Email a copy of 'Offseason In Review: Detroit Tigers' to a friend
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By Steve Adams | at
Email a copy of 'Offseason In Review: Detroit Tigers' to a friend
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ricknvmi
The Tigers have a definite need for pitching ! They need to address this via their farm system ! Good luck with that !
roadapple
I don’t understand how Mike Pelfrey lands a major league contract with any MLB team.
roywhite
I agree with you @roadapple! Were there no other options for Detroit? If Pelfrey gets 8 wins this season it’ll be a miracle.
DTown27
I think the Tigers like his increased velo, veteren presence, and potential to eat some innings. Plus, he’s got the best doubleplay combo in the bigs behind him. It’s also a short contract that avoids a trade, keeping Norris, Boyd, Greene, and Fulmer as useful pitching pieces.
MLBTRS
Pelfrey’s a valid #5, which is where he’ll be by June if Norris comes around, and he’ll be long relief and way over-paid by August if Boyd is even moderately-effective. One year makes sense, but certainly not two, especially at $8Mill/yr.
Lanidrac
Well, Ilitch is 86 years old, so by the time those huge contracts backfire on the Tigers, he very well could be dead. He wants a World Series Championship before he goes, and he’s smart and practical enough to know that he can’t take his money with him, so why not spend it now?
Bobby Sweet
… But on Mike Pelfrey?
Samuel
Hadn’t realized that Gose had gone “bizarrely” in commenting on defensive statistics, but I watch a lot of baseball and have to agree that defensive statistics are so off base that they have become a running joke with people that follow baseball.
One of my favorite activities on a slow day is to read the comments here over a players fielding ability. Inevitably a poster will come on and quote 3 or 4 “defensive metrics” (sounds authoritative and unquestionable) then state emphatically that the fielder is therefore sensational or awful. Those are then followed by posters from the players city that states that he’s seen 140-150 of the teams games that year and the players defensive work was the opposite of what had been written. I’ve sent links from those arguments to friends that also watch a lot of MLB games, and they get a kick out of them.
Rbase
If you look at this team objectively, you can’t say that they are better than the team that started the 2015 season. Zimmerman is close but not as good as Price. Upton and Cespedes are equal skill-wise. So are Davis and Maybin. Exchanging Simon and Pelfrey is not a huge upgrade (what were they thinking giving a number 5/reserve starter $8 million a year?) The only significant improvement with respect to last years spring training is the bullpen, which should be solid. Just like last year, the Tigers will heavily depend on health (and form) from Verlander, Cabrera and Vmart..
donniebaseball
You’re mostly right, but a big difference is that the tigers have more depth this year than last. If Sanchez gets hurt, last year you’re looking at buck farmer or Kyle Ryan, but this year you’re looking at boyd/fulmer/Greene.
tuner49
After reviewing some comparables the Pelfrey deal is a good deal for the Tigers.Two similar pitchers(Jason Hammel and Scott Feldman) have $9MM and $8MM deals in 2016. Hammel has a $10MM option for 2017 .Fister, who I see as a big gamble health wise, got $7MM and it could be as much as $11MM.
Pitchers who I see as an upgrade (Ian Kennedy and Scott Kazmir) got $14MM and $16MM per year in 5 and 3 year deals. They are not twice as good as Pelfrey. Tigers only have 2 years invested in Pelfrey at close to half the price. Even a 35 year old reliever,Ryan Madson, got a $15MM 2yr deal.
Rbase
While this contract is certainly no burden , I don’t think the deal is even ok. I rate the pitchers you mentioned (Jason Hammel and Scotte Feldman) much higher than Mike Pelfrey. (certainly Hammel.). Their strikeout and walk rates are much better and they give up fare less base hits. Furthermore, they had something of a track record and were signed in a much thinner market.. (Props to baseball reference for this btw).
Most of the guys that I rate at the same (ok, a bit lower) level such as Vogelsong, Gee, Kyle Kendrick etc. got minor league deals. Similar pitchers were/are available on the trade market (Mike Bolsinger, De La Rosa, etc.)
tuner49
Took the comparables off of the list at Baseball Reference on the Pelfrey page… A lot of the interest for Pelfrey came from the Asst. GM ( Chadd) who also grew up in Wichita, like Pelfrey.
rbrincheck
Verlander, especially the way he pitched in Sep
Samuel
The Tigers bullen has been what’s killed them for the last 3-4 years. Finally they addressed it. How can you not say the team is improved?
MLBTRS
I’d agree with you ….. IF pens were predictable.
The only lock over the past two decades was Mo. That’s the look of MLB in the 21st Century; it’s all about shortening the game to 6-7 innings and the teams that can do it will win a lot of games. You can field a great team with a lousy pen and finish dead last, a mediocre team with a great pen and win the WS.
donniebaseball
I gave the Tigers an A. Not only did the Tigers make improvements across the board this summer, but they gave up relatively little in order to do it. Jordan Zimmerman signed for significantly under market value (beginning of the season projections were at 140 M), and they acquired maybin and k-rod for virtually nothing, The Tigers should be much improved from last year due to their increased depth (which is key for an aging team) and their revitalized bullpen (which may only have one member from last year’s bullpen on it). Only thing I would have liked was one more starter, but I think they’re betting on boyd/Greene/fulmer if any injuries arise.
donniebaseball
Like last year, Verlander is the key to their season. If he’s good, the Tigs have a real shot at the division. If not, you’re looking at an 82-82 win team
donniebaseball
81-81*
rbrincheck
JV, Miggy,
Ken M.
The under the radar move that will be huge for the Tigers is trading Cessa and Green for Wilson. A fireballer lefty acquired for basically nothing.
gotigers68
The season will hinge on their health. If they stay healthy, these were very good pick-ups. If not, it could very well be a long year, followed by a complete overhaul….. I’ll choose to be positive, until I see the later happen. Go Tigers !
stymeedone
I gave an A to the Tigers because they actually addressed every need going into the offseason. They needed to get more innings from their starters, so they added Zimmermann and Pelfrey. Their bullpen was bad, They added K-Rod, and two set up men in Lowe and Justin. Then they added Parnell on a minor league deal. They replaced Avila with Salty behind the dish. They replaced Cedeno with Upton, Davis with Maybin, in the OF. They added versatility by adding Aviles.
While I don’t agree with every choice they made, I realize that they may know something I don’t. I would have been fine without Aviles. Machado could have served as the extra IF, but Iglesias has not lived up to the hype (though he has been solid) and they may see Dixon as his eventual replacement and want him playing every day. I would have been fine with Holaday being the backup catcher, but Salty is lefty and Miami is paying most of his contract. I did not like the Pelfrey signing. I do realize the Tigers have been interested in him in the past, so they must like something about him that I just don’t see, but why two years? Was there competition for him that that second year was required to close the deal? With Boyd and Greene both available, and Fulmer and Ziomek close, it looks like the 2nd year may become unneeded
Still, Chicago didn’t address its rotation or OF. Cleveland has a questionable offense and OF. Minnesota didn’t address its bullpen, or improve at SS. KC never addressed RF. The Tigers did address all their concerns, and even hedged their bet on Castellanos by signing McGee. Hopefully they will contend if things fall right, but that’s true of every team in their division.
Samuel
Aviles is a veteran that knows what to do to help the team win, and will help a lot. Iggy may be the best all-around SS in the AL next to Correa – he’s my favorite – and when he’s in the game the Tigers are an entirely different team. Sort of like the 1968 WS team when the manager said that with all the big-name players, the most valuable to him was little Eddie Brinkman that played a terrific SS and did what needed to be done in critical at-bats (be it a hit, a bunt, a hit and run, or moving a runner over by hitting to the right side),
theo2016
You are vastly over rating iglesias. He makes highlight reel plays but thats what sticks in minds but in reality he is just an average defender there. Correa, lindor, bogaerts, tulo, simmons all are better than him right now with marte, semien, and tim anderson all have the potential to be better than him moving forward.
rickybobby
Little Eddie Brinkman didn’t play for the Tigers in ’68. If I remember correctly, he was a Washington Senator in 1968. So I doubt anyone from the Tigers thought he was the MVP of that team.
MLBTRS
Iglesias NOT lived up to the hype? You must be thinking of the singer, not the SS.
stymeedone
No, he hasn’t. He was supposed to be the best fielding SS in the division if not all of the AL. He has been average, with some highlight reel plays. While he has hit for average, he hasn’t learned to take a walk, or how to drive in a run. Its a hollow average. Because of his injuries, its possible he will live up to his potential this year, but currently, I don’t see the Tigers looking to lock him up long term. He may very well become trade bait if Dixon Machado progresses at AAA this year.
MLBTRS
You missed my point by a mile and a quarter. If you’re going to get your player evaluations from the Detroit News, well yes, he was hyped, but I never saw a projection OR a performance from Iglesias that was anything more than what he is. DD needed a SS when Peralta was going to get suspended and Jose was the best available. Pre-season projections for the year he was injured had him at average or even slightly below, and NO ONE thought he would hit for power or average, so yes, he’s lived up to the hype, if your “hype” comes from reliable sources. As for Machado, he’s possibly a AAAA player: average fielder and a worse hitter than Iglesias, and at 23, I wouldn’t count on much “progress” from him.
tuner49
Took the comparables off of the list at Baseball Reference on the Pelfrey page… A lot of the interest for Pelfrey came from the Asst. GM ( Chadd) who also grew up in Wichita, like Pelfrey.
cabreraguy
Good writeup, but this:
“but his velocity remained in the 92-93 mph range, and it seems unlikely that it will ever reach its previous heights.”
is wrong. He still hits 99.
eggy
I gave them a b- because the pelf rely signing was bad and u can’t expect a bunch of older relievers to be your messiah and salvage the bullpen