Free Agent Targets

[spockmaster]

I don't want Wilson because he's a complete nutjob.

 

[tigermud]

I don't want Wilson because he's a complete nutjob.

I'll second that, please avoid Wilson DD...Tia

 

[spockmaster]

At soon to be 39, I do not want Nathan. If I did, I would want him real cheap. Same with Brian Wilson. He needs a better recent health record to invest top dollar in him.

Id be more inclined to agree with you on Nathan if he were showing signs of decline, but he's not showing many, if any. Sure, his FB velocity was down this year, but he still had a great year and it didnt seem to affect him much. I think he's still got at least a few good years left in him. I'd really not like to pay him a premium, but Id also trust him more than, say, Rodney or even Benoit (who actually might get paid as much or more than nathan, and possibly get more years).

for the me the best part about signing nathan is that i doubt we'd have to ink him to more than 2 years, whereas i think most of the other back-end BP options are going to want 3 guaranteed minimum, and i dont like giving relievers long contracts.

 

[stonecold2136]

Wilson could be had in a 1 year deal. He was pitching great with the Dodgers. Maybe sign Wilson and Nathan.

 

[Rebbiv]

Wilson could be had in a 1 year deal. He was pitching great with the Dodgers. Maybe sign Wilson and Nathan.

Anyone can pitch great for 13.6 innings.

12 of his last 14 games pitched (11.0 IP) were against NL West teams. How well will pitch against everyone else in baseball?

 

[Rebbiv]

Id be more inclined to agree with you on Nathan if he were showing signs of decline, but he's not showing many, if any. Sure, his FB velocity was down this year, but he still had a great year and it didnt seem to affect him much. I think he's still got at least a few good years left in him. I'd really not like to pay him a premium, but Id also trust him more than, say, Rodney or even Benoit (who actually might get paid as much or more than nathan, and possibly get more years).

for the me the best part about signing nathan is that i doubt we'd have to ink him to more than 2 years, whereas i think most of the other back-end BP options are going to want 3 guaranteed minimum, and i dont like giving relievers long contracts.

I get it. I am just not keen on signing or trading for anyone past the age of 36. Occasionally, you get someone like Darrell Evans, who plays till 42 and looked like he drank from the fountain of youth. Or you pay a Gary Sheffield top dollar for diminished skills, albeit skill better than the rest of the team.

Skillsets can up and leave some players without any true signs of regression. Or, may look OK one year and then rapidly deteriorate going through the next season.

The other concern is that as players age, they tend to have more injuries or injuries that linger more than young players.

Hence my caveat about getting him real cheap. I also wouldn't do more than 2 year deal.

 

[stonecold2136]

Anyone can pitch great for 13.6 innings.

12 of his last 14 games pitched (11.0 IP) were against NL West teams. How well will pitch against everyone else in baseball?

Wilson on a 1 year deal is better than Benoit(36 y/o) on another 3 year deal.

Of all the closers available Nathan has the best track record. Even though he will be 39 this year, I trust him the most.

 

[Rebbiv]

Wilson on a 1 year deal is better than Benoit(36 y/o) on another 3 year deal.

Of all the closers available Nathan has the best track record. Even though he will be 39 this year, I trust him the most.

For the one millionth time...an elite closer is only good for maybe 1-2 wins more than an average closer. PERIOD. And, at what cost?

I get what Nathan is all about. But, I am not willing to pay him elite closer money for 1 or 2 years. He would not justify that expense for an additional 1-2 wins.

And how is Wilson, who hasn't pitched more than 20 innings in the last 2 years better at 1 year, than Benoit at 3 years? I don't get that.

 

[tomdalton22]

For the one millionth time...an elite closer is only good for maybe 1-2 wins more than an average closer. PERIOD. And, at what cost?

I get what Nathan is all about. But, I am not willing to pay him elite closer money for 1 or 2 years. He would not justify that expense for an additional 1-2 wins.

And how is Wilson, who hasn't pitched more than 20 innings in the last 2 years better at 1 year, than Benoit at 3 years? I don't get that.

I think the reason Wison at 1 year is better than Benoit at 3 is the risk vs. cost....plus Wison is a proven closer vs Benoit only closing for about 1/2 of a season. Wilson has a better resume as a closer (171 saves vs 37), better post season resume (16 IP, 0 earned runs vs 22.1 IP & 7 earned runs)

 

[Rebbiv]

[/B]

I think the reason Wison at 1 year is better than Benoit at 3 is the risk vs. cost....plus Wison is a proven closer vs Benoit only closing for about 1/2 of a season. Wilson has a better resume as a closer (171 saves vs 37), better post season resume (16 IP, 0 earned runs vs 22.1 IP & 7 earned runs)

But all of that came before his injury. This would be like saying we should sign Grady Sizemore to play LF due to his "past" performance and his "past" track record.

 

[tomdalton22]

But all of that came before his injury. This would be like saying we should sign Grady Sizemore to play LF due to his "past" performance and his "past" track record.

The difference between Wilson and Sizemore is Sizemore just started to suck. Wilson had Tommy John surgery. Pitchers that recover from that type of surgery will very often come back as good or better than they were before. Wilson did pitch very well at the end of 2013 (even though it was for a short period of time). There is no reason to think he won't be as good as he was before the surgery but if a team is a little concerned you only give him a one year contract.

 

[Rebbiv]

Sizemore just didn't start to suck. He started having one injury after another.

 

[tomdalton22]

Sizemore just didn't start to suck. He started having one injury after another.

I didn't follow his career path but just looked it up. His injuries started in 2008 with his ankle then the following:

groin
Elbow surgery
microfracture surgery on his left knee
right knee injury/scoped
hernia surgery
back surgery
microfracture surgery on his right knee

So...still comparing apples to oranges. One Tommy John surgery vs. a guy that broke down. Tommy John for a pitcher is a serious surgery but full recovery and becoming as good or better than before happens more often than not.

 

[Mitchrapp]

You sign Nathan and eventually you're going to hate him. I say sign some RP'ers that have a good track record for not too much money and then make one the closer.

 

[turok]

Any FA is an auto-overpay. but what else matters more is their age, health outlook, and amount of years desired.

Unfortunately all of the decent FA closers are in their mid to late 30s, and most if not all will probably want at least one more year than they deserve or should receive. So to shorten the contract, their annual salary will likely need to be increased, with perhaps a player or club option for one or two more years, depending on which side is making or attempting to make a compromise.in the negotiations, and how many, if any other competing ballclubs are seriously interested or have also made an offer.

Depending upon the spending whims of Mr. I, the Tigers could conceivably sign as many as 4-5 FA this offseason, in order to help plug all of the holes in their OF/IF/BP/Bench, absent trading from their ONLY area of strength/surplus, being SP. They could also gamble on filling a few spots internally. such as Castellanos in LF or RF, Holladay BU catcher, and Hernan Perez @ 2B. but they still need a few bench players who will cover the OF/IF.

The Tigers IF could become an area of both strengths and weaknesses on O and D with the middle being strong defensively, but weak offensively, and vice-versa in the corners. With the one caveat being that Prince doesn't decline even further from his career norms, by coming into camp next spring still being out of sorts both mentally and physically.


.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Why do we need an established closer? Benoit wasn't and did fine. You don't have to close to be a solid closer. All these great closers' of the past weren't closers' to begin with. Give a guy an opportunity and as Reb said, a couple wins a year isn't worth paying an aging vet a ton of money.

 

[turok]

b/c of our unique situation having an elderly owner who apparently isn't shy about spending money by the boatloads to acquire FAs and extend his vets. Leyland was the Tigers former manager who could not deal with having C by C and made it pretty clear that he wanted a designated closer. I have no idea of how the Tigers new manager Ausmus feels about the role, as well as who would be considered his setup RP or RPs.

 

[Mitchrapp]

b/c of our unique situation having an elderly owner who apparently isn't shy about spending money by the boatloads to acquire FAs and extend his vets. Leyland was the Tigers former manager who could not deal with having C by C and made it pretty clear that he wanted a designated closer. I have no idea of how the Tigers new manager Ausmus feels about the role, as well as who would be considered his setup RP or RPs.

We didn't have a closer by committee. Maybe at the start but we then went to Benoit. Just pick a guy, bam no c by c.

Nathan made 9m last year. You know how many RP you could get for 9m. He might want even more..

 

[stonecold2136]

Holes that need to be filled LF, 2nd base, 7th and 8th inning pitchers also closer.

LF will probably be Nick Castellanos

2ND BASE ?

7TH INNING ?

8TH INNING ?

9TH INNING Nathan - like a fine wine keeps getting better with age

 

[turok]

We didn't have a closer by committee. Maybe at the start but we then went to Benoit. Just pick a guy, bam no c by c.

Nathan made 9m last year. You know how many RP you could get for 9m. He might want even more..

I really don't care about what Ilitch wants to overspend on FAs, mainly b/c as long as the Tigers put 3+ M butts in the CoPa seats, they stand to collect around $$100 MM annually as an increase in broadcasting revenue. So it looks like they will strive to field the best roster possible every season. As long as signing FAs doesn't affect extending Miggy and maybe also Scherzer, the latter if no equitable deal can be had.