gehringer_2

4 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

George Cooney is not a ball player!

The long ball only gets you so far.....

38 minutes ago, buddha said:

the alternative was to not sign middling veterans early and continue to bottom out. 

the other aspect would he to have the cap space to make a big move when one was available, which in general they haven't had as they've burned their cap on guys who weren't going to get them over the line anyway.

50 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

McGonigle has a good face for a ballplayer.  

I guess. Looks like the guy she left for George Clooney.

48 minutes ago, buddha said:

three picks hitting in six years is not a great ratio.  and they were all top 6, you BETTER hit in the top 6.

kasper falling off the planet has been a huge disappointment.  to me he belongs on the first line as a winger, but rven when he's been up there he hasnt been great.

yeah yeah, he does other things.  well, we need him to score.  a little more cole caufield and a little less kotaneimi.

Has Yzerman forced any significant staff turnover since he's been here? I get the feeling he is too comfortable with with the staff status quo.

1 hour ago, HeyAbbott said:

If Vierling is healthy this year, didn't we, in effect, get an impact RH bat?

His best full season OPS+ has been 106. He should make them better agains LHP but 'impact' might be an optimistic take.

58 minutes ago, 4hzglory said:

From what I saw, McGonigle is an improvement over McKinstry at SS

I was an early skeptic of Zach at short when they 1st played him there in '23, but since what I'd call a rocky start, by the numbers he has graded out well there in '24 and '25 and he has the strongest arm on the team. So I'm a little more on his SS bandwagon than I used to be.

Where there is a big a difference is in taking throws on steal attempts and other kinds of tag plays - Baez is just a class by himself there, but no-one else is likely to come close to Javy there, it's just a unicorn skill he has.  McKinstry certainly doesn't and I doubt McGonigle will either.

1 hour ago, buddha said:

copp has been good, compher was a big miss.  not replacing rasmussen was a miss.  not getting bigger up front was a miss.

Since Yzerman has been GM, I would say the only impact players has brought in outside the draft (i.e. trades and FA) have been DeBrincat and Gibson, and maybe now Faulk. Not going to give him much credit for Kane because it didn't look like there was much competition to land him at the time. In 7/8 years that's not much. Maybe count Chairot if you want to be generous.

1 hour ago, Tenacious D said:

The team is young and came within an inning of the ALCS.  I wouldn’t expect much turnover, coupled with many legitimate prospects knocking on the door.

The question remaining in my mind is whether they have the pitching depth to survive Verlander, Mize and Flaherty all failing to perform, an outcome that I think still has too high a probability to be happy.

2 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

Barring injuries, I don’t see a path to McKinstry getting significant playing time.  And his roster spot could be vulnerable if Anderson, Lee, Cruz and/or Clark are pushing for a promotion at some point this season.

If he gets off to a start like he did last season they'll make a path! That's the thing, you just don't know about this stuff until it happens. I don't think he'll do what he did last season, but I can't say I know he won't.

In the end, that's really the whole point of having all these multiple position capabilities, it's to be able to put the bats that are hitting into the lineup and still cover all the positions. Or conversely, it means you don't need to stay with a guy who is not hitting because you don't have another player at his position.

27 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

I could see Javy being the odd man out against RH pitchers. Keith at 3rd and Kevin at SS. Unless Meadows doesn't hit, then Javy moves to CF. We don't have another LH hitter for CF until Perez comes back.

Javy sat against a fair number of RHP last season so that's more or less a given, it's just a matter of how much.

the other question is how Hinch manages McGonigle. There is a fair amount of opinion here that you don't want to move the rookie around. OTOH, IMO it is the very fact he can play both SS and 3B that helped make his call-up happen in the end. So we don't know  what Hinch and McGonigle think and that makes a big difference in how it goes. And if they don't want to move him around, do you start him at 3b or SS? You already have Baez and McKinstry, both of whom they they like at SS, while they have no proven 3Bs. Seem that leans the decision to putting him at 3b where he has been through a lot of ST. But we'll see.

20 minutes ago, Shelton said:

Agree, LHP starters are one of those circumstances where you depart from the default. None of those lefties will be straight platooned, so you are modifying relative to the standard when inserting Javy and Jahmai on those days. There will be days with Kerry in RF and Jahmai at DH. There will be days with Javy at SS and Parker in CF.

I’m just pushing back on the idea that Colt Keith is somehow in a utility role or DH because Javy Báez is your starting SS and Kevin plays 3B. Seeing that a lot. 
 

the other wild card is McKinstry. Seems unlikely his bat is as productive as it was last year, but if he does earn starting playing time a lot it would be on the left side of the IF. Good problems to have but also a ton of variables in the mix.

I think the difference with Javy is that regular playing time is his to lose. He may well lose it, but I think it's his to start just because they are paying him and he will catch the ball where ever they put him.

looks like most of the injured guys not already on the 60 are too close ready to play to put there - Lee, Horn, Sweeney.What's the deal with Jake Miller?

18 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

I think Keith may be a utility guy (1B, 2B, 3B, DH) but that's because I have less confidence in his defensive skills than some other people have.  He'll be in the line-up every game versus RHP, but not necessarily as the third baseman.  It's kind of fruitless figuring out who the "regulars" are going to be anyway, since there will be a new line-up every night and the roster is constructed in a way which makes that work.  

and the bottom line is that if you hit you are going to play and we can only guess who is going to hit. Green, Torres and Dingler are probably the only guys on the team guaranteed to get really long runways if they don't hit, every one else is going to have to earn their keep from pretty early on.

9 hours ago, sagnam said:

Pick one, abrasive or skilled. Not abrasive and not skilled shouldn’t be an option

Bingo - the wings have gotten themselves trapped in  no man's land of team construction.

Quote

I’d rather have ASP making mistakes but moving the puck than this dump and retreat style we are playing now. 

Yup - the lack of speed, or in particular, quickness, shows up in their inability to close on guys to get take aways in the their defensive zone. They have to hang back because they know if they try to pressure they will get left behind. Virtually every team we play can put pressure on an offense in their defensive zone better than the Wings can. And it hasn't changed in 7 yrs. The big D men have helped a lot down low  but  the pressure they continue to lack is from their forwards above the half board. And of course it plays both ways, lack of quickness means they can't break a good forecheck and they don't have the power players to push through it. 

In my book McLellan is some kind of genius for getting this team as fars as he does.

2 hours ago, Edman85 said:

You can't outright an injured player.

In Sweeney's case, he can be optioned without being 'outrighted' correct?

But that doesn't get him off the 40, which is I think where the discussion started.

I suppose if they are still happy to keep him as the "backup.backup" shortstop then they can find someone else to boot off the 40.

1 hour ago, Tiger337 said:

They have Cruz and Peck.  They could keep Sweeney too.  I am just wondering because he's not very good and their 40-man has gotten more crowded than it has in decades.    

Is Peck going to Toledo, or Erie? He only got in ~100 PA at AA.

I suppose Sweeney had his shot and didn't do enough with it. 

12 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

 

Ecuadoran Army staged show raids?  Blow some stuff up where there is no actual risk up of being fired back on  and get lots of film to show the Americans what a great job you are doing - they're smart enough to  figure out it's the kind thing Trump loves.

34 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

Why would Holmes say before the draft they need a tackle? Come on now. 

I listened to it. He did say they used their FA resources for the OLine first (i.e. they needed   tackle(s))  it was the number one priority for the team - he was clear about that.  But he also said they liked the degree to which they filled that need. He also again pushed back about not drafting pass rushers with the idea that in the Lion's scheme guys a guy has to be able to set the edge first. Pass rush specialists have limited appeal to him.

And then he stressed over and over again, repeatedly ad nauseum,  that whatever the need he won't draft for need because it's too big a waste of talent not to take the best player  on your board. Over the course of that player's career, need is too variable to give up taking the very best players.  He cited Jack Campbell as the way it works out that maybe you don't need the guy when you take him, then when you find that when you do you have top talent.

So I would say anyone listening to that total exchange as a means of trying to counter strategize the Lion's draft wasn't going to take much more from it than their own projection of what they think he is going to do anyway.

9 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

 Are they keeping Sweeney in the orgaization?

Yost and Ranier are still a ways from AAA so I'd think there is room and reason for them to want Sweeney there. I don't think they care about saving AB for Workman.

Kasper - 1 shot: Raymond - 1 shot: VanRiemsdyk - 0 shots: Copp - 0 shots.

Sider - 7 shots: Edvinsson - 3 shots

Notice anything wrong with this picture? 

You can't score if you aren't even shooting. If you aren't shooting you are either passing up chances or not skilled enough or skating enough to get to open ice. 

2 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Overrated? Well buddies Greene and Tork are in that conversation,

'Overrated' depends on compared to what.

However, in '25, Tork and Riley were the two team leaders in OPS+, wOBA, and wRC+

Detroit fans alway love greener grass.

so watching inter-inning ad on the cartoon and the graphics is line being chalked -  makes me think of a question I have wondered about off and on over the years: If they rechalk the baselines 81 times a year, why aren't the baselines just completely all white by the end of the season? Do thy periodically vacuum up the top layer or does chalk fade by itself or do they use a special fading composition?                                                                                                                                    

35 minutes ago, SoCalTiger said:

Second base opens next year and 1B/DH. Can always trade him. 

Out of the pool of 4 positions Colt can play - 1b,2b, 3b, DH, it's at least 50/50 one player at those positions will be down at any point in the season to an injury or slump. Or you just give 6 guys 500 AB instead of 5 guys 600 AB. Finding AB for one extra player isn't much of a struggle in 26 man roster.  Now if McKinstry were to hit so well again that they wanted to get him another 450 AB, then it can start getting a little crowded.

17 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

I think McGonigle is mostly SS and Keith mostly 3B.

I think it was just spring training "let's try him out here just in case"... which will only come into a play in the regular season if a problem or injury occurs.

IMO.

well see 84. I'm going to put my money the other way. I like what I've seen from McG at 3b a lot, and Javy can still pick it at SS.