I think they are better than that but it is nice to finally have a front office that understands how to draft talent and then more importantly develop them properly.
I’m excited for Tiger baseball again and it has been a while.
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That would be the Marlins and the Cardinals outfield
Yep, but how does that pretty decent pitching look if Flaherty and Skubal get shipped out?
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Jackson Jobe replaces Skubal, is he the same as , close too or not, well TBD.
Flaherty was signed to be traded to be honest.
Injuries have killed this rotation which goes to your question. After Job there are question marks. Manning, reliever or starter, tbd. Olson on the DL, Manning on the DL in AAA. Mize moved to the 60 day DL earlier today…not a good sign.
Need to get a close to ready if not ready SP back in the Flaherty trade. There are a few interesting names in the minors but all are question marks if we are honest.
For sure. Hopefully our GM can land quality players in a trade. If he can’t then he’s probably not the guy. But if he can, we get younger, better, and cheaper, clearing space in the budget for a quality FA or two. Big decisions with huge consequences for this GM.
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I’m a bit ornery today at the thought of losing our 2 best pitchers. But I have to ask, what exactly is the Tigers (Chris Illitch’s) budget? I haven’t looked it up but I read somewhere that the Tigers are currently 40 million below the league average. If Illitch’s budget is going to remain at 40 million below the league average then how the heck are we ever going to put a complete roster (Pitching, Batting, Fielding) together?
It’s actually $60 million below average. But why in the world would he spend money on free agents when the rest of his team is not ready to win? I don’t think it’s wise to build through free agency. You’re going to run out of money real quick. Let me introduce you to Javi Baez. You have to develop a farm system that supplies the team with good young talent on a regular basis. You know kind of like how our Lions have done it.
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Excellent post
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Good Post!!
This is nothing more than my opinon but I believe when the time is right, and it will be Harris who determines, Chris Ilitch will spend when needed.
Please remember we are 20 months into the Harris front office. He hired his new developmental gus 3-6 months after he was hired; from Tampa and LA Dodgers(Dodgers hire is from memory).
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It seems like a bit of dog chasing its tail. Skubal is a player that we developed and because the team isn’t ready to win there’s a chance we ship him out? How about we look at a potential of Skubal, Jobe, Flaherty, Olson as an outstanding pitching staff while we continue to work the bats.
Instead the plan is to decimate our pitching staff while we wait for the bats and fielders. And then when the bats and fielders get set we don’t have the pitching staff. So since we still aren’t ready to win, because our pitching sucks, we have to let our young developed bats go because we still aren’t ready to win.
At some point, to me, you have to try to keep the established talent that’s on your team and helping you win while you try to fill in the rest of the roster. This strategy of watching your talent walk out the door because you still have other areas on your team that need building seems ludicrous. Keep your talent, and continue to build.
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How do you know this isn’t the plan?
I don’t. Hoping to get through 6:00pm edt tomorrow and they are both still part of our rotation.
I could see us moving Flaherty just because of the contract situation. I fully expect us to keep Skubal. Hopefully, we get a decent return for Flaherty.
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And then sign Flaherty to a longer deal in the off-season.
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You’re at where I’m at. We have some signs of hitters developing so we’re going to trade our numer two starter who was all-star worthy. A month ago, yes. Now, not the smartest move.
That would be shrewd. That would be a good way to spend some of the 60 million. But we’re just one of 30 teams at that point, no guarantee.
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I will be watching Flaherty wherever he ends up, does he take his improvement to his new team or flounder a little?
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The average velocity on his fastball has been down 2 or 3 mph since the back injury. It could turn out to hurt him really badly, especially in a small park like NY.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he regressed.
May be part of the strategy. Deal him to a team where he’s not going to stay. A small park, plus NY - you either love it or hate it. I could see Flaherty not loving it.