# Detroit Tigers 2019



## WillPower (Jan 16, 2019)

Here in Arizona we aren't waist-deep in snow or huddled around the fireplace....we look outside and know we can play baseball if we want to.  So given my other teams are either finished or should be, it's time to dream about baseball in the Motor City again.  Mired in a total rebuild, I don't expect much...be lucky to win 80 games, but the kids are on the way and some will arrive this year.  Chris Ilitch has the team now, Mike having spent almost a billion dollars trying for a ring and not getting one, passed away last year and payroll has been slashed.  The stars were dealt, with only Miguel Cabrera remaining along with Nick Castellanos who they're trying to trade for "a prospect"....a great young hitter (26) about to be given away before he hits FA.  Okay, that sucks but they've built a stable of young fireballers who are raising up through the bushes and will start arriving in late July.  Last year they finally started drafting some hitters and may have hit it lucky on a couple.  They'll pick 5th in this year's draft and should be looking for some boppers, the pitching taken care of.  I can watch their whole season on MLB.com for less than $90 with Detroit announcers.  It's a great transition from day to night here since their home games start at 4pm MST.  Oh, here's our CFer, Jacoby Jones...can't hit, but man can he go get that ball.


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## Rambunctious (Jan 16, 2019)

Baseball...now you're talking....Go Bulldogs!!!


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## Rambunctious (Jan 16, 2019)

Ahhhh the smell of fresh cut blades of grass....spring is a long time coming....the batting cages are opening up at the University.....


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## WillPower (Jan 16, 2019)

Rambunctious said:


> Ahhhh the smell of fresh cut blades of grass....spring is a long time coming....the batting cages are opening up at the University.....



The Tigers get all bundled up and jump on a bus for the winter carnival tour of lower Michigan later this month.  Then the trucks are loaded with gear and they all head to Lakeland, Florida...pitchers and catchers report February 15th, games start March 1st.  It will be my 60th season following them....never even considered rooting for another team.


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## Rambunctious (Jan 16, 2019)

Yeah I get antsy for some baseball this time of year...I'm a big Fresno Bulldog fan....


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## PoliticalChic (Jan 16, 2019)

Rambunctious said:


> Yeah I get antsy for some baseball this time of year...I'm a big Fresno Bulldog fan....




A month 'til pitchers and catchers!

Yankees!!!!


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## WillPower (Feb 4, 2019)

PoliticalChic said:


> Rambunctious said:
> 
> 
> > Yeah I get antsy for some baseball this time of year...I'm a big Fresno Bulldog fan....
> ...



Yankees? Tigers opening camp on the 12th.....next Tuesday.....pitchers and catchers report...then the rest of the squad 2/15.  3rd year of the rebuild....Castellanos still slated for RF with Jacoby in CF and Stewart in LF.  The infield will be in transition waiting on kids we traded for to make their way to the MC.  Miggy back at 1st, new catcher, new 2B, new SS, Candy at 3rd until Issac Parades appears, moving Candy to 1st and Miggy to DH.  Rotation in turmoil with only Boyd a sure starter unless he gets hurt too.  Fulmer, Zimm, and Norris all coming off surgery....look for a dark horse kid named Spencer Turnbull to appear....great stuff.  The got a couple guys off the scrap heap to eat innings...Matt Moore (LH) and Tyson Ross (RH) and will be looking to move them both at the trade deadline for a prospect.  This team won't lose 100 games but they also won't win 80....better days are ahead....hope I'm still around when they're pouring champagne on each other again someday.


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## PoliticalChic (Feb 5, 2019)

WillPower said:


> PoliticalChic said:
> 
> 
> > Rambunctious said:
> ...



We open Feb 13.....first game, Feb 19


We won 100 last year....with subpar pitching.

Watch out this year!!!!!


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## WillPower (Feb 5, 2019)

PoliticalChic said:


> We open Feb 13.....first game, Feb 19
> 
> 
> We won 100 last year....with subpar pitching.
> ...



Best team money can buy....the Yanks TV contract alone pays their entire payroll...that's before a ticket is sold or a hotdog is eaten.  When Mike Illitch (Dominoes Pizza) owned the Tigers we had $200M free-agent payrolls but dumbass managers....now they're going the home grown route in a rebuild they say will take 5 years....who's got FIVE YEARS to wait.....


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## PoliticalChic (Feb 5, 2019)

WillPower said:


> PoliticalChic said:
> 
> 
> > We open Feb 13.....first game, Feb 19
> ...




Well.....I am a 'front runner'.....


Suffering with the NYRangers and NYGiants right now.

Isn't that enough????????


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## WillPower (Feb 5, 2019)

PoliticalChic said:


> Well.....I am a 'front runner'.....
> 
> 
> Suffering with the NYRangers and NYGiants right now.
> ...



You're top-shelf in my book.....and in the Yanks' defense, they still don't have names on the jerseys or hair on their faces.  I saw Maris, Mantle, Ford, Berra all play in Detroit in the early 60's....legends.


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## WillPower (Feb 24, 2019)

HUH?  In season #3 of the Tigers "rebuild" what do they do?  swipe the Pirates double-play combo of the past 7 years, Mercer and Harrison....ages 31 and 32.   Looks like the rebuild is light on infielders but heavy on OFers and pitching.  I like it...who needs another 98 losses and under 2M in attendance at Comerica Park?  True, both guys are on fairly cheap one-year deals and one of them will likely get flipped for prospects at the trade-deadline.  On the other hand, this team might not look like much on paper but with Cabrera back and the bullpen they're building, the Motor City Kitties just might SHOCK THE WORLD and win 80 games!


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## sealybobo (Mar 3, 2019)

WillPower said:


> Here in Arizona we aren't waist-deep in snow or huddled around the fireplace....we look outside and know we can play baseball if we want to.  So given my other teams are either finished or should be, it's time to dream about baseball in the Motor City again.  Mired in a total rebuild, I don't expect much...be lucky to win 80 games, but the kids are on the way and some will arrive this year.  Chris Ilitch has the team now, Mike having spent almost a billion dollars trying for a ring and not getting one, passed away last year and payroll has been slashed.  The stars were dealt, with only Miguel Cabrera remaining along with Nick Castellanos who they're trying to trade for "a prospect"....a great young hitter (26) about to be given away before he hits FA.  Okay, that sucks but they've built a stable of young fireballers who are raising up through the bushes and will start arriving in late July.  Last year they finally started drafting some hitters and may have hit it lucky on a couple.  They'll pick 5th in this year's draft and should be looking for some boppers, the pitching taken care of.  I can watch their whole season on MLB.com for less than $90 with Detroit announcers.  It's a great transition from day to night here since their home games start at 4pm MST.  Oh, here's our CFer, Jacoby Jones...can't hit, but man can he go get that ball.


Baseball is a game you can win it all without having a big star.

But you need 2 good starters and a closer. You’ll go 7 games in the World Series if you have two good starters and a closer.

We had verlander and schertzer but no closer. Sucks.


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## WillPower (Mar 17, 2019)

Spencer Turnbull, a guy only real Tiger seam-heads know anything about, is poised to grab the 5th starter spot with Fulmer doing his usual mysterious rehab stint.  MLB scouts agree that Turnbull has filthy stuff and finally has it under control.  Norris is supposedly getting his velocity back after Zimmerman told him he wasn't finishing his pitches.....something the pitching coach should have spotted the first day of camp.

Funkhouser (best baseball name in years) is still in the varsity locker room and although will probably start the season with the Mud Hens, is apt to be the first call-up for a spot-start.  Cabrera looks dangerous.  So does Stewie in LF....reminds me of Gates Brown.....turns and burns....HUGE power.  If Avila would smarten up and offer Nick Castellanos a 3 year deal at say $13M per, I bet Nicky would sign...he won't do better as a FA next year.  He's a remarkable and still fairly young hitter who has the occasional adventure in RF, but hey, you don't trade an established .300 hitter with power for a "prospect"....they've done their rebuild, now it's time to win some games.

Grayson Greiner looks like a hitter this spring....I'm tired of "defensive" catchers....I want a guy who can hit the gaps and drive in runs.  The kid is 6'6"....remember when catchers were 5'10" fat guys?  Jacoby is still lost at the plate but still a gazelle in CF and he needs to be with the guys to either side of him.  Daz Cameron will start at Toledo but he's almost ready, so Jacoby better understand if he can't hit .250 he's about to be out of a job.  The Tigers have two or three other burners coming up through the ranks who want his spot too.

As for the young pitching, Erie (AA) may have a better staff than a couple MBL teams this year.  Suffice to say, they're still a couple years away but when they arrive, Detroit will have on helluva rotation.  Casey Mize, last year's #1 pick in the draft, may be only the third best pitcher there.  Matt Manning and Franklin Perez (who the Tigers got in the Verlander trade) are both hitting 96mph on the gun with wipe-out sliders and are still peach-fuzz kids.  Burroughs is right there with them and if Faedo can rediscover his velocity.....watch out AL Central next season. 

Oh, and Detroit picks 5th in the June draft so more help is on the way.  On a final note, Verlander is a FA next season and is rumored to want a statue in Comerica after he goes into the HOF....it's just a hunch, but Kate is a Michigan girl, Justin has his ring and all the money he can ever spend, so....


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## WillPower (Mar 19, 2019)

DAMN!  Michael Fulmer DONE for the year and maybe in Detroit....Blew out his elbow....UCL surgery, 15 months on the shelf.   So instead of regaining his velocity, he's gone.  I didn't like putting a knee brace on him after he underwent his third right knee meniscus surgery, last season.  The year before that he had right elbow ulnar nerve transposition surgery.  This is a big thick dude who threw 97-98.  They said he had a "violent" delivery.....so what?  You have to be violent to throw that hard...they all are.  So now what?  Some say make him a closer...not me.   Bullpen guys end up throwing 3 and 4 days in a row sometimes warming up and pitching....not something you want to do to a guy with the injury history he has.   Maybe he comes back stronger than ever with a year off to rest the knee.   Andrews is doing the surgery so his elbow will be good as new.  They were going to trade him for "prospects" if he started off the year well anyway so, good luck Michael....do your rehab, keep your chin up, we'll leave the porch light on for ya.






Detroit Tigers' Michael Fulmer needs Tommy John surgery, says Dr. Andrews


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## Jarlaxle (Mar 25, 2019)

As long as Jackie Bradley Jr. is playing, every other outfielder is in a race for second best.  The only word to describe his defense is "otherworldly".


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## WillPower (Mar 27, 2019)

OPENING DAY....tomorrow in Toronto....in the field house they call a stadium.  On the other hand, it would probably be too cold to play otherwise.  I feel the Tigers have put together a team that will be fun to watch but not deep enough to make the playoffs or frankly, win 80 games.  But ya never know...Miggy is back, the keystone combo played together for years in Pittsburgh and the kids in LF and 3B bring some real power to the left side of the plate.  Minors full of future stud pitching which we'll see the first of, probably in August when the starting staff starts to come unraveled.  Bullpen full of power-arms, but can they throw strikes?


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## WillPower (Mar 28, 2019)

I'd decided not to buy the MLB.com package this year to watch the lads lose 98 games again.  Then an hour before game time today in Toronto, I went for it again....glutton for punishment.  Single team package (Tigers) is $92 for 162 games.....57 cents for a couple hours of entertainment.  So what happened?  First, the game was delayed for 45 minutes for opening day ceremonies (ex-Tiger and Blow Jay Jack Morris, threw out the first pitch in front of the mound and still bounced it....pussy).  Then a pitching duel ensued with each hurler throwing no-hitters through 5 innings.  Zimimerman's no-no went to two outs in the 6th before a bouncer up the middle was knocked down but the throw was wild....infield hit.  Then in the top of the 10th, Christin Stewart, the rookie LFer hit a ball deep into the second deck in RF and the TIGERS WIN THEIR OPENER 2-0!


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## WillPower (Apr 9, 2019)

What a week!  Tigers split with Toronto, took two of three from the Yanks, and swept KC.  Now 7-3...who saw that coming?  I did, that's who.  When the weather warms up, the Latins will start hitting and Detroit has enough pitching to be competitive all year.  I admit they've gotten about every break possible in this streak...the bounces are going their way.  Rookie Cristin Stewart hit a grand salami and leads the team in RBIs...he reminds me of Gates Brown from yesteryear.  On a sour note, Mike Moore ,one of their second-tier FA pickups over the winter hurt his knee trying to field a damn bunt and might need to get it scoped.  10 shutout innings to start the season before he got hurt....Fingers crossed he can rehab it and be back in a week.  It's his right (landing leg) which takes less stress than the drive leg so maybe he can make it work with therapy.  Already lost former ROY for the year in Fulmer with Tommy John surgery on his elbow.  Jacoby Jones is rehabbing in Florida and better get back quick before Daz Cameron heats up at Toledo and steals his job in CF.


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## WillPower (Apr 19, 2019)

Moore's knee was worse than expected when they went in to scope it and he's gone for the season with a torn meniscus.   Pity because he'd regained his "turbo fastball" and had 10 scoreless under his belt.  Losing streak stopped in a wild one against the Pale Hose at Comerica today, so the team is now 9-9..not a bad start for the second year of the rebuild.  The breaks should now drift back in the Tigers' favor since the last 5 games were horrible....line-drives snagged, weird bounces....3 errors in one inning today.  The bullpen in again in flux and I don't trust anybody out there....I don't watch Greene try to close games....that kid sends my BP through the roof.  Still, it's baseball...a couple hours away from politics and city life in a simple game of one against nine, success measured by succeeding a third of the time, mediocrity a fourth, failure a fifth...the Mendoza Line.


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## LA RAM FAN (Apr 19, 2019)

Rambunctious said:


> Baseball...now you're talking....Go Bulldogs!!!


 yeah anything other than MLB which is every bit as corrupt as the NFL.

I laugh at all the people that like to convince themselves around here that i have heard say that detriot has a beautiful stadium. so beautiful,its ranked in the lower bottom of stadiums as one of the WORST.

Tigers' Home Field Ranked One Of The Worst In The Major Leagues

 If this  is beautiful,i sure hate to  see ugly.  this looks pretty damn ugly to me.cant get much uglier than this other than the other ballparks they listed of course.



Comerica Park will NEVER be Tiger Stadium, that much is true, but is it one of the worst ballparks in the Major Leagues? amen to that,tearing down BEAUTIFUL tiger stadium was the most asinine thing in the world that city EVER did right up there with chicago tearing down comisky park which is even MORE uglier a ballpark as this link backs me up on.

Foul! The Worst Ballparks in Major League Baseball









this article is dead spot on on the crappiest stadiums in the country.I agree with the majority of all the ballparks listed here as being crappy. the old classic ballparks were NEVER crappy looking. Tiger stadium rocked,now that WAS a beautiful stadium.

Notice that ALL these ballparks they ranked as crappy are ALL new ballparks where the older ones were always MUCH nicer as WAS the case with Detriots tiger stadium?


Tigers' Home Field Ranked One Of The Worst In The Major Leagues

you know about the ONLY stadium listed in that link ABOVE that pic of the tigers stadium,I would say the cincinatti reds is the ONLY one that article was off on of baseball teams that have crappy looking stadiums. another one they left out that ALSO needs to be added is that new ugly stadium the cardinals play in at st louis as well.how they can leave THAT ONE off is beyond me.


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## LA RAM FAN (Apr 19, 2019)

Matter of FACT this is the ONLY thing worth looking at in that ugly crapfest stadium that is NOT ugly looking.sad but true.


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## WillPower (Apr 22, 2019)

Boys are now 10-10 and heading into BeanTown to see old friends David Price and J.D. Martinez.  Some of us true-believers wonder if J.D. might do his second-year opt-out and come back to Detroit.  He got his ring and $40M....I wonder if he still remembers how the Tigers took him off the scrap heap after Houston released him?  The day he was traded to the Snakes, he was teary-eyed and said maybe he could come back someday....how about in 2020?


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## WillPower (May 13, 2019)

Tigers plodding along, splitting series, hovering around .500 at 18-20. Starting pitching has been an adventure with Fulmer, then Matt More gone for surgery. Then total BUST Zimmerman has an owie in his elbow and disappears back on the IL. Tison Ross total BUST is the latest to hit the IL with a numb finger....he throws everything 89mph and is getting clobbered...I doubt he's hurt..they just don't want to look at him for 10 days. Boyd and Trunbull have blossomed and today hippie Dan Norris pitched well....his fastball is slowly returning....today he was hitting 93 and hoping for his old 95 when the weather warms up. Burroughs and Funkhouser were expected to be ready at Toledo but they both were getting knocked around and both have landed on the AAA IL. Cream of the crop, Mize, Manning, Faedo feasting on AA batters at Erie but none of them will get the call this year..it's all about service time....the faster they come up, get mauled, and sent back crestfallen, the faster they either burn out or get to free agency when the Tigers' control over them is gone. Shane Greene is 15 outta 15 in saves....Avila (moron) will probably trade him while his market is high.....Next chapter...the hitters.


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## WillPower (May 17, 2019)

Lugo comes up from the Hens to replace a struggling Candelario at 3B....both were obtained in trades, Candy from the Cubs for a reliever and Avila's kid Alex, and Lugo from the Snakes for JD Martinez.  Both were lopsided trades, one in the Tigs' favor, obviously not the JD trade.  Martinez wanted to stay in Detroit, but also wanted $25M a year for 5 years..this after they'd saved his career by signing him to a minor-league contract after Houston released him.  He got his $100M and a ring in Boston....good for you JD....we'd have kept you if we hadn't signed Zimmerman (bust) and Upton (semi-bust) with your money.  Asi es la vida.  But back to Lugo....he was hitting a torrid .341 in Toledo and Candy couldn't find his own ass with both hands...so they swapped unis.  Lugo hit a 3-run shot in his first game back after a cup of coffee in Detroit last year.

We are now paying the fattest singles hitter in MLB $30M a year a will be for 4 more years in the future.  Miguel Cabrera has ONE dinger on the 17th of May.  The former Triple-Crown winner tore his biceps tendon this time a year ago and I believe he's afraid he'll do it again if he cuts loose with his former reckless abandon.  He's now pretty much the Tigers' DH and may be slamming tortillas between ABs in the clubhouse....he was always big, now he looks bloated.  Nick Castellanos fired his agent and hired Boras which sealed his fate in Detroit.  Why they won't offer him $60M for 4 seasons is a mystery....he's easily their best hitter and after him, there is nothing to frighten somebody on the bump.....Cabrera is swinging through 93mph right down the middle....his bat-speed was fine in Florida, GONE in Detroit.

The rest of the squad is hovering around the Mendoza Line....the most minor league lineup I've seen in watching over 50 years of Tiger baseball.  Jake Rogers, a catcher we got from Houston in the Verlander trade has moved up from Erie to Toledo and hit a dinger and a double in his debut.  Look for him to be in Detroit by August since GG is another weakling at the plate, and Rogers is considered the best defensive catcher in the minor leagues.  Other notables, like Clemens' kid Cody, Deathrage (best name in baseball history) and Parker Meadows are all still learning about life on the road and not producing much.  CFer Daz Cameron (Mike's kid also obtained in the Verlander trade) is floundering a bit at Toledo or Jacoby Jones would already be gone.  Until the Tigers hand Lloyd McClendon his walking papers, they'll never hit like they could....Mac is an affirmative-action hire who never hit well, managed well, or coached well...still he stays in Detroit.

postscript:  Franklin Perez, the main attraction in the Verlander trade finally made his 2019 debut in Florida for the A club and pitched 4 innings giving up only one run.  The third straight early season arm problems,....he was pitching for Houston's AA club at age 19...he's 21 now.  BIG kid, thought to be Verlander's heir apparent but seemingly fragile.  Hope for the best...throws 97 with a wipe-out slider...he's a stud if he's over his various maladies.


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## WillPower (May 20, 2019)

So much for Franklin Perez....they ought to check his heart to find out if he really wants to play baseball....the checks to sit around and do "rehab" won't be coming forever, young man.

_Before we get to Sunday’s results, there is some bad news to report. Righthander Franklin Perez, the theoretical jewel in the Justin Verlander trade, has been moved to the seven-day injured list with yet another recurrence of shoulder inflammation. Famously acquired on August 31, near the stroke of midnight, Perez has now been placed on the IL four times, and has managed just 23 1⁄3 innings in the Tigers farm system.

Perez had only returned to action five days ago, tossing four innings on May 15. He allowed just one run on four hits, with three walks and three strikeouts. Perez is currently the Tigers’ No. 5 prospect on our preseason rankings, but he can’t seem to pitch without pain, and the situation is looking rather grim for the 21-year-old._

Shoulder issues land Tigers prospect Franklin Perez back on the injured list


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## WillPower (May 26, 2019)

The team is now in the predicted free-fall we all knew was coming.  About all we have to look forward to at this point is the amateur draft beginning June 2.  The Tigers pick #5 in each round so at least 3 or maybe 4 of their selections should have MLB resumes in a few years.  The obsession with tall, hard-throwing RH pitching in the rear-view and this year they intend to find hitters, preferably fast, athletic position players who can use the spacious Comerica Park outfields to their advantage.  The primary need is for a LH hitting 1B, moving MIggy to a permanent DH role.  This is a rebuild, top to bottom and at least a couple more years of pain are in store for Tiger fans unless the Ilitch family decides to sell the team, or finishes paying off the Red Wings arena, and puts some money back in the Tigers budget.


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## WillPower (May 30, 2019)

Tigers win TWO IN A ROW!  Hey, it was Baltimore but so what......on to Atlanta.  I enjoy inter-league play immensely....much better than the endless AL Central match-ups in their dreary, mostly empty stadiums...fat, ugly women and surly, drunk men with huge beer guts who refuse to do the wave.  Our vaunted keystone combo stolen from the Pirates are both back on the DL...they've played 12 games together, both now faking leg injuries.....millions of men and women go to work everyday in this country with more discomfort than these two goldbrickers....who cares really....neither one can hit their weight and have been replaced by equally challenged frauds from AAA Toledo.  The real news is at AA Erie with Faedo again joining Manning and Mize with sterling pitching performances in the past week.  These three should form the core of the Tigers rotation next season and probably will all be promoted to Toledo at some point during the summer.  I'd like to see them all get a spot-start in Detroit in September....see how they do in stadiums with a third deck...in the SHOW.  MLB draft is Monday with the Tigers picking 5th through each round....rumor has them picking either high schooler Riley Greene or JJ Bleday with the latter being a LH hitting college corner OFer with immense power....he's also a white player which is becoming an increasingly rare commodity in Detroit.

Detroit Tigers could draft J.J. Bleday, the HR champ who used to play in Detroit


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## WillPower (Jun 3, 2019)

Almost 3K views....I dreamed of being a sports writer as a kid and it looks like I finally am one.  

It's MLB draft day when the boys who run baseball pick and try to sign amateurs coming out of college or high schoolers they can talk into skipping college.  What's going on behind the scenes at the moment, less than 4 hours before Round One begins, is about money.  Each team has a budget and there are slots for first round picks translated into bonuses for signing.  The less each team spends on their first and most expensive pick, the more they have to lure second round picks into a deal if they are chosen.  The agents earn their money today because nobody knows which kid will be a HOFer or a washout who ends up selling real estate.  The kid gets the bonus money, less his agent's cut, regardless of his success in the low minors.  The Tigers first round pick will cost between $6-7M....that's enough to never have to work again....at anything ......before they've played or pitched an inning in pro ball.  So today is also the day the scouts earn their money.  A first or second round bust has doomed many a GM in MLB....the bosses don't care for busts...they won't put up with more than one or two in a GM's career.  So how about today?

Rutschman and Witt are pretty much locks at #1 and #2.  Then it gets interesting.....the White Sox, notorious dumbasses in drafting are predicted to take Vaughn....a Matt Williams type basher...slow, stubby, but boy howdy can this kid hit.  But let's say the White Sox look past him.  Then Miami picks 4th.  The mocks say they'll pick Bleday, a power-hitting Vanderbilt RFer who's also a plus defender.  But let's say since Vaughn slipped, and he'll accept playing for a losing franchise far into the future, he asks for the moon.  All this is about either Vaughn or Belday slipping to #5 and signing with the Tigers.  The joker in  the deck is a LH fireballer named Nick Lodolo from TCU who slings it 98 and has a wipeout slider....This is kind of kid who could be signed under-slot since few expect him to be in the top ten picked, leaving more money for the second and later rounds.  My hope is they pick the best athlete, not according to need in a third rebuild year...that's a recipe for disaster.  My prediction?  The others mentioned go in the order most expect and the Tigers settle on Riley Greene...a high school kid with a sweet swing and wait 3 years to see how he pans out.


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## WillPower (Jun 3, 2019)

Sure enough, the first round went as predicted leaving the Tigers sitting at #5 with the top 4 consensus picks gone.  They did as predicted also and drafted Riley Greene, a central Florida high school outfielder with a smooth LH swing.  He's 18 and has a long road ahead of him but according to Tiger scouts has the talent and makeup to get to Detroit and thrive...we'll know more next Spring as he plays in the first cold weather of his life in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The second round, pick #47 is Nick Quintana...great private detective name from the University of . Arizona (yech) in hippie Tucson.  3rd baseman, supposed to have excellent instincts at the hot corner and led the Pac 10 in RBIs.  2019 signals the end of the Dumbrowski era in Detroit of picking hard-throwing RH pitchers and drafting position players.  This draft is promising so far, not so much as for the hope these players blossom and become stars, but as trade chips for clubs who will undergo rebuilds in the next couple years and will trade the Tigers established players for a pennant run.

Rounds 3-10 will commence tomorrow morning and 10-40 on Wednesday.  Round 2 took only ONE MINUTE between picks....you can see it streamed on MLB.com.


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## WillPower (Jun 4, 2019)

Interesting note....there isn't a first round pick from 2017 currently on a MLB active roster....these things take time.


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## WillPower (Jun 6, 2019)

Two days...that's what it took to sign Riley Greene to a $6.1M contract.  He had a commitment and a full-ride scholarship to Florida if the Tigers played around trying to sign him for less than slot.  They didn't and in the 60 years of being a Tigers' fan (I can't be this old can I?), I don't recall anything like this.  They took almost 4 months to sign Verlander back in 2004 and only after his dad intervened and told the agent to get lost 2 minutes before the signing deadline.  The Tigers side of things is the rebuild we're all going through with this team and how they couldn't afford to lose the guy by getting cute with him.  The tiny crowds that wander in to see this miserable team play assured the brass that their only hope is in a couple years there will be a major league team for us to watch.


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## WillPower (Jul 7, 2019)

This may be the worst Detroit Tiger team in my lifetime...maybe worse than the 2003 team that lost 119 games.  Yesterday I watched them flail at balls that should have been fielded and swing at pitches well out of the strike zone.  Why a pitcher would bother throwing this lineup a strike is unknown...no need...just throw it over their head or bounce it and you've got a strikeout.  Last night, Beckham...another retread they signed in the off-season hoping he might bring a prospect at the trading deadline, struck out on three straight curveballs with the bases loaded and two outs.  None of the three were strikes.  Today, Gardenhire sent him up to bat for an ejected Miguel Cabrera.  Miggy took the day to grab a plane ride to Miami to begin his All-Star break early.  Beckham struck out, of course.  A kid they sent down to Toledo to keep Beckham is hitting .340...if Beckham survives the break instead of the kid (Lugo) I've watched my last game of the season.  BTW, Jacoby Jones just took a 10 day vacation claiming "lower back stiffness"..he and Shane Greene, who blew a chance to save the rare win for the Tigers last week, were cracking up on the bench during the carnage.  Not a good look for the team, the organization, the manager.  

Of course the architect of this debacle got himself a contract extension to "see the rebuild through"..the owner didn't bother showing up for the news conference and for good reason.  The city of Detroit is way past pissed the Ilitich family isn't following through on their promises to build an inner-city community around their new hockey stadium.  Dozens of decrepit buildings torn down and now it's empty parking lots.  I have no problem with the Little Ceasar's empire staying afloat, but a look at the attendance at both the Tigers and Red Wings games is dismal.  Detroit has to put up with the Pistons and Lions, and now the Wings and Tigers are crap.  And not just the parent club...the "rebuild" has resulted so far in the W. Michigan Whitecaps in Grand Rapids fielding the worst team locals have ever seen.  The high-A team in Lakeland stinks.  The AA team in Erie is where all the pitching talent is and a winning record, but the Mud Hens in Toledo suck like Lindsey Lohan when the 7th Fleet is in.  Is there light at the end of the tunnel?  Sure...a few more high draft choices and the expiring contracts of the bum Zimmerman next year will help.  Castellanos...the only decent hitter left on the team will be traded in the next 3 weeks, as will the best pitcher Matt Boyd, and closer, Greene...maybe his heir-apparent Jimenez who's stunk up his chances during what was supposed to be his "breakout" season.  The Tigers went to the World Series 3 years after the 2003 nightmare....that memory gives us diehards enough window-ledge to hang on to during this monstrosity of a year.


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## WillPower (Jul 29, 2019)

The free-fall continues after being swept by the lowly Mariners.  Trade deadline is Wednesday at 4pm EST.  Tigers have RF Castellanos on the block along with closer Shane Greene and possibly their best starter Matt Boyd.  The drum says GM Avila is asking the moon for ordinary players.  He was Donbrowski's gopher while Dapper Dave was cleaning out the Detroit farm system.....something he's now almost accomplished in Boston.  You'd think the Red Sox ownership would see his M.O. and stop it before he does to them what he did to us...spiral the payroll past $200M and gut the minors....He did win a WS last year, never could in Detroit although he got them there twice.  His assistant Al Avila is a short, fat Cuban who once traded his son to the Cubs so he has no soul....he heard about it all winter from his wife.  The Tigers minor league system is now ranked #14, up from dead last three years ago.  They will surely draft #1 again this year unless Baltimore goes on a 30 game losing streak, which is possible.  So do the Tigers deal the last three decent players on the current roster for a bevy of prospects/suspects or keep Boyd (hopefully) and bring up an OF and a reliever from the Mud Hens?  Only the Shadow knows.....


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## Marion Morrison (Jul 29, 2019)

I knew it! #1 worst stadium? The Trop.


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## WillPower (Jul 31, 2019)

15 minutes left until the trade deadline....the Tigers traded their closer Shane Greene to the Atlanta Braves....their return unknown at the moment.  Boyd appears safe, Castellanos offers apparently not knocking off anybody's socks...stay tuned.


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## WillPower (Jul 31, 2019)

WillPower said:


> 15 minutes left until the trade deadline....the Tigers traded their closer Shane Greene to the Atlanta Braves....their return unknown at the moment.  Boyd appears safe, Castellanos offers apparently not knocking off anybody's socks...stay tuned.



Castellanos was dealt to the Cubs with 42 seconds left before the deadline.  This year, that's it...no waiver wire trades that used to deadline August 31st.  The get for Greene was impressive after the ask for him chased off the Nationals.  So Shane Greene brought a talented lefty named Joey Wenz, 21, who will be sent to AA Erie, and Travis Demeritte, 24, a former 1st round pick who has deceptive power in a wiry frame and may be the Tigers new RFer with Nick sent off to the Cubs.  Castellanos brought two pitching prospects/suspects named Paul Richan, a second round pick last year and Alex Lange, a first rounder out of LSU.  Lange is likely going to be a reliever, while Richan will be sent to AA Eerie which means one of the fancy dans there is headed to the Mud Hens.  All in all, I'm happy with the haul for two players I'd grown tired of watching.  In this wretched season. the minor league acquisitions are the only good news and there hasn't been much of that.  It would be ironic if Demeritte replaces Nick in RF and becomes a Riley Greene arrived early.


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## WillPower (Jul 31, 2019)

WillPower said:


> WillPower said:
> 
> 
> > 15 minutes left until the trade deadline....the Tigers traded their closer Shane Greene to the Atlanta Braves....their return unknown at the moment.  Boyd appears safe, Castellanos offers apparently not knocking off anybody's socks...stay tuned.
> ...



Correction:  Richan will join the Flying Tigers in Lakeland, A-ball, Lange will be used as a reliever at AA Erie.  He's had a significant drop in velocity but the Tigers watched a lot of video and say they can correct it...a mechanical issue.


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## WillPower (Sep 5, 2019)

So at this point it looks like the Tigers will win the race to the bottom in the MLB standings and get 1st pick in the draft next summer.  Gardenhire is very good at picking the right reliever to blow a lead in the late innings...uncanny really, like he's under orders to do so, which he probably is.  Strangely enough, I'm resigned to that outcome...now if they can hang on and not blow their 5 game lead to Baltimore, we'll be adding to a rapidly improving minor league crop of prospects and suspects.  Since Cabrera can barely get to 1B on a ground ball anymore, much less play the position, Detroit is looking for a dead-bang cinch to man 1st.  That would be Spencer Torkelson from ASU over in Tempe.  Something about the name leads me to believe he's a never-will-be but who knows?  They need HITTERS, but of course Avila will probably draft more pitching....Emerson Hancock of the Georgia Bulldogs is the pick of the litter from the bump.  Anything can happen before next summer to the college kids but it's nice to have 1st pick in every round.  Since even a blind squirrel can occasionally find an acorn, Avila is apt to find a couple kids who can play in stadiums with a third deck.  

2020 MLB Mock Draft  | 2020 MLB Draft | MLB Draft |


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## LA RAM FAN (Sep 7, 2019)

Marion Morrison said:


> I knew it! #1 worst stadium? The Trop.



that dump comerica park isnt that much better as i showed earlier.

my heart goes out to all the detroit fans that lost tiger stadium who while i was in detroit their last season and saw the final series that year as well,i saw many fans with bumper stickers on their cars that said SAVE TIGER STADIUM. I feel really bad for them cause THAT stadium was nice and the owner took a shit on them building a dump that looks nothing like it. he did not have the courtesy of doing what the yankees did who when they built their new stadium,they at least built one that looked identical to the old one.

you just cant beat this great ballpark they had. I sure am glad i got to see it before they closed it down. I used to be a fan of THESE Tigers.


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## LA RAM FAN (Sep 7, 2019)

this may be the worst Detroit Tiger team in my lifetime...maybe worse than the 2003 team that lost 119 games

which makes me a happy camper of course.


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## WillPower (Sep 9, 2019)

LA RAM FAN said:


> this may be the worst Detroit Tiger team in my lifetime...maybe worse than the 2003 team that lost 119 games
> 
> which makes me a happy camper of course.



Fuck off.  You're not a Tiger fan so your opinion means nothing to me.  Yeah, the Tigers are tanking...on purpose to add several more pieces coming to the show in the future.  The pitching at Erie will arrive in 2021 and that's also when the hideous Zimmerman contract comes off the books and the Tigers have some payroll flexibility.  Miggy's pride will take over after the season and he'll get his bad knee fixed.  With the first pick in each round of next summer's amateur draft, they'll be flush with hitting prospects.  No worries....plenty of teams will just miss the playoffs this year and the kids they traded off to get there are gone for nothing.  Detroit, as miserable as the last 3 seasons have been, have brighter days ahead.


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## WillPower (Sep 27, 2019)

Rained out double-header in Chicago tonight....figures... the Tigers were leading 4-2 in the middle of the 4th inning...15 minutes before the game became official.  They are easily the worst team in MLB with the Orioles coming in a close second.  But NOW the payoff begins.  First pick in the amateur draft..(hello Spencer Torkelson!) and each of the next rounds.  They also have first pick of the Rule 5 young players not quite good enough to make other teams' 40 man roster.  AND they have first shot at the waiver wire....pretty much the same as Rule 5 but more seasoned veterans.  Attendance at Comerica was a dismal 1.5M, HALF of what they drew during the pennant chasing years ending in 2016.  Mike Ilitch wanted a ring so bad he spent $200M a season dragging in All Stars with Dombrowski looting the minor league teams of talent by trading them away and drafting too late to snag the young talent they'd need.  Dandy Dave is gone, now fired by the BoSox for the same tactics, and the Tigers will field a young team in the Houston model, and keep the payroll around $100-$120M...what a mid-market team like Detroit can afford.  They already have the pitching at AA Erie so look for the rounds after Torkelson (the next Mike Trout?) to be hitter-heavy until maybe the 5th when they look for even more pitching.  Mike's kid Chris can't let the fans endure another year like this one so with the farm restocked, I look for the Tigers to spend a little more for solid mid-level veterans who can no longer attract long, expensive multiple year contracts.  This year there are 4 teams who've won a hundred games and 4 who've lost 100...first time ever I believe.  To tank or not to tank....that is the question.  Three years of it are about all an old-school Tiger fan like me can handle.  At least make them watchable next year is all I'm asking.


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