Tigers president/CEO Christopher Ilitch said in August that his team was willing to go after “high-impact players” this offseason, and spend as necessary (or if necessary) to obtain such talent. Ilitch reiterated those comments again speaking with The Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other reporters recently, while GM Al Avila made further remarks hinting at a busy offseason, if not necessarily an all-in push for the 2022 season in particular. “Just rest assured we’re going to try to improve this team for next year and make a big push,” Avila said. “We feel we are very close to being in the playoffs. We’re not too far away.”
Detroit improved to 75-79 with today’s 5-1 victory over the Royals, so the Tigers still have a shot at their first winning season since 2016. The Tigers essentially sunk their season by starting out with only nine wins in their first 33 games, yet they’ve quietly been one of baseball’s better teams every since, going 66-55 since that ugly 33-game start. With the Twins and Indians taking a step backwards in 2021, the Royals still waiting for their latest rebuild to bear fruit, and the White Sox playing well but hardly dominating on their way to the AL Central title, the Tigers may feel the opportunity is ripe to return to contention. It remains to be seen how extensive the Tigers’ shopping spree will be this winter, but after several years of rebuilding, Detroit fans are surely excited to see what headlines their club can generate in the offseason.
More from around the American League…
- The Angels have needs in both the rotation and at shortstop, though a source tells Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times that the team is more willing to spend big on pitching, and the Angels could “perhaps scrimp a bit at shortstop.” This could indicate a shortstop acquisition akin to the Halos’ pickup of Jose Iglesias from the Orioles last winter, with the Angels obviously hoping for much more than Iglesias’ underwhelming performance in Anaheim. Though several star shortstops will be available in free agency, it is hard to argue against pitching as the greater need, considering that Los Angeles has long been hampered by a lack of healthy and productive arms. Manager Joe Maddon believes the Angels need two front-of-the-rotation starters, telling The L.A. Times’ Bill Shaikin and other reporters that while he thinks his team has a “championship-capable” core of position players, “it’s almost impossible for it to happen” without an upgraded rotation. Maddon used his former organization as a comparison point, noting that the Cubs wouldn’t have won the 2016 World Series without their signings of Jon Lester and John Lackey.
- 2021 is the last guaranteed year of Christian Vazquez’s contract, as the Red Sox hold a $7MM club option ($250K buyout) on the catcher’s services for next season. Vazquez is certainly eager to see that option exercised, as he told MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith that he would like to remain in Boston for the remainder of his career. Vazquez has already spent his entire pro career in the organization, delivering generally quality defense behind the plate and some offensive production, though his bat has been very inconsistent. This hasn’t been one of Vazquez’s better years, with a modest .261/.313/.354 slash line and six homers through 480 plate appearances entering today’s play, and his framing numbers are also down, as Smith notes. Still, it doesn’t seem likely that the Red Sox would just let Vazquez walk, as Boston could pick up the option and still look for catching upgrades, with Vazquez on hand as either a Plan B or as a potential trade chip. It would also seem like Vazquez is a natural extension candidate if the Sox want to keep him in the fold for years to come, though catching prospects Ronaldo Hernandez and Connor Wong are knocking on the door for future playing time.
Carlos Correa will be a Tiger this year. The desire to reunite with AJ will be the number one reason. I’m also going out on a limb, and say we chase down Mad max or JV on a two-year deal to lead the young bulls. I see playoffs next year.
Most contenders have 300 million+ reasons for him to not sign with the Tigers
No team in the current world of MLB analytics will give a 40year old (even with his numbers and awards) a $300,000,000 contract. You must work for JV’s agent or is this JV himself?
I’m obviously talking about Correa, you inbred bellend. Are you being disingenuous to get an easy clapback for internet points or are you really that dense? Context clues are your friend, you nonce
Verlander maybe, he has already said he wouldn’t rule out returning to the Tigers to finish his career. Scherzer could be a Dodger, a Giant, a Mariner, a Cardinal, or any number of other teams.
Correa signing could be interesting. Its not like the Tigers are overly committed to Will Castro or Zack Short at Shortstop.
Considering that Niko Goodrum and Harold Castro are platooning at SS, yeah that’s rather obvious. Short is back in the Minors. Willie Castro has been on the bench and some 2B.
I think Carlos Correa is nothing more than a dream and will not happen. Max screwed over MR I after he gave MAX the contract he wanted then changed his mind. He’s never going to be signed. JV is only possibility and he wants to come back. JV would we a great addition.
JV will be a 40 yr old coming off injury. Not the reliable innings they need. Spend wisely!
No. No. No.
Correa is the most overhyped player of the 21st century not named Corey Seager, so yeah, I could see Avila going after him with a drizzle of drool running down his chin.
Correa is playing to a 7.0 WAR this season. That’s MVP level.
With or without the trash can ? #cheaters
Trash can’s over, flip the page. There are many other teams doing their own version of cheating. They just got caught. Correa, Altuve and Bregman didn’t need to do that, but hidsight’s always 20/20.
a761506 – WAR is a terribly skewed number. The dWAR of 2.8 makes it appear as if Correa was a top player but he’s not in the top 10 in oWAR. Since dWAR is more bogus than oWAR your argument is weak since his other numbers don’t suggest he had an elite year. His 2021 OPS+ is 4th highest in his 7 year career.
He played 143 games so far and is just reaching the 100 runs scored level. His RBIs are at 88, his average is .278 his OBP is .364 his SLG is 480 and his SBs total ZERO!!! Those are not elite numbers. He is highly over-rated as a shortstop. Add to the fact that in 7 years he’s played 150 games only once and you have a guy who will be a great example of why long term contracts should never be considered for injury prone players.
By contrast the runner up for MVP this year has 120 runs scored 105 RBIs 46 HRs a .317 average a .407 OBP and a .605 SLG. He even stole 4 more bases and he’s not even going to win!!
Correa is at best a tier 2 mvp candidate in 2021. He’s a huge risk for any team dumb enough to offer more than 3 or 4 years.
As usual I agree with KD!
Except it’s RBI for multiple Runs Batted In, not RBIs. LOL
Oh course you do, your his 2nd acct.
dennyd – Why in the world would I need a second account. Anything I want to say I say. No subterfuge just one guy with opinions on how the Red Sox organization should better support it’s players.
Since getting a second account would never be a consideration of mine but you obviously have thought of it, how many accounts do you have? And how many of them are paid for by management?
KD – I couldn’t have said it better myself!
Well, I’m think about getting a second one. I think Mr. Chris Illich and Mr. Al Avila have this muted…..I seem to have trouble getting through…..
Illitch isn’t spending 300 million. Nope. Trevor Story more likely.
Getting a SS “on the cheap.”
Same old Angels.
Signing a Freddy Galvis type wouldn’t necessarily be a bad move if they Believe Livan Soto will be ready early next season. The Angels don’t need to invest in another overpriced bat when pitching is clearly where they need to spend their money
Don’t you dare be thinking about poaching Robby Ray!
If Rengifo can play +defense (don’t know enough on his def analytics), I’d just go with him next season, see what he can (or can’t) do
dave frost – actually the “same old Angels” would pretend to target high end pitching, fail, then sign a number of bounce back candidate pitchers and a huge position player contract that will hamper them for years.
Spoken like someone who does not actually know anything about the Angels, who would almost always do the exact opposite.
Tigers have to come away with a SS and it would be disappointing to not come away with Correa or Story this winter.
We also need a legit CF, I love to see Chris Taylor fill that job.
The primary starting OF would be Reyes/Taylor/Grossman with Riley on the way, and trade Baddoo for a controllable starting pitcher.
Infield could be really sick with Tork at 1/3, Jeimer also 1/3, Correa/Story at SS, Schoop at 2… staff has two legit aces in Mize and Skubal, and Soto is solid in pen… this is the core of a great team.
WHY TRADE BADDOO??!! Are you kidding?
Baddoo seems to me like the most logical player to trade to alleviate the OF logjam while simultaneously improving the team. He is valuable enough to get a young controllable starter who already has pitched in the league. Not trying to be overly critical of a rookie who is coming off a very nice season, but his plate discipline isn’t great and that’s a tough area to improve, and metrics show he has been a pretty significant defensive liability, which is also difficult to improve. He is at a 1.3 WAR for the season, in general a 2.0 WAR is an everyday starter. I don’t see him ever being a guy who produces a 3+ WAR season. He’s definitely the guy to trade in my eyes.
Soooo…. to recap he isn’t very good so he is worth trading BUT you believe he will fetch a return?
Sorry but it’s hard to follow THAT logic.
Your comment would make sense if Baddoo hadn’t ONLY played up to A-Ball. The kid has never sniffed AA or AAA pitching. What he did this season was nothing short of incredible. Trading him now seems just like something an idiot Tigers GM WOULD do.
It’s about time someone in the organization and not just Angels fans express some frustration with the FO continuing to sign mediocre SPs. Maddon is right that they need at least two (I’d say 3) frontline starters. If they signed Scherzer, Stroman and either Thor or Duffy, that’d go a long towards sending Trout back to the postseason
I’m guessing Maddon considers Ohtani one of his top of the rotation SPs meaning he would be looking to add one more.
With all the young, cost controlled SPs arriving (Sandoval, Suarez, Detmers, Rodriguez, Canning, Bachman, etc), I don’t think the Angels will sign 2 or 3 top of the rotation guys.
If you need to sign 3 frontline starters you shouldn’t even be a buyer. Trying to add nearly a entire starting rotation has never worked. See Padres San Deigo for a recent example.
Someone was frustrated last offseason. It’s why Victor Rojas left the broadcast booth. He interviewed for the GM job and when he didn’t get it he bolted for the minor league GM job because he felt nobody was trying to improve the club.
One feels helpless with KK as managing owner of Dbacks out in Arizona. Never will they win another WS while he controls the Organization. However the Angles have had the greatest modern day player if not THE greatest player in house with help on the roster. Only to continue to miss the playoffs. Spend the money and the needle doesn’t move. Can’t seem to intice quality pitching to move to sunny Anaheim either. I like the Angles but that Organization is fail.
From a non-Red Sox fan viewpoint, the option of Vazquez would seem like a no brainier to pick up. Red Sox fans what do you think?
Completely agree… he’s a solid catcher that can be had at an affordable price. I think they should lock him up long term. Great clubhouse guy, does his job, keep him around for the long haul please.
As long as he stops running into outs, I’m fine with him staying.
I mean, I think it depends on whether Connor Wong is ready or not. I would not be opposed to a one year deal to see how things play out. One year deals seems to be Bloom’s mentality anyway.
pwndroia – Wong? He’s a journeyman waiting to happen. He was the 5th catcher in the Dodger depth chart. Wake up, Friedman sold Bloom a bill of goods. Downs is a bust, Wong is a back-up and Verdugo is no all-star.
Package the three of them so we can say we salvaged SOMETHING out of the Mookie debacle.
Oscar, the Red Sox catching situation has been a topic of discussion for a long time.
Vazquez has a strong arm and has shown the potential to hit over the years, but he’s a below average pitch framer and game caller. Pitchers don’t like throwing to him. This is why Leon was brought back in 2018 despite not being able to hit at all.
This is also why Plawecki has caught Eovaldi the most, even though he’s the backup catcher. Eovaldi has a career 3.12 ERA with Plawecki and a 4.60 ERA with Vazquez. That’s not just a coincidence. Even with Connor Wong catching, Eovaldi has a 2.66 ERA.
As for offense, Vazquez had the one major outlier year in 2019 when he smashed 23 HR. He has never hit more than 7 HR in any other year.
I think they pick up the team option and then try to trade him. Surely they can get another mediocre hitting catcher but with better defensive skills and at a cheaper price.
Vazquez only weakness is his pitch framing. He’s above average in most every other defensive category. Every website I checked had his defensive matrix rated high. Also, Im not sure why you called out his “home runs” when you’re talking about a singles/doubles hitter. His OBP the past 3 years is .320, .344, .313. Above average for a catcher.
Vazquez is having a down year offensively, and only has one year remaining on his contract. His value as a trading chip would be low. It seems counterproductive to trade away a player thats only going to cost 6.75m to keep, while you have Plaweski, Wong and Hernandez as a safety net. This would open up a hole at catcher that needs to be filled, when you have several other positions in much worse shape (SP, RP, OF).
Im not saying sign him long-term, just let the contract play out and deal with after 2022.
So because there’s no statistic for gamecalling, you don’t count it against Vazquez?
Sorry Denny, how the pitchers feel about throwing to Vazquez holds a lot of weight with me and most other people. As does huge variances in pitcher performance based on which catcher is catching him, that also holds a lot of weight. It’s your right to ignore those two bits of data, but I won’t.
I brought up the homeruns just so people don’t mistakenly view him as a power hitting catcher. based on that one season.
I hafta ask, how can you rate him as an overall very good catcher and then say he has no trade value? Are you saying you’re the only one who realizes how good he is? No other team realizes it?
It certainly won’t bother me if he plays out the contract with Boston, but if there’s an opportunity to upgrade the position I say do it. He may have a better offensive year in 2022, but it’s highly doubtful he’ll improve defensively at the age of 31.
Denny, how did you like Vazquez dropping the ball on the exchange to his throwing hand when Judge had struck out?
Sure it was a horrible call by Joe West, but it never would have been an issue if Vazquez wasn’t such a klutz.
And THAT is yet another reason why Vazquez isn’t nearly as good defensively as you claim!
Tigers aren’t trading Baddoo for a controllable SP. Hilarious waste of precious think time (unless Our Hero Baddoo carries around an issue not publicly known, which seems unlikely).
No team will give them a worthwhile choice to do that, and besides he might be Detroit’s only present position player worth keeping. Tiger fans love him. Let ‘em.
Plus, no way does Al Avila want to be be tagged as the GM who traded away the next Don Buford or Tommy McCraw.
The chance of Jeimer Candelario surviving this epic rebuild looks increasingly close to a maybe. All other non-pitching Tigers will be soon replaced by farmhands or anyone not quite as horrid.
Baddoo stays. Especially since he is at minimum wage.
If Cincinnati, looks to upgrade at SS (ie Story), Angels should inquire about Farmer to play SS.
@A761506
Badoo was at A ball, when he missed a year due to TJ. He then missed a year due to Covid. He is now playing at the Major League level, due to being a rule 5 pick. He is walking at better than a 10% rate. He is striking out over 30% of the time. He has power, speed, and incredible range. He is inconsistent, for understandable reasons. He is the most exciting player on the team. He’s only had 380 abs, and faces few lefties, so he has been used mostly as a platoon OF.
WAR means nothing without context. I wouldn’t trade him for Buxton.
Tigers also have Kreidler down in Toledo, who has been a bit of a surprise. He’s hitting. 319 for Toledo since his promotion and has 22 homers with 2 minor league teams.
So, even though the hole at SS has been obvious, the Tigers have to decide if Kriedler is the SS of the future, or if they go out and sign a big name. I see them only offering a short term deal for a SS which is going to limit their choices.
The Tigers have options at SS. They could go Free Agency. They could trade. They could let Ryan Kreidler have a try. Defense will be the priority. Offense secondary. If they go this way, a player willing to take a shorter contract should be preferred.
If they look at the trade market, San Diego needs to trim payroll. Ha-Seong Kim may be consider too expensive to be a utility player going forward. Tampa Bay may consider moving Taylor Walls, now that Wander appears to have claimed SS. Cleveland may cut payroll and make Amed Rosario available. Plus any team that signs a big FA is likely to move their incumbant.
Where the Tigers need to spend is Pitching. Make a strength stronger. Scherzer and Verlander would be fan favorites. A more realistic and sensible add would be Kevin Gausman or Anthony DeSclafini. They need solid reliable innings. Add depth to the pen. Kendall Graveman would provide another late inning option, possibly allowing Fulmer back to the rotation.
Paul DeJong might be available if the Cardinals go with Sosa next season. If defense is the priority, he makes sense. His contract is reasonable, both in terms of length and dollars. Cards would want young arm(s).
Right idea but Kim is the wrong target.
Given his injury history I don’t see Correa getting 300mil. Fwiw Jack Morris has mentioned multiple times he wants the Tigers to go after Scherzer. I don’t see it but I’d love it.
So Red Sox fans I believe you have Yankee fans right where you want them. 6 games left. If the two teams finish tied then BOS gets to host the WC game. To win more than NYY based on them playing TOR and TB and BOS playing BAL and WAS should not be that hard!!
For the gamblers, give your NYY friend, acquaintance or arch rival a chance to bet that the Yankees finish as WC1. Tell them it’s unfair since NY has a one game lead and the Yankees are so hot right now that they should easily win 4 of 6 so the Yankees should be favored in the bet!!. Make sure the bet is for who is WC1 not who has the better record so there could be a tie. Then bet as much as the Yankee supporter will handle. There should be no fear in BOS that they won’t be the WC1..
Taillon vs Ryu, Cole vs Berrios, Kluber vs Ray. Sure seems like TOR gets at least one game in that series. BAL is throwing Zimmerman, Loather and Wells versus Sale, Eovaldi and Pivetta. Sure seems like 2 out of 3 should happen for BOS if not 3 out of 3. BOS retakes the WC1 lead if TOR wins 1 and BAL is swept or if TOR wins 2 and BAL wins 1. Either way, NYY vs TB and BOS vs WAS sure seems like another 1 game advantage to BOS so Sale won’t have to throw on Sunday if TB wins the 1st or 2nd game in the series with NYY.
Sale pitches on Tues vs BAL so if they need him he can pitch Sunday. Cole goes Wed so he is lined up to face BOS in the WC game. If TOR does better against NYY than expected then NYY might need Cole on short rest to get WC2 on the final Sunday. That would change the WC game significantly!!
Should be fun!!!
No,no, no! Mr. Chris Illich, do not spend money needlessly! Do not bring up prospects and take up space on the 25 that s/b used for tradable signings.
YOU.NEED.MORE.TOP PROSPECTS!
You do need my help.
Now, how am I supposed to recognize you, if you don’t introduce yourself? How was I to know you inherited all of those gray hairs coming in? You looked familiar.
And who knew Arte was so slick……?