Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that Niko Goodrum looks like a strong candidate to be non-tendered this off-season. That’s notable in that Goodrum has spent the past four seasons in Detroit, taking on a prominent role around the diamond. He delivered a decent 95 wRC+ and 1.9 fWAR in 2019, his second full year in the majors, but has struggled since then. This past season he appeared in just 90 games, largely due to three stints on the 10-day IL. And when he was on the field, he only managed a paltry .214/.292/.359 line, good for just a 79 wRC+. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Goodrum to land an arbitration salary around $2.9MM if tendered a contract. He’d remain under team control for the 2023 campaign in that scenario as well.
In other news out of Motown:
- The Tigers’ top outfield prospect, Riley Greene, won’t be playing in the Arizona Fall League as he had been slated to do. Lynn Henning of the Detroit News revealed earlier this week that Greene suffered a concussion when he dove for a ball in the second-to-last game of the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens’ season. It’s an unfortunate end to what was a terrific season for Greene, who hit for a .921 OPS in 124 games across the Double- and Triple-A levels.
- The Tigers and Bally Sports Detroit have reached agreement on a new multi-year contract for the latter to continue broadcasting Detroit’s games, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. Bally is part of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. Financial terms of the deal remain unknown, and it’s not clear if the new agreement will have any direct impact on Detroit’s payroll. Regardless of the terms of the TV contract, the Tigers look likely to increase player payroll in the coming years as they emerge from their recent rebuild.
They should sign me. I would provide clubhouse leadership and a gold glove. I deserve the contract
With a AA bat.
Goodrum seems the kind of guy the Red Sox were after lost offseason when they signed Marwin Gonzalez, Danny Santana, and Kiké Hernandez. Super utility type. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them try to grab another.
I am still not expecting them to non-tender Goodrum. His ability to play multiple positions well is worth 2.9 MM, and provides them depth. They were working with Willie Castro to play multi positions late in the year, but he looks lost in the OF, doesn’t have the range for SS, and can’t turn the DP at 2nd. I only see him cut if they sign a big contract SS before the tender deadline.
Willi needs to go!! Goodrum is not much better. They honestly have better options down on the farm.. maybe even at single A. Send them both packing. Harold can at least hit, and may offer other options if they work with him
Re: the Sinclair deal. MLB and the NBA right now are in a bit of a verbal scuffle with Sinclair regarding offering a standalone streaming package. Both sports are trying to reach a younger audience, but younger people are cutting the cord at an alarming rate (alarming for the traditional cable providers). MLB teams and Sinclair need to figure out an acceptable revenue model, because they’re both going to take a shot to the chin that they eventually may not recover from.
And the NHL. Have not been able to watch any of the three since end of March, due to contractual squabbles with almost all of the carriers. And I am never going back to Comcast. Ever.
Except that Comcast does carry BSD in most Michigan Markets as does Spectrum, but as far as dish and streaming, only Direct TV carries it. That is leaving a lot of people out. And whether or not that is the streaming services or Sinclair’s fault, who knows. Probably both. Streaming services cut channels like this hoping to cut costs and not lose business.
People WANT a stand alone streaming option, even old guys like me. I would leave cable in a heartbeat if I could stream BSD as a stand alone.
And that’s the conundrum, Doc. BSD is the only reason I still subscribe to cable. Give me an in-market streaming option (Tiger games) and as you said, “I would leave cable in a heartbeat.” Cable knows this, and that’s why they’re fighting streaming of live sports.
my provider does not offer the MLB channel. I love that channel. They need to offer that streaming.
This is me crying you a river, I could care less about the NHL & I’m sure Comcast is crushed by your leaving town.
Remember when games were actually televised on a local network affiliate? No issues with what carrier carried what channels, all you needed was an antenna
Curly why so salty? What prompted such an aggressive remark, to wit, “I’m sure Comcast is crushed by your leaving town (SIC)”?
Don’t try to figure him out. He’s just being a dick. Best to ignore him.
He “could care less” though. Which means he definitely cares some amount. I’m guess it is a lot.
Apparently Curly has stock in Comcast and does have feelings for the NHL. And by the way, even if Curly “could care less about the NHL” nobody gives a rat’s ass. He just one lonely basement dwelling loser; a tick on life’s ass with another useless opinion.
I’m surprised teams are still signing these contract extensions for other networks to own the rights to broadcast their games. I figured more teams would be trying to start their own channels like the YES network and receive all the revenue from their television viewers. I also really miss when the Braves were owned by Turner and as a result broadcast on TBS Superstation nationwide. It helped them expand their fan base to all over the country and increased revenue as a result. I would have thought more teams would try to do that by now. If you’re going to let someone else broadcast your games why not do it with a channel that will broadcast them everywhere so you can expand your fan base? I wish Liberty Media would invest in buying a nationwide channel. They are a media company after all so it seems like it would be right up their alley. Then broadcast Braves games exclusively on that channel after they get out from under their contract. That way everyone outside the southeast who used to watch Braves games can start watching them again. On top of that the team would make all the money that comes along with broadcasting all of their own games.
Roster spots are definitely not goodrum’s friend here
More and more, 2019 stats are looking like outliers, as that was the year of the rabbit ball.
Except the story quoted wRC+, which is normalized so that it’s relative to everyone else hitting the same juiced ball.
Goodrum was a near-average hitter in 2019, but quite a bit below average since.
wasnt sold on Greene coming into the year, but boy am I now. he’s gonna be a good player in this league.
Baddoo LF
Schoop 2B
Grossman RF
Miggy DH
Candelaria 3B
Greene CF
Haase C
Torkelson 1B
Kreidler SS
Not too shabby to start the year!
Doubtful that lineup is going to happn for opening day. Tigers will sign a big name SS this off season and both Greene and Torkelson will start the season at Toledo, but be in Detroit by June. It’s starting to get exciting as the light to the end of the rebuild is almost here.
I doubt Torkelson will be hitting 8th or Greene 6th. Probably lead off for Greene and 4th for Torkelson. SS will be a big name Free Agent too.
I see Torkelson and Greene being put in low pressure spots to start. As the season goes, that will change. Detroit may want to sign a SS, but that doesn’t mean they will. That’s why I see Goodrum sticking. If Kreidler ends up the starter, they will want insurance at SS. I am also expecting the new agreement to remove the first weeks in the minors requirement.
Kreidler is the backup. He grades out at a 45, which is essentially Goodrum. They will sign one of the SS FA. They have the luxury tax room & one of the greatest needs.
I hope the Tigers don’t bring back Goodrum. Harold Casto is the better player to use in the super utility role and I also believe is a cheaper option. Harold can hit, they don’t call him “Hitting Harold”’for nothing and all Goodrum does is strike out. Thank you for your service Nico, but good bye…
As a Detroiter, never heard the “Hitting Harold” moniker before. There is always room for more than one super utility, as some one is always on the IL. Don’t really care what Kreidler’s grade used to be. He had a break out this year, and I don’t see him sitting bench in the majors. He will be the consolation if they don’t sign a FA, and will be playing full time in the minors if they do.
Non-tender Niko. Sign a shortstop who can play shortstop.
Only Akil Baddoo will still be a Detroit starter by 2024, so in addition to nixing Niko, bridge in a couple of good short-timers to entertain the faithful until then (catcher, two SP’s, CF, 2B and the Rays bullpen).
Laughable? You bet, but the late Mike Ilitch might have delivered that sort of package in his last years. He sure made it fun after his own initial years of heck.
Son, not so much fun during his time. His hot lava prospects need to nearly all deliver to erase the last few years from their fans’ minds.
Candelaria was good for a war of 3.7. He is a solid glove at 3B. He could stick. But otherwise I agree that most will be moving on the next 2-3 years
Very laughable. That assumes every prospect evaluation is wrong on all of the the Tigers prospects and also wrong on Badoo, since nobody but the Avila & co thought he was worth the top Rule 5 pick. Seriously doubt the rest of the industry is wrong on everything.
Sad Tiger’s fans. As long as AA is running the show, you guys will always suck.
Obviously, you slept thru this year.
He’s retiring at the end of the year….
Willie castro and Goodrum gone, tigers will bring up kreidler too, sign a lesser and older SS (ie, Simmons) with Tigers and Balley Sports back on will they require Shepherd to learn how to judge a fly ball vs. home run.
Thank you!!! Matt needs to be replaced. He’s almost impossible to listen to. I know Gibby is dry. But, I do enjoy his humor and his input/knowledge. I actually like Craig Monroe, and I really like Johnny Kane. The rest of the crew is not terrible. And I really do think they need to chase down Austin Jackson and give him an offer.. I was really entertained by him. He made me want to keep the radio on.
Holy Toledo!
I would take Mario and Rod back in a farking heartbeat.
Rod for sure. Mario can take his ego elsewhere.
Thank you!!! Matt needs to be replaced. He’s almost impossible to listen to. I know Gibby is dry. But, I do enjoy his humor and his input/knowledge. I actually like Craig Monroe, and I really like Johnny Kane. The rest of the crew is not terrible. And I really do think they need to chase down Austin Jackson and give him an offer.. I was really entertained by him. He made me want to keep the radio on.
Rod was as annoying as Matt is dry and clueless. Partner Mario with Austin jackson
Holy Toledo, Batman. They’re all drunk in Austin. Holy Toledo,Robin. Why such dishonesty in Detroit?
Tigers Potential lineup
Baddoo/Hill CF
Greene/Reyes RF
Schoop/ Paredes 2B
Cabrera/Schoop/Haase DH
Candelario/Paredes 3B
Torkelson/Schoop/Cabrera 1B
Chris Taylor SS/INF/OF Free agent
Robbie Grossman/Hill/Reyes LF
Hasse/ Free Agent/Rogers C
I believe that Rogers will still be recovering from his Tommy John surgery
the best thing jose abreu could of done the last week of the season and slide harder to take niko out.
dude is a bum. reminds me of a black ryan raburn.
Would have loved seeing Abreu getting suspended going into the playoffs. Not that it mattered with how quick they disappeared.
Niko is done here. Non tender candidate if I’ve ever seen one. Harold Castro has always hit and continues to hit. Not much power but I like him more than a combination of Niko and Willi.
Read the TEA leaves. Goodrum is no longer needed or wanted on this team. Paredes can fill his role and he can play any position in the infield. Tigers are no longer desperate and have better options. W Castro is not going to be on the team unless he hits and he hasn’t shown he can consistently do it. H Castro can hit and is clutch too. The FA player they sign along with Greene & Torkelson will dramatically change the team and will easily out produce Reyes, W Castro, Goodrum
Goodrum strikes out too much. Adios ¡¡