The Tigers should file a grievance against the Rays for trading them Meadows when they had to know he was mentally ill.
Kiley McDaniel on top prospects and also a mock 3. Detroit Tigers - Langford The belief is new GM Scott Harris will want to take a college hitter, all things being equal here, and the clear best player on the board in this scenario is both of those things. Spoiler 60 FV Prospects 1. Dylan Crews (age on draft day: 21.4), RF, LSU An American League executive who likes to contextualize draft prospects with comparisons had this summation of the LSU slugger: "Crews is Baby Trout." By that, he means that Crews is both physically smaller than Trout and plays the same way, but with less overall ability. I had Crews and Wyatt Langford from Florida in a toss-up for the top spot when the season started. While Langford missed time with injury, Crews has been blazing hot. Even more importantly, Crews adjusted his hitting mechanics and style, addressing the concerns in my previous ranking. He quieted his setup, flattened his swing plane and got a bit stronger. He's now making more contact in the zone and hitting the ball harder, while still well above average at avoiding chasing out of the zone. If that sounds terrifying, then you now know what SEC pitchers have been feeling. 55 FV Prospects 2. Paul Skenes (21.0), RHP, LSU Skenes is the best draft pitching prospect since Gerrit Cole in 2011, so he should avoid some of the track record concerns by recent pitchers that is creating a conundrum for teams at the top of the draft. In particular, Skenes' frame, athleticism, delivery and strikes quality are a cut above recent college pitching prospects with comparable stuff and performance. That variable will make it easier to weather the difficulties he'll face on the road to establishing himself as a big league rotation member, which could realistically be next season. He fits somewhere in the 20s of a minor league top 100 list for me right now. 3. Wyatt Langford (21.7), LF, Florida Langford missed time this season with a midsection injury, but hasn't missed a beat since returning. I saw him play against South Carolina earlier this month, and I think you need to see him in person to really take in his stature -- he looks like an NFL linebacker or strong safety. In a normal year, Langford would have a very strong case to go No. 1 overall, but he's a consensus third for me and many MLB clubs right now, as the two above prospects are precedent-setting players in a number of ways. Langford has appeared to be a notch or two behind Crews (whose power I have given a 70 grade since he was in high school) in terms of raw juice, but the exit velocity data basically has them as equals. I also have a number of 70-grade or better run times from Langford this season and last, both on close plays at first or on a turn for an extra base hit. Some scouts will write that down as a 70 since that's the objective way to judge speed, while other scouts see him digging out of the box and adjust down, more of a 60-grade speed that is a powerful, football-type run as opposed to the light-footed, graceful strides you normally see from true burners. In the field and in terms of stolen bases, Langford's speed isn't really a factor in stats or to the eye, so there is some degree of his timed speed that isn't relevant to the way he plays the game, though I wonder if that's something that can change. Like Crews, Langford will get to start in center field in pro ball. I give him a better chance to stick there, but I also don't have a great athletic comp to help judge him by (Hunter Renfroe or even Trout have similar builds and running styles). Langford will probably end up in a corner outfield spot eventually; I just don't know the timetable. Now, let's look at the surface stats for both hitters, with essentially the same context in the SEC: 2023 Crews: 202 PA, .490/.639/.860, 13 HR, 24% BB, 10% K, 3/3 SB 2023 Langford: 183 PA, .397/.536/.765, 10 HR, 21% BB, 13% K, 2/2 SB They have strikingly similar lines after essentially matching each other last spring as well. Langford, for some teams, is a 70 runner with 70 raw power and will have two seasons worth of historic SEC performance -- and he's still just the third-best prospect in the draft right now. If Langford closes strong, I could see him being second on the board of clubs who prefer hitters over pitchers in toss-up situations. Right now, I have him in the 30s of a minor league top 100. 4. Walker Jenkins (18.4), RF, South Brunswick HS (NC), North Carolina commit Jenkins' unbelievable draft spring is getting lost in the buzz of the three SEC prospects ahead of him. Here's a look at what scouts are seeing: I asked scouts around me during this game to come up with a hitter who creates 70-grade raw power with such little separation -- such a short path from loading his hands to contact -- and they couldn't. Two summers ago I compared Jenkins to J.D. Drew and thought he was clearly the best prep prospect in his class; the AL executive I spoke to still stands by that Drew comp today. Jenkins' prospect status was dinged a bit last summer -- he was recovering from a broken hamate bone, and teams also became aware of a hip procedure. He lost a step in speed and was a clear corner outfield fit with a bit less explosion at the plate, but his status could still fully recover with a strong spring finish. He's now better than ever and has also improved his body composition to be more NFL-esque, along the lines of Langford. Jenkins also got a step of speed back and is now average to a tick above as a runner, keeping the chance alive that he could stick in center -- on the same timeline as Riley Greene, who gained a tick of speed and has stuck in center field since. One scouting director told me he thought Jenkins' hit/approach/power combo (I'll call them 60, 60, and 70, respectively) was the best among preps since Bobby Witt Jr. in the 2019 draft. He fits inside the top half of the minor league top 100 once he signs.
Later, Max. How long is Wolfie gonna get away with hitting a buck sixty? And it may be time to send Torkelbust down again.
I like when we pitch well and hit home runs. Little late to the party, but seems like that might be a recipe for something down the road.
Pretty interested to see how Harris does with this. Rodriguez is probably the 1st real move that can be judged. So far the Jiminez deal looks great and while the Philly guys haven’t been good they are at least kind of fun and Soto isn’t a real asset
Vierling has been fine. I'd do that deal again in a heartbeat. Also, McKinstry is hitting leadoff and has been one of the better hitters on the team so far. That's saying literally nothing because of how bad everyone else is, but I think Vierling and McKinstry are a look into Harris' philosophy in terms of taking guys with some minor league pedigree and throwing them out there to see if they sink or swim in a bigger role. A lot of them are going to drown, but some will swim and be useful. It's something Tampa and Oakland have always been really good at. The problem for Harris is he had to do that at way too many positions this year.
Curious about your thoughts on Lange. Still not a huge sample size but we have almost a years worth of him being pretty excellent stuff results and underlying metrics. 2 years before arbitration and 5 years before free agency but a touch older than expected. Just put a huge tag on him and see if anyone bites? Hold off at least another year? Just keep and hope he is your closer for 5 years ?
MLB's 4th best defense played well today, but that's the kind of quality baseball you expect from a 2nd place team like ours.
I am confused by this move. Not because Turnbull is good, but because Alex Faedo isn't. And while maybe Faedo has to pitch today after the mid-week DH, I'll take my chances on Turnbull figuring something out in the next two weeks over watching Faedo in those starts.
Riley Greene has had a hit in every game since I declared him a bust. Faedo is throwing 6 shutout innings today.
It's that simple for why he's starting today. But if you're sending Turnbull down, who replaces him in the rotation? If it's Faedo, that just seems weird.
Tigers about to have two seperate 5 game win streaks in a season only 33 games in and still be 3 games under .500