Detroit Tigers - From Worst to First

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Below is glimpse at the 2019 playoff tree!

Game 7 and Atlanta beats Cleveland on the road!!!

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Asdrubal Cabrera was a good pickup.
He was obviously not going to continue the scorching hot start he had to the season, but how does that not satisfy his request? Haha

I assume that a "power hitter" only refers to homers, but he was tied for the AL lead in doubles.

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So we have to hire a new Assistant GM and Manager.

I have gone through the options and I have settled on:

Gabe Kapler as the new Manager - Even though his "personality & style" and his "managing attributes" don't directly lineup with my personal preferences.
I do appreciate how he will allow me to dictate all of the game strategy.
His "Bad Relationship" with a couple of our good young pitchers does worry me a little, but I think it is worth the risk.

Chaim Bloom as the new Assistant GM - I just really like his overall profile and think he is going to be a very good GM in MLB.

Below is a snapshot of each person.

*Both have been offered contracts and we will wait for their response.

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Here is a look at what we are seeing in Salary Arbitration:

There is four guys who will be non-tendered, only two worth mentioning.

John Hicks - I didn't want to "force" Gardenhire to play him more, but maybe I should have. He put up good stats (small sample size) and wants around 3 million. We have Jake Rogers to team up with Grayson Greiner for 2020 and hold down the catcher spot until Adley eventually makes his way up. Hicks is also 30 years old and out of minor league options.

Yolmer Sanchez - Fan of this guy in real life, one reason I picked him up for this team (plus White Sox paid him 100%). Started really good and faded as the season went on. We have lots of guys who we can replace his spot on the team with. He also wants about 6 million, and he would be a backup probably.

Mikie Mahtook - Going in to his 30 year old season. Wouldn't have cost us much, but I have a few other guys I want to play over him. Out of options, so we shopped him around and Oakland will take him. One interesting player we receive is "Alberto Tirado". I think I am going to convert him to a reliever and see how he makes out.

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St. Louis added Schrock to their 40 man on July 29th when Kolten Wong got injured, but the optioned him back to AAA on July 30th and recalled Ramos Urias.

Max was recalled from AAA on September 1st and got his first 31 days of MLB service time. He picked up a hit, a single, in his first MLB at bat (on the first pitch he saw) off of Derek Holland.

In his MLB start on September 18th, Schrock went 3 for 4 with 2 homers and a double while driving in 4 runners and scoring 3 runs.
His first homer was off of Max Scherzer (Max on Max crime right there) in the 2nd inning.
In the bottom of the 8th, with his team trailing by a run, Schrock came up a hit a clutch 3 run homer to put the Cardinals ahead for good.
He was named player of the game.

On September 24th, his last plate appearance of the 2019 season, he drew a 4 pitch walk off Matt Koch.He later came around to score.

For some reason St. Louis decided to DFA Max Schrock at the start of the offseason (they had 3 guys who needed to be activated off the 60 day IL to the 40 man). Since he had two option years remaining, and has just turned 25, I thought he was worth the waiver claim.

If I was Cardinals GM, I would have DFA'd Drew Robinson over Max Schrock. Drew is going to be out of options next season and they probably won't have room for him after spring training (even though rosters will now have 26 players to match real life).

Below is a collection of clips from his player profile. I thought he was worth the waiver claim. He looks like a versatile player with high contact and low strikeouts.

Let me know what you think!!!

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Derek Dietrich did really well for the Tigers after coming over from the Reds.

In 236 plate appearances he hit .299/.364/.460/.824 for an OPS+ of 113.
He had 13 doubles, 3 triples, 5 homers and 29 RBI.

I am looking to play a few other guys in the OF for 2020, so we really didn't need him. He only got 3 million in arbitration, but when I was shopping him around I saw that the White Sox would give us Zack Burdi.

Zack Burdi is a former first round pick and just made his MLB debut in 2019 (see below for player profile page).

Who do you think won this trade?

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Decided to move on from Christin Stewart. It may be a bit too soon to let him go, but you never know.
I have a different direction for the OF and he is below average defensively and his offensive output was worse than I had expected.

We are able to pickup a lefty 3B in Ryder Jones. He will need to be protected from the Rule V draft.

We are also able to grab a pitcher named Seth Corry. I am going to use him as a reliever (OSA has his control at a 35/50). He does not need to be protected from Rule V draft.

Sandy Baez was a throw-in they wanted to even out the trade (25 movement and 1 option remaining).

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Here is a look at the Tigers after the pending free agents have hit the open market.

Only one notable "International Free Agent" in this years group. His name is "Teruhide Ubagai".
OSA is very high on this player and our scout has him as a 1.5 star prospect.
We are going to offer him a MiLB contract and see what happens.

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Right now the plan for 2020 is to play some of the younger guys and see who can be long term options or not.

We currently have 3 players who have "primary positions" of 2B.

1 - Cavan Biggio - The plan is have him as our 2B (or maybe 3B if Ryder Jones doesn't work out as planned).
2 - Max Schrock - I think I am going to stick him in LF for spring training and see how he does.
3 - Willi Castro - Turning 23, could start the year in AAA if need be. Could be used as a bench option.

I think I am going to try and sign Freddy Galvis to a minors deal with an invite to spring training.
That allows us to potentially shift DeJong to 2B (or maybe look to trade him away).

Galvis did not have a good 2019, but he is a "captain" and above average defensively.
He is also a "Fan Fav" and gives us options in case of injury.

Also, I am going to try and sign Billy Hamilton to be our new CF. He led the league in SB last season with an absurd 89 (15 caught stealing).
Billy is only asking for 1.5 million and he is a "Fan Fav".
He is also not a liability defensively. I do not expect the same offensive output from him, but I think he would be a good addition for one season.

I don't anticipate adding any free agent pitchers, but I am going to monitor trade block for upgrade options through trade.

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The Detroit Tigers were able to pickup another bullpen option for 2020 in the Rule 5 Draft!

Curtis Taylor is a big right hander who hasn't pitched above AA yet in his career.
He has a 3 pitch arsenal that are all graded as above average.

This will be the only player we choose in this years draft.

The Reds picked up a player I personally had success with when I did my Marlins rebuild.
His name is Brian Mundell and he was previously in Colorado system and absolutely killed AAA pitching last year.

The Reds picked Mundell with the pick before ours unfortunately.

I have attached a screenshot from the Marlins team to show you what kind of player he developed in to in that save.

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We were able to get both Billy Hamilton and Freddy Galvis to join the Tigers!

Galvis is only on a MiLB deal for now. He will join the team for Spring Training and see how things shake out from there!

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Below is a couple pictures showing the current Tigers players!

Couple notable camp battles we will be monitoring:

#5 Start Spot - Since rosters have expanded to 26 players, we might be able to run a 6 man rotation. That is not an ideal option obviously. Fulmer/Perez/Turnbull though might have to start in AAA unless someone gets injured.

Last bullpen job(s) - I have a good sense of which 8 guys I would like to see in the bullpen, but we will wait and see how the spring goes. There is a couple guys I want to pitch in AAA to start to see how they start their seasons (like a Matt Hall for example).

Backup Catcher - Originally I had planned on just giving this job to Jake Rogers. He is elite as a defensive catcher. But I signed Christian Bethancourt to MiLB deal and invited him to camp in case Rogers isn't ready just yet.

#4 OF - Honestly I just want to give this job to Braden Bishop and figure out what to do with Goodrum/Reyes after that. But I will wait until after spring to make that decision.

SS - I have gone back and forth on this for a little while. Another one to keep an eye on and we can always just send Galvis to AAA for time being since he isn't on MLB contract.

Thanks again for clicking on this Dynasty Report and I will post an update prior to Gamr # 1 of 2020!!

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Originally Posted by WarningTrakPower

unless someone gets injured

Well... maybe I should have chose my words more wisely.

Tigers have lost Jordan Zimmerman for the season with an elbow injury

Otherwise, almost to the end of spring training. Will post an update once roster decisions are made!

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So... MLB released it's "Top Prospects" list today and I usually go through the Top 10 and see if we have anyone that they would be interested in trading for (usually find nothing).
There was a post on the forum, or on the Discord channel possibly, about doing this and I had never tried it before.

The #3 prospect in MLB is a pitcher named "Brigham Hill" and he is in AAA for the Nationals. He was a 5th round pick and both our scout and OSA are very high on him.

They are actually interested in trading him to us for the #79 overall prospect named "Franklin Perez". Perez came over to Detroit in the Verlander trade.

What does everyone think? Worth the gamble or stay the course? The "star ratings" system can sometimes be misleading and personally I think Perez might be an anchor for our rotation for years to come if we hold on to him.

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We are ready for opening day!!

I have gone through and made all the final roster decisions for the start of the season.

I have decided to let Jake Rogers and Braden Bishop start the season in AAA. They will likely be up before long. I am going to start training Bishop to play RF so he can man all 3 OF positions if need be.

We have numerous options for middle relievers, so they might be getting shuttled back and forth this season.

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Below is an updated look at the pitching / batting at June 1, 2020!!!

Paul DeJong is having a great season, but just went on IL for an oblique strain. He will be back soon.

His stats for 2020 so far are: .313/.394/.540/.934 for an OPS+ of 143!!!
In 150 AB he has 10 doubles and 8 homers.

Usually I try to have elite defenders at SS, but he is just below average (50 on the 20/80 scale) on the season with a -1.5 ZR and a 3.52 RF.

I haven't been impressed with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. however. Since he contract will continue to climb, it might be time to move on from him.

We could in theory play Cavan Biggio in RF/LF and slide Willi Castro in at 2B. Or move Max Schrock to RF and Willi Castro in LF.

Just nice to know we have options.

I wonder how Yuli would feel if we trade away his brother ...

Also, we lost AAA starter and former 1st rounder Matt Manning for the season. He will be in camp next spring looking to earn a job in the rotation.

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I tried to find a trade partner, but his value isn't what it was. We will have to hold on to him and hope he turns it around.
Might have to move him to the bench for 2 or 3 weeks.
I could maybe try him at 2B again and see if that somehow helps his hitting improve.

Below are a few images from his player profile.

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Very happy to report that the 2020 Detroit Tigers are heading to the playoffs!!!
We finished the season 91-71 and will play the Red Sox in the wildcard game!

Below is the AL Central standings and our end of season pitching/batting stats.

Two players that were added since the draft are: Ryan McMahon (who we added off waivers) and Will Smith (who we added via a trade).
In the Smith trade, we were able to add "Branlyn Jaraba" who are our scout loves (3.5* potential) and OSA hates (1.5* potential).
We only had to give our a former 7th rounder who will be 25 in 2021 and has yet to pitch above A ball.

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After a great season, Spencer Turnbull is going to get the ball for the wildcard game.

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I wanted to look back at what could have been for the Brigham Hill vs Franklin Perez potential trade before opening day.
It looks like we made the right call to hold on to Perez (based on 2020 AAA results anyways).

Also, Perez won the IL Best Pitcher Award for 2020.