Detroit Tigers News: The MLB Winter Meetings are here

Good Monday morning. After a Sunday of travel, settling in, and avoiding Marlins Man at the hotel bar at all costs, the executives of Major League Baseball are ready to get the MLB Winter Meetings underway.

And man, are we ready. The Hot Stove is actually hot, the Heisman Trophy was awarded to a baseball player, and we have Hall of Fame votes to get angry about. We can now turn our focus again to baseball, the Detroit Tigers, and what we can only hope won’t be a completely disappointing week in Las Vegas.

Get that shopping list ready

If you want to know what the shopping lists are looking like in Las Vegas this week, MLB.com has come up with what they believe each teams needs are going into the Winter Meetings. They have the Tigers pegged for middle infield help along with the bullpen. I mostly agree with their assessment, other than the fact that they left off the most important need: an owner willing to spend any kind of money to put a remotely entertaining product on the field.

Perez ready to put 2018 behind him

Pitching prospect Franklin Perez was in Detroit over the weekend meeting fans, signing autographs, and freezing his ass off.

To say Perez, the key piece to the Justin Verlander trade, had a disappointing 2018 would be an understatement. Perez battled injuries all year and saw very limited time on the mound in his first full year with the organization. Coming into 2019, he is feeling much better. The young hurler has been throwing and will soon be working his way up to tossing from 90 feet. He anticipates being fully prepared for spring training and is looking forward to a fruitful year.

Going to Vegas to cash in

It would appear that the name to focus on for Tigers fans during this year’s Winter Meetings is Nicholas Castellanos. He seems to be the prime target for a potential trade, with pitcher Matt Boyd not too far behind. The biggest question around trading Castellanos isn’t so much the team’s willingness to do so, as it is the market. With so many free agents available it’s hard to say what kind of action the organization could see around him. If they see any kind of worthwhile return offered, though, you can probably expect to see Nick on the move.

Matt Moore has some ideas

Matt Moore is happy for the opportunity to come to Detroit. That would seem to be because he wants the opportunity to return to a starting role, which according to him, is the position the team is putting him in. While I appreciate his optimism, I’m not sure I — or the organization, for that matter — are that married to him being locked into the starting rotation. I think the Tigers’ moves at the Winter Meetings and throughout the remainder of the offseason will speak more to Mr. Moore’s chances at sticking in the rotation than anything.

That said, Matt has a plan regarding what he can do to round back into starting pitcher material. He’s a believer in the magical powers of the spin rate. Combine that to some changes with his approach — he seems to be ditching the windup — and who knows. Maybe we get a revamped Matt Moore, which is the best thing any team looking for a trade piece at the deadline could ask for.

Kirk Gibson will destroy you

If you have any interest whatsoever in reading a story about Kirk Gibson wrestling Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels and bending him to his will in the amount of time it takes the average human being to take a bite of a sandwich, then you need to read this.

Take a picture

It’s the offseason. You want to know how I know? We’re talking about all the really cool stuff Daniel Norris does that doesn’t involve throwing a baseball really hard. In the below clip, we take a break from his surfing, van living, and custom-designed trucker hat wearing to focus on how good he is with a camera in his hand.

Around the horn

The Washington Nationals don’t expect Bryce Harper to come back. How to land a job in baseball at the Winter Meetings. Camden, N.J. taxpayers will pay $1 million to tear down a stadium they spent $18 million to build.