return who’s value is hard to gauge right now. My best guess on a Mets offer would be d’Arnaud, Gsellman and Brandon Nimmo.
In the event the Mets lose Cespedes, I think J.D.. Martinez could make a lot of sense for them and I think the Mets would try and center a deal around Zack Wheeler.
donniebaseball
Zach wheeler doesn’t make sense. I’d expect the tigers to for someone younger with more control.
gogoblue
If the Mets were to lose Cespedes, then it can simply exercise Jay Bruce’s option and hope that he will hit similar to what he did in Cincinnati rather than his output with the Mets.
If the Mets are interested in Kinsler, it will not be able to pry him loose with a pitcher who hasn’t pitched in 2 years. Since Syndergaard, deGrom, and Matz are off limits, it will need to offer Harvey for Detroit to be interested.
stymeedone
The Tigers already have Boyd, Sanchez and Pelfrey for their 5th starter options. Harvey is good, but not what they need. Detroit wants young and cheap. Harvey is about to get expensive, and I believe, only has 3 years left. Kinsler has 2, and his salary is declining. Not much of a gain for Detroit. I see a third team being necessary to make something happen.
tigerdoc616
Window is closed for the time being if the Tigers are serious about reducing payroll. Almost no way to stay competitive and shed salaries, especially if their goal is to get down below the new luxury tax threshold, whatever that is. They are not going to get immediate value in any trades they make, the payoff will be down the line, especially if JD Martinez and Ian Kinsler are traded.
jbravo17
That’s a little bit dramatic. If Tigers management handles the realignment efficiently and this isn’t a complete teardown, and they stop slotting in probables based purely on financial commitments (Sanchez, Lowe, Pelfrey, etc) the Tigers can absolutely contend in a Central that will also regress in the coming months.
Even with the inept coaching staff, full seasons from Fulmer, Norris, and Boyd should more than solidify the rotation. Maybin is grossly overrated, and you can replace JD Martinez a la another Granderson type trade (JD for Aaron Judge+ for example?).
The loss of Kinsler, however, would be a massive hole in their ability to contend. While neither JD or Maybin were 2WAR players in 2016, Kinsler has been a 6+ WAR second baseman for two seasons now. Even with an expected regression, that’s a lot to replace in a single trade.
gogoblue
Agreed. Detroit can survive without J.D., but it can ill afford to lose Kinsler. If Avila is serious about trimming payroll to more manageable numbers, then he can trade J.D. and KRod. Even VMart if Boston is willing to trade a good prospect for him. But Kinsler should stay, imo.
Niekro
Fulmer, Norris, Verlander, Zimmermann is the start of a pretty solid rotation They need to figure out what to do with Pelfrey and Sanchez the offense should be fine when Castellanos comes back the Bullpen could still use an arm or two as well. I dont think the Tigers need any major moves, they just need to not go 4-14 against the Indians. Just being .500 would have brought them within 3 games of the Indians for the division crown and probably gained a WC spot. They need to tweak the team for sure but they are not as far away from Cleveland as everyone is making them out to be. I think Jones is going to offer a very dynamic player to them they have some good arms in the system who are progressing slowly but progressing none the less.
Rbase
If the Tigers had gone 9-9 with the Indians they would have won the division as the Indians would have 5 more losses as well (and end up with just 89 wins).