September 25th, 2019 at 9:11 AM ^
With 6 games left? Seems pretty safe.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:15 AM ^
Happened later than expected.
September 25th, 2019 at 12:22 PM ^
Yeah, I was expecting them to play their way into the "historically bad" conversation, e.g. 2003.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:23 AM ^
You do it nice,
when you do it twice.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:25 AM ^
I thought the magic number was like 3. Guess the O's went ahead and won a couple games. I hope there are some high quality hitters in the draft next year.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:25 AM ^
It seems just like the Tigers’ luck that there’s no real clear #1 in the next draft. Certainly no Harper or Trout (I know he wasn’t a top ten pick) coming up, let alone a Casey Mize.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:59 AM ^
No bona fide #1 pick next year. Most of the guys I see competing for that first pick are solid prospects and will probably be pros for a long time. But none have the ceiling of a franchise player from what I can see so far.
But that's ok because we are probably going to compete for the #1 pick for 2021 as well.
September 25th, 2019 at 10:25 AM ^
Hooray?
September 25th, 2019 at 1:20 PM ^
Bacon1431, you're a Wolverhampton fan??!! Dude -- I'm a HUGE Wolverhampton fan (rare for Michigan) and am actually planning on attending a match at Molineux later this year!
Bestween Michiga and Wolves, rough start to the year, huh?
September 25th, 2019 at 1:48 PM ^
At least the expectations for Wolves are midtable, especially with Europa factored in. So I'm not too disappointed and I know we have the funds to bolster the team in the winter if these get dire. Michigan, not as much light at the end of the tunnel!
September 25th, 2019 at 8:37 PM ^
Probably for the next 10 years of # 1s, since this organization is so unorganized!
September 25th, 2019 at 10:51 AM ^
There is no clear number 1 because there are 2 number ones ... Emerson Hancock and Spencer Torkelson with Austin Martin very close.
Most project Hancock as the #1. I kind of would rather tigers take the sure hitting prospect Torkelson - he has more power than anyone on our roster right now, and hits for good average. Negative on him is 1B.
Our farm system already has good pitching, but our hitting is horrible. I would rather have Austin Martin than Hancock to be honest.
September 25th, 2019 at 11:48 AM ^
Tigers also have a huge need at 1st base with almost zero prospects (especially with Reynaldo Rivera's PED suspension), so while it's not ideal, at least organizational need matches up with a Torkelson pick.
September 25th, 2019 at 12:34 PM ^
Casey Mize wasn't a clear number one the off-season before his Junior season either. Brady Singer was considered the front runner at that time. Still plenty of time for somebody to establish themselves as the guy in this draft.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:25 AM ^
Avila will probably trade the pick for a ham sandwich.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:28 AM ^
Only if his son made it
September 25th, 2019 at 9:28 AM ^
Luckily you can't trade draft picks in baseball so Avila can't go full Avila.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:36 AM ^
Never go full avila.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:27 AM ^
Ordinarily I would be waving a tiny flag about this dubious accomplishment, but they'll actually get a great prospect next year. So YAY! Let the ascent commence!
September 25th, 2019 at 9:33 AM ^
Heard about 10 minutes of a game the other day on the radio and man, Price and Dickerson sound (like everyone else) like they are really ready for the season to be over.
On one hand, they're getting paid and it's a job, etc. On the other hand, it's clear that they truly care for the players and organization and this is hard to watch.
September 25th, 2019 at 10:07 AM ^
Trust me, working 100+ loss season sucks, working multiple 100+ loss seasons can really test your nerves. Starting around August you look forward to Football and Hockey.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:38 AM ^
Finally, some good news.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:55 AM ^
Nope. Emerson Hancock will go number 1. Torkelson strikes out too much.
September 25th, 2019 at 10:20 AM ^
Tigers have hardly any bats in their system right now. I’d be a little disappointed if they took another SP with Mize, Faedo, Manning, Skubal, etc. in the farm system. Fulmer is still only 26, if he can come back from surgery he’s another young arm. They just got that prospect from the Braves in the Greene trade, and they might get JV back.
They have a ton of arms right now, I’d really like them to bring some offense in.
September 25th, 2019 at 10:34 AM ^
and they might get JV back.
Say whaaaa?
September 25th, 2019 at 11:05 AM ^
It has been mentioned that he wants to finish his career in Detroit. One source was Chris Chelios, who JV is apparently still friends with, who explicitly said JV wants to come back. Nothing concrete, obviously, but he's 36 and is said to want to come back. His wife is from Michigan too, obviously, so they might want to settle/have kids here.
September 25th, 2019 at 4:39 PM ^
He has a wife, you say? Pix, or it didn't happen.
September 25th, 2019 at 11:16 AM ^
On the flip side, you might be able to flip some of those pitching prospects for a young hitter. There is a dearth of hitters in our system, but there's a wealth of pitchers. I'm a fan of just taking the BPA in MLB draft because few prospects are able to get to the majors and stay there within two years. Your roster needs two years from now might not be the same as they are now. Some prospects you thought were a "sure thing" may not develop. Others you weren't expecting to might.
September 25th, 2019 at 12:01 PM ^
Yeah, I definitely get this strategy, it’s just that I don’t trust Avila’s execution.
September 25th, 2019 at 2:15 PM ^
Yeah, it's hard. I keep thinking he's doing a great job at drafted and then remember that our minor league system is middle of the pack. He's drafting better than Dombrowski, but not by all that much. And we're keeping them instead of trading away any semblance of a prospect at the deadline.
September 25th, 2019 at 2:38 PM ^
I want a bat, but I think you’re right, Hancock is the clear #1, he’s been compared to JV.
It’s the Tigers though, so whoever they don’t pick will probably be the much better player.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:55 AM ^
September 25th, 2019 at 10:10 AM ^
If my Cleveland Indians make the post-season this year it will be solely due to our good fortune to be able to play the Tigers as frequently as we do.
18-1 vs Tigers
75-63 vs rest of baseball
Thank you Tigers!
September 25th, 2019 at 10:45 AM ^
AL Central is atrocious. 60 games against the Tigers, White Sox, and Royals will really pad your wins.
I am interested to see how the Twins and Indians did versus the teams outside of the AL Central. Time to go look.
September 25th, 2019 at 11:05 AM ^
Against the division winners in the AL, the Indians went 17-16. It was the teams in the wild card hunt that really hurt them going 2-11 against Tampa Bay and Oakland.
September 25th, 2019 at 10:20 AM ^
Let’s gooooooo!!!!
September 25th, 2019 at 10:48 AM ^
Hurray for the rebuild, lose all you want and get a contract extension. Then poor Al goes on to do media about how tough this season is for him.
Maybe I will care about the product on the field when Chris Ilitch cares about the product on the field.
September 25th, 2019 at 10:57 AM ^
It doesn't matter. The Old Man cared and wanted to win. He knew that he couldn't take his billions with him and wanted to bring a Series championship back to Detroit. Chris just worries about the bottom line. He will never allow the team to spend the money required to hold onto talent.
September 25th, 2019 at 1:16 PM ^
I don't really understand this argument. By the time Mike passed, the Tigers' window of contention was basically over. They had already taken on so much money that it would have been impossible to keep a JD Martinez or attempt to reload with another Jordan Zimmerman/Justin Upton contract.
Half the franchises in baseball are in the same boat as the Tigers and are not actively trying to compete, so it's hardly a Chris Illitch only problem. Cheapness now (not spending money on FAs, trading off assets, bringing the payroll down) isn't a bad thing... It's actually probably a good thing in the long run. At this point, investing in the organization's infrastructure like bringing the analytics department up to date is a far better allocation of resources than signing a Eric Hosmer-level player.
The question will be when the Tigers get to the point where the Braves or Twins currently find themselves, will Chris open up the checkbook? Until then, we just don't know.
September 25th, 2019 at 1:34 PM ^
This, exactly. When the Tigers were still desperately trying to hold on to that window of contention plenty of people were saying they should have already started the rebuild instead. Now that rebuild is happening and people are upset it is ugly and will take some time before going out and spending money is worth it. I don't get it.
September 25th, 2019 at 4:51 PM ^
You are correct. As is Mgoblue96 for echoing your sentiments. But Tigers fans do not want to hear that the cheapness on current payroll, trading off some aging stars like Verlander, and other similar moves are what was needed.
Dombrowski and Mike Ilitch tried their asses off to bring a WS title to Detroit and they gave us a decade or so of a really good team to follow. But in the process, they also mortgaged the next decade to get there. It is going to take some more time for this team to be back in contention. And unless you are truly in contention, you may as well not spend a whole bunch of money to finish third in the division instead of fifth. Sock that extra money away and spend it to add another relief pitcher or something when you might actually win a division or more. Take that top 5 draft pick instead of the 20th.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:02 PM ^
This is total bull. Organizations like the Cardinals can keep competitive for 30 years. They just have better scouts who can evaluate talent better and a GM that can make trades at the right time to keep the spending down and not have to go into total collapse mode, where there is a 10 year rebuilding phase like the Tigers and Royals.
September 25th, 2019 at 12:34 PM ^
As a Baltimore native and a life long Orioles fan, this hurts. I’ve been checking tankathon weekly. I was hoping for a harper strausberg situation