2025 Detroit Tigers: AKA The Skubal Trade Watch Thread

[CONN CHRIS]

Yes! It was Ralph Kiner. Memory isn't what it used to be.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

Statue of Our Beloved Ralph's hands, outside PNG Park in Pittsburgh:



It's modeled after the famous statue of Joe Louis's fists in Detroit, but in his later visits to the Mets' booth, Ralph admitted that he didn't prefer the "just-the-fists" treatment . . .

I don't blame the man. Disembodied hands look weird.

So does Joe Louis's fist (singular) but man, it does make a powerful statement.

[dsvitak]

Originally Posted by Hrycaj

I understand how it works. This wasn’t a regular start in July. This was the season being on the line. He did fan 13 of the 18 outs. I don’t think he automatically becomes a bp pitcher if he pitches the 7th. You could have also went at bat to at bat with him. Even if he does give up the run I would rather it be from my best guy than with any other reliever on the team. Ultimately, it’s not what lost the game. Having your 2-5 hitters go o-fer for the game was the bigger issue. Still, back to the original point I think Skubal gives you the best chance to hold the lead in the 7th.

My post was more about the general misconception that pitchers are weaker and less capable of pitching deeper into games, and not specifically how Skubal could have gone out and thrown the seventh inning.

They PURPOSEFULLY throw as hard as they can, for as long as they can. They don't save anything for the ninth inning, as they know that they will be long gone by then.

If Skubal would have taken more off his pitches, and pitched to contact low in the zone, instead of throwing almost five pitchers per batter faced, he could have lasted longer. But....that is simply not how MLB is played in 2025.

[Déjà Bru]

I thought this was rather noteworthy:

Marathon Tigers-Mariners Game 5 nears nine million mark

Friday’s Tigers-Mariners American League Division Series Game 5 averaged a Nielsen-estimated audience of 8.59 million viewers on FOX (8.73M across all Fox platforms, per Nielsen and Adobe Analytics), marking the largest audience for any Division Series game since Tigers-Yankees Game 5 on TBS in 2011.

Not only was it the most-watched game of the playoffs thus far, it comfortably outpaced the previous high of 7.4 million for Red Sox-Yankees Game 3 on ESPN in the Wild Card round (albeit on cable and opposite “Thursday Night Football”).

[David Watts]

This lowly Tiger fan all of a sudden wants the Jays to win their series in 6

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by david watts

this lowly tiger fan all of a sudden wants the jays to win their series in 6

:d

[CONN CHRIS]

I had hoped for a Brewers - Mariners series, but now that I have anecdotal evidence that their fans aren't all that great, I guess this will do. Go Jays!

[Déjà Bru]

I place this here, since this is "The Skubal Trade Watch Thread". From The Athletic:

Tarik Skubal heads the top 10 MLB stars most likely to be traded this offseason

By Jim Bowden



There is plenty of anticipation surrounding this year’s MLB free agent class, which will be led by the power bats of Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso, the well-rounded position players such as Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette and Alex Bregman, and several standout starting pitchers such as left-handers Framber Valdez and Ranger Suárez and right-handers Dylan Cease, Zac Gallen and Michael King and dominant closers, including Edwin Díaz and Robert Suarez.

However, those aren’t the only stars who might change uniforms this offseason. There are several big names who could be traded. For teams targeting frontline pitching, in particular, the market could be especially fruitful, as three potential No. 1 starters may be available.

Let’s take a look at the top-10 biggest names most front office executives believe could or will be dealt this winter:

1. Tarik Skubal, LHP, Detroit Tigers

The Tigers commenced negotiations on an extension with Skubal — who is entering his walk season — but were somewhat surprised to find they were about a quarter of a billion dollars off with their latest offer. Skubal and Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates are considered the two best pitchers in the sport. To sign either one of them to a long-term deal, their current teams must expect to commit dollars far beyond the Gerritt Cole contract of nine years and $324 million and Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s 11-year, $324 million pact.

When Juan Soto got his $765 million and Shohei Ohtani got his $700 million, they reset the market for top free agents, and the expectation now is that Skubal will reset the market for pitchers and become the highest-paid starting pitcher in history, with a realistic starting price north of $400 million. It’s unlikely the Tigers go there, and if that’s the case, they certainly can’t make the mistake of waiting until the trade deadline to deal him or letting him walk with minimal draft compensation next offseason.

Therefore, even though the Tigers are in position to compete for the postseason next year, it’s likely they shop Skubal at the Winter Meetings and try to make the best trade they can with so many big market teams with deep farm systems obviously wanting him, such as the Mets, Dodgers, Red Sox, Yankees and Giants.

The others are:

2. Freddy Peralta, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers
3. Hunter Greene, RHP, Cincinnati Reds
4. Jarren Duran, LF, Boston Red Sox
5. MacKenzie Gore, LHP, Washington Nationals
6. Sandy Alcantara, RHP, Miami Marlins
7. Sonny Gray, RHP, St. Louis Cardinals
8. Brandon Lowe, 2B, Tampa Bay Rays
9. Alec Bohm, 3B, Philadelphia Phillies
10. Jo Adell, OF, Los Angeles Angels

There are blurbs for all of these players but I omit them here. Follow the link or, if you cannot access the article, leave a request here and I will post what you want to see.