Official 2016 Detroit Tigers Thread

by **WhiteBoyHatcher** 2015-10-08, 13:37

https://twitter.com/jamesschmehl/status/652175168324833284

Al Avila confirms #Tigers will try to acquire two starting pitchers this winter. Said Norris, Boyd, Fulmer, Greene will compete for a spot.

https://twitter.com/cmccosky/status/652175128260837376

Avila reiterated offseason goal, two starting pitchers and two to three bullpen arms, including closer

by **steveschneider** 2015-10-08, 13:39

A definite step in the right direction.

Looks like he's assuming Sanchez will be healthy.

by **WhiteBoyHatcher** 2015-10-08, 13:47

https://twitter.com/DennyKapp/status/652176318713298944

#Tigers Al Avila says Bruce Rondon was first player to sign up and volunteer for Tiger Caravan and Tiger Fest

by Guest 2015-11-03, 08:15

Tigers open for business, but options could be limited

Lynn Henning spreads wisdom.

Shopping season has begun. When the World Series ended Sunday night, the Tigers and 29 other big-league clubs were OK’d to rush like Black Friday buyers to baseball’s offseason aisles and begin stocking sturdier teams for 2016.

“We’re open-mined to do most anything we need to do to put a winning team together in 2016, whether through free-agent signings, trades, whatever,” said Al Avila, the Tigers general manager who begins his first autumn as Detroit’s baseball commander.

“We’re open-minded to anything. That’s kind of the message: If someone comes up with an idea (trade) involving one of our guys, we’ll be open-minded. We’ll do anything that would make sense.”

by **steveschneider** 2015-11-03, 10:07

After watching the WS the Mets need a catcher with a better arm, would not be surprised if they go after Avilla.

Saw that the Tigers are courting Soria for a possible reunion. Not a bad idea if they get him as a set-up man.

by Guest 2015-11-18, 19:18

Closer situation should be solved.......KRod is pretty damned good and was last year too.

Tigers land experienced closer in Rodriguez

Detroit — The Tigers new closer will be 34 when he throws his first pitch next season. That’s five years younger than Joe Nathan was when he first pitched for the Tigers, 14 months younger than Jonathan Papelbon and just nine months older than Darren O’Day, who is seeking a four-year deal.

Age is not an issue.

The Tigers' new closer features a fastball that averaged 89.6 mph last season. But he has a change-up that draws comparisons to Trevor Hoffman, whose 601 career saves is second only to Mariano Rivera.

Fun fact: The Tigers new closer is the major leagues active leader with 386 career saves; 103 more than Rivera had through his age 33 season.

The Tigers new closer is a six-time All-Star, including the last two seasons when he converted 82 of 89 save opportunities (92 percent) and posted a 135-29 strikeout to walk ratio.

by **steveschneider** 2015-11-18, 20:20

LooseGoose wrote:Closer situation should be solved.......KRod is pretty damned good and was last year too.

Tigers land experienced closer in Rodriguez

Detroit — The Tigers new closer will be 34 when he throws his first pitch next season. That’s five years younger than Joe Nathan was when he first pitched for the Tigers, 14 months younger than Jonathan Papelbon and just nine months older than Darren O’Day, who is seeking a four-year deal.

Age is not an issue.

The Tigers' new closer features a fastball that averaged 89.6 mph last season. But he has a change-up that draws comparisons to Trevor Hoffman, whose 601 career saves is second only to Mariano Rivera.

Fun fact: The Tigers new closer is the major leagues active leader with 386 career saves; 103 more than Rivera had through his age 33 season.

The Tigers new closer is a six-time All-Star, including the last two seasons when he converted 82 of 89 save opportunities (92 percent) and posted a 135-29 strikeout to walk ratio.

I'm not going to believe it until I see it.

by Guest 2015-11-18, 21:01

steveschneider wrote:
LooseGoose wrote:Closer situation should be solved.......KRod is pretty damned good and was last year too.

Tigers land experienced closer in Rodriguez

I'm not going to believe it until I see it.

LOL, history tells us that he'll now begin to walk people and regularly blow saves.

by Guest 2015-11-19, 08:20

Mark Simon ‏@msimonespn 10h10 hours ago
Heard a lot today about the best pitchers in baseball.

But who had the best pitch in 2015?

K-Rod.

We explain.
http://bit.ly/1Og9nEf

by Guest 2015-11-22, 09:16

Tigers beef up scouting and analytics staffs

Detroit – As he promised, executive vice president and general manager Al Avila has beefed up the Tigers scouting and analytics staffs, as well as their international operations.

The Tigers have hired four veterans scouts to their Major League bureau:

by Guest 2015-11-25, 11:24

Jon Morosi ‏@jonmorosi 2m2 minutes ago
Alex Avila signs with #WhiteSox for one year and $2.5 million.

by Guest 2015-11-29, 12:30

Jerry Crasnick ‏@jcrasnick 6m6 minutes ago
Jordan Zimmermann has agreed to 5 yr, $110M deal with #Tigers pending physical. @JonHeymanCBS first to report.

by **steveschneider** 2015-11-29, 12:35

LooseGoose wrote:Jerry Crasnick ‏@jcrasnick 6m6 minutes ago
Jordan Zimmermann has agreed to 5 yr, $110M deal with #Tigers pending physical. @JonHeymanCBS first to report.

One more pitcher to go. i like the pickup and think avilla has done about as good a job as one can do in the offseason.

by Guest 2015-11-29, 14:09

steveschneider wrote:
LooseGoose wrote:Jerry Crasnick ‏@jcrasnick 6m6 minutes ago
Jordan Zimmermann has agreed to 5 yr, $110M deal with #Tigers pending physical. @JonHeymanCBS first to report.

One more pitcher to go. i like the pickup and think avilla has done about as good a job as one can do in the offseason.

Tigers Agree To Deal With Jordan Zimmermann

Tigers General Manager Al Avila promised that the Tigers would sign a top three pitcher to go with Justin Verlander and Anibal Sanchez and today he got his man. According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, the Tigers have agreed to a contract with right hander Jordan Zimmermann, formerly of the Nationals. Jon Morosi of Fox Sports is reporting that the deal will be for an estimated 5 years/ $110 million.

Since 2011, the 29-year-old Zimmermann has compiled an impressive 3.14 ERA and 3.30 FIP and has ranked 12th in MLB in the FanGraphs.com WAR statistic. Despite undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2009, he has become a durable starter throwing 195+ innings in each of the last four years.

On the downside, Zimmermann had an off year - for him - in 2015 posting a 3.66 ERA, 3.75 FIP and allowing a career high 24 home runs. Statistics at BrooksBaseball.com indicate that his fastball velocity averaged 93.4 MPH, down about a mile per hour from his career norm. That is not be a big deal in itself especially for a pitcher who has not relied on a high strikeout rate (just 7.3 per nine innings for his career). However, he allowed a .301 batting average against and .465 slugging average against on fastballs, the highest marks of his career.

So, one might wonder whether the ineffectiveness of his fastball is a one year thing or whether it will become a trend. The good news is that his slider and curve still yielded good results and his overall numbers were above average.

by Guest 2015-12-01, 18:56

Peter Gammons ‏@pgammo 16m16 minutes ago
Note from Baltimore:the 3 Tiger pitchers the O's beat in the '14 ALDS are now signed for $607M

by Guest 2015-12-01, 19:42

Money market: Tigers need to keep thinking big

I'm here to guarantee that the Detroit Tigers win the 2016 World Series. Wait, can you really do such a thing? Sure you can. Don't believe me? Watch me work.

I interrupt this column to point out that Tigers owner Mike Ilitch is the inspiration for this column in the wake of his extraordinary revelation on Monday. In announcing the signing of free-agent pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, Ilitch said he'd given general manager Al Avila the go-ahead to spend whatever he needed to deliver a championship.

by **steveschneider** 2015-12-02, 11:00

LooseGoose wrote:Money market: Tigers need to keep thinking big

I'm here to guarantee that the Detroit Tigers win the 2016 World Series. Wait, can you really do such a thing? Sure you can. Don't believe me? Watch me work.

I interrupt this column to point out that Tigers owner Mike Ilitch is the inspiration for this column in the wake of his extraordinary revelation on Monday. In announcing the signing of free-agent pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, Ilitch said he'd given general manager Al Avila the go-ahead to spend whatever he needed to deliver a championship.

If he has unlimited spending then why not sign the best players available? Add Grienke, Cueto, Ryan Madson and make plans for the parade.

by **steveschneider** 2015-12-02, 11:01

I saw a ranking list for the best 'value pitcher' as Edinson Volquez. Would love it if we landed him.

by **NigelUno** 2015-12-02, 11:08

Get Teheran or Miller from the Braves.

by **steveschneider** 2015-12-02, 11:34

After the David Price deal, lots of fans starting to say the Yankees need to shell out the $$$ for Grienke. Looks like Boston and NY are in an arms race. Will be fun to see which team ends up with the worst contract.

by **Floyd Robertson** 2015-12-02, 12:30

LooseGoose wrote:Peter Gammons ‏@pgammo 16m16 minutes ago
Note from Baltimore:the 3 Tiger pitchers the O's beat in the '14 ALDS are now signed for $607M

This is absolutely mind-bottling.

by **steveschneider** 2015-12-02, 12:41

Beer prices are going to go through the roof next year.

by **Floyd Robertson** 2015-12-03, 08:33

Hiring Lloyd McClendon in Toledo has nothing to do with Brad Ausmus

We've known for more than a week that former Tigers coach Lloyd McClendon would be returning from a two-year sojourn in Seattle to rejoin his former organization -- this time as manager of the Toledo Mud Hens rather than a member of current manager Brad Ausmus' MLB staff. The team made its minor league coaching staffs official on Wednesday.

You can admit the first thought in your head was probably, The Tigers are keeping him nearby just in case they have to fire Ausmus midway through the season.

It was the first thought in mine.

Tigers GM Al Avila says you're wrong. And he's right.

Right. You hire an experienced, old guy for your top farm club instead of maybe a young guy to groom him, because maybe you want the experienced, old guy already in your system at the first hint that the major league team's season is going south.

by Guest 2015-12-03, 08:55

We should have hired Legendary Lloyd when Leyland retired.

by Guest 2015-12-05, 08:52

Meh....the definition of an innings eater. Price is at market, not a bargain and I kind of dislike him blocking some of the kids.

Source: Tigers signing starter Mike Pelfrey

by **steveschneider** 2015-12-05, 09:10

12 quality starts, that has to be better than what we got out of our combined 5th person in the rotation last year.

So what's left? They have to be signing a BP arm or two now.

by Guest 2015-12-05, 09:24

steveschneider wrote:12 quality starts, that has to be better than what we got out of our combined 5th person in the rotation last year.

So what's left? They have to be signing a BP arm or two now.

I would think BP arms plus maybe another OFer - someone out of the bargain bin and hope for a lightening strike like JD?

Other than that they seem set to go now.

by Guest 2015-12-07, 13:06

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/tigers-get-lowe-with-two-years/

So Lowe is three years younger than Madson, and might have been better than Madson last year, and actually pitched through those years when Madson was trying to get healthy again. The easy answer is that Madson has been better over his career, but there’s also the question — what if Lowe hadn’t pitched through some of those injuries? What if, instead of pitching poorly and removing value from his overall line in 2013 and 2014, Lowe had been trying to get healthy on his own?

by Guest 2015-12-07, 13:52

Actually a decent Henning column.....

Henning: No-frills Avila gets passing grades for early moves

by Guest 2015-12-09, 08:33

Tigers still have hope for prospects Nesbitt, Moya

Moya, meanwhile, has been on a tear in the Dominican Winter League. He’s hitting .304 with a .806 OPS in 28 games (110 plate appearances). He’s got 29 strikeouts and seven walks.

“Very encouraging,” Avila said. “Winter ball is a hard place to put up big numbers.

“You put up big numbers in winter ball and that’s pretty special, in my opinion.”

Moya has hit two home runs with 14 RBIs, but is seeing a lot of left-handed pitching — he bats left-handed — and, according the Tigers reports, having quality at-bats.

“For him to go back there at his age (he’s 24 but has been in the Tigers system since 2009), I know how difficult that is,” Avila said. “My hope he continues it into the season.”

by Guest 2015-12-10, 07:47

Avila: Going from assistant to GM a little like marriage

by Guest 2015-12-10, 08:08

Henning: Avila completes Tigers shopping list in style

by Guest 2015-12-10, 15:01

PrintMore MLB JAWS and the 2016 Hall of Fame ballot: Alan Trammell

by Guest 2015-12-11, 12:15

Organizational depth, spring training fodder, unlikely JD Martinez type lightening strike....

Official 2016 Detroit Tigers Thread CV9WfBuUYAAZ2Sm

Official 2016 Detroit Tigers Thread CV9WfBuUYAAZ2Sm

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Official 2016 Detroit Tigers Thread CV9WgUQVEAEMR_g

by Guest 2015-12-11, 12:39

Winter meetings winners and losers

Detroit Tigers: It started with the signing of Jordan Zimmermann, which is increasingly looking like one of the best deals of the winter. Then the new GM in Motown, Al Avila, started adding bullpen pieces: Francisco Rodriguez, Mark Lowe, Justin Wilson. And Mike Pelfrey and Cameron Maybin were relatively low-cost, minimal-risk lottery tickets who can at least complement the group. The Tigers are still a team constructed around its stars, so they need big (and healthy) years from Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander and Victor Martinez. But if that happens, I haven't found anyone in their division who doesn't think they've made themselves a force again.

by Guest 2015-12-11, 13:28

Dave Gershman ‏@Dave_Gershman 25m25 minutes ago
Royals fans should realize that two STL competitors for Alex Gordon are Tigers and Angels, two clubs KC faces very frequently.

by Guest 2015-12-15, 17:12

Long, winding roads brings Lowe, Wilson to Tigers

It is, on paper, a significant upgrade.

Rodriguez is baseball's active saves leader with 386 and has converted 82 of 89 opportunities the last two seasons. Lowe, who pitched for the Mariners and Blue Jays last year, is coming off a career season – posting a 1.96 ERA with 9.98 strikeouts per nine innings. And Wilson, the power lefty the Tigers have long lacked, was 5-0 with the Yankees with a 3.10 ERA last season, fanning hitters at a rate of 9.74 per nine.

All three are battle-tested, too, which somehow seems extremely relevant to joining the Tigers' bullpen. Wilson, the youngest at 28 (he'll be 29 in August), is entering his fifth season. Lowe, 33 in June, his 11th. For Rodriguez, 34 next month, it'll be his 15th season.

by **steveschneider** 2015-12-15, 17:42

LooseGoose wrote:Long, winding roads brings Lowe, Wilson to Tigers

It is, on paper, a significant upgrade.

Rodriguez is baseball's active saves leader with 386 and has converted 82 of 89 opportunities the last two seasons. Lowe, who pitched for the Mariners and Blue Jays last year, is coming off a career season – posting a 1.96 ERA with 9.98 strikeouts per nine innings. And Wilson, the power lefty the Tigers have long lacked, was 5-0 with the Yankees with a 3.10 ERA last season, fanning hitters at a rate of 9.74 per nine.

All three are battle-tested, too, which somehow seems extremely relevant to joining the Tigers' bullpen. Wilson, the youngest at 28 (he'll be 29 in August), is entering his fifth season. Lowe, 33 in June, his 11th. For Rodriguez, 34 next month, it'll be his 15th season.

I think 2016 might be the first year since 2011 where I can relax with a lead during the later innings. I like Avilla so far. You think he lands Gordon?

by Guest 2015-12-15, 19:08

steveschneider wrote:
LooseGoose wrote:Long, winding roads brings Lowe, Wilson to Tigers

I think 2016 might be the first year since 2011 where I can relax with a lead during the later innings. I like Avilla so far. You think he lands Gordon?

I'm sure he would if Illitch opens the checkbook - I'm betting against it happening unless prices drop after Christmas.

by **Ass Dan** 2015-12-15, 19:27

steveschneider wrote:
LooseGoose wrote:Long, winding roads brings Lowe, Wilson to Tigers

I think 2016 might be the first year since 2011 where I can relax with a lead during the later innings. I like Avilla so far. You think he lands Gordon?

If they get a big name in left, it will be cespedes. I want Gordon a lot more than I want cespedes

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