Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press examines the aftermath of a brutal season for Tigers right-hander Michael Fulmer. The results are hard to deny. As Fenech puts it, Fulmer has gone “from being the most important trade piece of the Tigers’ rebuild … to a missed opportunity.” Of course, there were reasons that the team elected not to move off of the big price tag it placed on the young hurler, as Fenech explores while noting it’d be unfair to use hindsight to say the Tigers “should” have traded Fulmer sooner. As things stand, it seems the Detroit organization will pay Fulmer his arbitration salary for 2019 (as a Super Two) and hope he can regain his standing. After all, he’s still controlled for four full seasons, and a vintage first half or even a strong full season would likely serve to quickly rebuild some of Fulmer’s stock.
Elsewhere in the AL Central…
- Jake Depue of 1500 ESPN takes a look at some of the 40-man roster decisions the Twins will have to make in advance of the Rule 5 Draft this offseason. Nick Gordon stands out at the most obvious minor leaguer in need of protection, but the Twins will also need to clear roster space for names like outfielder LaMonte Wade, infielder Luis Arraez and relievers Jake Reed and Tyler Jay, among others. However, with four free agents (Ervin Santana, Logan Forsythe, Matt Belisle, Chris Gimenez) and several non-tender/outright candidates on the fringes of the roster at present, Minnesota should have a fair bit of flexibility as that early offseason deadline approaches.
- Both Adalberto Mondesi and Ryan O’Hearn have been impressing with the Royals lately, Jesse Newell of the Kansas City Star writes. Mondesi, in particular, is the focus of the column, with manager Ned Yost and quality control coach Pedro Grifol (via Yost) weighing in on the improvements in the second-generation infielder’s improvements. “I just think he’s really, really talented,” Yost said of Mondesi, noting that the organization is pleased and feels he’s improved in “all phases of his game.” Mondesi has indeed been a bright spot in a bleak Kansas City season — MLBTR’s Jeff Todd just recently listed him as the primary silver lining for the Royals — as he’s shown a promising blend of speed, power and defense. Mondesi, who homered again tonight, is now hitting .290/.316/.496 with 11 homers, 26 steals and quality defensive marks at both shortstop (+2 DRS, +2 UZR) and second base (+3 DRS, +1.7 UZR). O’Hearn may not have garnered as much attention, but the 25-year-old first baseman is sporting a ridiculous .272/.372/.632 slash and 11 homers through his first 145 MLB plate appearances (albeit while showing some enormous platoon splits in that small sample).
I’m happy to finally see that Mondesi is playing well after all this time. There were many questions about his ability and whether he had a future in the majors. I also thought they should have given O’hearn a chance once Hosmer left. Either he’ll be their 1st baseman for the future or nick pratto will, but as of right now o’hearn is looking pretty good.
A.M. is still only 23!
Yea I know he’s only 23 but some people were questioning if his hitting would improve.
I’m baffled by these stories. Fulmer is nothing more than a trade chip, but Mondesi is someone to build around. Why? It’s not like KC is any closer to contending than Detroit is. It’s not that Mondesi wouldn’t command a haul if traded. It’s not like either player is about to leave as a free agent. Why can’t the Tigers be allowed to keep their young talent? It’s the White Sox with the history of trading it away, not Detroit. I didn’t see the Cubs trade away Rizzo, or the Astros trade away Springer, just because they were first up at the start of the rebuild. WHY CAN’T DETROIT HAVE NICE THINGS!!??
Because Detroit is a sh*thole. Stop hating on Chicago dude.
Such thought-provoking insight… lol dont be a sh**hole yourself. They have a legit question about why the Tigers are continually prompted to sell off Fulmer where other teams are not with their high value assets. But yeah, good thing you were here to defend Chicago lol
@tjdchi
I don’t hate Chicago. I hate what the White Sox did. By trading all their young stars, who were signed to affordable, long term contracts, the media has suddenly decided that this is what some teams should copy,even though it has yet to provide positive results. The Tigers, Royals and Twins are all currently in phases of rebuild. The Indians are maxed out financially, and on a downward trend,as players leave as FAs. How would the White Sox be doing if they had kept Sale, and Eaton, and Quintana, right now? Instead, they will be hoping their rebuild goes better and faster than those three other teams in their division, when they could have been winning now.
LOL. I feel your pain…..
Luckily Al Avila has his own plan and doesn’t rely on those that keep stating the Tigers must trade everyone that has any talent. It’s mostly based on the Cubs & Astros taking 7 years to become competitive. Nobody seems to remember the Tigers went from 119 losses to the World Series in 3 years.
Oh, so I get it….According to the Detroit Free Press, Detroit would have been “smart” if they had been able to pawn off Fulmer and what ended up being his horrible season on another team that wanted to trade for him and probably offered a boatload back to Detroit in return.
Wow!
Sonny Gray straight-up for him…
DONE! Sonny is ready to get on the plane and so are the Yankees.
Yes, sadly the local sports reporters like Fenech assume he’ll never be good again and therefore the Tigers list their “opportunity” to sell low. Consider yourself lucky if you missed all of the “Verlander will never be good again” articles a couple of years ago.
Living life in hindsight.
FREEP demanded Verlander be traded after he lost 17 games, too.
the morale of the story? always trade your pitchers, no matter the situation