It has been a very big week for the Tigers, indeed, or at least a very big week for the checkbooks in the front office. First the Tigers announced their deal with leftie Framber Valdez, one that proved the team was not afraid to shell out a decent chunk of change for a talented left-handed pitcher. Then, in very related news, the Tigers were forced to pay Tarik Skubal precisely what he’s worth when the Tigers’ ace won his arbitration hearing and earned a $32M payday. The Tigers are going to be spending
an awful lot of money on pitching in 2026. It would be nice to think they’ll continue to spend big bucks on the rotation, but it seems likely at this point that they’ll need to win Skubal the hard way in free agency (if they don’t trade him before the end of the season anyway).
In sadder news, the Tigers and baseball lost a legend as Mickey Lolich passed away this week. He will forever be remembered by Tigers fans as a member of the iconic 1968 World Series-winning team.
We have more to share in terms of general baseball news today (and we’ve covered these big stories in more detail here on the site), so let’s just jump right into the day’s news.
Detroit Tigers News
- Michael Baumann looks at how Skubal became the highest-paid player in arbitration history.
- Did signing Framber Valdez make the Tigers the team to beat atop the AL Central leaderboard?
- Ken Rosenthal thinks the Valdez signing proves the Tigers are in it to win it, especially while they still have Skubal around. ($)
- How Tarik Skubal is poised to revolutionize MLB’s salary system.
- Have the Tigers embraced a new way to build a star-studded rotation?
- One player who we won’t see in the WBC? Javier Baez, who is banned from international play until April 2026 after he tested positive for cannabis in 2023.
- If you want insights from AJ Hinch on the upcoming season and some hot Tigers’ prospects, he was featured in a new podcast episode.
- New seasonal hype video has dropped!
- In Memorium of Mickey Lolich.
- And remembering two Negro League players who were part of many Tigers’ celebrations.
AL Central News
- Things are looking worse and worse for Emmanuel Clase.
- Former Chicago White Sox player Alexei Ramirez hasn’t played an MLB game since 2016, but he’ll be representing Team Cuba in the WBC. Fun fact, he also played for Team Cuba in the first WBC in 2006.
MLB News
- When does baseball season start? Probably the first time we see any player at all start to get practice throws in.
- MLB players strike a deal to be made into AI character likenesses that can interact with fans, and surely this won’t go terribly, terribly wrong.
- The complicated relationship between framing and blocking.
- The talent on the World Baseball Classic rosters is wild, with 78 All-Stars listed among those participating.
- A team-by-team breakdown of players participating in the WBC. (The Tigers have 10 players participating this year.)
- Jeff Passan and Buster Olney share what they’ve learned over this offseason and what it could mean going forward.
- How copper thieves are putting some Southern Californian Little League seasons in jeopardy. ($)
- In case you’d like to feel 1000 years old today… (If you were born after 2006 please let me know in the comments and really rub it in.)
- Delightful minor league nonsense.
