LongLiveMaroth

Jobe hasn't allowed a hit through 5 so far tonight.

Also picking up Holton on waivers.

If Reese is hurt for a long period you can kiss buying at the deadline goodbye. You'll end up trading Flaherty and move Maeda back to the rotation and bring up Hurter.

Jack Flaherty 2024 3.13 ERA 32.1% K 0.98 WHIP Jordan Montgomery 2023 (before trade) 3.42 ERA 23.9% K 1.25 WHIP I was looking at deals from last year and I think Jordan Montgomery is probably the closest equivalent to Flaherty that we can compare against. He was on the last year of his deal and has comparable (not as good as Jack) stats. So looking at what STL got for him they got 2 borderline/upper bounds top 100 prospects and a lottery ticket. I would say that is what we should expect back. Maybe it's one Top 50-60 instead of 2 top 100 but that is what we should expect when we trade him.

I keep seeing things like this and I wanted to add some color. Harris most likely acts like a CEO of a company. While he has the final say on things he is not down in the everyday discussion of we should draft x vs y. Those discussions are had by Mark Connor who came over from San Diego. San Diego was known for their proclivity of selecting prep talent in the draft. Sure Harris could have demanded Connor focus on the most ML ready talent but he hired him for his knowledge and expertise so if Connor tells him hey here is where we have the prep players and we believe it's above the non-prep players should he select the non-prep because they will get here faster? The draft is about talent not timeline.

Flaherty decided to strike out the next two to not test it again.

Flaherty looking good so far.

Kiley's thoughts on our Draft Best value: Bryce Rainer, SS, No. 11 overall Where best player drafted ranks on team list: 4th (Rainer) Sleeper to watch: Ethan Schiefelbein, LHP (No. 72). I saw Schieflbein pitch a few times over the summer, but he had another gear when I saw him this spring at the NHSI tournament. He was toying with hitters, throwing a fastball 88 mph then the next one at 95 mph; I had to check my video to make sure these weren't different pitches. He threw four average or better pitches and showed plus control from a projectable 6-foot-2 frame. One big thought: The Tigers' new regime clearly still isn't scared of taking high school players with top picks, but it usually leans into safer sub-demographics within prep players -- for instance, last year's top picks of Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle: up-the-middle prep hitters with long track records of hitting, the ideal group of high school players. Rainer draws questions from some analytical types on his hit tool due to his mediocre summer and being old for the draft class, but scouts aren't worried. Schiefelbein gave me Zack Greinke vibes in terms of advanced pitchability in high school while Owen Hall and Zach Swanson fit into the riskier power righty demographic, but both have good breaking pitches.

Going through Fangraphs recap of Day 2-3 of the draft I read this and it got me thinking. Is this an exploit for teams willing to spend the money as the Tigers have shown over the last couple years to get an influx of better talent? The team has built the new Dominican facilities and has shown the ability to open up the purse strings for a better experience and work life for its MiLB players. We Just Had the Fewest High School Players Drafted, Ever At least, within 20 rounds, excluding the five-round 2020 draft. Some of this is specific to the talent makeup of this class, which was light on high schoolers. You know the feeling you get when you first open a bag of chips and see how few are actually in there? That’s what is felt like scouting this high school class last summer. There are other forces at play here as well. Player development is more costly now because of necessary changes made to how minor leaguers are paid and housed. MLB has slashed away 60 minor league affiliates from its clubs’ farm systems in response to the increase in per player cost, and also cut the draft in half, from 40 rounds to 20. A reduction in minor league roster spots and the lack of post-draft, short-season affiliates (the old Northwest, Appalachian, and Pioneer Leagues), where newly drafted college players often began their careers, creates a talent bottlenecking effect at the college level. Major League Baseball (note the capitalization — I’m referring to the business entity here) has an incentive to outsource player development to college baseball, and it’s a symbiotic relationship because the NCAA would love to have a more talented and watchable “product.” I’ve asked people if the pull of NIL money in college is part of the equation, and while it certainly is as far as choosing a school and navigating the transfer portal is concerned, people with big league teams have consistently told me that the new money flying around college baseball hasn’t really impacted their ability to sign players. Colleges have offered some players a lot of money to transfer or stay at their school (the highest rumored amount is in the mid-six figures), but even if, say, Texas A&M is offering you $500,000 or so to stick around, if the Angels draft you in the third round, your bonus is going to be much bigger than that.

BA's Review of our draft. I won't post it all but they called out the fact we took high-upside prep (which Mark Connor is known for) and 3 JUCO's. Below is just their review of the Swanson pick. Most Interesting Day 2 Pick: RHP Zach Swanson, 9th round The Pacific Northwest has been something of a powerhouse in recent years when it comes to producing prep pitchers. Swanson is next in a line that has recently included players like Noble Meyer, Mick Abel and JR Ritchie. Swanson is a 6-foot-3, 195-pound righthander who has a power arsenal and was a consistent performer throughout the 2023 showcase circuit. He sits in the 91-95 mph range with a high-spin fastball that looks like an above-average offering and has ripped off an above-average slider in the low 80s that also has high spin rates in the 2,600-2,800 rpm range. The slider generates whiffs against righties and lefties and is thrown with frisbee-like sweeping shape at its best. He has also mixed in an occasional straight changeup at 84-87. While Swanson posted consistently on the circuit, scouts noted that his control was a question mark during his spring season with Toutle Lake High and some scouts think his high-effort delivery will push him into a reliever role in the future. Swanson is committed to Oregon State.

FCL L 7-6 Fana 0/3 RBI BB K Hernandez Jimenez 0/3 Salas 2/3 2RBI HR Perez 1/2 BB K Wilson 3IP 7H 6ER BB 4K (6.62 ERA 😬) (Between work trips and vacations I have been slacking but should be back with your regularly scheduled updates on Monday)

You draft talent, not timelines.

I just confused on how this would be on ownership. Seems like an unnecessary jump.

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