2025 Detroit Tigers General Discussion Thread

[GalagaGuy]

Verlander went straight from AA to the Majors and he was only at AA for the blink of an eye.  If JV can do it, so can  McGonigle! 

[gehringer_2]

10 minutes ago, GalagaGuy said:

Verlander went straight from AA to the Majors and he was only at AA for the blink of an eye.  If JV can do it, so can  McGonigle! 

so you're committing McGonigle for a 1st ballot Hall of Famer? Go for it!

[GalagaGuy]

7 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

so you're committing McGonigle for a 1st ballot Hall of Famer? Go for it!

Miggy did it too and as you know, good things come in threes.  

[Tiger337]

I thought was bad things that come in threes.  

[4hzglory]

2 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

And Tigers have a depressing 9  pitchers on the 60. 3 of those may be back soon though,  so a couple of guys like Heuer may already be as good as gone.

And only 3 are free agents after this year, so that’s 6 spots on the 40 man right there.

[GalagaGuy]

10 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

I thought was bad things that come in threes.  

We already covered that with Maeda, Manning and Kahnle.   We're owed three good things now.  

[Graterol]

4 hours ago, 4hzglory said:

Another factor is the 40 man roster.  There are a number of players that are Rule V eligible this year that would need to be protected.  They aren't promoting McGonigle before they are fairly sure he's ready locking up a spot on the 40 man (and starting his clock) and jeopardizing other depth they want to keep.  (Remember, all those on the 60 day IL also have to be put on the 40 man after the season.)

 

It may sound good, but McGonigle and Clark are going to spend the majority of next season between AA and AAA, if no major struggles,  likely being called up at the end of 2026 (keeping their rookie eligibility) and then starting the season in 2027 giving the possibility of the extra draft pick.

 

3 hours ago, 4hzglory said:

Not only that, but he hasn't shown he can hit AAA pitching yet, which as was said earlier, is a bigger jump than it used to be with the few minor league teams and more pitchers being shuttled between the majors and AAA.  I think it's foolish to think McGonigle would step in right now and be better than Sweeney currently is.  

There are not many certainties in baseball, but Kevin mcgonigle being better right now than Trey Sweeney is one of them. Again, this is as much of a Sweeney discussion as a mcgonigle. Playoff teams need to try to win. Fat will need to be trimmed eventually of the 40 man eventually. 30 games in mlb won’t hurt mcgonigles development.

[Edman85]

4 hours ago, 4hzglory said:

Another factor is the 40 man roster.  There are a number of players that are Rule V eligible this year that would need to be protected.  They aren't promoting McGonigle before they are fairly sure he's ready locking up a spot on the 40 man (and starting his clock) and jeopardizing other depth they want to keep.  (Remember, all those on the 60 day IL also have to be put on the 40 man after the season.)

 

It may sound good, but McGonigle and Clark are going to spend the majority of next season between AA and AAA, if no major struggles,  likely being called up at the end of 2026 (keeping their rookie eligibility) and then starting the season in 2027 giving the possibility of the extra draft pick.

I went through the exercise over the weekend, and the only guys who are must-add's this offseason are Liranzo and Lee. Throw in a reliever like Summers and your Jake Miller's of the world. The crunch isn't too too bad.

I still wouldn't push McGonigle. There's really no need.

[IdahoBert]

AA is not the same launching pad to the majors that it was 25 years ago. 

[RatkoVarda]

5 hours ago, 4hzglory said:

It may sound good, but McGonigle and Clark are going to spend the majority of next season between AA and AAA, if no major struggles,  likely being called up at the end of 2026 (keeping their rookie eligibility) and then starting the season in 2027 giving the possibility of the extra draft pick

I think this is the Harris plan.

Appears to me that McGonigle has a different plan.

[gehringer_2]

6 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

I think this is the Harris plan.

Appears to me that McGonigle has a different plan.

If he doesn't slow down I can see them sending McGonigle to Toledo the last couple of weeks of the seaso to get his feet wet and be ready to start next season there, and if he starts the season at AAA and keeps it up, he'll see Detroit in '26. Based on the handling of Jobe I don't see the Tigers as being reluctant to see a guy make it quickly  - IF he is performing at a high enough level. But that is still a big if. 

And of course, in '26 if Gleyber is gone and Keith starts playing 3rd regularly there would be nice spot at 2B for someone to fill.

[papalawrence]

4 hours ago, GalagaGuy said:

Verlander went straight from AA to the Majors and he was only at AA for the blink of an eye.  If JV can do it, so can  McGonigle! 

Of course players can do it - Miggy, Harper and Trout were all up at age 19. With JV, it was DD in charge. He isn't cautious. Harris is a different boss. He just said last week he isn't bringing anyone up early, and they will all go through each step of development. If he promotes McGonigle to aaa now, perhaps he could be up mid September. 

[TigerNation]

McGonigle was promoted to AA after a grand total of 14 games in A+ last year and 36 this year. He played 12 games in A ball and then 60 the next season before being promoted to A+. He will start next year in AAA. And if he performs how he will be expected and projected to at AAA, it won't take more than 50-60 games until he forces the Tigers hand to call him up.

Anybody who thinks Tigers are planning to have him spend the majority of season in AAA, let alone mention AA lol, is kidding themselves. Nothing Harris has said or done should be interpreted to suggest the Tigers think McGonigle needs a lot of seasoning or reps at any level where he proves he's too good.

[papalawrence]

7 minutes ago, TigerNation said:

McGonigle was promoted to AA after a grand total of 14 games in A+ last year and 36 this year. He played 12 games in A ball and then 60 the next season before being promoted to A+. He will start next year in AAA. And if he performs how he will be expected and projected to at AAA, it won't take more than 50-60 games until he forces the Tigers hand to call him up.

Anybody who thinks Tigers are planning to have him spend the majority of season in AAA, let alone mention AA lol, is kidding themselves. Nothing Harris has said or done should be interpreted to suggest the Tigers think McGonigle needs a lot of seasoning or reps at any level where he proves he's too good.

I agree, but I also think those who want him called up to Detroit now are going to be disappointed. That's not Harris' approach.

[TigerNation]

Jobe had a total of 79.2 IP in AA before being promoted to AAA, and a total of 9 IP in AAA before the Tigers brought him up to pitch in the playoffs.

Any suggestion they plan on having McGonigle spending any amount of significant time in AAA is way off base.

[TigerNation]

1 minute ago, papalawrence said:

I agree, but I also think those who want him called up to Detroit now are going to be disappointed. That's not Harris' approach.

Detroit this year, no. Although promoting him to AAA for September and then breaking camp with the team is a very real possibility. Somebody mentioned the rookie pick incentive, that is something that will only speed up his timeline, not slow it down.

[gehringer_2]

Also, you can't compare the projectabiilty of pitchers to hitters that easily. It's relatively easy with today's instrumentation to know exactly what a pitcher throws and how that compares to what a major leaguer needs to have. It's not that simple with hitting. Until a hitters sees the next level of pitching in live competition, you really don't know if he is going to handle it. Hitters max out all along the continuum of the minor leagues. Just because a guy tore up AA isn't nearly as good a predictor he will handle MLB pitching as when a AA pitcher throws 97, has spin and can throws strikes consistently. So better to look at position player models than compare McGonigle to pitchers who have or haven't moved fast.

[TigerNation]

3 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Also, you can't compare the projectabiilty of pitchers to hitters that easily. It's relatively easy with today's instrumentation to know exactly what a pitcher throws and how that compares to what a major leaguer needs to have. It's not that simple with hitting. Until a hitters sees the next level of pitching in live competition, you really don't know if he is going to handle it. Hitters max out all along the continuum of the minor leagues. Just because a guy tore up AA isn't nearly as good a predictor he will handle MLB pitching as when a AA pitcher throws 97, has spin and can throws strikes consistently. So better to look at position player models than compare McGonigle to pitchers who have or haven't moved fast.

The difference in how long it takes to tell when a player is too good for a minor league level is not that much longer between pitchers and hitters. It has taken a total of 23 games for it to be obvious that McGonigle is too good for AA and will not be challenged at that level. Sometimes it's just that obvious.

[Edman85]

The risk is waiting til 2027 is the increasingly likely labor stoppage. Give them both a chance to make it out of spring next year and only bring them up this year if you get absolutely snakebitten by injury.

[CaliforniaDreaming]

49 minutes ago, Edman85 said:

The risk is waiting til 2027 is the increasingly likely labor stoppage. Give them both a chance to make it out of spring next year and only bring them up this year if you get absolutely snakebitten by injury.

I'm curious what difference them being major league or minor league would make if there is a labor stoppage...I'm ignorant about this. Are teams able to continue working with minor league players but not major league players? I wonder if there is any motivation to keep them in the minors during the labor stoppage.

[IdahoBert]

During a strike, I believe the minor leagues will keep playing, but players in the minors that are on the 40-man roster would not. 

[IdahoBert]

2 hours ago, CaliforniaDreaming said:

I wonder if there is any motivation to keep them in the minors during the labor stoppage.

From what I can tell, no one accrues service time during a stoppage of any variety