That’s the problem—we’ve endured his prolonged slump. Now I want to benefit when he starts raking again. Your point is valid, though, if you get tempted by another team near the deadline. It didn’t happen last season.
No, we gave up on him because he was blocked and had younger guys in the lower minors at his position. But most importantly, we were able to upgrade our OF and lineup in Meadows.
Some promising individual performances in the minors so far—Clemens,Wenceel, Sequeira, Keith, Pacheco, Carpenter, Wilmer, Dylan Smith, Madden, and even Jobe has been good for a young guy that the Tigers seem to be bringing along slowly.
Playoffs? We’re 11 games under .500 with 5 starting pitchers injured before mid-May.
The season now is about the young players getting reps and hopefully some players emerge/surprise.
Buckle up for a bumpy season, folks
Yes—agree that we will likely need to replace Grossman. I’ll assume Meadows and Greene have the other two spots. Internal candidates would be Hill, Daz and Baddoo, so this season is critical for them.
TJ surgery has become a rite of passage for many pitchers these days. And many come back fine from it. Would suck to lose him for 18 months, but I’d like his chances to come back.