Bill Dow | Special to Detroit Free Press As part of his series on former Detroit sports figures, Bill Dow caught up with former longtime Detroit sports broadcaster Ray Lane who celebrated his 91st birthday on Tuesday. How we remember him As one of the most versatile and respected Detroit sports broadcasters ever, Lane at
Ronald Blum | Associated Press New York — Seven-inning doubleheaders and runners on second base to start extra innings will return for a second straight season under an agreement for 2021 health protocols reached Monday between Major League Baseball and the players’ association. The deal did not include last year’s experimental rule to extend the
Greg Beacham | Associated Press Anaheim, Calif. — The Los Angeles Angels are far from finished with their effort to unlock Shohei Ohtani’s enormous two-way potential. Ohtani agreed to a two-year, $8.5 million contract with the Angels on Monday, avoiding arbitration. He will make $3 million in 2021 and $5.5 million in 2022, and both
The easy narrative would be that Jonathan Schoop was destined to return to Detroit. While the Tigers loved his production and leadership, Schoop enjoyed his role in helping young players. But their reunion on a one-year, $4.5 million contract comes with both sides looking different than last season. The Tigers, of course, have changed, with
Free Press sports writers Dave Birkett and Carlos Monarrez discuss former Detroit Lions star Calvin Johnson’s Hall of Fame election, the process and future HOFers. Facebook – https://bit.ly/2T7zuV9 Twitter – https://bit.ly/2JeixbW Instagram – https://bit.ly/2Chb7hR Online – https://www.freep.com #lions #profootballhof #megatron #calvinjohnson #superbowl
Evan Petzold | Detroit Free Press Show Caption Hide Caption Detroit Tigers’ Jonathan Schoop: ‘I want to be better every year’ Detroit Tigers second baseman Jonathan Schoop talks Monday, Feb. 8, 2021, about wanting to showcase his versatility in the infield. Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press Infielder Jonathan Schoop was one of the best hitters
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — Tigers manager AJ Hinch loves multi-positional players. He wants as much lineup flexibility as he can get. Still, it’s not every day that your veteran second baseman, a Gold-Glove finalist, comes to you and says he’d like a chance to move around the diamond a little
Jake Seiner | Associated Press New York — Major League Baseball has slightly deadened its baseballs amid a years-long surge in home runs. MLB anticipates the changes will be subtle, and a memo to teams last week cites an independent lab that found the new balls will fly 1 to 2 feet shorter on balls hit
Who will win the American League Central? MLB.com gathered a group of reporters to debate the possibilities: Alyson Footer (@alysonfooter, moderator): Let’s start by examining each team in terms of whether it took a step forward, step back or stayed the same this offseason. Indians first. Clearly, after they traded Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco,
Welcome to the first installment of the Motor City Bengals Top 20 Detroit Tigers prospects. The MCB staff has compiled our prospect lists and we will be releasing our consensus rankings, along with a breakdown of each player, in a series of articles in the coming days. Today, we look at #9 on our list, Daz Cameron.
Evan Petzold | Detroit Free Press Show Caption Hide Caption Detroit Tigers C Wilson Ramos: ‘I know how to handle’ young pitchers Detroit Tigers catcher Wilson Ramos talks Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, about joining a new team and working with young pitchers. Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press Detroit Tigers third baseman Isaac Paredes played 66 games
Opening Day is always special in Detroit, where the home opener essentially qualifies as an unofficial state holiday whether you have tickets or not. For some stars, the performance makes it all the more important. Here’s one reporter’s rankings of the five best Opening Day performances in Tigers history: 1) April 4, 2005 — Dmitri
Detroit Tigers spring training is just around the corner. In the next few weeks, you will see the various position battles come into play down in Lakeland. One position that does not seem settled yet is first base. We have discussed the idea of Detroit resigning CJ Cron or moving Jeimer Candelario to first but…
A.J. Hinch knows what he wants to see heading into his first spring training as the Tigers manager, and his players are excited to follow his direction. Hear from Hinch, along with veteran players Matthew Boyd, Daniel Norris and Niko Goodrum, as well as up-and-comers Matt Manning and Jake Rogers, as they look forward to
Evan Petzold | Detroit Free Press The Justin Verlander–Detroit Tigers saga is filled with historic memories, from no-hitters to World Series runs. It can’t really be over, right? Maybe not. The 37-year-old Verlander, currently with the Houston Astros, is set to enter free agency after the 2021 season, and the Tigers could be in the market for a veteran
The Hot Stove took a while to get going, but there isn’t a team in baseball that hasn’t added someone this winter. In fact, they’ve probably added more than you realize. So, today at The Thirty, we take a look at the biggest addition for every team since the end of the 2020 season (and
Welcome to the first-ever installment of the Motor City Bengals Top 20 Detroit Tigers prospects. The MCB staff has compiled our prospect lists and we will be releasing our consensus rankings, along with a breakdown of each player, in a series of articles in the coming days. In this article, we explore our #10 prospect Daniel Cabrera.
Evan Petzold | Detroit Free Press The Detroit Tigers are content with their haul this winter, spending a mere $14.5 million to acquire four free agents for the 2021 season. The payouts for those players: outfielder Robbie Grossman (two years, $10 million), second baseman Jonathan Schoop (one year, $4.5 million), right-hander Jose Urena (one year, $3.25 million)
The Tigers on Saturday announced their list of 15 Minor League players to receive non-roster invites to Major League camp for Spring Training. First workout for pitchers and catchers is scheduled for Feb. 17, with the first full-squad workout slated for Feb. 22. While the list of invites includes a fair number of top prospects,
Evan Petzold | Detroit Free Press Detroit Tigers top prospect Spencer Torkelson has never played a professional baseball game, but the 21-year-old third baseman will be among the 15 non-roster invitees for big-league spring training later this month. Other top prospects earning non-roster invites are outfielder Riley Greene, catcher Dillon Dingler, second baseman Kody Clemens and