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Colin Shannon's offseason plan

Colin Shannon’s Offseason Plan

Arbitration-eligible players

You can choose to offer the following players the contracts listed below or non-tender them (i.e. not offer them a contract and allow them to leave as a free agent). Feel free to explain any of your tougher decisions.

Contract options (pick up or buy out)

Pending free agents (re-sign or let go)

  • Erick Aybar: made $8.5 million in 2016- re-sign for one year 2 million

  • Jarrod Saltalamacchia: made $8 million in 2016-let go

  • Casey McGehee: made $1.1 million in 2016-let go

Note: The Tigers did not pay out the entirety of these salaries. Aybar spent most of the season with Atlanta, who sent $2 million to Detroit in the trade. Saltalmacchia received nearly $7.5 million of his salary from the Miami Marlins, who signed him to a three-year deal prior to the 2014 season. McGehee was payed a prorated portion of his $1.1 million salary while he accrued major league service time.

Free agents

If you choose to sign any free agents, name the player(s), the maximum contract offer you would extend to them, and a brief explanation. Here’s an example:


Alex Avila (one year, $3 million): The Tigers need a backup catcher with Saltalamacchia’s departure, and Avila’s offensive platoon splits pair well with James McCann. Avila is also familiar with some of the pitching staff, which should make for an easy transition.


Steve Pearce (1 year, 6 million): Steve Pearce can play 1B and also OF he is a productive bat that can be a nice role player for the tigers.



Trades

Trade Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez to the Boston Red Sox for Jackie Bradley Jr. CF, Sam Travis 1B (Red Sox 6th prospect), and Luis Alexander Basabe OF (Red Sox 8th prospect):

The Red Sox are losing their best batter in David Ortiz this offseason, so they will need someone to replace Ortiz ability to drive in runs. In this trade V-mart would slide into the DH for the Red sox and Miguel would go to 1B. Then Hanley can move to third and then Brock Holt can move to RF and Mookie goes to CF. Red sox have extreme depth and versatility which would allow them to make this trade. The addition of Miguel and V-mart would keep them a top hitting team. It fits because though expensive it would put the Red Sox at 194 million payroll which is 4 million less than the tigers had this year. If the tigers can afford it the Red sox can. Also we know Dave Dombrowski likes both Miguel and V-mart because he acquired both for the tigers. Now this is a good trade for the Tigers because it gives us a good young CF to replace Maybin (who I will be trading later) and it gives us a two good young prospects Sam Travis 1B (Red Sox 6th prospect) and Luis Alexander Basabe OF (Boston Red sox 8th prospect). It’s not an overwhelming return for Miguel or V-mart but it gets us younger and takes nearly 46 million off the payroll. If the Red sox can’t absorb both of their contracts completely I would be willing to pay part of Miguel's contract.


Trade Justin Verlander, J.D. Martinez, and Alex Wilson to the Dodgers for Julio Urias SP, Yasiel Puig RF, and Willie Calhoun 2B (Dodgers 4th prospect): Money is not an issue for the Dodgers they have shown they will pay whatever. Plus they have 60 million coming off the books this year. This trade would give the Dodgers automatic upgrades at both SP and RF. J.D Martinez is a huge upgrade to Puig and the Dodgers have been trying to trade Puig for sometime. Julio Urias is a great young pitcher and it might be hard for the dodgers to part with him but they are upgrading to Justin Verlander maybe the best pitcher in the AL. This trade would give the Dodgers the one two punch of aces at the top of their rotation they lost when Greinke left. The Dodgers have had bullpen problems so alex wilson is a sweetener in the trade so that the Dodgers would be more willing to trade their number 4 prospect Willie Calhoun 2B. The Dodgers are win now and this trade would upgrade their Starting rotation, batting order, bullpen, and probably chemistry (given they don’t like Puig). The Dodgers would be mortgaging their future but they would absolutely be making their team much better. This trade is good for the tigers because we get almost 28 million off the books while getting younger. We get a premier young pitcher to pair with Fulmer, Norris, and Boyd and we get our OF younger while also getting a great prospect. So we continue to do the mission of getting younger and cheaper.


Trade Ian Kinsler and Justin Wilson to the Toronto Blue Jays for Devon Travis 2B, Anthony Alford OF (Blue Jays 3rd prospect), and Angel Perdomo LHP (Blue Jays 15th prospect):

This one hurts a little bit because we are trading kinsler for a guy we traded away for Anthony Gose. But this trade would be good for the Blue Jays because they get a premier second baseman who is very cheap for his production. And playing in Toronto Kinsler’s stats would only get better. Also they get a quality arm in the bullpen in Justin Wilson and you can always use more quality arms in the bullpen. This trade is good for the tigers because we get a young 2B (age 25) to replace Kinsler. Plus we get a great and good prospect in Anthony Alford OF (Blue Jays 3rd prospect) and Angel Perdomo LHP (Blue Jays 15th prospect)


Trade Francisco Rodriguez to the San Francisco Giants for Aramis Garcia C (Giants 6th prospect), Rodolfo Martinez RHP (Giants 12th prospect), and Clayton Blackburn RHP (Giants 14th prospect):

The Giants have no true closer and they are a win now team and giving them K-rod would give them that shutdown closer. This return is very fair after seeing what Chapman and Miller went for. This is smart for the tigers because we shed a few million while getting younger and bolstering our minor league system.


Trade Justin Upton to the Baltimore Orioles for Ryan Mountcastle SS (Orioles 6th prospect) and Mike Yastrzemski OF (Orioles 17th prospect):

Upton is coming off a hot end to the year and he is a power hitter who would fit great in Baltimore. He could take over LF or slide into DH both are weak spots for the Orioles. The Orioles are giving up a nice prospect package for a batter who would fit perfectly into their team. It’s a win win, Tigers get younger and cheaper and the Orioles get better.



Trade Cameron Maybin to the St. Louis Cardinals for Nick Plummer (Cardinals 12th prospect) and Bryce Denton 3B (Cardinals 23rd prospect):

The Cardinals have a weak OF and Cameron Maybin has the highest value he has ever had. The tigers would be getting back Nick Plummer who is a hometown kid who I actually know personally because he was a year older than me at my grade school and a an ok prospect to bolster our minor league system in Bryce Denton.




Summary

Like Mike from Breaking Bad says "No half-measures". I’m not one for doing anything halfast either sell hard or buy hard. In my scenario I’m trading all of our aging players and their is a large haul. These trades can put the tigers back on track to being a contender in a few years. The tigers in this scenario are getting rid of over 100 million dollars and are becoming much younger and making the minor league system much better. The tigers still have a few unfavorable contracts in Jordan Zimmermann, Anibal Sanchez, Mike Pelfrey, and Mark Lowe. I wouldn’t trade Jordan Zimmermann this offseason because I would hope he regains his value and then I would trade him at the deadline. Then Sanchez, Pelfrey, and Lowe are all terrible with sizeable contracts so unless they have resurgent seasons I don’t see a way of getting rid of them.


After these trades the Tigers lineup is:

C James Mcaann

1B Steve Pearce

2B Devon Travis

3B Nick Catellanos

SS Jose Iglesias

LF Tyler Collins

CF Jackie Bradley Jr.

RF Yasiel Puig

DH Steven Moya

Bench

Jacoby Jones

Andrew Romine

Alex Avila

Eric Aybar


Batting order

  1. Jackie Bradley Jr.

  2. Yasiel Puig

  3. Nick Castellanos

  4. Devon Travis

  5. Steven Moya

  6. Steve Pearce

  7. Tyler Collins

  8. James Mccann

  9. Jose Iglesias




SP Michael Fulmer

SP Julio Urias
SP Daniel Norris
SP Matt Boyd

SP Jordan Zimmerman


CP Bruce Rondon

SU Shane Greene

MR Mark Lowe

MR Kyle Ryan

MR Blaine Hardy

MR Anibal Sanchez

MR Mike Pelfrey


The team would definitely be taking a step down but we would not be terrible. Our team would rely on our Starting rotation and as they grow and become better so does our team as a whole. Along with a very young starting lineup we would come away with a haul of prospects being:

Sam Travis 1B (Red Sox 6th prospect)

Luis Alexander Basabe OF (Red Sox 8th prospect)

Willie Calhoun 2B (Dodgers 4th prospect)

Anthony Alford OF (Blue Jays 3rd prospect)

Angel Perdomo LHP (Blue Jays 15th prospect)

Aramis Garcia C (Giants 6th prospect)

Rodolfo Martinez RHP (Giants 12th prospect)

Clayton Blackburn RHP (Giants 14th prospect)

Ryan Mountcastle SS (Orioles 6th prospect)

Mike Yasterzemski OF (Orioles 17th prospect)

Nick Plummer OF (Cardinals 12th prospect)

Bryce Denton 3B (Cardinals 23rd prospect)


Doing this in a few short years the tigers would turn into a World series contender in a few short years!


This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the <em>Bless You Boys</em> writing staff.