Create urgency and cause a team to do something stupid? Or more likely get injured and we get nothing.
Boyd article on the athletic It was 1 a.m. at Comerica Park. The Phillies had just beaten the Tigers 3-2 in 15 innings. It was one of the best games played in Detroit this season, one worth watching even though it was relatively meaningless, even though it wandered late into the night. But in a game that saw Nicholas Castellanos thrown out at the plate in the 14th and Rhys Hoskins drive in the go-ahead run in the 15th, the most interesting thing had happened 3 1/2 hours earlier. That’s when Matthew Boyd walked off the mound after a stellar job in the sixth inning. He finished the night having allowed only two runs via a two-run homer from Roman Quinn. Boyd was not his sharpest overall, but we saw some of his most beautiful craft work on the mound when he stranded six runners, generating popouts and strikeouts to get out of multiple jams unscathed. And as this pitcher who has suddenly become one of the most artful and entertaining in baseball hopped off the mound and headed back into the dugout after his 100th pitch of the night, you could not help but wonder: Might this have been his last home start as a Detroit Tiger? At this junction, that remains a complicated question to answer. Boyd was involved in plenty of rumors in the days just after the All-Star break. As one of the most successful pitchers on the trade market, he has generated looks, at the least, from the Yankees, Dodgers, Rays, Padres, Red Sox, Astros and more. Tuesday night in Detroit, Phillies general manager Matt Klentak was in town, and though he said the trip was already scheduled, you know he had to enjoy a firsthand look at Boyd. But the trade deadline is one week away now, and maybe some of the smoke is tailing off. There’s a growing sense that the Tigers might end up keeping Boyd, and perhaps that is the smart thing to do. The asking price was always high, because Boyd is under team control for three more years, because he could be a respected veteran leader for a pitching staff that might feature star prospects Casey Mize and Matt Manning as soon as next season. Boyd, too, has regressed some since his dominant start. For as good as he was Tuesday, he allowed another home run, his 15th in his past nine outings. His ERA has jumped from 3.01 to 4.07 in that same stretch. All that means the Tigers might not be able to net the sort of elite prospect — or prospects — they desire. Early reports indicate the Tigers set an incredibly high asking price, featuring names such as Yankees rising star Gleyber Torres and Astros stud prospect Kyle Tucker. But so much can still happen in the week ahead. The most interesting development now is the fact the Giants are surging, and as such, they might not be sellers at this trade deadline after all. That means taking Madison Bumgarner off the trade market. And if that indeed is the case, that means Boyd becomes all the more valuable. The Tigers will not trade Boyd unless the price is absolutely right, but by July 31, it’s plausible another team could feel the pressure and part with pieces of the future in exchange for a pennant run right now. You can take all these questions to Boyd, but he is not the type of player to get into too much speculation. “There’s nothing really to worry about in that sense,” Boyd said well after midnight, standing at his locker. “I have zero control over it. No reason to worry about it unless something like that were to happen.” With Boyd, there’s a little more depth to that answer than you might suspect. That sort of mindset has been his modus operandi this year, something he laid out in a devotional he wrote for The Increase earlier this season. In May, Boyd authored a post titled “Moment by Moment,” and he cited Matthew 6:34, not worrying about tomorrow. Part of his offseason philosophy was committing to the here and now, to letting go of the worries that have plagued him in the past. Tuesday, he walked off the field for what could have been the final time as a Tiger at Comerica Park, but he says he’s trying to keep every outing in perspective, not just this one. “Every time I put on the uniform I know it could be the last time that I put on a uniform,” Boyd said. “So I’m just grateful every time I get to put on a big-league jersey.” This offseason, Boyd revamped his health and his workouts, going to extremes to take his performance to a higher level. It has worked out so far, and even on a lowly Tigers team, Boyd has blossomed into an en vogue starter, one who seems at home in Detroit despite all the interest from elsewhere. The rumors are swirling around him, and though he might deflect the speculation, it’s sure to cause anxiety for at least a few more days. “There’s not really not a whole lot to put thought to it,” Boyd said. “It’s not like there’s a button I’m gonna push that says everything’s OK. If they call my name, they call my name. .. You don’t even know if you’re gonna wake up in the morning. Why worry about stuff like that?” Boyd has one daughter at home, and he has a son on the way. He said if he worries about anything, it should be his wife and his unborn baby. He says he wants to be a Detroit Tiger. But he’s generating interest from several competing teams, and if nothing else, that’s a sign he’s in the right place in his career, regardless of where he might call home.
I've felt bad for him for a while because he's been on the trade block for so long and I kind of hope they could just put him out of his misery for a while now. The more I read about what he thinks about things, however, the more I'm of the opinion that his lack of self awareness is going to ultimately lead to him being one of those guys who waits around on the FA market and ends up with a terrible deal because he thought he was going to get $100M.
Morosi on tigers DETROIT -- The Tigers lost to the Phillies, 3-2, in a 15-inning game that began Tuesday night and ended early Wednesday morning. The unique circumstances of the defeat were secondary in importance to what sources say is likely to transpire with the franchise in the coming days. • The Tigers are virtually certain to trade Nicholas Castellanos, who crushes left-handed pitching and is due to become a free agent after this year. • The Tigers probably will trade closer Shane Greene, too. He pitched a scoreless inning Tuesday before scouts from the Dodgers and Nationals, two teams known to have interest in him. One source said Tuesday that the Tigers recently have become more active in discussions about moving Greene. • And the Tigers remain uncertain about whether they will trade left-hander Matthew Boyd, who turned in a quality start Tuesday (six innings, two earned runs) in his final home outing before next Wednesday’s Trade Deadline. In discussions with various teams, the Tigers have proposed the possibility of pairing Boyd and Castellanos -- or Boyd and Greene -- in the same trade, as a way to access the highest tier of available prospects. It’s not necessarily the case that the Tigers will insist on position player prospects in trades, even though their system is stronger among pitchers. Here’s an update on the Tigers’ principal trade candidates, with one week of midseason shopping left across the Majors. Boyd: Tuesday’s game marked the first time since May 28 that Boyd surrendered two or fewer runs in a start -- a welcome sight for a Tigers front office that maintained a high asking price on the 28-year-old despite a 6.08 ERA over his preceding eight starts. Boyd's solid 8-strikeout outing 01:45Jul. 23rd, 2019 One National League executive said Tuesday the Tigers’ prospect requests for Boyd have been so high that some in the industry doubt that he will be moved at this year’s Deadline. After all, the Tigers control him through 2022, by which time they expect to have a competitive team. Boyd has surrendered 15 home runs in his last nine starts, but he also ranks sixth in the Majors this season with 168 strikeouts. The Yankees were among the teams with a scout in attendance at Boyd’s start on Tuesday. The Phillies have spoken with the Tigers about Boyd and Greene, as first reported by Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, and Philadelphia GM Matt Klentak was in attendance at Tuesday’s game. The Tigers aren’t actively discussing Boyd with the Astros, and talks between the Tigers and Padres regarding Boyd failed to advance, sources say. Castellanos: The 27-year-old right fielder told MLB.com over the weekend that the trajectory of his season changed last month, when he drove with his girlfriend and son on the Tigers’ road trip to Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Castellanos said the time with loved ones helped to clear his thoughts about the upcoming Trade Deadline and free agency. The result? He has a .958 OPS over the past month. Castellanos' run-scoring double00:31Jul. 23rd, 2019 A source confirmed a report by Chris McCosky of the Detroit News that the Cubs have spoken with the Tigers about Castellanos. He seems likely to wind up in the National League, because of his potential production against the Dodgers’ dominant left-handed pitching. Castellanos grades out as a below-average defender in right field, but that would be less of a consideration in a ballpark with a smaller outfield area. Castellanos may be open to playing first or third base with a new team, as a way of contributing on a contender and improving his free-agent value. Castellanos’ recent comments criticizing the spacious dimensions at Comerica Park have made his departure all the more certain. Greene: Greene was a setup reliever as recently as two years ago, and it’s likely he would be comfortable with a return to that role as a Dodger, given Kenley Jansen’s presence there. The Dodgers prefer to acquire a left-hander (Felipe Vazquez or Will Smith) to pair with Jansen in the late innings, but Greene is high on their list among right-handers. Greene turns double play for save00:21Jun. 18th, 2019 The Nationals view Greene as a strong complement to their left-handed closer, Sean Doolittle. The Braves also have scouted Greene, although the Tigers and Braves have yet to engage in serious talks regarding him. Of note, Greene isn’t the only trade candidate in the Tigers’ bullpen. Right-hander Buck Farmer threw a perfect inning Tuesday, including strikeouts of Scott Kingery and Rhys Hoskins. Farmer, like Boyd, won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2022 season, but the Tigers could seize upon the industry-wide need for bullpen help by trading the 28-year-old now. Jon Paul Morosi is a reporter for MLB.com and MLB Network and on Detroit Tigers payroll
They're probably trying to combine Castellanos in a Greene or Boyd deal because they won't get anything for Castellanos by himself and combining them is a way to hide that in the hopes that fans don't get pissed about it.
Figures the 2 years where we end up with #1 pick, the best player available is likely a pitcher. Hopefully a position prospect tears it up next year. Maybe Austin Martin from Vanderbilt
Have you looked at the stats of some of our top pitching prospects lately? Pitching isn't exactly a "don't need it" situation.
No doubt about it. It just would have been nice if there was a stud hitting prospect we could build around. I like Hancock, and you gotta figure one of Mize or Manning will be a bust. Burrows and Faedo are probably #5 starters at best. I just think the bust/risk rating on pitching prospects is a lot higher than a positional.
Morosi said last night that Avila was trying to package all three guys together to get a better tier prospect. Given prospect bust rates would you rather have 3-4 prospects that includes 1 top 20ish guy or 6-8 that includes 2-3 mid to back end top 100 type players?