Tenacious D

This could be our infield in a few years: 1B Keith 2B Lee SS McGonigle 3B Jung

Saw Kelly at my local coffee shop this morning. Sorry, that’s all I got.

How was Keith not ripe? He had a monster full season in Toledo in 2023. He was so good that the front office was criticized for not promoting him. The truth is is that the jump from the minors to MLB is massive for some players and many will not make that transition. Or they will take their lumps for an extended period. I don’t know how it is that other organizations are able to promote their hitters and they have successful rookie seasons. That seems to avoid us (and I don’t think it is because we rushed anyone, including Tork).

They should let Navigato ride with him to Detroit. If true about Jung, is the McKinstry reign of terror finally over?

Based on what we’re seeing this season, and his early career success, he will get paid. I’d predict something around $20-23M/yr

If everything was based solely on stats and merit, Lee would be Toledo bound, with Jung heading to the show. Crazy thing about Lee is that he is doing this at age 21 in AA. Starting to get excited about him.

I can’t believe I’m defending Edman, but I think he threw that out there as an example where Flaherty could demand stupid money, not necessarily 5/$150

I was coming at from the belief that this is not a playoff team. Nor remotely close.

We should be buyers and sellers. Guys at the major league level include Flaherty, Canha, Kelly and Foley. I’d also be willing to move Jung and most other minor leaguers not named Clark or McGonigle to teams looking to shed payroll. We have no business trading for stopgaps or anyone with a contract expiring—They would need to be part of our future.

I think Harris did the right thing by not blocking the young guys with stopgap veterans. I wanted to see what Meadows, Greene, Tork, Carpenter, Keith, Malloy and Jung were capable of. Each put in performance in the minors that warranted the opportunity. We’re learning that this transition is huge, and possibly a bridge too far for some of these guys. I think we have to use the balance of this season to continue this appraisal. However, the struggles do not reflect well on our player development. I think Harris will have a better idea of who is a keeper once this season is complete. The big jump to the majors and our lack of success only fuels my desire to see someone like Jung get dealt for a more proven player prior to becoming potentially tainted upon struggling in the bigs.

I find myself not watching many games this season. Very unusual for me.

MLB trying to make “fetch” happen. It’s not.

1976–Year of the Bird. Hooked ever since. Was a HS senior in ‘84. Probably went to 30-40 games that season. Most in the bleachers, including the first game after they reopened them. (They had closed them temporarily for bad fan behavior—when they reopened, they only sold NA (non-alcoholic) beer. Also, those 30-40 games were often accompanied by the obligatory Windsor visit. My buddies and I were all ballet fans.

Let’s hope for good Flaherty for many reasons.

Anything to avoid facing our lineup

Didn’t realize how many field goals he missed with the Panthers. Obviously has a big leg, but hope he can improve his accuracy.

It’s a good thing he’s young.

Which hands holds the beer?

I really don’t care who we draft—have not been engaged in this group. Initial successful results with Clark and McGonigle have me optimistic that they know what they are doing.

Thanks for sharing. I suspect average game attendance increases significantly during the summer months with school out. Marketing in baseball is atrocious—the Tigers are really bad. They don’t grasp what they need to do to expand. Running commercials on Bally of an old couple wearing face paint to games is the last thing they should be doing if you’re trying to make the game more relevant and appealing to a younger, more diverse audience. (full disclosure—I tried valiantly to get an interview for their VP of Marketing opening they had open last year. They were only considering candidates with relevant experience, which is the absolute worst approach they could have taken).

I don’t see where Keith was rushed. He was a dominant player at AAA. How much more development would he have benefited from? If there is anything to question, it’s should he be sent down to Toledo to work on anything?

Mize looks good. Turning it around or just facing a ****ty team?