SeattleMike

1 minute ago, Dtrain72 said:

The current Mudhens could very well win 2 out 3 (if not outright sweep) against this Tigers roster...that shouldnt that tell Harris something?

I doubt the current Mudhens could have split a 4-game road series with the Texas Rangers. Then again the current Mudhens, with Greene and Baddoo, probably would have eked out a run or two over the last 15 innings against the A's. 

36 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Kerry Carpenter was unable to get to a fly ball that a reasonably good right fielder would have gotten. He's yet another DH from the Avila era and I don't think he makes it to the next playoff team as a starter, either.

In fairness you don't expect to get any value from a 19th round pick. DH or not the guys is providing incredible value for a 19th rounder. 

1 hour ago, RandyMarsh said:

Assuming he doesn't completely fall off a cliff or get injured the next 2 weeks Rogers may be our All Star rep this year. 

Among catchers with 150PA he is sixth in RC+.

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

Baddoo, Greene, Carpenter, Keith, P Meadows - lots of LHH out there on the horizon - be nice if a RHH or two other than Cabrera would show some life.

Time for Tork to be that guy

16 minutes ago, LongLiveMaroth said:

Meadows showing he can hit off lefties if Hinch is still looking.

 

Meanwhile, Tigers flailing away against junkballer Dunning. 

46 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Danny Meyer was sort of the vanguard of the long run of LHH. Arrived in '74 but was dealt in '77

 Meyer wasn't traded he was picked up in the expansion draft by the Mariners. 

8 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

First half Raburn was one of the worst ever

Second half Raburn (when the team was too far gone to contend) was a good player.  

Nick is WORSE than first half Raburn. 

Raburn OPSs last two months of two seasons Tigers were in pennant races: 

2009: August OPS 957

           September: 1108

2011: August 844

          September: 1155

8 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Have I remarked in the last 5 min that Maton is no 3B?

He doesn't hit and he is nothing special in the field, especially at 3B. Pretty sure an organization that was trying to win would have ended the Maton experiment a few weeks ago. 

13 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Olson hit his wall. Strike % on the slider falls and he's in trouble. Kid needs to get more value out of his FB - throw it higher - spot it better, something.

and the Twins getting some of the luck the Tigers got earlier.

Why most think he'll end up in the pen eventually. Could be a real weapon there though. 

11 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Ozzie Virgil was one of those guys who did nothing of value during his playing career, but I heard about him forever because he was a coach for 19 years. Because I heard his name as a coach and many anecdotes about his playing days, I thought he must have been a decent player, but accumulated negative WAR over a span of 14 years.  On top of that, his son Ozzie Jr played 11 seasons and actually was decent which confused things even more.

Another reason I'm sure you heard about Virgil, at least as a Tigers fan, is that he was the Tigers first Black player. I'm sure you know this. 

1 minute ago, Adullin said:

Weird challenge 

KC really had nothing to lose. 

1 hour ago, Tiger337 said:

While I disliked both the Leflore and Thompson trades at the time, I definitely miss thoses types of deals.  Now, it seems like every trade is some wealthy team trading it's non-favoriote prospects for an expensive veteran.  

My favorite trade in this category was Steve Kemp for Chet Lemon. I wasn't crazy about it at the time, but it turned out well for the Tigers. I believe Kemp suffered an injury a year or two later and was never the same. 

1 hour ago, RatkoVarda said:

I am thinking Haase might get traded for another team's bum (a platoon LH infielder or a platoon RH outfielder). Not much drop off to Knapp or Papierski; either would give Hinch the L/R match up he likes to use.

Haase and Rogers don't work in a platoon. Neither hits righties well. Could use an Alex Avila type but good luck finding a lefty hitting catcher. 

6 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

If Harris is going to turn this organization around, then that's the kind of thing he needs to be able to do creative things like that.  I think you and Echo might disagree on who is a fringe prospect though!.  

The Tigers needed a SS entering the 2004 season. DD signed Omar Vizquel. Very fortunately he flunked the physical. DD then trades Ramon Santiago for Guillen. What if Vizquel doesn't flunk his physical? Probably no Guillen. Sometimes better to be lucky than good. 

16 hours ago, IdahoBert said:

With MLB contracting the minor leagues Boise, Idaho lost its long time NWL short season team and my kids that still live in town took me to a game tonight for Father’s Day. 

All the players look older and bigger than the players I remember from the last 30 plus years when the team was affiliated with the Angels, the Cubs, and the Rockies. I was hoping there might be some career minor leaguers who were released from AA or AAA, but the league will not accept anyone who’s had more than three years of professional experience. 

I saw very few pitches above 86 mph, although a couple reached 91 or 92. There were no home runs tonight. There is a pitch clock and the home team won and the game took 2:25. SWEET! If the game is tied, they have some dumb kind of home run derby that I just couldn’t take the time to figure out when I was reading about it.

The fielding seemed pretty decent compared to the 19-21 age guys I am used to seeing, and the outfielders had some pretty strong arms. There were some real lasers from right field to home plate that were quite exciting. There were a couple completed double plays too.   

You’re never going to see a Ken Griffey a Dontrelle Willis, Gleyber Torres, or Kyle Schwarber come through town again. Rickey Henderson started his career here in 1976 playing on a high school field for the Athletics’ rookie league team. 

But it surprised me how entertaining it was and in some respects, how little different from what I was used to seeing - with some exceptions - compared to short season Class A. I have to say, though, when he was 17 Gleyber Torres already looked like a major leaguer. i’m going to miss those moments.  

But I will definitely come back. Ticket prices are definitely lower. The food, however is just as expensive.  

But still, if I could hang the people from lamp posts who contracted the minor leagues and took away genuine major league prospects from smaller cities all over America, I would do it  

I’m kidding…

 

Erie, Pa can support AA baseball but Boise can't?  I suppose Boise's so-called remote location works against it. 

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

The Tigers will get nothing for Haase, a 30-year old bat-first sorta-catcher whose bat has completely abandoned him this year.

The only guys I can envision us moving and getting something decent for are Lorenzen and the back of the bullpen, and that's gonna happen or at least try to happen, and if we're lucky and/or Scott Harris is really good, we'll be able to snow someone into a giving us a return for Jose Cisnero. Milwaukee, and Arizona are probably our best bets, although Tampa needs arms, too.

Like the way Avila got Olson for Daniel Norris. 

43 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

some interesting names here

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-trade-candidates-change-of-scenery-2023

I think Dickerson was talking about the insane offensive numbers being put up in AAA this year. And maybe last year as well. All these 25 years old raking at AAA may just be benefiting from whatever is in the water at AAA. 

22 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Keeping trying to find a diamond in the rough. Eventually you will. If not this season, next season. If not next season, the season after. Shoulda just paid Candelario. <ducks>

McKinstry? 

37 minutes ago, Tigerbomb13 said:

Tiger game officially postponed due to air quality. I don’t remember this ever happening. 

Interesting. We have stretches like this every summer now, and I don't think any Mariners game has ever been canceled. Helps that they can close the roof, but it's not fully enclosed so air quality is still an issue. 

20 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I can't see us making any moves along the lines of trading future for someone to help us win now. First of all, I don't see who we have among our prospects that can unlock a difference maker for us today. Secondly, I don't believe just one player would be able to put us over the top. We would need at least two, maybe three.

I think we will ride or die with who we have in the system right now, barring a surprisingly fruitful waiver pickup. If we still sneak into the postseason with who we have now, what a coup that would be!

Saw yesterday, on Apple+ TV I think, that the Tigers have the easiest schedule (by opponent's winning percentage) in MLB the rest of the season. Who knows what adding Skubal, Manning, and a healthy Turnbull could mean in the second half. If the Tigers are in this position at the trade deadline would Harris trade Rodriguez? I bet he would if the return was significant. 

1 hour ago, Tiger337 said:

That seems to be one of Harris's big themes and he did get rid of most of the players that can't walk.  Still only average for the season, but they were LAST in 2022.  On the pitching side, they have allowed the second fewest walks in MLB.  

9th in MLB in BB%. So they are moving up. 

2 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

Why?  It is not uncommon for teams with lesser regular season records to succeed in the playoffs.  The post-season is mostly a crap shoot.  

Exhibits A and B: the 1987 Twins and 2006 Cardinals

1 hour ago, kdog said:

From the freep tigers newsletter. fun times all around.

The only area where the offense has improved slightly is in BB/per game. Instead of being 30th in the league, as they were last year, they are 22nd. Pretty much every other category they are 29th or 30th. 

5 hours ago, LongLiveMaroth said:

It seems scoring is up all over (just an observation no real data), usually early in the season pitchers have the edge but so far that does not seem to be the case.

Scoing is up almost a half a run in MLB. OPS up 30 points. So you are correct. 

6 hours ago, alex said:

Yes, we have gone over this a few times here... It may be more than trying to add 1-2 MLB FAs per say ex for the line-up, BP, etc. to be more respectable.

There are going to be injuries and if you have nothing but AA players filling in for AAAA types you are asking for trouble, so there is the idea of depth.

Then, the 'potential' building blocks (Greene, Tork, etc.) need some pressure taken off them. If not it just continues - yet, that is why we have AMeadows, Baez, Schoop, Haase and Miggy. With said Baez & Haase have been very slow so far. Schoop has given indications now for over a year of less production... Miggy, as you said, is a shell of his past self - but can still hit a bit at times. Meadows gave indications of his struggles last year (best to him and his family as health is first and hopefully he can come back even if sporadic, and contribute, but he may need time at AAA).

The other thought is perpetual losing builds a psyche that can snowball. I feel that happened with some of the last group (Castro's, Reyes, Goodrum, JJones, Candy, etc. - that and the talent base of course).

Do a couple FAs solve this - IMHO, of course not. The players also have to choose - if they want to come here as well - and I still feel we tried on a couple, but 'no go'.

We can hope we still get some production from the list mentioned and that would be more than what has gone on so far - (ex Schoop, Baez, Haaase, etc.).

Sooner or later they will have to add another 'guy' or two. Some of the Minnesota players, so I read somewhere, said CCorrea changes the attitude in the clubhouse to expect more, to win - of course where did they finish last year? and the oppo is look at what Cleveland did, one of the youngest teams in the game, but they are fundamentally very sound.

I like Vierling, but that 'no' slide into second base was inexcusable. He had that base stolen with Maton at the plate. Haase running on a ground ball right in front of him, taking him out of scoring position - again no excuse. These things have to change. Maybe 1 or so every 4-5 games - but 2 in 3 innings?

I, like many here feel, they are a bit better than what has been seen thus far - but they have to 'play' the game smarter (manager included) and some need to step it up. Go Tigs...

Toronto had a couple of brainfarts on the bases as well. That kind of stuff fires of fans, but in the big picture it only marginally affects overall results. You can't "focus on fundamentals" your way to respectability, not at the MLB level. You need better players with better talent. Some organizations are better than others at spotting it and developing it. Hopefully the Tigers are moving in that direction after cleansing the organization of Avila and his minions.