I think we’re younger and doing this with more guys who may be on the roster in 2025. Or we have more potential trade candidates. I don’t know. Having Skubal pitching well instead of Eduardo Rodriguez is progress. I’m not wed to this analysis.
what are you talking about? Lol 2 of the guys we were banking on for the future are demoted. Keith has 3 lowest OPS in baseball and is not too far behind him either. Skubal was on the team and pitching well last season too. The season has been a disaster.
Baseball America's robo scouting tool (looks at contact data, swing decision data, etc.) think the Tigers have one of the best prospects in the Complex league so far. No idea if he's a real shortstop or not though since teams leave guys at SS hoping they figure it out defensively, and then move them to lesser positions later, if applicable. Franyerber Montilla, SS, Tigers (175 wRC+) One of the early favorites of RoboScout, Montilla has been a standout for the Tigers’ FCL squad. In 22 games, Montilla is hitting .346/.481/.556 with just as many walks as strikeouts and underlying data very much backs his performance. Montilla shows strong plate skills with a 13.4% in-zone whiff rate and a low chase rate of 16.7%. On the face of it, those numbers showcase excellent bat-to-ball and pitch recognition skills. Like with Sanchez, Montilla’s 90th percentile EV (102.7 mph) is above-average for his age, and he shows the ability to consistently elevate the ball with a 58% fly+line drive rate. Montilla shows a well-rounded profile at the plate and is one of the more exciting players in complex play.
Reese Olson (back in his home state) vs. Max Fried looks like a good match-up if Olson can turn his mini slump around.
Can’t believe Lynn Henning still gets a paycheck. AAA is working because they are seeing dog shit pitching. They can’t hit MLB pitching like every single young guy on the team
I saw something on X saying tork had no hits vs fastballs over 93 mph so far in AAA with a 30% K rate on those pitches
I don’t know who he is. I searched Jack Flaherty on Twitter to see if there was anything to him being taken out early or if it was just precautionary with the big lead and his issue from last start, and I saw that tweet and thought the numbers were interesting.
Baseball America released another mock draft, with Tigers still taking a pitcher, this time a high school lefty. Not loving this idea if their right with two college guys listed right after the Tigers pick. Spoiler 7. Cardinals — Bryce Rainer, SS/RHP, Harvard-Westlake HS, Studio City, Calif. It’ll be fascinating to see how the Cardinals pick at the top of the draft. This will be just the third time in the last 30 years the organization has picked inside the top 10 picks. Each of the top high school hitters in the class have been linked to the Cardinals recently. Rainer has become a slight favorite to be the first prep hitter off the board, so he’s the pick in this scenario. I wouldn’t rule out Nick Kurtz, though, especially since Paul Goldschmidt is finally showing signs that age does in fact affect him. Kurtz’s blend of hitting ability, power and batting eye is solidly the best available offensive package on the board at this point. Despite what sounds like a relatively safe profile, the Cardinals might have their pick of relatively risky options when considering the track record of first-round first baseman, high schoolers with some hit questions and Montgomery, who now has a minor injury but the worst pure contact skills of the top tier of college bats. 8. Angels — Braden Montgomery, OF, Texas A&M In this scenario the Angels have their pick of Montgomery, Konnor Griffin and Nick Kurtz among the remaining players of the “Big 10” that have separated themselves from the rest of the class. (Or the “Big 11,” if you count ECU’s Trey Yesavage, which I find myself doing.) Kurtz has the ability to move quickly to the majors if the Angels are intent on maintaining that strategy. Would they pass on him simply because they took Nolan Schanuel a year ago? Kurtz is the better prospect so I wouldn’t expect that. It doesn’t sound like Montgomery’s stock will be too heavily impacted by his late-season ankle injury that will keep him out of the College World Series. He brings an exciting power bat from both sides of the plate with prototypical right field tools including one of the best throwing arms in the class. That said, he’s starting to feel like more of a 5-10 type than a top-five player. I wouldn’t count out Yesavage for this spot and there’s plenty of buzz about under-slot options. 9. Pirates — Konnor Griffin, OF/SS, Jackson Prep, Flowood, Miss. This is another spot where the high school hitters are both mentioned with frequency. With Rainer off the board to the Royals, I’ll have Griffin as the pick for the Pirates. Pittsburgh’s system is loaded with pitching and could use some offensive reinforcements. Griffin has superstar potential if he hits. He’s probably the toolsiest individual player in the class with a chance to play multiple premium defensive positions and has 70-grade speed, plus arm strength and plus raw power. It’s a different profile than the Pirates have targeted with each of their previous top-10 overall picks but he certainly fits on talent. 10. Nationals — Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest I would expect the Nationals to be in on both high school hitters if either make it to the 10th overall pick. People in the industry think the Nationals have scouted those players as deeply and intensely as any organization in the game. In this scenario, though, they don’t get a chance at either. The best options on the board would be the complete offensive profile that Kurtz offers or the best available pitcher on the board—East Carolina’s Trey Yesavage. I’ll go with Kurtz, who shares some offensive traits that some of Washington’s new decision makers previously seemed to like when they were with Baltimore. 11. Tigers — Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguaro HS, Scottsdale, Ariz. While Yesavage is the top-ranked pitcher available on the board, Detroit has been linked heavily with Caminiti. He seems to have a number of potential landing spots in the 10-15 range. Given his age, I would assume the Guardians might love an opportunity to pay him over slot with their second pick, but I just don’t see him getting that far down the board with the heat he’s earning in the middle of the first. Caminiti has a power fastball, great athleticism and was consistently electric this spring with mixed opinions on the quality of his breaking stuff. There’s big-time upside and a lot to dream on here. 12. Red Sox — Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina Honeycutt is a polarizing profile who offers big-time upside and big-time risk, but his postseason performance has him moving up draft boards and he’s probably tool-for-tool the best player available. The Red Sox might be hoping one of the elite college hitters falls just a few spots to them with this pick. It will only take a surprise or two for that to actually happen. In this scenario, they could consider Honeycutt, Yesavage and other college hitters like Christian Moore, James Tibbs III, Cam Smith and perhaps Carson Benge. 13. Giants — Trey Yesavage, RHP, ECU Yesavage has real suitors as far up as the back of the top 10 and throughout the middle of the first round. He’s in a tier of his own on the college pitching side once Chase Burns and Hagen Smith are off the board. I would expect him to go toward the higher range of his realistic outcomes than the bottom. There simply aren’t a lot of other appealing options at his demographic. He’s got high-quality stuff, a long track record as a starter, a deep arsenal and throws plenty of strikes. The Giants also drafted Honeycutt out of high school so if he’s available he could be a fit. 14. Cubs — Christian Moore, 2B, Tennessee The two names with the most first-round helium at the moment are Honeycutt and Moore. They both have continued to show off their offensive firepower in the NCAA tournament. Moore recently hit for the second cycle ever in the College World Series and has been arguably the third-best hitter in the SEC after Charlie Condon and Jac Caglianone. He’s at 33 home runs and counting and has three excellent years of SEC track record with Tennessee, which a club like Chicago might value highly. He also has a chance for a better defensive profile than many corner options on the board.
I’m fine taking higher upside guy at 11. How many college bats taken in that range end up panning out?
Keith Law was on The Athletic Baseball Show the other day and said this years draft class if fucking terrible and he just wants it to be over with so he can move on to next year lol
Malloy looks lost at the plate and the break even point with this trade would be him hitting 20-25 homers a year for next 4 years bc he has a negative defensive value. Fire Harris and sell the team pizza boy.
Kiley's mock today at ESPN... 11. Detroit Tigers Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguaro (Ariz.) HS Detroit is considering all player demographics here and seems to be primed to jump on any player who slips to this pick as opposed to targeting a certain type. Caminiti (cousin of Ken) should go in the next few picks if he doesn't go here, and I think Griffin would also get a long look if he makes it to this pick. Kurtz, Tibbs and Yesavage also fit depending on where Detroit leans in terms of price and risk profile. It seems prep 3B Chase Harlan would be the choice for the Tigers' next pick if he's still available.
Griffin is a HS SS from Mississippi. Kurtz is a 1B from Wake Forest. Tibbs a corner OF from FSU. Yesavage is a RHP from East Carolina. Harlan is ranked outside the top 100 by MLB.com but is only 17. Kiley has him in the 70s.
Law's mock: Spoiler 10. Washington Nationals: Braden Montgomery, OF, Texas A&M Montgomery might have sneaked into the top five had he not broken his ankle in the Super Regionals, ending his season and pushing his draft status into the hands of team doctors once they see his medicals. 11. Detroit Tigers: Konnor Griffin, OF, Jackson (Miss.) Prep Griffin is the high-ceiling, high-risk guy among the prep players and could still end up in the top 10. I also think the Tigers would be on Rainer or Montgomery, depending on who gets here. 12. Boston Red Sox: Trey Yesavage, RHP, East Carolina Beyond Yesavage, I’ve heard them with several college hitters, including Tennessee’s Christian Moore and LSU’s Tommy White. 13. San Francisco Giants: Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguaro HS (Scottsdale, Ariz.) I’ve heard this a bunch this spring, but I also wonder if someone slides a little — Rainer, Griffin, maybe Montgomery — if they’d go that direction instead, or if they’re one of the teams jumping on Christian Moore because of his metrics.
All the nonsense with slot values and contracts and differences between college v hs guys, feel like mlb draft is almost impossible to predict what's going on.
and even the teams have no idea what’s going to happen baseball draft is a total crapshoot. I barely learn the names of the top 5
The free press beat writer suggested moving Keith to 1b because he sucks ass at 2b and we need a 1b. Apparently Jung is good with glove at 2b, but sucks ass at 3rd
Clark has been on a roll his last 22 games. That BABIP is way overheated, and the ISO power is underwhelming. Good news is his K rate is decent and he's drawing walks.
Motivations for these moves are not always clear, like maybe they want him to work with certain coaches at the higher level. Also, since they got rid of short season leagues, the quality of baseball in A ball is trash. The pitchers are so unrefined, that getting him to High A might be safer. Walk rates are well up across the low minors, which also means HBPs also probably up.
Craig is dealing with personal issues, if you have any questions go bring them up to the guy dealing with personal issues