Ladies & Gentlemen, Your 2019 Detroit Tigers...

Sure the 2018 MLB Season isn't over yet, but for those that have been reading this project would know that I took over the Detroit Tigers prior to the Trade Deadline during the 2018 season, while I made a couple big trades that saw some Tiger fan favorites say goodbye to Motown.

Those trades again, were as follows...

• Acquired SP Patrick Corbin from Arizona in exchange for OF Melky Cabrera.
• Acquired 1B Jesus Aguilar, minor league OF Tristen Lutz & minor league SP Corbin Burnes from Milwaukee in exchange for OF Nicholas Castellanos, RP Shane Greene & minor league 3B Kody Clemens. 
• Acquired the following prospects from Toronto: OF Victor Victor Mesa, SP Adam Kloffenstein (2018 MLB Draft Pick / 3rd Rd - 88th overall), SS Logan Warmoth & C Danny Jansen in exchange for SP Michael Fulmer. 
• Released DH/1B Victor Martinez.

This off-season I had $50 million to use towards free agency, I was definitely out of the Bryce Harper and Josh Donaldson sweepstakes, both were demanding at least $25 million-a-year, while they would probably not look in this direction anyways.

These are the players that I signed & acquired....

• Acquired OF Aaron Altherr from the Philadelphia Phillies, in exchange for OF JaCoby Jones and minor league 1B Reynaldo Rivera.
• Signed SP Charlie Morton to a 5-year deal worth $80 million ($16 million per season), which included a team option & player option.
• Signed SS Freddy Galvis to a 8-year deal worth $117 million ($14,625,0000 per season), which included a team option & player option.
• Drafted SP Mike Foltynewicz in the 2018 Rule 5 Draft.
• Drafted P Randall Delgado in the 2018 Rule 5 Draft.
• Signed International Free Agent SP Ekiken Tomita (Japan) to a 6-year deal worth $46.5 million ($7.75 million per season).
• Signed RP Andrew Miller to a 3-year deal worth $18 million ($6 million per season).
• Signed SP Cole Hamels to a 5-year deal worth $33.5 million ($6.7 million per season), which included a team option & player option.
• Signed C Danny Jansen to a one-year extension worth $817,500.
• Traded Jordan Zimmermann to the Baltimore Orioles, while retaining 100% of his contract, in exchange for minor league 1B Seamus Curran and minor league LF Josue Cruz.

We waived & designated the following players for assignment...

• RP Daniel Stumpf  (claimed by the Chicago White Sox).
• RP Warwick Saupold (claimed by the Minnesota Twins).
• RP Jaye Chapman (claimed by the Minnesota Twins).
• 2B/3B Dawel Lugo was drafted in the 2018 Rule 5 Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays.

Charlie Morton was my #1 target in the free agency market, and am pretty thrilled about acquiring him. OOTP has him currently as a 3.5 stars pitcher with most of his ratings at 60/80. Morton had a 14-8 record with Houston in 2018, with 168 strikeouts in 188.2 innings.

Acquiring Cole Hamels may have some of you scratching your heads, but hear me out, I feel the $6.7 million price tag was relatively cheap, there are far worse pitchers out there making about $10 million more. Plus I get Hamels out of Arlington, while bringing him to Comerica, which should only improve his numbers while hoping he can put it back together to finish his career in respectable fashion.

At a glance, Freddy Galvis' total of $117 million may appear to be a ton, but it is a 8-year deal, while winning out with the back-half of the contract when you consider the rate of pay & the game's inflation rate. Plus Galvis' glove is just short of gold glove caliber, while he consistently stays healthy. I was looking to make the middle infield stronger, other options included signing Brian Dozier, but he is pricey at $11.5 million after a season he batted .211... I also looked at Asdrubal Cabrera as a back-up option if Galvis didn't fall through, I would have moved Dixon Machado over to short, with Cabrera at second... but thankfully it went my way & I got Galvis.

The international signing of SP Ekiken Tomita was for depth in the rotation, I liked his attributes and ratings & felt he was a good fit for our team. 

I had a chance to draft Marco Estrada in the Rule 5 Draft, but went younger with Mike Foltynewicz, while hoping that Estrada would be there in the 2nd Round (Estrada was not). I drafted Randall Delgado in the 2nd Round, while I plan to use him in long relief, at worse if he does not fit in with us, he will be shipped back to the New York Yankees.

I really love the fact that I signed Andrew Miller with the Tigers for a $18 million deal over 3 seasons, for the price, I really don't think its a bad investment, and if he stays healthy this deal will make me look like a genius. He fits in with a up-and-coming bullpen that involves my 2019 projected closer Gerson Moreno, Joe Jimenez, Eduardo Jimenez & Zac Reininger.

I traded Jordan Zimmermann away, because I was simply tired of looking at his face.. also with all the pitching moves, I really don't have room for him. He will still be in our books, with the team retaining the $50 million ($25 per year) over the 2019 & 2020 seasons, while I added two prospects. I will admit most teams would have held on to him, or tried to get teams to take some of the money.

While I was signing all these guys, I was in talks of extending starting pitcher Patrick Corbin's contract, but he got lost in the haze, then after all the free agent frenzy, I noticed he was nowhere in our organization (whoops!), plus I can't find him in anyone else's, I guess we'll find out eventually.

My rotation appears to be as follows...

1. Charlie Morton (14-8, 3.48 ERA & 168 K)
2. Cole Hamels (10-16, 5.43 ERA & 154 K)
3. Ekiken Tomita (Rookie)
4. Daniel Norris (8-7, 3.46 ERA & 96 K in 125 IP)
5. Mike Foltynewicz (7-8, 5.76 ERA & 132 K)

While my Triple-A rotation has the following guys knocking on the door...

1. Corbin Burnes
2. Franklin Perez
3. Beau Burrows
4. Grayson Long
5. Kyle Funkhouser

2018 MLB 1st Overall pick Casey Mize will start the season in Double-A for a short period, then up to Triple-A Toledo. 

The lineup definitely has its holes, but I like our depth a lot better than what was on opening day 2018. The lineup is as follows...

1. Jorge Bonifacio - RF / (V.V. Mesa - CF)
2. Aaron Hicks - LF / RF
3. Miguel Cabrera - 1B
4. Jesus Aguilar - DH
5. Jeimer Candelario - 3B
6. Freddy Galvis - SS
7. Victor Victor Mesa - CF / (Aaron Altherr - LF)
8. Dixon Machado - 2B
9. Grayson Greiner - C / James McCann C

I have a few players platooning, but this will be my overall lineup, it's not a great lineup, but feel its more rounded than last year's.

We should finish in 3rd place, best case scenario our players overachieve, some of these minor leaguers make an impact on the roster & we might be looking at a wild card... I still believe that is a huge stretch, then again the Oakland Athletics reached the playoffs as a wild card in 2018, finishing 3rd with 90 wins actually.

Clayton signs with the Dodgers' enemy.

Other MLB Transactions across the league...

• Bryce Harper resigns with the Washington Nationals for 7-year deal worth $178.8 million (just over $25.5 million per season).
• Josh Donaldson resigns with the Toronto Blue Jays for 5-year deal worth $120 million ($24 million per season).
• A.J. Pollock signs with the Kansas City Royals for 6-year deal worth $108 million ($18 million per season).
• Clayton Kershaw signs with the San Francisco Giants for 7-year deal worth $161 million ($23 million per season).
• Yasmani Grandal signs with the Oakland Athletics for 7-year deal worth $112.1 million ($16 million per season).
• The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired SP Jake Faria and minor league LF Dalton Kelly from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for C Austin Barnes. The Dodgers would also acquire C Robinson Chirinos in exchange for OF Andrew Toles. 
• The New York Mets acquired 1B Jose Abreu and minor league 2B Trey Hair from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor league SS Luis Guillorme and minor league OF Ronnie Taylor Jr. (Abreu was traded to Tampa Bay back on July 13th in exchange for SP Yonny Chirinos & CF Nathan Lukes). 
• The Chicago White Sox made two more separate deals in December with the Tampa Bay Rays that brought in SP Matt Andriese and RP Chaz Roe in exchange for prospects.
• Logan Forsythe resigns with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 5-year deal worth $69.5 million ($13.9 million/season). 
• Adrian Beltre signs with the Philadelphia Phillies for 3-year deal worth $33.6 million ($11.2 million/season).
• D.J. LeMahieu signs with the Los Angeles Angels for 7-year deal worth $29.68 million ($4.24 million/season). 
• Daniel Murphy returns to the New York Mets, signing a 5-year deal worth $68.5 million ($13.7 million/season).
• Andrew McCutchen signs with the Toronto Blue Jays for a 5-year deal worth $71.5 million ($14.3 million/season).
• Craig Kimbrel signs with the Milwaukee Brewers for a 3-year deal worth $32.7 million ($10.9 million/season).
• Gio Gonzalez signs with the Texas Rangers for a 5-year deal worth $70.5 million ($14.1 million/season).
• The Chicago White Sox acquire 1B Eric Thames from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for minor league RHP Tyler Johnson, minor league RHP Jimmy Lambert & minor league CF T.J. Hopkins. 
• The Cleveland Indians sign DH Nelson Cruz and CF Adam Jones to one-year deals.

When I was updating the mid-season trades, and I placed Manny Machado with the Los Angeles Dodgers I wasn't aware that the computer-version of Baltimore's front office actually signed Machado to an extension through 2023.

The consequences of acquiring Machado may have led to the Dodgers not resigning Clayton Kershaw, which resulted in him signing with the Giants. The Dodgers also made moves by acquiring C Robinson Chirinos & SP Jake Faria to deal with the departures of Kershaw & both of their catchers in Yasmani Grandal and Austin Barnes.

More to come....