LongLiveMaroth

I highly doubt ownership will be the deciding factor here but don't let that get in the way of a good ol' dead horse beating of Illitch being a bad owner.

He's honestly hit a bit of a lull after a fast start. July is not looking like a good month so far. That being said he is #21 on the list by BA.

Dickson made it into the Top 30 of BA's updated midseason list. He was 30 but hey still listed.

07/16/24 FCL Tigers placed LHP Blake Dickerson on the 7-day injured list retroactive to July 15, 2024. Hopefully nothing too bad but their season is almost over anyways

Law's read of our draft The Tigers went all-in on high school players early again, a year after a draft that brought them their top two hitting prospects in Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle. Shortstop Bryce Rainer (1) was the top high school player on my board, a no-doubt shortstop with a 70 arm and plus power, including strong exit velocities to back it up. He’s a heady, instinctive player who shows good leadership on the field. I didn’t see great bat speed from him and I want to see him show he can turn on major-league average velocity. Right-hander Owen Hall (2) was one of the best high school projection guys in the class, working 90-94 now and touching 97 with a ton of room to fill out and gain some more velocity over time. His slider is plus and he spins the ball well, with a delivery that he repeats pretty well when he gets all the way around to land online to the plate. If I were drafting, which MLB still refuses to let me do because of some silly rule that I don’t actually work for a team, he’s exactly the kind of high school arm I’d target after the first round. Lefty Ethan Schiefelbein (2B) was a reach for me at this spot, as he’s just low-90s without a ton of projection and his primary offspeed pitch is a slow 12/6 curveball. He’s completely off balance when he finishes his delivery, although I like how well he stays over the rubber before striding forward. He’s committed to UCLA. Josh Randall (3) transferred to San Diego from Arizona this year after a poor freshman season in Tucson and a sophomore season limited to one inning by injury. He broke out in every way this year, throwing a 95-96 two-seamer with ridiculous sink and tail and a short upper-80s slider, generating a groundball rate over 55 percent. The right-hander has a low three-quarters slot and he doesn’t repeat the arm swing that well. I’d expect a bigger platoon split but he was actually better against lefties this spring, even without much use of his changeup. He hit 25 batters this spring, a 7.6 percent HBP rate, which is not a stat I typically have to calculate and was one off the NCAA lead which was, oddly, a pitcher at San Diego State. Too many fish tacos = too many hit batsmen? Wake Forest right-hander Michael Massey (4) moved to the rotation this spring, making short starts on Sundays until his hamstring and back took him out of action, and when he returned he was back in relief. He had back surgery after the season to repair a bulging disc. He has an extremely short arm action, getting up to 95 with a hard slider, struggling enough against lefties that he almost certainly sticks in relief. Notre Dame shortstop Jack Penney (5) hit just .269/.406/.492 this spring and didn’t hit .300 in any of his three seasons in South Bend, although he does make hard enough contact — he just rarely swings, with more walks than strikeouts thanks to a 38 percent swing rate. Oregon State commit Zach Swanson (9) is 92-95 with some arm-side run from an abrupt, rushed delivery that gives him a head-whack and definitely inhibits his command. The right-hander has a solid frame and plenty of projection left, with a lot of work to do to end up a starter. UNC-Wilmington right-hander R.J. Sales (10) was 93-94 as a starter with a power curveball in the low 80s and a hard cutter up to 89. His delivery is fine, with a high three-quarters slot, but it’s 45 command and control and the fastball plays down just enough that he may be more of a long man than a back-end starter — unless he boosts his strike-throwing.

I mean cheapish, you won't find a perfect 1:1 but I would say this is close.

https://www.mlb.com/news/pipeline-podcast-best-value-picks-in-2024-mlb-draft?partnerID=web_article-share Swanson listed as best in round 9

Would the last comparable trade be Sale to Boston in 2016 for a Skubal comparison? Moncada was #2 and Kopech was top 20 and there were two fliers along with that.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/a-rundown-of-relievers-on-the-trade-block/ Fangraphs calling out Vest, Chafin and Foley as potential trade targets.

Always appreciate your knowledge and opinions Mark

Mayer, Kyle Teal and a couple others and I'd sign up.

A team a lot of people may be discounting here are the Red Sox. They have the farm system and have over performed. I could see them offering some high end prospects for Skubal to go along with Houck and Pivetta.

Not my idea or trade but would you do this?

And if you can't match that expectation or believe it is too high we'll just keep the expected Cy Young for a couple more years 🤷‍♂️

Which 3 are you thinking? Took a bit of research on that as it looks like it was reimplemented with the new CBA.

Unlikely to sign but was ranked 108 by pipeline

Absolutely. Flags fly forever and it's not like we would fall off a cliff after that year. Burnes and Skubal would be a heck of a 1 & 2 punch. This is coming from someone who watches and follows the minor teams pretty heavily.

Reliever profile but that FB is nice to dream on.

Agreed, that is what stood out to me as well. I'll be very interested to see what the pitching dev team does with him