December 14: The Tigers have officially announced that they’ve signed Boyd to a one-year deal.
December 1: The Tigers and left-hander Matt Boyd are in agreement on a deal to bring him back to Detroit. Boyd will make a $10MM salary with $1MM in performance bonuses available to him. The deal is pending a physical.
Boyd, 32 in February, was drafted by the Blue Jays and made his MLB debut with them, but he went to the Tigers in the 2015 David Price trade and has spent the bulk of his career there. Boyd then established himself as a solid member of the rotation over the next four years, getting into 109 games over the 2016-2019 stretch. His 4.67 ERA wasn’t elite, but he limited walks to a 7.3% rate and struck out 23.4% of batters faced.
That latter number was boosted by a strong 30.2% strikeout rate in 2019, which was among the top 10 among qualified pitchers that year. With the Tigers enduring a miserable season, Boyd was frequently mentioned in trade rumors but the club never found an acceptable deal and held onto him. There was no real rush to secure a deal as they still had years of control over Boyd’s services. However, his performance nosedived in the shortened 2020 season, as the lefty posted a 6.71 ERA over 12 starts that year. He posted better results in 2021 but then dealt with arm injuries that eventually led to flexor tendon surgery in September.
The Tigers could have held onto Boyd for 2022 via arbitration but decided to non-tender him given that he was going to miss at least part of the season. He signed on with the Giants, who gave him a $5.2MM guarantee. As this year’s trade deadline rolled around, Boyd was still working his way back from that surgery and the Giants had slipped from contention. They flipped him to Seattle alongside catcher Curt Casali for a couple of prospects. Boyd ended up returning to a big league mound in September and pitched 13 1/3 innings for Seattle down the stretch. He posted a 1.35 ERA in that time with a 24.5% strikeout rate but a 15.1% walk rate in that small sample.
The Tigers clearly felt encouraged enough by Boyd’s return to take a flier on him. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press has reported that the club intends to use Boyd out of the rotation. Boyd averaged 92.6 mph on his four-seam fastball in 2022, which matches his career high. He was pitching in relief this year and hasn’t proven himself capable of maintaining that velocity as a starter, but it’s possible he can continue building strength as he gets further from the surgery. He also struggled with control in his time this year, but it’s often said that is the last thing to return to a pitcher after a lengthy absence.
There’s risk involved in this signing, but it’s a fairly logical risk for a team in Detroit’s position. They hoped to return to contention in 2022 but just about everything went wrong and they finished 66-96. One of the major factors in their disappointing season was a parade of pitching injuries that they will still be dealing with next year. Casey Mize required Tommy John surgery in June and will likely miss most of the upcoming campaign. Tarik Skubal underwent flexor tendon surgery in August and seems likely to miss time as well. Spencer Turnbull should be able to return after missing all of 2022 due to Tommy John, but he’s an unknown after an entire year off.
There are question marks all over the roster that will make it difficult for the Tigers to compete in 2023, but they will still need some arms to fill out the rotation. Boyd should slot next to Eduardo Rodriguez, Matt Manning and Turnbull in four of the spots. The final position could go to internal options like Joey Wentz, Beau Brieske, Alex Faedo or others, though the club could also seek to find further additions. If Boyd returns to health and effectiveness, he can provide a stabilizing veteran presence for a group with a lot of uncertainty. If the Tigers are out of contention when the deadline rolls around again, Boyd and his one-year deal could perhaps finally net them the trade return they’ve failed to recoup in previous years, with Skubal or Mize perhaps ready to retake their positions by that time. Boyd’s salary brings the club’s commitments to $118MM, per Roster Resource. Last year’s Opening Day figure was $135MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the two sides were in agreement. Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported the $10MM ballpark figure. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press first laid out the $10MM salary with performance bonuses. Heyman added that the bonuses can be worth $1MM.
I guess that’s one way to go
Yes go back where you came from.
Exactly what you’re hoping Judge does, eh All Risr?
A bad reunion??
Time will tell. Hefty price for a guy that didn’t pitch much last season.
I think it’s a smart gamble.
Really enjoyed his couple of months in Seattle. He performed well and his enthusiasm for representing his hometown team was a pleasure to witness. Best of luck to Matt as he heads back to Detroit. Despite his limited amount of time as a Mariner, I’ll definitely remember it with fondness!
13 innings gets you 10 mill though?
Do you think a team would pay him 10m if they believed he would only throw 13 innings?
Players are paid for their projections, not what they’ve done.
Right and he’s been very bad before those 13 innings of 1.35 ERA/3.17 FIP.
a better way to put it would be he hasn’t proven much in his career and is probably worth more like $6-7M even in today’s inflated market.
3.89 ERA the year prior.
Not Miguel Cabrera
$10 million and the Tigers have no option. Wow. Good for Matt. I see him having a terrific year and getting a multi year deal from someone else in ’24.
How do you think projections made?
Sure. But that’s pretty heavy for Boyd.
I didn’t expect him to get 10MM guaranteed without the club getting an option on him next season.
Players have done pretty well thus far this offseason
We see this every year. Good starting pitchers who missed significant time, but appear to be healthy, often get deals just like this with non-contending clubs.
If he looks like he did before the injury, or even close, they’ll probably flip him at tbe deadline.
@BStrowman astute observation, there apparently IS a lot of money being thrown around.
Judge will likely get $450M/12 from the Angels, replacing the Pujols spot.
Judge isn’t topping the highest contract in MLB by 85 million dollars. He’s too old.
If he was 26–yeah maybe.
Scott Boros doesn’t use the word option unless the word player is attached.
It is a mix of past performance and projected future performance.
Glad to see Matt coming back to Detroit.
Perhaps some of the M’s influence in spin rates carry over back to his game in Detroit..
I agree, it’s kind of crazy. Happy for him, but thought he’d be guaranteed half of that. Good for him despite being an overpay. I’m sure he’s expected to be a part of the rotation rather than bullpen, though.
I really wanted the M’s to sign him as a lefty out of the bullpen with the ability to go a few extended innings. But $10 million is a hefty price, guess he really wanted that shot at being a SP again.
I think it had more to do with getting an opportunity as a starter, which wasn’t likely going to happen with Seattle.
If he rebounds well as a SP, he could get a much bigger deal next offseason.
It is a “pillow contract”.
If he performs at previous levels as a starter or better
then he could be looking @ a very nice multi year deal with some ballclub
looking for a crafty LHSP.
Being a lefty starter who can throw strikes opens up many more opportunities.
5 years/$100M, clearly.
Aw, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other XD
Welcome back, Matthew! He is a great human being.
I’ve heard that he is, however $10M seems like a lot for him, especially given his history.
He’s always had such great potential though so I see why they’d want him back.
If he hadn’t been injured, then he would be looking at a lot more than 10M.
Many pitchers return in even better form after the surgery.
Definitely! Glad to see him back!!!
Great human being lol.
How do you know that For Love? Not saying you’re wrong – I have no clue. Seriously wondering.
Well I don’t recall him being arrested, so that helps.
Well, he is a human being and I’m sure his mom thinks he’s great.
Matt Boyd and his wife did a lot of charity work while he was in Detroit. Great to have him back as a pitcher and the charity work he does for the community.
Coop, it is the charitable work the Boyds have done. You should see the pictures of Matthew and his wife hand=in-hand with African girls who wouldn’t have a chance if not for the homes and schools the Boyds have set up. It isn’t just money, it is personal commitment. Another picture showed this giant redhead with a closely trimmed beard – it was Spencer Turnbull. Man, those two could never win another game (and that could happen!) and they would be legends to me. They are great human beings. There’s your story.
look up Kingdom House charities, he and his wives have built at least two rescue facilities in Africa that are save houses for teens that are orphaned, abused or traded. He’s a compassionate human who saw a goal and sacrificed to make it happen.
Too bad “great human being” isn’t a position on the field. That’s the only way this signing would make sense.
First, they needed a starter and he was effective when healthy.
Second, there is value in having a positive clubhouse leader that can set examples and help set the tone for a young club.
Last, it’s not like 10m is a crippling contract. He nay get flipped at the deadline for a prospect, which could also prove valuable.
Seriously, it’s weird fans some see this as a bad deal. How could this possibly hurt Detroit!?
Cause he hasn’t been good, he showed promise as a reliever and maybe that’s where he needs to be in order to provide value. The Tigers are going nowhere fast.
If he is healthy regardless of performance he will b sought after at trade deadline. This is a good signing, a veteran who is a solid human being. With all their young arms this is an ideal veteran presence. Not to mention he should bring in a nice haul at deadline.
Yes, he was good before the injury in 2021. Maybe you’re reading into the weird 2020 season too much. He gave them a ton of innings the two years prior, sometimes hung out to dry due to a weak bullpen. Not an ace, but a solid starter nonetheless.
The Tigers aren’t a contender, but that’s why this makes sense. He may be used in a swing-role, or relief role if he gets flipped, but right now they believe he can offer a young team more than that.
@ doughboy
He’s shown promise as a starter, as well. If his recovery is not far enough along, he can always replace Chafin in the pen. There may be value at the deadline since its a one year deal. The main thing he brings is his great personality, which has made him a Detroit favorite. There are so many Russels, Osunas, Chapmans and Bauers that have played in the majors that its wonderful when someone who is truly good and gives back, plays for your favorite team. (Though $10MM seems a bit of an overpay.)
Or this signing gets flipped for a prospect in late July ….
Just keep re-signing him until someone meets your trade price for him.
The new drew Hutchinson
As oppose to trading him for less?
Yeah because non-tendering him and losing him for nothing was a much better plan than taking a smaller trade package.
They can take a smaller trade package of two 17 year old kids who will never make it to AA
Is this speculation? What trade did they deny?
Don’t get me wrong I did not like the Al Avila era. But, I felt like all the trade speculation regarding the Detroit/Boyd non-trade, was literally rumors
@hi flew
They non-tendered him when he was injured and couldn’t pitch. SFG and SEA paid $5MM for 13 innings. So Detroit saved that cost.
Former Giants GM Scott Harris. Now head of baseball ops in Detroit. Scoot must really believe in him. No other offers for Matt?
13 innings of 3.19 FIP doesnt seem like anything to invest more than $3M in.
Scott Harris just happy to spending money frivolously instead of bargain bin shopping and churning.
Aiming for 24 not 23 to contend. Starters should be healthy again by then. Harris’s logic is that Matt is a stop gap/bridge to the back half of 23 in to 24. Why Matt? He knows him.
If this is Harris’s strategy, boy oh boy, he could’ve signed innings eater FA Jordan Lyles for that kind of dough!
I’d take Boyd over Lyles.
Lyles will eat Innings but he has no upside. Boyd could be surprisingly good.
He at least got used to analytics with SF last year. Scott must see something he thinks is fixable.
Most likely Matthew Boyd had multiple offers and accepted the best one for his family and himself.
He pitched a lot of years in Detroit so he has roots there, charitable activities, lots of friends etc. It is easier this way since if all goes according to plan,
Boyd will be flipped to a pennant contender that needs another starter
who can also pitch out of the pen.
The Phillies come to mind.
Matthew Boyd was traded to the Tigers with Daniel Norris and another pitcher
for David Price. The Pres of Baseball Ops on that deal was Dave Dombrowski.
I can see Dombrowski getting Boyd back for a another Phillies playoffs run.
I don’t understand this move. Why take on a guy who has been plagued with arm problems? And, when has he ever been even serviceable? Career 4.90 ERA. They could have done so much better than this dud.
I’m more concerned with the mere 13 innings that warranted this deal, than the overall performance. Clearly they are getting him to “hold the spot” for Mize, but they absolutely can and should have done better than this.
Not everyone will sign with the Tigers, even if they offer the money.
Chafin signed with them though. Detroit offers opportunity and seems willing to spend; however, this is an drastic overpay when there are a variety of healthy relievers with more upside that could be signed for half the price. This just inflates salaries unnecessarily
If any team offers the money, players will sign with them.
I think this move is more of a “we hope our big signings/prospects from last year improve and/or heal up” move. Realistically, they only need Boyd to be fighting for their 4th/5th starter spot if E-Rod and Manning both come back strong. Also, it’s only one year so he can be flipped if the team is doing bad but he’s doing good.
I can imagine for Tigers fans this might be underwhelming but as an outside observer it seems like a nice “solid if unspectacular” signing (for a prior Tiger, no less).
Hardly plagued with arm problems. Very healthy and a workhorse in the rotation until needing flexor tendon surgery late in 2021. That takes some time to recover from which is why he was limited to 13 IP last year. He should be healthy and good to go this year and likely will be penciled into the Tigers rotation.
If one has TJ or any other major elbow or tendon injuries, they are plagued by arm injuries for the foreseeable future.
Boy, $10M doesn’t get you much these days, does it?
Struggled in his lone Postseason appearance in the 18th inning, but hopefully his small regular season sample translates over… especially since Detroit is paying roughly $10 million.
Also, is he back to going by Matt again?
$10M for Mathew Boyd? Why?
Don’t mind seeing him back, But over 10 mill. Wow, Crazy money for a guy like that.
The Giants pitching lab factory strikes again!
Huh?
If this is actually for $10M or more over one year that is absolutely nuts. Why? Is this like a loyalty/retirement salary?
Reminds me of when the Yankees gave Phil Hughes $7.15M his final year of arbitration before free agency when he had not been earning salaries anywhere near that and hadn’t performed particularly well going into that year- and was projected to earn around a $5.25M deal and not $7.15M.
Anyway- this feels like that OR incompetent use of the budget by the Tigers…. Seems like he might’ve been worth *maybe* $4.5M?
You know how many pitchers have a run of 10 or 15 or 20 innings with a 1.35 ERA and don’t get a particularly lucrative deal the next year?
This just makes no sense…. Matt Boyd has been overpaid most of his career. The dude is a lottery winner when it comes to his annual salaries…also he’s got an agent at the Boras Corporation (is it actually Boras himself?) so maybe they’re just working their magic.
I was thinking that he’s worth maybe 5M. But 10M seems kind of crazy.
When the Dodgers signed Heaney last year for $8MM, that set a new signing level for any starting pitcher. Boyd was paid $5MM to recover from injury. He wasn’t taking less now that he’s healthy.
Between This, Miggy, and the Baez Contract, the Tigers sure are bad at spending money.
It makes me wonder if playing in Detroit or for Detroit sucks so much to players that the franchise knows it needs to vastly overpay anybody to come play for them or to stick around and give them an on paper team that they can tell fans is a competitive club worth getting a nice TV deal for, worth showing up to games for, etc. but players wouldn’t play there if it wasn’t for the excessive salaries.
I don’t think this is the case with Boyd. He loved playing in Detroit and was sad to leave. I’m surprised it took $10MM to get him back.
I have a good feeling about Baez, I think he’s due for a big comeback in 2023.
Players always seem to somehow have a career and healthy year before they hit free agency or can opt out. Just like Aaron Judge dud, I sure hope Baez has a great year and decides to opt out and get back on the market after next season.
Miggy’s $240 mill. and Baez’s $140 mill. suggest you are right. One guy for one year at $10 mill. won’t be the worst example! I’d suggest you consider the $110 mill. they paid for five years of Jordan Zimmermann. $4.4 mill. per win. That would value JV or Scherzer at $75 -$80 mill. a year!
JV cost the Astros $66,000,000 per win for years 2020 & 2021.
Add in 2022 and JV cost the Astros $4,789,473.68 per win over 3 years.
JV’s total cost per win with the Astros over 5 years was $2.67M
Max Scherzer cost the Mets $3,939,393.91 per win in 2022.
Wins are starting to cost quite a few $$$$$$$ per pitcher
I would be willing to bet by the end of 2023, Matthew costs less than $1,000,000 per win.
Dog, I’m talking over five years with no significant injury.
2020 was shortened. 12.2MM is all JV made that year. So numbers are skewed higher. Ditto Scherz
I only did 2022 for Scherzer. And if you want to nick pick over the 2020 salary, the total is still astronomical.
Boyd is unlikely to win 10 games next year, even if he’s healthy
I don’t remember you predicting Zimmerman’s injury. Would it be better to have paid JV $50MM plus to not play for two years? Where’s your critique of the Astros?
Stymee, Zimmermann didn’t really have injury issues, just ineffectiveness. He missed a few games with that neck issue his first season, but then started 29, 28, and 25 games the next three seasons with ERAs of 6.08, 4.52, and 6.91. Those weren’t injury issues, but I guess that shouldn’t get in the way of your tirade.
Sure it is!
When you don’t consider how much they have profited from these 3.
10 million for a guy who’s had 13 innings of sustained success at 31 years old. The relief market is crazy
I imagine they are signing Boyd in hopes of a rotation spot.
Stunning move at an astonishing price! Hard to believe the Tigers couldn’t find a more established FA starter for this same, or lower, price
guess it’s cover for if skubal or mize isn’t quite ready for opening day? kinda hard to understand that big an outlay for a back-end innings-eater on a team loaded with talented young starters otherwise.
Mize is expected to miss all of 2023 & Skubal has almost no chance of being ready on opening day.
I see the inflation spike has affected the pitching market now.
I need to be there IN PERSON.
COMMUNICATION GAMES ARE A litigious offense.
Time to get Correa!
Let’s go Tigers!!
Does this mean we are again forced to watch those commercials over and over and over about Matt’s charity? My God. It was every 10 minutes on bally.
This seems like a gross overpay and reeks of an Al Avila-type deal.
Not impressed so far, Scott Harris… try harder bud
Oh poor you, the suffering you must have endured while watching commercials for a charity. How did you get through it.
Well Ballys is on its last few legs currently, so enjoy the baseball while you can on basic cable, won’t be that way for much longer.
Will be nice to have him back.
1o million?!
Love it. He has always had good stuff and loves Detroit. He is a perfect rebound candidate without a long term contract.
Remind me how bad the Clevinger deal was to many of you? Boyd has had similar arm issues, but is coming off a year of 13 innings and has never come close to the heights that Clevinger (who just had 114 good innings). Looks like they will be getting similar money, and I’d take Clevinger every day.
Why is everyone so concerned about the amount of money? It’s a one year deal. There are no bad one year deals.
In a bubble, I don’t mind the deal for the Tigers, but in a market where Clevinger gets $8m, I don’t see how paying Boyd $10m isn’t a massive overpay.
Does it truly cost that much to lure a player to Detroit?
Heyman is saying Clevinger got $12 million, but it’s Heyman.
You’re right: $12m
Boyd’s time with Tigers was not that good, so he is leaving where he found success, oh well it must be the money and not Detroit.
His agent should have steered him to a team who have success with pitchers .
This is a business first- they’re all in this to make money. Detroit offered an insanely high salary with lucrative bonuses- an amount of money he would not have received anywhere else, I imagine. This was a brilliant move on the part of Boyd’s representatives.
They basically negotiated a winning lottery ticket for a massive jackpot compared to what he deserved to be paid. He got 2-4 years worth of his actual value in salaries over a single season.
A brilliant move can’t happen w/out a less than brilliant negotiator on the opposite side. Con artists are not brilliant; they have no need to be.
IF Boyd did well with a full season in a place that works great with pitchers, he could have put himself into a higher salary status for next season and beyond.
His agent must not trust Boyd, so went for $$$ instead of showcasing him for more and longer term deals later.
@ datashark
Have you not looked at how well Detroit’s pitching performed last year?! They had 10 starting pitchers and 4 relievers on the IL last year. For a team that went 15 deep on their rotation, they were remarkable. Chris Fetters and his team did marvelous. You, sir, are misnamed, and not informed.
LHP’s are a precious commodity.
1yr 1 million would have made a lot more sense.
Always figured this guy would do something, really just another Michael Fulmer.
Fulmer is a great young pitcher who could be a closer when the time is right.
Boyd is a great young pitcher just getting started.
What? “Great” and “young” and “just getting started” are all not descriptions for Fulmer or Boyd lolol
What’s up with your comments ?
Do you just want some attention??
solid signing by Al Avila.
????
It’s a ho-hummer, but at least it’s a start.
Hopefully he’s a tradable deadline asset.
So u get Boyd for 11 million and let candy go for 5 million good job !!!
Candelaria was going to cost the Tigers $10m and they tried to negotiate a little less. He didn’t want to negotiate but then took a contract for less money. Sounds like he just wanted to play some place else.
Candelario was a “change of scenery” type of player.
He had a couple of good years, then his offense tanked and his defense regressed.
The Tigers should have traded him at peak value a few years ago and kept Isaac Paredes to play 3B.
No, he was slated to get 7m, way more than he’s worth and you have no idea what he was offered. I love how people just make things up, and act as if it’s a fact.
Candy was projected to get $7MM in arbitration. Harris wanted to have him take a cut to $5MM. Bad move, arguing over $2MM because of one bad year. Good luck getting Candy’s 2021 production from 3B for less than what he could have been kept for.
But they wouldn’t have gotten Candelario’s 2021 production from Candelario, either. It shouldn’t be difficult to find someone to improve on his 2022 numbers. There’s not much among the free agents, but the Tigers can trade always trade for a third baseman.
why these clubs will pay this kind of money for a player like this boggles my mind. Was someone else really driving up Boyd’s price? The cost of mediocre pitching is a bit haywire at this point.
I don’t know why everyone is freaking out over the money for. $10 million seems steep but then look at Drew Smyly, Smyly got $11 million from the Braves after only throwing 26 innings with the Giants in 2020 and even got $9 million in the two years he missed recovering from injuries (2017-2018). Front line starters are getting paid what everyday players are getting now and backend starters are getting what front line starters used to get.
My mind is having trouble adapting lol
Montero just signed 3 yr – 34.5 mil after one good year. The market is changing
Interesting that few people criticized the Giants for paying Boyd $5,2 mill. knowing that he would miss at least half of 2022 but now the same people criticize the Tigers for paying $10 mill. for a healthy Boyd. Even more ironic – it could have been the same guy making the decision at both clubs, Scott Harris!
I’m absolutely baffled by virtually all of his salaries in the seven figure amount. He seems like a $1M-$4M pitcher and yet he gets $5-$10M. The guy has one miracle maker of an agent.
I’m fine with this. Not making any judgments on Harris’ moves until we see the results.
Dont like this deal at all. Dont think Boyd has much upside and way too high of a chance he is hurt. If they need innings, just get a Jordan Lyles. If they want a no risk upside, a Wade Miley type has more upside at a lower cost, esp. for a team that does have budget limitations and needs at least 3 bats.
Matthew Boyd and his wife started their Kingdom Home Foundation.
It saves children from sexual exploitation in Uganda
and gives them all kinds of resources and protections
to give them a normal life.
https://www.kingdomhome.org/who-we-are
Great, high character couple that “pays it forward”…
Great “buy low” signing by the Tigers.
Boyd carried the Tigers rotation during its very lean rebuilding years.
Some of his pitching stats were inflated by bad defense behind him on a rebuilding ballclub.
When healthy, Matthew Boyd is a known, established producer in Detroit who is also a great clubhouse presence,
He has great leadership qualities’
and makes the other young pitchers on Detroit’s staff that much better.
Boyd will make a great pitching coach some day when he is done playing.
Boyd had a few years where his strikeouts as a starter rivaled those of Verlander and Scherzer ( top 10 lists).
When healthy, Boyd’s stuff is “top drawer”.
Boyd’s ERA was higher that his stuff and his effectiveness against many teams.
Scott Harris has “cleaned house in Detroit.
With improved/better coaching, better defense, better strengh and conditioning coaches, better trainers etc…
I expect Boyd, when fully healthy, to take some big steps forward in 2023.
Playoff competitive teams will be calling Scott Harris between the All Star break and the trade deadline to make offers on Boyd.
Scott Harris and the Tigers will, very likely get a very good return on Boyd
at the Trade deadline if Boyd is healthy and producing, again.
I have much more confidence in Matthew Boyd producing than I have in
the other washed up starters that Al Avila signed on 1 year pillow contracts
over the last 3-4 years.
Are these the type of additions the Tigers new front office are going to be making?!
I am underwhelmed.
That is what many Giants fans said when Harris signed a bunch of “bounce back” candidates and their team, surprisingly, won 107 games that year.
Not saying the Tigers will win that many games.
But, Harris has a proven track record of acquiring players whose performance
improves markedly under his Front Office management.
All of us Tigers fans are gonna hold you to that ! 🙂
When was Harris ever the decision maker in SF? I thought Detroit was his first where he was the Top guy.
Harris was the GM in SF who put together a lot of those deals with Pres of Baseball Ops Farham Zaidi (formerly with the Dodgers).
These are the kind of deals Harris made in SF. Let’s see if they pay off before judging his handiwork! That being said, $10 mill. seems quite high, but could be reasonable if he produced 150+ innings of 4.00-4.50 ERA. Big ifs there. Drew Smyly gets these kinds of offers. Maybe its the new normal in the game or maybe Harris got played. Time will tell.
Boyd when healthy is a mid rotation level starter. He will eat up innings right around league average. He has shown that he can be a Frontline starter for extended periods.
If you get 175 innings at league average that is pretty valuable.
Rodriguez is the only locked in Tigers starter that didn’t deal with an arm issue last year.
Mize is out for the year. Skubal maybe the AS break. Manning is fine but had a forearm strain to end the season.
Turnbull will be around 18 months from TJ surgery when ST hits. Shouldn’t be an innings restrictions but what will be the quality of those innings?
Right now their rotation looks like….
Erod
Manning
Turnbull
Boyd
Then you a choice between Brieske/G Hill/prospect R Olsen/prospect Wilmer Flores/Joey Wentz
That is a lot of meh to me. Best case Boyd catches fire and he brings a blue chip prospect back in return.
Joey Wentz is close to a lock for one of the Tigers rotation spots in 2023.
LHSP Joey Wentz, the guy the Tigers got in the Green deal with Atlanta,
is fully healed from Tommy John surgery.
He had a nice year in the minors last year.
In the Arizona Fall league
while facing the best young prospects in MLB.
Wentz AFL ERA was 0.00.
This years version of last years Heaney deal. Lefty, can maybe start, has known potential and signs a one year deal for more than anyone believed he’d earned early in the offseason driving up the rates for everyone else
Good luck Mr Boyd!
I think I predicted Matthew Boyce would be a Giant.
How is this “buying low” at 10m?
Carrying a bad rotation means nothing.
His bad stats were not inflated; he gave up a lot of home runs which has nothing to do with defense.
How has the defense improved? Harris hasn’t signed anyone.
His strikeouts are meaningless because he would always lapse and give up home runs at bad times. He is what what the back of his baseball card says – a well below 500 pitcher with an era approaching 5. Stuff is meaningless if you don’t know how to pitch or can’t concentrate for a whole game.
How do you know he’ll have a great season and that the Tigers will get a great piece for him?
Your comments make ZERO sense.
Let the Matthew Boyd Trade Deadline rumors begin!
This is an absolutely awful signing. There’s no way Boyd is worth anywhere near that. For all you saying they are glad to have him back: you don’t win championships with good guys. We are trying to build a competitive club, not a church choir. You are probably the same people who are glad that Miggy is on the team too. Good feelings don’t make for a good club, good organizations make cold, calculated moves, based on data, not “liking” someone.
To those of you who say the amount doesn’t matter: it does, the Tigers are a middle market team who have a limited budget. That 10m means a potentially good player that you could’ve had, you now can’t.
I find it extremely hard to believe that Boyd was in high demand. A guy like this very likely could’ve been picked up out of the bargain bin in late February for 2m or so. Admittedly, no one knows what the market will be then, but I’m pretty sure you could’ve waited and let his price drop, or pick up someone else much cheaper.
Between 2005 & 2017 (13 years strait) the Tigers had Attendance of over 2,000,000 every year plus passed the 3,000,000 mark 4 times. If they have good teams the fans will show up. They can be among the top of Baseball Markets.
Everybody knows that Boyd is the woyd.
Fire Scott Harris
Best (tongue in cheek) comment of the day. Let the hating begin!
$10M for 13 innings of good pitching? Wow, either the Tigers really loved him when he was there before or it takes that kind of money to attract a middling pitcher at best to sign with them. I can’t help but believe it is a massive overpay.
SFG and SEA paid for that 13 innings, not Detroit.
Now all the Tigers need to do is resign Daniel Norris (where’s Jairo Labourt?) and they will reunite their haul for David Price from 2015.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Actually, I didn’t want the Tigers to sign a starter, because this would take innings away from hopefuls like Wentz, Brieske or Faedo. But Boyd is a good fit as a pitcher – he thrives with shortened starts and could be piggybacked with a swingman like G. Hill. If others are better, he could become a LHP reliever; the Tigers could use one after Chafin opted out.
Of course, Boyd is a better fit as a person. The Tigers may prolong their streak of non-competive seasons next year, but I think it is good to have another feel-good story besides Cabrera’s farewell.
A $ 10m guarantee certainly seems a bit steep, particularly in comparison to Clevinger’s contract. But Detroit has no problems with the CBT and will certainly benefit from bringing a player back who is very popular among their fans (including me).
But just for the sake of argument, let’s say this is an overpay of approximately $ 5m. If these $ 5m spent for Boyd next year prevent the Tigers from signing Judge, I will join the others around here bitching and moaning. But if not, where’s the problem?
Gruß,
BSHH
Clevinger signed for more than Boyd.
You are right, my bad! And Eflin just signed for much more.
Gruß,
BSHH
I have a question about Boyd and players like him- they promote their charitable causes and foundations like Dan Aykroyd promotes Crystal Head Vodka.
So when some of these guys make these deals, is part of the pitch that “the team pays me $10M, I pay the IRS and my agent $5M, I give $4M to my charitable causes and I only keep $1M for myself, so I really need to be paid $10M in order to fund by charitable efforts and any other income from this deal is purely functional to keep a roof over my head and keep the lights on.” Or something like that?
Some of these insures imply or say stuff to the effect that they push for large or larger sans ties due to their charitable commitments… and I wonder…
What??
Al Avila 2.0 ? Why’d they get rid of Al, he could have done this stuff. Oh well, Detroit used his arm to injury, so this is probably a make up to him. Still Hitting Harold was dropped, and he had the second most hits last season, so sure 10 million here seems like a lot. It’s going to be another strange year no doubt.
It must have all been in the distant past, so I will have to ask: Wasn’t Al Avila the GM who did not (re-)sign Boyd for a lower amount of money last year? If so, how can this be “Al Avila 2.0”?
Gruß,
BSHH
Harold Castro brought very little to the table other than an empty AVG. Didn’t walk,no power, average at best base running and was below average defensively at every position. He only seemed decent because the team has been awful for quite a while now. I drives me a little nuts, but the rebuild has been an almost total failure. Time for another reboot imo.
So Harris overpaid by about $6M for a guy who will be on the DL by July. That’s Boyd’s MO….he pitches heavy innings, losing as many as he wins, and walks off the mound, into the tunnel and home. If it’s not a myriad of injuries, his wife will have a kid sometime in August or September and he goes on paternity leave. Harris overpaid him in SanFran and doubled down on his mistake here. I’d think Chris Ilitch is about to quote Casey Stengel: “Can anybody here play this game?” Wonder Boy has gutted the 40 man, signed a host of cast-offs to replace them, and now overpays a grifter that he doesn’t need in the rotation.
A year from now, you’ll be claiming that you knew all along that Harris would be successful in Detroit.
If your comment is directed to me, I have my doubts Harris will be in Detroit a year from now and pretty sure Hinch won’t be. I see no alternative at this point to Chris Ilitch finally selling the team to somebody who knows MLB and wants to compete. He’s delegated authority since he took over and this move tells me he has little to no idea how to hire or own a franchise.
“I have my doubts Harris will be in Detroit a year from now”
You can’t be serious, or maybe you are and you have ” little to no idea how to hire or own a franchise.”
I’ve been a Tigers’ fan since ’59 and probably have seen enough out of this organization to never watch another game. When you get a few years on your resume you can question me…until then, take a hike sonny.
The game has changed, grandpa. Let’s revisit this in a year.
Bullpen Piece. Might be an awesome closer. Or a Stretch Reliever. 3 innings here and there. Maybe 2, 2 plus – Hader Type
Not for $10M…you’re talking $3-4M for a stretch and he doesn’t throw nearly hard enough to close.
Boyd’s command isn’t CL worthy.
I need a new hobby
There are analytics which support that batters will have a higher AVG now that the shift is banned; i wonder if those same analytics could support a pitcher in a favorable way.
Good point…Thankfully, there will be more hitting with the shift ban and I don’t see how that bodes well for a pitcher like Boyd. Now we’ll see the return of “keeping the ball down” to induce ground balls like it’s always been before the knucklehead stats types took over the game. Boyd often doesn’t finish his pitches, gets the ball up and out into the seats. Which is another question…..will the Tigers finally bring in the fences in LC and RC fields?…that’s the rumor.
Boyd is a boring signing, however if its followed by a signing for Verlander and a trade for Scherzer, I’ll be a little more intrigued.
no thanks to either of them
To be clear, I think Boyd is a good fit for the Tigers. I just didn’t realize that he would cost that much. If that’s the current price for a guy like him, then so be it.
Winter meetings underway, they never came and got me. Not hiring the Superfife today.
So sad.
Too bad.
There’s that funny smell. Nothing ever changes in Denmark, I suppose…..
This is a great sign.