Picking first in the upcoming draft won’t be quite as advantageous as usual, as the Tigers will only have between five and ten rounds to utilize their advantage. But it’s still an exciting opportunity to infuse big-time talent into an organization that has patiently awaited a return to competitiveness. The Tigers are sorting through a long list of possibilities; you can familiarize yourself with many of them by checking out Baseball America’s first top 500 draft prospect list.
Here’s the latest from the Detroit organization:
- Tigers analytics chief Jay Sartori held an interesting chat with Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic (subscription link) about the team’s efforts to construct an analytics department over the past several years. He now oversees a “robust staff,” he says, after an “incremental” building process that started from a mostly blank slate. Sartori came aboard in November of 2015, not long after Al Avila was hired as GM. So what are the Tigers focused on in this realm? Sartori says it’s the question of how to make “complicated concepts and data sets and pieces of information readily accessible to staff and players?”
- Making analytics work for ballplayers is now a big part of the job for MLB coaches. Tigers hitting coach Joe Vavra acknowledged that, saying that he’s working on “challenging [hitters] to come out of their comfort zone a little bit” when it comes to data and advanced analysis, as Chris McCosky of the Detroit News reported recently. Applying analytics requires “baby steps” at the start, says Vavra, and the organization is trying to get its players to take as many as possible during the present hiatus. Otherwise, the team is handling all its players differently. For some, Vavra is helping to oversee “rather major adjustments to your mechanics and your swing;” for others, it’s mostly a matter of maintaining conditioning.
- Detroit pitching coach Rick Anderson also just chatted with media, as Stavenhagen covers in a Twitter thread. Anderson says it was disappointing to see Spring Training halted because he wanted to see more of the team’s slate of prized upper-level pitching prospects. Even more worrying, perhaps, is the lack of anticipated minor-league competition. The organization doesn’t seem to have a clear idea yet as to how it’ll make up for the lost developmental opportunity, though obviously that’s an industry-wide issue.
- Though the focus remains largely on the future, the Tigers did go out and make some notable potential improvements to the MLB infield mix. McCosky examines a unit that now includes anticipated regular veterans in most spots. C.J. Cron, Jonathan Schoop, and Austin Romine are slated to earn a combined $16.3MM — at least, in a full 2020 season. The shortstop position was due to feature Niko Goodrum and Jordy Mercer, with third base handled by Jeimer Candelario and/or other unproven players such as Dawel Lugo and Isaac Paredes. While most of the options on the left side of the infield will remain under team control beyond 2020, the new additions were all on one-year pacts. McCosky looks at the potential line of succession in all areas.
Why do the Tigers even have a scouting department for the draft? They are terrible at picking players. All they need to do is subscribe to one of these Baseball America or other site to decide what to pick, because obviously they are doing it wrong. Heck, I could do a better job than them. I was rooting for them to choose Walker Buehler in 2015… instead they picked Beau Burrows
This year, will they pick Torkelson? They could pick Austin Martin and no one would bat an eye. The next pick… just have Baseball America open to make that pick.
Give the Dodgers credit for drafting Buehler despite elbow concerns, which ended up being well founded as he had Tommy John right after the draft. I don’t think passing on a guy with known elbow issues is unreasonable.
It was the 22nd pick. Those guys are usually roster fillers down the road. Buehler was talked about as a potential number 1 for a while. Take the chance.
Ooh, another genius Hindsight GM!
Don’t be upset that you couldn’t see it… only select few have the vision. Keep on sniffin butts raco.
Sniffing butts!
Extreme Ouch!
They use a dartboard with prospects names on it…..
YES!!! Report: MLB Baseball WILL BE BACK no later than July 2nd featuring NO LESS than 100 games. This is great!!
That is great because I really miss baseball.
So picking Tarik Skubal in the 9th round is terrible? Casey Mize was an easy choice. Drafting Riley Greene was an easy pick. Matt Manning was not.
Really, you would have picked Manning and Skubal?
Melchez thinks its better to draft a guy with elbow issues in the first round rather than in the 9th round. I think Skubal was a shrewd, low-risk pick; the early read is impressive, and we’ll see how he holds up.
Manning was a top choice who was thinking of going to college (Loyola). His father was in the NBA… many people knew of him. He was ranked higher, but fell to the Tigers because of signing concern. It was a no brainer.
Skubal was pure luck. For every Skubal, there are hundreds of Jeremiah Burks (the guy they drafted in the 8th round ahead of Skubal).
He was not ranked higher. Some analysts ripped the pick. And he was committed to Loyola Marymount, not a top program in hoops. And he signed for slot. High school pitcher, very raw. Imho you’re pretty arrogant to think you would have drafted better than a major league team.
A blind monkey could pick better than the Tigers.
draftsite.com/mlb/draft-history/2016/
Manning was expected to go higher according to Draft site. They predicted the Tigers would get Blake Rutherford.
Who ripped it? I found nothing on anyone ripping the pick. Looks like Steve is talking out his 6 again.
But they have
the dartboard!
“His 6!”
Military
reference!
Steve hows Edie?
Torkelson is the next AJ Reed. Martin is a stud and comes from a school with a history of producing SS talent.
Personally I would take Martin. Torkelson has power and walks a lot. Other than that, not much. How will he handle a tighter strike zone? Can he hit tougher pitchers? He kills 19 year olds… can he do that against good pitching?
i think Detroit has done a good job amassing a strong reserve of SPs. now they should get some sort of bat, whether it be Martin or otherwise. as i said i prefer the aforementioned, but they have options. i like Hancock but i think its time to slow down on 1st round pitchers with the depth they have.
Many who have watched Tork call him a generational talent. As a Tigers fan I prefer Martin but am fine with Tork.
Picking first in the upcoming draft won’t be quite as advantageous as usual,
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If they pick ten rounds, it will make literally no difference whatsoever. The total WAR of the 1st pick of the 11th round, for the past 15 years, is -0-.
Even it it ends after 5 rounds, it will be unlikely to make any difference. But if it goes ten rounds, any slight advantage is likely almost completely random.
Anything beyond the first round is just luck.
can they lower ticket prices at comerica, i dont even give a damn what team they put on the field. just stop asking for the same prices as when you were good. idiots
I think anyone other than Torkelson would be a mistake… he will be a huge star