2025-2026 Tigers Off Season Thread

[gehringer_2]

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.

[monkeytargets39]

I just want Hinch to start getting away from platooning a few of these guys as much as he tends to.

I’m fine with platooning Meadows and Vierling or Javy and McKinstry.  But you gotta let these top prospect types play in all situations and learn to elevate their games.  Keith, McGonigle and Carpenter need to be playing every day and having at least a decent degree of consistency in defensive positioning.  

[Tigermojo]

Hinch will play the hitting matchups. Not necessarily all lefties or righties and he will have late game strategies with the bench. We have seen in the past, this leads to some head scratching defense. Jones should never be in the field.

[Tiger337]

Dylan Smith DFA per Woodberry.  That is a bit surprising since I thought he was an OK prospect.  I am guessing it will be a small trade for a lower level guy.  

I am sure Edman is going to tell me why they can't do that.  😄

Edited yesterday at 04:47 PM by Tiger337

[Sports_Freak]

1 hour 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. 
 

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.

[monkeytargets39]

4 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Dylan Smith DFA per Woodberry.  That is a bit surprising since I thought he was an OK prospect.  I am guessing it will be a small trade for a lower level guy.  

I am sure Edman is going to tell me why they can't do that.  😄

I wonder if something happened with him?  Certainly doesn’t seem warranted based on performance. 

[Sports_Freak]

57 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

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.

It still amazes me that he was an All Star in CF last season. If Meadows doesn't hit, at least a little, it's good to have Javy to play out there. Defense is still strong.

[Tiger337]

Even Jason Beck said DFAing Smith was a surprise move.  He hasn't questioned anything in three decades.  

[tiger2022]

14 hours ago, TigerNation said:

Keith's 109 wRC+last year wouldve tied for 16th amongst 1B. Even if he doesn't improve he'd be a top 20 starting 1B. Of course, he was 23 last year, so there's reason to expect him to perform better than he did in his second season.

You are so overdramatic.

Sweet...cherry picking a stat while ignoring his lack of power and defensive liability...very nice.  And thanks for the juvenile personal insult...doesn't surprise me in the least though. 

And he's going to be 25 in August.

 

Edited yesterday at 05:06 PM by tiger2022

[Tiger337]

6 minutes ago, tiger2022 said:

Sweet...cherry picking a stat while ignoring his lack of power and defensive liability...very nice.  And thanks for the juvenile personal insult...doesn't surprise me in the least though. 

And he's going to be 25 in August.

 

wRC+ looks at his hitting ability as a whole, so it does include power.  He is 9% better than the average hitter.  It is correct to say that it doesn't consider defense.  

[Tenacious D]

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

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.

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.

[gehringer_2]

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.

[gehringer_2]

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.

[Edman85]

42 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Dylan Smith DFA per Woodberry.  That is a bit surprising since I thought he was an OK prospect.  I am guessing it will be a small trade for a lower level guy.  

I am sure Edman is going to tell me why they can't do that.  😄

Trade for cash so you can get a CBT discount!

[4hzglory]

2 hours ago, SoCalTiger said:

McKinstry is going to get reps at short 

Just questioning what leads to this thought?  From what I saw, McGonigle is an improvement over McKinstry at SS defensively, so if McGonigle is the primary SS, why would they give McKinstry reps there?

 

As far as the moving McGonigle around, I think others have said in the past - maybe Gehringer - that there appear to be some players that can move around and it not effect them much, and there are some who need to be at primarily 1 position.  This spring at least, McGonigle appears to be one who has no problem moving back and forth on the left side of the infield.  So I personally don't think they will just put him at 3rd in order to keep him from moving around.

Keith on the other hand is one who has shown (up to this point) that he needs to settle into a position.  I think against RHP McGonigle will start at SS and Keith primarily at 3B.  Against LH maybe they have Baez at SS (Vrieiling in CF) and McGonigle at 3B. 

If there were no injuries (which isn't going to happen obviously) I think McKinstry could have a hard time getting 500 PA's.  He likely plays against most LH pitching as there aren't enough RH bats in the OF/3b, but if Keith hits at above league average and is the same (or hopefully improves) on last year's time at 3B I think 3rd will be his.  If they decide to primarily DH Keith, then that opens up 3rd for potentially McKinstry and/or McGonigle.  I guess most likely against RHP is McGonigle is at SS, Carpenter/Keith/Torres and even Riley share DH and McKinstry plays where whoever is DHing normally plays.

[RatkoVarda]

just leave McG at SS; and move Javy/McKinstry around

[4hzglory]

10 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

just leave McG at SS; and move Javy/McKinstry around

If McGonigle can handle it, which I think he can, the best defensive infield when Baez is playing IF has Baez at SS and McGonigle at 3rd.  But if Baez isn't playing in the IF, McGonigle is the 2nd best defensive SS on the roster IMO and should be there.

 

For reference, McGonigle played 10 games at SS and 7 at 3rd in the spring and still led regulars in OPS.

Edited yesterday at 07:16 PM by 4hzglory

[gehringer_2]

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.

[SoCalTiger]

4 hours ago, 4hzglory said:

Just questioning what leads to this thought?  From what I saw, McGonigle is an improvement over McKinstry at SS defensively, so if McGonigle is the primary SS, why would they give McKinstry reps there?

 

As far as the moving McGonigle around, I think others have said in the past - maybe Gehringer - that there appear to be some players that can move around and it not effect them much, and there are some who need to be at primarily 1 position.  This spring at least, McGonigle appears to be one who has no problem moving back and forth on the left side of the infield.  So I personally don't think they will just put him at 3rd in order to keep him from moving around.

Keith on the other hand is one who has shown (up to this point) that he needs to settle into a position.  I think against RHP McGonigle will start at SS and Keith primarily at 3B.  Against LH maybe they have Baez at SS (Vrieiling in CF) and McGonigle at 3B. 

If there were no injuries (which isn't going to happen obviously) I think McKinstry could have a hard time getting 500 PA's.  He likely plays against most LH pitching as there aren't enough RH bats in the OF/3b, but if Keith hits at above league average and is the same (or hopefully improves) on last year's time at 3B I think 3rd will be his.  If they decide to primarily DH Keith, then that opens up 3rd for potentially McKinstry and/or McGonigle.  I guess most likely against RHP is McGonigle is at SS, Carpenter/Keith/Torres and even Riley share DH and McKinstry plays where whoever is DHing normally plays.

I think team Harris/Hinch will play McGonigle often at third and not just short because it just might be his best position. It's still an evaluation. Against right handers I see a lineup of McGonigle at 3B, McStinky at shortstop, Carpenter in RF and Keith DH. I  "think" McGonigle ends up a third baseman and not a shortstop. 

[chasfh]

McGonigle will not long-term at shortstop, not as long as we have Rainer and Yost in the system. I'm not as high on Peck as some are, but I could see him serving as a bridge to Rainer/Yost maybe next year. But I would bet that barring injury, by the end of the year, McGonigle will have logged substantially more innings at shortstop than any other Tiger.

 

[NorthWoods]

If the dedication to winning this year remains firm then I see Javy's runway being April/May.    If he's once again a complete offensive liability then I think we'll see him cut for a better option.  Meadows should be on the same arc.

[1984Echoes]

I don't believe Baez will be cut. He'll be moved over to SS-CF-Utility Guy. Money issue.

Meadows is on that "could-be-cut or at least sent-to-Toledo" trajectory... IMO.