2025-2026 Tigers Off Season Thread

[4hzglory]

Just now, gehringer_2 said:

Curtis had stayed in school for 3yrs, which would be unusual for today's top prospects,  who often come out in a year or two.

Most college players have to stay for 3 years per baseball’s draft rules.  

[gehringer_2]

18 minutes ago, TigerNation said:

And another thing with McGonigle, he has physical limitations that limit his ceiling.

that he's 'only' 5' 11"?

 

[romad1]

54 minutes ago, IdahoBert said:

What are his physical limitations?

Similar to other ballplayers in that he is bound by gravity and the natural boundaries of the humanoid form.  Also, his need to breath and lack of sight in several light spectra.   

[Tiger337]

7 minutes ago, romad1 said:

Similar to other ballplayers in that he is bound by gravity and the natural boundaries of the humanoid form.  Also, his need to breath and lack of sight in several light spectra.   

He lacks the virility of Jim Adduci.  

[TigerNation]

1 hour ago, IdahoBert said:

What are his physical limitations?

He's short and not an explosive athlete. Not to say he doesn't have a high ceiling, he absolutely does. But the reason Griffin is ranked higher by some people is because of his physical tools providing a higher ceiling. McGonigle is not going to add a bunch of a value with his base running and fielding, and with his size he's not going to hit 35+ HRs. It's all just to say, for somebody who projects at 2B, and not much physical projection growth, for him to be as highly regarded of a prospect as he is, the bar is so much higher. The fact he so easily clears it removes any concern about him being anything besides a + player in the majors. It would be an absolute shocker if he's not a 3+ WAR player at least, he just doesn't have the absolute upside of somebody like a Witt jr.

[TigerNation]

1 hour ago, 4hzglory said:

He’s ranked the best overall hitting prospect since Vlad by BA with no weaknesses in any aspect of his hitting, including power.

Yeah, hence why he's as safe of a prospect as there is. My point is not that he has a low ceiling. Griffin is not ranked higher by anybody because of current performance, it's because he has more upside due to his physical tools. 

[TigerNation]

54 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

that he's 'only' 5' 11"?

 

Pretty much. If McGonigle projected as a plus defender at SS nobody would rank Griffin ahead of him. He's also not 5'11.

[gehringer_2]

8 minutes ago, TigerNation said:

Pretty much. If McGonigle projected as a plus defender at SS nobody would rank Griffin ahead of him. He's also not 5'11.

well, there are plenty of guys in the HOF at less than 6' so his height should be the least of his problems.  

[Tenacious D]

If McGonigle demonstrates he can play SS to the team’s satisfaction in ST, he will make the team and be our starter. Look for the inevitable Trammell mentoring article from Cody and/or Evan. Javy will get plenty of time filling in at SS, 3B and CF.

Bench would be Jake Rogers, Javy, Zack McKinstry, Wenceel Perez and Matt Vierling?  Think Jahmai gets squeezed out.

Edited 47 minutes ago by Tenacious D

[Tiger337]

3 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

well, there are plenty of guys in the HOF at less than 6' so his height should be the least of his problems.  

Joe Morgan was 5-7 and he may have been the best all around player I have ever seen.  

[gehringer_2]

9 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Joe Morgan was 5-7 and he may have been the best all around player I have ever seen.  

and Jose Altuve has hit 30 hr twice at 5'6". There probably is no pro sport were physical tools are less connected to actual performance than baseball. I'm not saying they aren't connected, but that in baseball, other skills like ball path perception (i.e. fly ball judgement), anticipation, soft hands, and of course your perceptual hard wiring as a hitter, are all as important as, and unrelated to, raw athleticism.

Edited 35 minutes ago by gehringer_2

[TigerNation]

8 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

well, there are plenty of guys in the HOF at less than 6' so his height should be the least of his problems.  

His height and athleticism are only problems in the context of his absolute ceiling, and that's in comparison to the players who reach 9-10+ WAR seasons.

He has first ballot HOF potential.

[gehringer_2]

5 minutes ago, TigerNation said:

His height and athleticism are only problems in the context of his absolute ceiling, and that's in comparison to the players who reach 9-10+ WAR seasons.

He has first ballot HOF potential.

And you don't need to excel in every aspect of the game to be a great player. Would you draft Andrelton Simmons over Derek Jeter? I've never seen anyone play SS like Simmons when he 1st came up, but if I wanted to win ball games I'll take Jeter. Or long story short version: Great hitting trumps almost everything else.

Edited 31 minutes ago by gehringer_2

[gehringer_2]

23 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

If McGonigle demonstrates he can play SS to the team’s satisfaction in ST, he will make the team and be our starter. Look for the inevitable Trammell mentoring article

yeah - one critique I saw (on BA I think) was about his throwing footwork. That should be low hanging fruit for Dr. Trammell. 

Still, I want to see him prove he can hit MLB pitching. 

Edited 24 minutes ago by gehringer_2

[TigerNation]

3 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

And you don't need to excel in every aspect of the game to be a great player. Would you draft Andrelton Simmons over Derek Jeter? I've never seen anyone play SS like Simmons when he 1st came up, but if I wanted to win ball games I'll take Jeter. Or long story short version: Great hitting trumps almost everything else.

No ****? Not relevant to anything I've said.

Prospect rankings are biased towards physical upside and raw tools. In order for somebody to be as highly regarded as McGonigle is while being 5'9 and not an explosive athlete, you have to be so insanely good at everything else.

It seems you think I said, or implied, he has anything other than a ridiculously high ceiling. I did not, he has an MVP level ceiling.

[IdahoBert]

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

that he's 'only' 5' 11"?

 

So what you’re parodying in pre-analytic terms is that “he doesn’t look like a ball player.“ I can see that being a problem for some. 

[gehringer_2]

14 minutes ago, TigerNation said:

No ****? Not relevant to anything I've said.

Prospect rankings are biased towards physical upside and raw tools. In order for somebody to be as highly regarded as McGonigle is while being 5'9 and not an explosive athlete, you have to be so insanely good at everything else.

It seems you think I said, or implied, he has anything other than a ridiculously high ceiling. I did not, he has an MVP level ceiling.

Not at all, just talking players in general.

The basic issue to me is that everything (for a position player) comes down to hitting, and to this day, projecting how guys are going to hit as they face progressively tougher pitching is the hardest thing to do, so it's natural that everything else which is easier to see tends to get a little more attention. There's no perfect MiLB metric for 'can you lay off Tarik Skubal's change down 0-2' until the guy gets himself into a position to have a chance to try to do it. 

Edited 3 minutes ago by gehringer_2

[IdahoBert]

When major league players make fun of McGonagle by calling him “shrimp“ or asking him “how’s the weather down there?” I hope he just doesn’t go back home and cry on his mother skirt. 

[TigerNation]

12 minutes ago, IdahoBert said:

So what you’re parodying in pre-analytic terms is that “he doesn’t look like a ball player.“ I can see that being a problem for some. 

McGonigle is absolutely an old school throw back try hard middle infielder.