5+ free-agent fits for the Detroit Tigers | Tiger Territory

5+ free-agent fits for the Detroit Tigers | Tiger Territory

and welcome in to another episode of Tiger Territory, part of the Foul Territory Network, a Detroit Tigers podcast. I am Kier Steckley. With me as always, the man who knows how to do the Ricky Bobby stop and then pose for the frame. He is Cody Staveenhagen. How you doing? I haven’t done that in a long, long time, Karen. It probably be pretty disgraceful if I tried that right now. Hey, you know what? What? It’s like riding a bike, man. You just need to hear that song one more time and then you can you can get right after it. Uh, we are recording this. This is a Black Friday episode. So, I wanted to remind everybody that you can go to tiger territory.com, use code black friday, get 10% off for all your Tiger Territory merch needs. And we appreciate anyone who has done so, plans on doing so. This is a nice opportunity to save a little money and help promote the show. So, we appreciate all that. That is Black Friday. Code Black Friday for 10% off. Tiger terriershop.com. Speaking of going shopping, Cody, uh the the Tigers are obviously in the midst. Last episode, we talked about their interest and one Ryan Helsley and since we talked, he has talked. talk to the athletic, which I actually think is kind of noteworthy because it’s it it’s not I would say the most common of practices for a, you know, for a free agent to kind of do like what I thought was a pretty thoughtful interview. So, credit to your colleagues there for getting him uh getting him on the phone and getting him talking and and I understand why he did it because like, you know, this is his time, right? He is finally a free agent. He’s going to try to, you know, try to maximize his value and uh the way it ended in New York, not the most uh not the most lucrative of ending. So, he’s going to try to frame everything. He’s coming across as very honest. I thought he came across as very thoughtful and and and kind of forthright on what his flaws are and why he’s, you know, open-minded to the possibility of perhaps becoming a starter. So, uh, you obviously read it, Cody. Like, what would you what were kind of your thoughts on on Ryan on on Ryan’s words on him speaking his truth? Um, yeah. Came across is like, “Oh, I like this guy.” You know, I think a lot of players don’t talk during free agency for fear of saying something that could hurt their market or saying something that could mess up potential negotiations. But I think more players should do this if you’re just honest, fairly open. Like what’s actually going to go wrong? Ryan, he he talked about uh the end of his Mets tenure, the pitch tipping issues he’s dealt with. A lot of it was rehashing some of that, but um kind of does remind you like his stuff was still really good. Even though he was getting hit, it was almost a little bit inexplicable um how well he was getting hit. He was a little too predictable in certain counts regarding the possibility of being a starter. That’s why we’re talking about him. We’re going to get to free agent hitters here in a second, but the free agent pitcher we’re talking about right now, Helley, I know what I’m capable of as a reliever. He said, “I think I still have a lot to give and can get even better. I’ve shown what I can do as a closer when I’m in that role. It’s a really fun time to be in the game. It’s the most important three outs of the game, but I I still think I’m capable and able to be a starter. I missed starting probably the first half of my career, but once I really started closing, I didn’t think about it as much. Learning in the new pitch would be something I could pick up obviously, but it’d be a learning curve throughout this first year trying to figure out how to be a major league starting pitcher. So, perfectly eloquent answer there. Basically saying, I’m open to being a starter. I’m open to being a reliever. I’ll do whatever whoever wants to pay me requests that I do. Um, see, nothing wrong with that. Uh, sounds sounds like he’s open. He did more specifically mention adding either a change up or a two seam. I talked last episode like I think the the change up would make sense to use against left-handed batters a little bit more, but um great work by my colleague Katie Woo. Go read that at the Athletic if you would like to see more of Ryan Hillsley’s words. Yeah. And I I’ll also say this, if you go and you read the story from like the Tigers lens perspective, you you you Kate Katie does a great job of kind of outlaying the metrics and the stats and then you like, you know, read his words and you’re like, you know, if his agent was coaching him, hey, this is how you could possibly get to Detroit. I don’t I’m not really sure he could have done much better because again like he was identifying his flaws. He was saying that he’s like you know open you know he’s he is a versatile option as a pitcher just in general. I know you know batters that are not pitchers. I understand that but it’s like hey man I could do whatever you know like hey Chris AJ like you know what what what do you got for me? And and I and I and I thought like there was enough in there that like I was already pretty interested in it, but in a way you just don’t really know how guys would frame it. This kind of felt like something that he would like actually like like to do. And and I commend him for it for a couple reasons. Not the least of which is just I don’t think we really hammered it as much as we should have yesterday, Cody, or last time we talked, but like it’s a it’s so crowded in the reliever market and and and we’re seeing, you know, just earlier this week with the Boston Red Sox making a trade, speaking to former Cardinals, uh Boston Red Sox making a trade for a starting pitcher and I think this is him kind of figuring out a way to kind of burst out and make himself more viable. And obviously there’s a financial incentive there, but at the same time I like I he’s laying out he wants to go to a smart team too, you know, not just the team that that’s going to pay him the most amount of money. And the Tigers may or may not be that, but I would but I do think that the Tigers would be among the smarter teams that he could that he could sign with. And and there was nothing in there that if you’re in the front office or the coaching staff or whatever that makes you think like, hey, I don’t think I could really do that. I mean, hell, AJ Hitch is probably like the only thing he did wrong there is he called the last three outs the most important outs. That might be that might be the that might be the only critique that AJ has. It’s like, well, he got to get to the most important outs. So, how important are those is probably what AJ would say to to that. But I but to me, this does feel like a a momentum like he’s trying to seize on the momentum. And I think it’s going to work. I think there’s going to like 15 teams. I don’t know if you know this. That’s what I was about to say. story says 15 teams have contacted him. Some as a starter, some as reliever, some maybe as both. Uh if the Tigers want to get this deal done, better get it done. I think they’d be I think they would be extremely smart to try to get this done as quickly as possible for the reasons that we laid out last time. Getting him ready, figuring out what that other pitch is and uh and kind of solidifying your pitching staff more or less uh for the 2026 season where you can focus on the hitters. So, any other any other Helsley thoughts, Cody, before we move on to hitters? Uh, they should get it done, but but don’t do it during this holiday weekend and and mess up my plans. I would wait until like Tuesday or something. How about that? It’s 100% going to be happening on Saturday now that you just said that. So, uh, we are going to take a quick break and then we are going to, you know, kind of highlight the parameters around which the Tigers are seemingly going to have to operate when it comes to adding to their lineup and then who could fit. It’s a shorter list unfortunately than you think. But first, a word from our sponsors. 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Tell them foul territory sent you. All right, coming back here, Cody. Uh there there is a there is a reality of the situation that you always kind of have to keep in mind whenever you’re trying to assess what the team could do, what they should do. Uh and really that’s what’s available. You can’t go to the grocery store and want a certain brand of, you know, barbecue sauce and they don’t offer it and you’re like, well, you know, I can’t get that barbecue sauce. Then if the market does not have spec specific players, specific positions available, then you’re going to have to pivot. And that’s kind of what we saw last year with the Gabber Torres signing, right? Is that, you know, Sky Harris got a little bit creative. So, if you just look at the Tigers roster as presently constructed, there are definitely holes. And maybe hole is too strong, but there are areas that if you want to take the next step, you figure you’re going to have to have some level of improvement. Unfortunately, a lot of those positions are not exactly what the market is giving you. But we’ll just kind of lead off with the top and that is the guy who’s going to define the the offseason from a position player perspective and that’s Alex Bregman. Alex Bregman is a guy that the Tigers and this specifically this Tigers regime was fully comfortable offering a six-year contract for a lot of money. And that offer is essentially what the projection is. We have the graphic up here if you guys are watching on YouTube for uh for Alex Bregman. The the athletic projection is six years 171 million. He’s a year older. He did not have a great September, but he’s still Alex Bregman. He is still a right-handed bat. He is still a valuable defender. But he already turned you down once when you gave him the best offer in terms of pure dollar amount. Do you go back to the well again when you already have Gabber Torres at second base on the books for 22 million and you still got to figure out Colt Keith and you have Zack McKinstry in tow as well? Are are we doing this again? It’s a great question. I think the Tigers have to have some level of interest. Um, Bregman’s leadership qualities is kind of exactly what they need. His ability to get on base and hit with a little power is exactly what they need, but we’ve talked about it some before. He’s a year older. I think that’s a little bit concerning. And he’s less of a perfect fit uh positionally than he was this time a year ago. We went over it. You know, you could just DH Colt Keith a lot, but there going to be some ripple effects across the roster if you bring in um a third baseman. Even if you leave Kevin McGonagal in the minor leagues, um it’s it’s not a perfect fit, but it’s still a pretty good fit. It is still arguably the best fit. Uh if the Tigers want to get serious about winning a World Series, presumably in their final year with TKO, uh I don’t have a lot new to say on Alex Bregman. I think there’s going to be some level of interest. Maybe it comes down to does Bregman want to be in Detroit? because his infamous quote uh this time or in February, he thought he was going to Detroit 90% of the offseason. Red Sox came in with a sweet deal at the last minute, but the Tigers still offered him the long-term deal he wanted. Maybe they could have given him a little more money to get it done, and they probably should have. Um, but I’m not sure we we’ll ever know the full story of what went on in those negotiations. Um, but part of me wonders if he just doesn’t want to come to Detroit, doesn’t want to play in Kameria Park, if there’s something else, especially when you’re looking that the Red Sox may still have some interest and a lot of other premier teams are going to have some interest. Um, some of it may just come down to Alex Bregman’s preference and I wonder if that’s what the Tigers are going to be up against. I’m not sure how much it’s worth, but at but I I’m going to bring it up anyway. He did hit 364 with a 909 slug in Kamea Park last season and that’s then that’s with a couple make sure my memor is correct. Yes, a couple home runs uh you know to boot there and that’s the second tied for the second most of any ballpark last season with uh obviously Fenway Park being number one. So uh so that element anecdotally small sample size for the uh most recent uh excursion should like alleviate some Kameica Park concerns for him. Uh if I’m Alex Bregman, I have won a World Series obviously got a couple. I do not like I I don’t have to go to a team that is going to pay me the most most because I’ve been a winner my entire career. Do you want to go down the path of you know going into like obscurity, but you also want to be in a situation that like pays you and you have the opportunity to win. Boston fit that profile last year. Detroit would have fit that profile last year. Detroit fits that profile this year. plus the connection, you know, Alex Kora and um and AJ Hinch, there’s no reason to be anti Detroit in my opinion because you’re willing to go to Boston, so it’s not a weather thing. So, there’s no reason to be anti-D Detroit. If it’s not your preference, I get it, but it it should check a lot of the boxes for you. Another thing to keep in mind if if I’m Alex Bregman is how long do I really want to play this out? Because it was kind of a weird thing last year with the Red Sox. Now, that got solved, I guess, with the Devil’s trade a little bit, but at the same time, now they now they’re trying to get Young, too, in the infield. They got guys that they got to figure out in the infield. So, I don’t know if they’re going to want to give you that kind of same contract. And then some teams like the Tigers might just like let let you pass by basically. So, the timing for him, I feel like, has to be at least better than it was last season. Now, where maybe he learned just wait it out and something a little more like what you want will come along. I don’t know. Maybe. But I will I I’ll just I’ll close on this point. The Tigers do feel, if I’m going to kind of give something in their favor, they do feel in a position with, you know, throwing some Colt Keith at third base last year, something we were not privy to at this time last year was a little bit of stability at first base, something that was not the case last year. you already have Glabber Torres into, you should have a better idea of what a healthy hobby bias can do for you. In theory, if you really wanted to wait out Bregman, you could do it both ways where you’re all right, awesome, let’s go, you know, let’s go win a championship or okay, fine. We got guys that we know we can win with. We went to game five to DS and we feel like we didn’t make our reach our ceiling last year. So, you see what I’m saying? like they there is a little bit of comfort in knowing that you don’t it’s not going to you’re not going to ride or die with the Bregman sweep stakes. I think I think that at least exists now that did not exist last season. I I think that’s probably true. I think the front office probably feels that way. But there’s still the argument like what what do the Tigers need? They’re at a place where they’re getting rid of platoon guys like Andy Abanas. They don’t really need that victory, that like small edge around the margins anymore. I think they need a legit veteran hitter. Which brings us to our our second name here, Bobette. Bobette. If you’re not going to go get Alex Bregman or Bobette, you better get real creative and and do something we don’t see coming because otherwise I’m not sure how the Tigers are going to take this lineup to the next level. Bob Bashette, you could argue, you could argue, is going to be a better fit than Alex Bregman simply because of his ability to play shortstop. Now, grain assault, as we’ve talked about before, he was terrible defensively last year, minus 12 defensive runs saved. Um, it was a pretty big decline. He was negative three the year before that, but he hasn’t been a plus defender um in quite some time. So, that’s the I think that’s the big question. Do you still trust him to play shortstop for another year or two? because if you do, he could check a big box. Um, we know Bashett’s a legit bat. He also seems to be a winner. He’s not quite the veteran that Bregman is, but uh, he’s been around his he grew up in clubouses. I feel like he would be a positive influence. The other downside might be just the walk rate. He walks at a below average clip around 6%. He’s been able to mitigate that for the most part by hitting the ball hard and hitting the ball really well. Um, two years ago, not so much, but his quality of contact rebounded in a big way. He did have a 342 batting average in balls in play last season. Something that might be worth considering that 2024, you see it on the screen, 0.3 war scares you a little bit. He’s projected on the Athletics to get even more than Bregman and that’s probably because he’s younger. He’s only 28 years old, but you’re definitely looking at an eventual move to second base or to third base. The Tigers have a lot of other infielders coming through the system. There’s a lot to like about Bette. There are a couple things not to like about Bett. Um, would the Tigers be willing to pay up for a player? That’s the thing we don’t quite have the answer to at this point in time. Um, but I’m not sure there’s a better way to improve your offense than just going and getting a dude. this it it would be a a home run signing from lifting your offense perspective. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. And then the other the other pieces of it, I was just looking this up to verify. He’s never logged any anything other than shortstop uh as as a major leager. So like everyone’s like, you know, saying like, well, maybe he have to go to second base or third base or whatever. Uh okay. I would love to hear I would love for him to talk to Katie Woo or you or you you could do it too and just be like, “Yeah, you know, I could I could play third. I could play, you know, second base.” He’s not gonna do that because it’s shortstop. You know what I mean? But but I would love for to hear some thoughts on that and then you know someone who you know is actually scouting him and and has some insight as to whether they think that would be something that he could do at a reasonable level because I think if he signs with the Tigers like I don’t care about years and money in terms of like status so like if you sign with the Tigers that it should be part of the part of the calculus is you’re probably going to be playing some third. You’ll play some short you’ll probably play a lot of short stop, but we might have to just put you at third at a certain point this year and you’re going to have to be okay with that because if you say that this is part of your profile, which again he hasn’t said it, so I don’t know. But if you say this is part of your profile, I think if you you come to Detroit in this specific instance, it ought to be like relatively like from Jump Street, we’re going to if we feel like we it’s better for the team, we’re going to do this. Not like wait around until you’re 31, 32 years old. So, I don’t think anyone’s like kind of attacking it that way, but I like the idea. If he is willing to do that, yeah, cool. Fine. I don’t, you know, I don’t care about contract status and shorts stops, but from the from an offense perspective, it would be a tremendous addition. Yeah. Um, I think the other thing that Tigers may be up against here is the Blue Jays. Uh, we know the Blue Jays aren’t afraid to throw money at some free agents and they’ve struggled to sign a lot of the guys they have wanted. There’s something about getting players to come to Toronto. I think while Bobett’s already been to Toronto and he’s already played in the World Series with the Blue Jays. Um I think they have a little advantage if they want to make a big offer to sign him. I think I think he’s more likely to get it than maybe other free agents have been in past years. So I don’t think you’re getting Bo Bashette at a discount. Let’s just put it that way. Um I think Bette and Bregman are heads and shoulders above most of the other options I can think of. That’s why I’m I’m fascinated to see what the Tigers end up doing. Just for the sake of getting to some other names, here’s one no one’s mentioned in a while. Remember a time this summer when everyone wanted Auano Suarez? And now he’s a free agent and there’s not a lot of chatter about Gino Suarez. He went to the Mariners. His production did drop off in the second half in a pretty big way. Uh, but he still hit for power and he would still represent an offensive upgrade for the Tigers. There’s not a lot of defensive value. He hit 189 for the record with the Mariners after the deadline, but 13 homers. So, yeah. Uh, you know, I I think the big downside with Suarez, and the reason I was not a big proponent of the Tigers getting him at the deadline was the swing and miss. We know that’s a problem. And Gino Suarez happens to swing and miss a ton. He punched out 196 times last year. So if you want him to join Riley Green and and maybe you could have two guys punching out 200 times. U that’s that’s what you might be getting last year. His power um almost an outlier. I mean I mean this guy’s legit. He hit 49 home runs and he had done that once before, but I don’t think you can count on him doing that. um especially in a bigger park. The the thing here is that his market I think for all these reasons and the fact he’s 34, his market is not going to be great. So if you wanted him on a two-year deal 40 plus million, could that be feasible? Would you be willing to live with the strikeouts to add a 35 homer guy who’s a great clubhouse guy and all these other things? I kind of think no. I assume the Tigers are going to be out on him because of the strikeouts, because it’s already unclear if they really feel like they need a third baseman, but I think it’s still worth talking about just because if you want to add a little more thump to your order, there’s a guy out there that you could probably get on a short-term contract. Yeah. And and you know what? I also think he is somebody that in a like other organizations that don’t stick to their process but are still very successful would like go after Suarez after kind of like the first wave or you you know the first wave kind of passes you by. You understand you’re not going to get those guys. uh like there’s an argument to be made that if you’re willing to go after Bregman, you you shouldn’t like close the door on Suarez options, right? Like I I think I think that’s a fair statement because you’re obviously open to third base. Uh you know, adding at third base, but you know, the flaws are are still there and you know, the homecoming element would be fun there, too. Uh, all right. We are going to take a quick break and get get to some other names, including Cody’s favorite coming up. But first, a word from our sponsors. Hey, for all the parents out there with teens, it’s more hectic now than ever. Cash App’s going to help, not hurt. With the Cash App card available to teens 13 to 17 with sponsorship by an eligible parent or guardian, every transaction triggers a real-time notification for you to see, empowering your teen to practice independence while giving you peace of mind by keeping track of their spending. You can also manage everything directly from your own Cash App account without having to switch between the two. 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It’s not going to take a six or sevenyear commitment. He’s a little bit of an interesting case in terms of like what do you make of his 2025? He missed most of the season recovering from a shoulder injury. He finished the year um in a short sample with what a 628 OPS, 684 OPS uh with the Braves, 649 overall in 48 games. So he only played 48 games, he wasn’t that good, 83 uh OPS plus. But um after he was traded from the Rays to the Braves, his first 19 games in Atlanta, he hit 309 with an 828 OPS and slumped like the last five games of the season. Uh it was all such a small sample that you can kind of chop that way up any way you want to support the argument that Hassan Kim is really good or Hassan Kim might be declining and will never be the same again. He’s a shortstop. I think he could still be a good defender. There are some questions about his arm. from his arm strength was not the same returning from um his shoulder surgery. That’s certainly a major concern, but uh this is a guy who just two years ago was a four- win player, the athletics picking him to get three years 50 million, that’s probably about the high end of what I would be comfortable with. But if you could do a one-year with a player option or maybe a two-year with an option for a third, uh, I think this could be really wise if you didn’t want to go the Bregman route or you didn’t win the bidding on Bo Bashette. I think the Tigers need to upgrade their offense. There’s this is not a great class of shorts stops. Hassan Kim uh, can still be a a pretty good all-around player and and so that’s I think why we keep talking about him. Yeah, I don’t have any push back on that. I think that’s a bidding war and bidding not just in dollar amounts but in contract structure too like you mentioned that I feel like the Tigers could easily win like they could easily like you know get get them to being the most advantageous offer that that Kim would get. and he checks he checks a lot of boxes and at that at that years and at that price number I think that’s very manageable for you know really any budget of a major league team even if we’re not sure they are you know making a profit. So, uh, I think I think we’ve we’ve talked a lot about that. Here here here’s another kind of more philosophical aspect to this, Cody, that I think, you know, deserves to be mentioned. Uh, we like Carrie Carpenter. Carrie Carpenter is a good player. He’s a good left-handed bat. I’m not sure. I think at this point we can kind of write off some defensive development, you know, getting to a certain level. Is there any thought to like getting a you know in terms of being creative is getting somebody to more or less like be your everyday right fielder or you know if you you know you you know if you can get creative with Riley Green and left field as well because some of the edge some of the ed you know not edge but uh corner corner edge corner outfield options uh you know there are a little there are some more out there and I guess we’ll just stop at the start at the top too. Like, you know, let’s just bring in like a Kyle Tucker conversation. Why the hell not? Why the hell not? There’s no there’s no rule that says the Tigers can’t sign Kyle Tucker. No one’s talking about it, I think, for the reason you just laid out. They have Carrie Carpenter. They have Riley Green. They have even guys like Wel Perez and and Matt Verling and Zach McKinstry who you think can help at the corner outfield. So, look, I don’t think they’re going to sign Kyle Tucker, but any corner outfield addition would require, I think, some level of greater roster shuffling, some trade that involves one of these core pieces. It’s really fun to think about, but I’m just not of the belief that um the Tigers are going to do it. Like, I keep saying, they’re not going to change the way they operate and they’re not going to pivot from their young hitters just because they made the playoffs two years in a row. So, it’d be a lot of fun if something like that were to come down the pipeline, but it’s hard to even talk about because it’s kind of hard to know what the what the um rest of the maneuvering would would possibly look like. I think it would have to take a a really unexpected trade to open up a corner outfield spot. So, we’re not going to go down the Adulles Garcia route. Just kind of get a guy with some postseason experience who’s got, you know, he’s still an excellent excellent fielder. Some of the bat metrics uh excuses that have been made for some Tigers players. Uh the bat metrics apply to Adoleis Garcia. He was obviously non-tendered by the Rangers as they transition into kind of like their new post World Series win era. Uh, I mean there price point is he still got some pop? Like any love there? Harrison Bader, any any love there? Uh, I think if you didn’t have Matt Verling and Wel Perez, Harrison Bader would make a lot of sense, but I just don’t think they’re going to pay for that. Um, Adoulles Garcia. Look, you can sign Suarez and Dolles Garcia and they can combine with Riley Green to hit 120 homers and strike out 600 times and we will have content to talk about all summer long, baby. This defense is intriguing. I just don’t think this team is the right fit, man. I think this team needs contact and quality of it bad and I I just don’t think that’s going to be the route for them. um you know the the last fit on the athletics big board linked to the Tigers old friend Willie Castro who uh at the trade deadline I was like he would kind of make a lot of sense um in some ways he still would he’s kind of like a Wel Perez if Wel Perez could still play infield didn’t have a great finish to his time with the Cubs only an 89 OPS plus last year but we know the bats in there all the things that used to bother me about against Willie Castro I’ve I’ve uh forgiven them. Although there’s can still be a lot of strike out there and it’s not necessarily plus defense at all. Uh but I don’t know if the Tigers wanted another versatile piece, he would make sense. My argument there is like I do they still need the versatile pieces like they just got rid of Andy Abanz and they have Welo Perez and they have Jamai Jones and they have Max Anderson, Kevin McGonagal, How Lee. like I’m I’m not sure that’s the box they need to check at this point in their competitive cycle. Um but when you start thinking, okay, if they don’t get Breman, if they don’t get Bashette, they got to do something, right? Like I don’t think they can run back the exact same lineup. So that’s why we’re throwing out that name. That’s why you can throw out Dol Garcia. What about What about Byron Buckton? Kieran, you want to go trade for Byron Buckton? and the Twins are tearing things down and he’s going to strike out a lot, but he’s fun when he’s healthy. I don’t think they’re in a trade for an often injured player, but Jiren Durant’s still a trade name I like a lot. Yeah. Um Brennan Donovan’s a hot name on the trade uh trade market. I would argue he’s basically Zach McKinstry. Um Brenn Donovan’s really good, but I don’t think the Tigers um necessarily have the the perfect fit for him, but they got to do something. So, send some ideas our way because I I the more I look at it, man, I’m just like I don’t know what they’re going to do. I don’t know, but they can’t do nothing. I guarantee you that Scott Harris is going to say to you and your fellow media members that Matt Verling is like a free agent addition. That’s a $3 million plus player that more or less might as well have not played in 2025. He’s a right-handed bat. he’s versatile defensively and uh including playing center field. So, I guarantee you that statement will be said. There is, I guess, some validity to that, but it’s also not sexy, just like the Willie Castro piece is also not sexy. Because here’s the thing about free agency that I always try to like frame everything around is that you’re obviously paying a premium to guys that make it to free agency. That’s just part of the game. you a lot of times are not going to get their best years. But in the case of some of these guys like Kyle Tucker, like the Bregmans of the world, the uh the Bobettes of the world, you’re thinking like, I can still get pretty close to their best years while paying them knowing that, you know, it’s not going to look good on the other end. you bring in someone like Willie Castro or even like these other like utility guys, are you paying for something close to their best years at like a I I would argue that’s more expensive in you know in a way than what you would be you know it was one one mil one year 8 million is what the athletic projected than even paying up for some of those high-end players. I just don’t think you’re getting anything close. I think the middle market is a dangerous place to live to to your point. Um, we’re talking about this because right now the Tigers have not really been linked to any hitters. Um, that part of the market is slower to develop and it normally is, but they’ve been upfront and outspoken saying they’re prioritizing pitching right now. I wonder if it’s as simple as the Tigers ranked 11th in run scoring last year and they ranked 17th in ERA. I’m not really counting on the Tigers having like the second best offense in baseball next year, but maybe they think that if Riley Green cuts down the strikeouts and Colt Keith takes a step forward and Verling andor Meadows are healthy that they can have the eighth best offense. And I think they have enough pitching talent, it should not be 17th again. I mean, there’s always injuries you’re not going to be able to predict, but you make a couple of the right signings, maybe they think they can get back to having a top five pitching staff. So, you get the eighth best offense and the fifth best pitching staff, and you’re you’re one of the baseball’s um elite contenders or right, you know, a notch below the elite, but you are right in the thick of things. And so, as much as I and a lot of fans out there don’t love the idea of not doing a big offensive move, wouldn’t stun me if that’s kind of how they’re looking at things upstairs. Part of the aspect of being a developing young players team, particularly young hitters, is that you are banking on your ability to get leaps out of out of these guys. So, like if you’re a basketball fan, you’re watching the Pistons right now and you’re seeing what um you’re seeing what Jaylen Durant is uh is doing. Uh Duran is doing, excuse me, uh mixing up my sports here. During Durant and Jaylen Durren in the same town, make it happen. Yeah, that’ll be that’ll be great for the local radio to get those mixed up all the time. So, that’s obviously a leap. That’s a guy who’s a young player and and he’s developed and he’s taken a massive leap so far this season. You’re kind of hoping to get like a Duran type leap out of somebody and and like you know almost not like every year but like every couple years that’s the whole point. And then also I mentioned like the positions that are available and why it’s kind of hard to fill these guys to be at free agency. It’s not an accident that the last like two seasons the fir uh the two uh prior to this year actually included this year up the middle athletes Cody you know talking about Brainer talking about Clark you know McGonagal too if you want to throw it in there last year’s drafts like like up the middle athletes is where the Tigers are trying to get young or like get them young and then develop them into like you know good to star players because this right here because they’re hard to get otherwise. And so just wanted to keep that in mind uh as uh as as we move forward with this organization. So up the middle athletes hard to come by. Hard to come by. They’re expensive. I think that kind of says it all right there. I think uh I think that’s all the mysteries of the world we can solve today. But we’ll be with you all off seasonason. Winter meetings just a couple weeks away. And eventually this stove is going to start heating up and we’re going to see some moves uh start coming down the pipeline. Absolutely. All right. And you can follow along with us at Cody Stavenhagen. I am at Kieran Steckley page at Tiger Territory_. Be sure to subscribe on YouTube so we can continue to grow there. And a last reminder, tiger territory.com. Black Friday sale code black friday for 10% off. We appreciate everyone who supports the show. So for Cody Steenhagen, I am Karen Steckley. Everybody have a great day.

The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen and cohost Kieran Steckley talk the latest on Ryan Helsley’s possible conversion to starting. Then they dive deeper on five free agents (plus a few bonus names) who could make sense to upgrade the Detroit Tigers’ offense. Is Alex Bregman still the best solution? Can Bo Bichette still play shortstop? What other alternatives couls be out there?

Tiger Territory is the official Detroit Tigers Podcast of the Foul Territory Network.

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