Kiley McDaniel thinks we might get him at a discount because he's about to turn 22. I'm not sure on that, but could be something to consider for the last two picks.
He was SO eligible for the draft last year because of his age. He's a year older than Torkelson. Age matters when judging prospects, even if it sounds stupid. It doesn't matter when you're talking 2 months, but he's at least 6 months older than a lot of kids in his class. Historically speaking, that stuff matters in drafts. Also, it doesn't make him less of a prospect. It just creates a little more leverage for the Tigers, potentially, to sign him for less if that's how it plays out. It might not be a big deal this year that he's 22, but it would be a bigger deal for his draft value next year when he's 23.
MLB network seemed to like the pick. Their one host said he thinks the Tigers class is his favorite of this draft
Workman struggled this year. If he got off to the same start, that he did to finish 2019, he would have been a 2nd rounder.
Motor City Bengals did a piece on him as a potential 2nd round pick https://www.google.com/amp/s/motorc...08/gage-workman-detroit-tigers-mlb-draft/amp/
I wonder if all the IBBs Torkelson was getting got into his head a bit. He started the season batting 4th behind Torkelson and really struggled. He's also an interesting example of the age thing we were discussing previously. He's one of the youngest college players in the draft and is more than a full year younger than Cruz.
We did the same thing last year. Took six straight college position players to start the draft (10 of the first 12 overall).
Aside from Greene they definitely have an identifiable plan. This group seems better than that group. Hopefully it is.
Makes sense, their pitching arms are about a year away from being in pros, wanted to get hitters on a similar or accelerated track
I still have hopes for Quintana despite last year's awfulness. Also intrigued by Bryant Packard from the 5th round, who is kind of similar to Cabrera from this draft (Cabrera has a higher ceiling). I wasn't a big fan of the others they took, and think this group is clearly better overall to this point.
66. Gage Workman, 3B, Arizona State, Age: 20 Workman won’t turn 21 until October, which appeals to the many teams who value age very highly in their models, but also led the Sun Devils in strikeouts last year and was second in the Pac-12 in strikeouts when the season ended this spring. He’s strong but has a no-load approach that doesn’t make much use of the lower body to generate power. He’s got the arm and agility to stay at third base and could potentially move to second depending on the needs of the team that drafts him. There are some raw ingredients to like here but he has to improve his contact rate and also drive the ball more frequently.
I actually think pitching is a bigger organizational need than hitting coming into this week. The pitchers at AA/AAA are really good, but there's nothing behind them. And we also don't seem to play at all in the Latin America market for pitchers. We need everything, but pitching is a bigger need in terms of depth than a lot of people think. Especially if some of the top guys get hurt or aren't as good as we hope.
Here is Law's report on the top 3 picks (he doesn't have Cruz in his top 100): 2. Spencer Torkelson, 1B, Arizona State, Age: 20 Torkelson hit everyone’s radar in the spring of 2018 when he hit 25 home runs as a freshman to lead all Division I hitters, then hit 7 more on the Cape that summer to finish one off the league lead. Torkelson is extremely strong, hitting for all this power with almost no stride and a two-handed finish that makes his swing almost short by comparison to most power hitters, and while he’s shown some swing-and-miss he’s also been willing to take walks, leading the country this spring before the shutdown. He’s a good enough athlete that he might be able to handle left field, although I’d bet on him spending most of his career at first base. There’s some question over how good his pure hit tool is — whether it’s truly plus or whether it’ll settle in at average when he’s consistently facing better pitching — but even if he’s a 50 hit/70 power guy in the end, that’s someone who hits fourth and makes a handful of All-Star teams. 20. Dillon Dingler, C, Ohio State, Age: 21 Dingler is a strong defensive catcher with a plus arm and at least average receiving skills, so when he came out this spring and hit .340 with 5 homers in 13 games before the season ended, he helped boost his stock into first-round territory. He’s a strong kid who rarely strikes out, but hadn’t converted that into production — he hit below .300 in both of his first two years at Ohio State — until this year. Dingler broke his hamate bone last spring and didn’t play over the summer, so teams didn’t get as many looks at him as they’d like, and there are questions about his long-term durability. He’s the best defensive prospect among college catchers this year, and profiles as a solid regular who hits for power with some on-base skills but a modest batting average. 53. Daniel Cabrera, OF, LSU, Age: 21 Cabrera hit well, but not exceptionally so, in his first two years at LSU, but was off to a great start this spring when the season ended, leaving him unable to show if he’d made real gains by hitting in the SEC. Cabrera is a solid defensive right fielder who’s going to have to hit for average to be a regular or more; he has a simple left-handed swing with good bat speed but can overstride and struggle with adjusting to changing speed. The swing says he should hit, but he hasn’t done it often enough to be a first-rounder in this class, especially after he struck out in more than a quarter of his plate appearances in conference play last year. He’s an interesting upside play as a bet on a good swing and the improved eye he showed in small samples last summer and this spring.
We just drafted a 3B / RHP from HS, who is an Arizona State signee. We are depleting their 3b depth MLB had him #87 Spoiler: Bio 87 Colt Keith 3B/RHP, Biloxi (MS) AGE 18 BATS L DOB 08/14/2001 THROWS R HT 6' 2" SIGNED Arizona State WT 220 Scouting Grades/Report (20-80 grading scale) HITTING: HIT 50 POWER 45 RUN 50 ARM 60 FIELD 50 OVERALL 45 PITCHING: FASTBALL 55 CURVEBALL 55 CHANGEUP 50 CONTROL 50 OVERALL 45 Video » Gatorade's Mississippi high school player of the year as a junior last spring after moving from Arizona, Keith is one of the top two-way talents in the 2020 Draft. Scouts are divided as to whether he's a better prospect as a pitcher or an infielder, though they believe he prefers to play every day. A sore arm prevented him from pitching in midsummer showcase events but he did return to the mound and impressed in the fall. Keith makes consistent hard contact from the left side of the plate and is beginning to tap into his solid raw power, the product of bat speed and leverage. Projected strength gains should add more pop but also may slow him down enough to necessitate a move from shortstop in high school to third base in pro ball. The Arizona State recruit is an average runner whose plus arm will play on the left side of the infield. As a right-handed pitcher, Keith operates with an 89-93 mph fastball and uses his size and high three-quarters delivery to create downhill plane. His upper-70s curveball features good depth, while his changeup is more of a work in progress. His arm works well and there's plenty of projection remaining in his athletic 6-foot-3 frame.
At least 3 of our picks would be top 10 prospects for us at this point, I think. If I'm filling out a top 10, it'd probably be something like... 1. Torkelson 2. Mize 3. Manning 4. Skubal 5. Greene 6. Paredes 7. Dingler 8. Cabrera 9. Meadows 10. Faedo The back of the top 10 isn't great, but they now have 10-15 guys who could go in that range now. You could argue a bunch of guys anywhere from 7 to 20, really. I'd put Tork ahead of Mize due to injury concerns of pitchers. Could argue Greene as high as 3 at this point, but I'm all in on Manning and Skubal right now.
They will sign him.. Tork will go $400k under slot, Cruz probably. $200k under, Workman probably a little over slot, and lock this guy up for about $1 mil.
1. Manning 2. Torkelson 3. Mize 4. Skubal 5. Greene 6. Paredes 7. Cameron 8. Dingler 9. Cabrera 10. Meadows
Greene and Skubal were both so good this spring, it's to the point where I think you could make an argument for the top 5 in any order. Sucks we lost this year for Greene's development.
Yep. Top 5 are locked in. I debated putting Perez in my list. At least he can’t get injured this season (or can he?)
Toughest two guys for me to figure are Faedo and Cameron. Seems like the internet prospect community are basically out on Cameron and seemed to really be down on his tools compared to before. Faedo seems like an eye of the beholder guy. I'd probably have Wentz over him if he didn't have TJ this spring, and that actually maybe helps him in the long run if he gains his velo back from his early days in the Braves' org. I feel stupid even putting Perez in a top 20 because of how little he's pitched.
felt like there were several 1st round caliber arms available in the 2nd. Feels like a missed opportunity, drafting for need over talent in baseball is dumb.
I don't think Dingler was drafted for need. He was probably the consensus top rated player/pitcher on the board outside of the over slot guys.
Watched some videos of colt Keith last night, he looks amazing - did he fall bc teams were afraid he wouldn’t sign?
From Fangraphs: Detroit collected lots of good college players on Day 2 and closed with a bat-first high school infield prospect in Colt Keith. I think Gage Workman is going to be a tough sign, though. He’s young for the class and had a rough start to this year, so his stock might be better a year from now and ASU is poised to let him give shortstop a try.
Depends on what his price tag is. Maybe teams just weren't on him. Also, I think HS draft picks from Mississippi have a horrendous record historically, if I'm not mistaken. Maybe that plays a part in teams just not putting resources there?
So if we have a 60 game season, hopefully Tigers have Mize, Manning, and Skubal all make the roster. Let the kids play. They get experience, we still lose a bunch of games, and still get a high draft pick.
Id think about running a 6 man rotation to keep all the young guns fresh and reduce risk of throwing too much after this break, 10 starts each, and go with a rotation of 1. Boyd 2. Mize 3. Manning 4. Skubal 5. Norris 6. Burrows or Alexander DFA Zimmerman and use Nova as a long reliever or emergency starter. I don't think that his signing was awful, but he has no future on this team and contract expires after this year so I would rather get starts for the young guys and see what they have. edit to add, I forgot about Michael Fulmer, is he healthy?