📅 Published on: 2024-12-09 00:40:46

⏱ Duration: 01:07:00 (4020 seconds)

👀 Views: 570 | 👍 Likes: 16

📝 Video Description:

The Winter Meetings will take place from Dec. 9-11 in Dallas. So far, the Tigers haven’t made any offseason trades or signings, but that doesn’t mean they’re inactive. The Tigers have taken a patient approach to the free-agent and trade markets, as we reported coming out of the general manager meetings in early November. However, the Tigers are still targeting at least one starting pitcher and at least one right-handed hitter. Starting pitcher Walker Buehler is one free agent the Tigers have shown interest in. To explore further, Nick Pollack of Pitcher List breaks down Buehler’s career, the importance of his fastball and how the Tigers’ pitching department could help him improve. Later on, JJ Cooper of Baseball America joins to discuss the top 10 prospects in the Tigers’ organization, led by Jackson Jobe. Pollack also discusses Tarik Skubal winning the Cy Young Award, while Cooper shares insights into how the Tigers have evolved as an organization in recent years.

Follow Evan on X/Twitter here. (https://twitter.com/EvanPetzold)  

Read Evan’s most recent work here (https://www.freep.com/staff/3109264001/evan-petzold/)  

🎙 Channel: Detroit Free Press

🌍 Channel Country: United States

📂 Tags:

detroit,michigan

🕵️‍♂️ Transcript:

[Music] welcome to days of Roar Detroit Tiger podcast brought to you by the Detroit Free Press my name is Mark gorash I am here with Detroit Tigers beat writer Evan petel soon to board an airplane for Dallas Texas and the winter meetings EV it’s winter meetings time again where we at what are you hearing let’s quickly review the week yeah winter meetings from Monday morning to Wednesday afternoon in Dallas the tigers are targeting starting pitchers and right-handed hitters we talked about this coming out of the GM meetings the headline of my story was literally quote Detroit Tiger is expected to be patient in off season end quote this story was published on November 11th it’s now December 8th the Tigers have not acquired any players to join their MLB roster but that’s exactly what I told you guys it was always going to be a patient approach to the off season surveying both the free agent and trade markets in free agency the Tigers have varying levels of interest in right-hander Walker buer infielder Hasan Kim first baseman Christian Walker and left-hander Andrew Heeney obviously there are more players but those are some of the bigger name players to keep an eye on as we get into the winter meetings as it pertains to free agency on the trade market some names we need to watch Tampa Bay Rays first baseman yandi Diaz Miami Marlins first baseman third baseman Jake Berger St Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan arado Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec bone Baltimore Orioles first baseman Ryan Mount Castle I think all those players could be good fits for the Tigers who have their most glaring holes at 30 base and first base but it seems like third base is the bigger point of emphasis right now and as much as I don’t like doing this we need to keep talking about third baseman Alex bregman I reported this before and I’ll say it again the Tigers aren’t prioritizing Alex bregman it doesn’t mean the Tigers don’t have interest in Alex bregman but based on everything I understand Alex bregman isn’t a priority at this point in the offseason for the Tigers the Tigers don’t want to pay 200 million for bregman even though bregman is Seeking a contract worth 200 million the price tag is the reason why the Tigers haven’t prioritized him now if his Market crashes the Tigers would obviously be enticed to swoop in and sign him before spring training but even then the Houston Astros they’ve had a solid offer on the table since the beginning of the off season I heard that back at the GM meetings and it’s since been reported that the Astros offer to resign bregman is six years and approximately 156 million the Astros want bregman they want him badly and fman he likes the Astros like he would be fine with returning to Houston so I don’t see the Tigers getting into a bidding war against the Astros especially since the Tigers have concern about bregman’s productivity throughout a long-term contract like there’s a laundry list of reasons why the tigers are worried about a long-term contract with bregman and on top of that how much would you have to pay to beat the Astros current offer which is 156 million without any state income tax in Texas and you’re trying to get him to come play in Detroit so to even compete with that Astros offer the tigers are probably pushing pretty close to $200 million anyway and they’re not going to do that so we’ll keep monitoring it but I just don’t see it happening right now Mark that’s where we’re at on all fronts heading into the winter meetings all right so you’ve run it down you’ve brought the news whether you think it’s good news or bad news Alex bregman perfect fit a guy they should reach for Willie adamus got $182 million I promise you the Detroit Tigers are not signing Alex Brightman the equivalent with state tax 165 million the Astros would match that in a heartbeat you got to go up to probably 6180 to make them start shaking they aren’t doing that forget it it’s over not happening okay what do I think is g to happen well I just want to remind everybody and you know how I feel about this okay nobody wins afraid of losing but guess what there’s one been one trade for a starting core Detroit Tiger since Scott Harris has been the poo and guess what don’t expect that to change Scott Harris does not like signing free agents he does not like making trades for major league players he does not it’s not really too encouraging it’s necessary but I sincerely don’t think it’s going to happen before we get out of here today I’ll give you a list to I would have loved for them to you know start considering trading for they also need a leverage reliever so let’s jump into question one of the big two our Walker buer and the Detroit Tigers a match made in heaven give me your thoughts so the Tigers want to sign a starting pitcher to a one-year contract and from what I’ve heard they’re willing to pay up on a one-year contract basically the Tigers want to create what happened with Michael lenzen in 2023 and Jack flairty in 2024 the Tigers signed Michael lenen to a one-year 8.5 million contract then traded him at the 2023 trade deadline for infield Prospect howu Lee the Tigers then signed jack flarity to a one-year 14 million contract then traded him at the 2024 trade deadline for catching Prospect Tyron loronzo and shortstop Prospect Trey Sweeny the Tigers want to do that again but they’re willing to increase the value of the one-year contract once again so it was 8.5 million in 2023 then it was 14 million in 20124 so what’s it going to be in 2025 could we get a one-year 20 million contract maybe one year 25 million like I could see those things happening considering what I’ve heard about how the Tigers want to approach a one-year deal with prospective free agents the Tigers believe in their pitching Department led by pitching coach Chris feder and assistant pitching coach Robin lond even more more importantly president of baseball operations Scott Harris is a pitching genius he knows how to evaluate pitchers and suggest changes both to their pitch mix and their mechanics this is where Walker berer enters the conversation yes the Tigers have interest in berer but berer has the potential to command a two-year contract with an opt out clause after the first season which isn’t exactly what the tigers are seeking imagine the two-year $50 million contract for ber with an opt out after the first season okay what if the Tigers want to trade Walker bu at the trade deadline to get more prospects just like they did with Lorenzen and flarity it’s not as easy to do that with the opt out clause you lose a lot of the trade value that way because other teams don’t know if ber is going to opt in or opt out that’s part of the reason why the Tigers failed to trade Eduardo Rodriguez at the 2023 trade deadline it was because of his opt out clause and obviously the no trade too but the opt out cause played a factor into that and what if Walker beer suffers an injury or underperforms in the first season of a two-year deal with an opt out well then he’s gonna opt in and you’re stuck with a bad contract in the second season like let’s not forget Walker ber had a 5.38 erra with an 8.1% walk rate and an 18.6% strikeout rate in the 2024 season it wasn’t until his final three outings in the postseason that he improved his performance and one of those games was for one inning as a closer now the other two games were as a starter but still Walker berer had a tough 2024 and you’re risking a lot at that point there’s a lot of risk when you involve a player opt out and if berer has those types of offers on the table I don’t know if he does but if he does I’m curious that the Tigers will go down that road or look to sign someone else who doesn’t command an opt out clause such as Michael Soka that that could be a name to watch in that category if we’re not talking about an opt out clause I get the sense that Tigers prefer a straight one-year contract and they’re willing to pay a bunch of money for a straight one-year contract I’m not ruling out berer I don’t think the Tigers ruling him out either I think it would be a good fit for the Tigers even though I do have some concerns about Beer’s ability to unlock his Elite fastball again he’s still the top bounceback candidate on the market and he has incredible upside and the Tigers have built a pitching Factory with Harris feder and lond so yes it’s a match made in heaven but we’ll see if it happens or not based on the way the pitching Market has gone it’s off the it’s off the chain right now it’s crazy well first of all if the Tigers were to sign Walker bu I sincerely doubt that they’re signing him for one year because Walker beer will have multiple offers for two and three years so you better get ready to Pony up the floor already has been set it’s $23 million you just saw it this week so get ready why would he do anything else well here’s why mark because you want to go back into free agency and you want to get a nine fig deal look what Jack flirty did he signed for one year and now he’s about to get 5 years 100 million if not more so if you’re Walker bu and you’re age 30 right now you want to get back to free agent the ASAP I don’t see him taking a straight two-year deal or a straight three-year deal I think he would want a two-year deal with that opt out clause because then he can get back to free agency as soon as possible to try to land a nine figure deal he’s not getting a nine figure deal no one is paying Walker viewer nine Fiers figures but he could get a nine fig deal next offseason which is the incentive to sign a one-year deal yes it is there’s incentive there that’s exactly why Jack flirty did it nobody signing a pitcher who had two tjs to a ninef figure deal that’s just Fantasy Land stuff okay I don’t care if he was 18 and six and a 325 this year in his one year nobody is giving Walker buer past 30 five years after two tjs they’re not that crazy just doesn’t happen in baseball anymore just doesn’t Okay so who do you want to sign both on the pitching side and the offensive side like who who are you looking at at this point look as far as signing guys then let’s make a deal let’s make a trade let’s go all right well first of all Andrew Haney that sounds very Scott harrish that’s a guy another one-year deal for you know Andrew Haney a nothing ball thrower who’s kind of crafty and they don’t take a lot of risk on because you know who doesn’t take any risk Scott Harris you want to start trading for people here you go I’ll give you some real actual pictures they can make deals for Nester Cortez New York Yankees they don’t like him anymore he was really really good two years ago he’s crafty he’s good yes he had a crummy year this not crummy but not as good a year this year yes he gave up some bombs in the playoffs yes he’d be some flavor flave he’d be good here he’s probably more than acquirable okay Tyler Migel New York Mets okay was a reliever this year starter previously that’s a guy with a big arm who I think they could optimize okay there there’s a guy all right Garrett coch go mortgage some pictures go mortgage some something that’s T that’s T scuba light do something bull that probably would the tiger front office would need to be hospitalized after they made that trade because just the anxiety level would be so high after they did something so risky that all of them would need to check in for a week of some type of rehab because it would be just way way too aggressive for them other people I’d like to see them give some consideration to on the pitching side anel chevil Seth Halverson both relievers and Colorado Colorado will trade anyone they’ll trade anybody give them a little money and a second base Prospect like Lee those are two relievers they should be looking at Devin Williams last year high leverage reliever unhitable best pitching baseball go do something if you you just made the playoffs you have a core it is time it is time people for them to be bold stop being afraid stop being the smartest guy in the room stop always thinking you know better than everyone because if you don’t get there this year and you do not do anything I promise you you will be on watch for 2026 2026 you could get fired because if you don’t get back there and you don’t be aggressive now to try to build off last year you can get fired all right let’s jump into question two the big two who do you think will be the starting third baseman for the Detroit Tigers in 2025 that’s the biggest question isn’t it it’s funny because that’s been the biggest question for the Tigers every single off season since they non-tendered jamer candelario after the 2022 season going into 2023 so we had 2023 season who’s going to be the third baseman 2024 season who’s going to be the third baseman 2025 season who’s going to be the third baseman it has been the question over and over and over again with this Detroit Tigers team and there has been no answer there is no solidified third baseman that’s the biggest question I don’t know the answer to that question I really don’t Mark I mean you can look around the league and you can look at different players that they could go sign like you can go get hang Kim you can go get him I I like that addition I think it makes a lot of sense he can play base he can play Short Stop he can play second base he’s a right-handed hitter he does everything that you preach when it comes to the way that he swings the pitches that he swings at the fact that he puts the ball in play he walks he limit strikeouts like he’s a great allaround hitter he does some things on the bases he’s a plus Defender at all three of those positions he can you know be shortstop insurance if the Javier bayz slash Trey Sweeny platoon doesn’t work out I like hon Kim I also really like the Tigers going out and getting a guy like Jake Berger from the Miami Marlins I’m not so sure I like Nolan ronado I don’t really know how I feel about Alec bow again like those are some guys that could play third base or it’s a platoon of Matt verling and Jay Young and that’s the way the Tigers decide to go about it I’m not really sure exactly how they go about it but those are some of the options that are out there Matt verling is a guy who I I think the world of Matt verling I don’t think he should be hitting third in the playoffs but he can be starting playoff games like he’s a good hitter like this is a guy who hit I mean again Matt verling is is not a slouch he hit 250 57 with a 735 Ops hit 16 home runs got into the pull side more he’s shown an ability to develop and improve at the big league level I like what I’ve seen there Jay Young there a lot of question marks like there are a ton of question marks he puts up a good at bat he’s competitive As Nails I love that about him but I have some concerns about the swing and Miss I have some concerns about the strikeouts and he doesn’t Chase but he’ll swing and Miss sometimes where he’s not making contact as much as you would like and obviously he doesn’t do anything for you on the bases defensively it’s an absolute train wreck at third base but he’s got got some power under the hood he doesn’t hit velocity either that’s the other thing too is he hasn’t shown that he can hit 95 plus so there’s a lot of questions about jaay young as well but I like the power potential I like the you know the hitting aptitude that he’s shown I like the fact that he can say discipline and draw walk those are good things to see so do the tigers go with the platoon at third base where jaay young is your left-handed hitter and Matt verling is your right-handed hitter and you just roll it out that way maybe they go that route until they get to the trade deadline and then if they’re really in the mix and they’re really in the hunt then they maybe make a move to get a more established third baseman there’s a lot of options there are there are a lot of choices one of those choices is to stand Pat I fear that’s what the tigers are going to do but as of right now I believe they are going to come up with something they are very focused on trying to improve they’re on woster offensively they’re looking at the corner positions they’re really focused in on third base I think with that much attention that they’re paying the third base I just don’t see them standing Pat I worry that they will in the long run but as of right now I think they’re going to make a move in go and get somebody who that person’s going to be I have no idea at this point I think they have to though they have to upgrade their team and third base is the place where you can upgrade it’s it’s the glaring hole and it has been this is the third year now last year let me remind you they made two deals in this time of time period and they one one was later one was kind of earlier both proved to be like you went into somebody’s basement and saw that they had something that you thought might work in your living room and they were Marana in the ancient Geo Ella let me remind you that’s where they went last year okay and so I I do ask you I’m gonna do a small animal imitation what what animal do you think that is that would be a chicken because between you and I that’s exactly how I’m feeling right now I’ve been thinking about this for the last week and I personally think that the starting third baseman will be a platoon mostly of Matt verling and jaay young I wouldn’t be shocked if they let Jay play April in Toledo but predominantly that’s where I think it’s going now on the other hand two little small parts of this I do think when I did some homework and I had my buddy Jerry mckinon of tigers minor league report one of the best data divers I know we took an analysis of Matt verling only playing Third Base guess what 184 plate appearances 1.1 War so you and I talked a little bit about this I’m sure that the quats at Coler working for Scott Harris Scott Harris thinks Matt verling would be a 2.5 to three War third baseman and you would have to pay him less than $1.5 million so get ready because I’m almost promising you the platoon of Matt verling and Jace Young will be at third base on opening day well then then there’s no excuse not to go out and get a guy like Christian Walker to play first base I’m sorry Spencer Tolson I want to believe in you but if you’re not going to upgrade at third base you got to make the upgrade at first base I mean come on now you got to upgrade this lineup you’re right you got to get back to the playoffs and to do that they need more punch in their batting order they need more punch in the middle of their batting order and that’s not Matt verling batting third I promise you it’s not it’s somebody else sliding in there and hitting in the middle of the lineup and helping carry the postseason again it has to be he is who he is Scott Harris is who he is I do think the fallback play is to get Jake Burger third and first doesn’t really walk swings and misses a ton also had a 143 WRC Plus for the second half of the season last year also finished top 10 in ISO post Allstar break period in Major League Baseball available not a sexy guy kind of a terrible Fielder can break that’s a guy to insert into your mix cheaply all right we’re going to talk to Nick poock about TK scuel and the possibility of Walker buer we’ll be back in [Music] 60 I’d like to welcome Nick Pollock founder of piter list to the days of our podcast for the third time Nick thanks for joining again oh what is happening thanks so much for having me this is great the winter meetings are about to get underway so what better time than now to get Nick on the show primarily to help us break down right-hander Walker mu but before we do that let’s talk about Terk scoel the unanimous winner of the 2024 American League sa Young Award Nick how do you evaluate the season that scoble had in 2024 I mean okay so what’s so interesting to me is that we typically see guys coming back from Tommy John and in 2023 for example as well as we with sco actually wasn’t quite Tommy John it was another elbow surgery but very similar to it and you don’t really know what you’re going to get uh a lot of guys I remember talking to Jameson tyion about this said hey look this is my time to really fix my mechanics and be a new pitcher again because you’ve spent so much time away from it you have to relearn everything they used to do and we didn’t really expect Terk scoel to be this new version of himself throwing harder up to 97 in 2023 with an improved change up and just a better feel for his entire Arsenal it’s very rare to see see that and after the season we thought okay this was a little strange you’re not really dominating in the zone with your for seamer and your Sinker as much it’s really just so relying on that change up and selling that slider and the the ceiling we knew going into the season was hey Turk scoel is going to be a cion contender as a ceiling but like it usually doesn’t really hold on for this two month sample but it just did the entire year if there’s one thing that I’ve learned very much this season is that MLB for lefties is a change of focus League that is what is the pitch that’s going to get out right-handers opposite-handed batters and right-handers being the 75% of the batters that you face well as a lefty you need a really good change up and Terk sco’s change up is one of the best in the majors it wasn’t before his injury and now all of a sudden it is we’re talking like a 20% swing strike rate in 2021 and then he hinted at in 2022 and then became a 29% swinging strike rate pitch which is absolutely Bonkers he only threw it about 10 to 15% the time before and now sco’s throwing at 25 to 30% of the time just stry right-handers with it and then of course having this extra ticket velocity or two is is absolutely nuts and what what’s even crazier to me Evan about Terk scoble is that he could even be better if his slider was actually a filthy over-the-top offering that was something this past year that only had a 15% swing strike rate normally we see sliders especially from lefties who should normally destroy left-handed batters with their breaking bom I have closer to 20% swing strike rates on those sliders and we didn’t even see him Eclipse that against left-handers let alone combination of left-handers right-handers for car scuo slider so it’s great it’s it’s such a good feeling to see a pitcher that goes through all the hardship and is wondering hey am I able to really compete at this level again I’ve got to restart it to not only get there but just show up right away on day one and then carry it for 9 months so ter scoble unanimous decision it was so easy to say yeah you are the saong you are the best pitcher in baseball and sometimes the best pitcher doesn’t always win because it’s an achievement award you need to have a good e and innings to do it but K scoble did all of it yeah he’s amazing and he’s going to continue to be amazing if not even possibly better so what do you think about the tiger rotation as it is right now you have Terk scoel the Sai Young winner leading the way ree Olsen is your number two starter Jackson job is the number three starter with a caliber upside he’s probably making the team out of spring training and then there’s a lot of uncertainty with the fourth in fifth spots in rotation you have Kent MAA brand herder CER Montero Casey M those are the Front Runners in that competition for the number four and number five spots but there’s also Ty Madden and Matt Manning and a rehab Sawyer Gibson long who won’t be ready for opening day but should definitely be healthy by June or July the Tigers will add at least one starting pitcher via free agency or trade but among the group that I just mentioned what do you think about that collection of starting pitchers as we sit right now right so I mean the the Tigers do have a really wonderful situation of a having that anchor in t scubba that you just can rely on and then a plethora of options not saying that they’re all number two or number three starter potential but just having depth in general as we’ve seen is such an important aspect of making it far in the playoffs or least getting there and with the Tigers did this past year with the rotation that we all thought we hold on a second you do not have that depth made it work they even traded away Jack flare and they still made this work it’s absolutely nuts the thing is though ENT during the season last year we thought Casey M and Matt Manning were really exciting in really taking those steps forward and they both took steps backward instead I am losing faith in both of those to be Dependable Stars they really need to Showcase that they have extra skills that are going to plateau and actually be their reliably through the season Kent May’s days are better in the past than they are in the future kir Montero was able to throw Innings but I would not say that he is someone that you want to have as an sp4 maybe the occasional sp5 but I don’t think that the overall Arsenal speaks to longevity and to dominance that you really want to rely on him constantly every five or six days what is really interesting though is brand herder to me what is so shocking is that yes he did have an opener and perform better with having that reliever in the first inning and then of course coming in after for four or five innings but his Sinker was one of the best best pitches in baseball according to plv that is our pitch modeling metric that is not just Stuff Plus that you might know from meos sarus but it’s also about the the count involved and the location involved all in one and brand herter Sinker was absurd we’re talking like 95th percentile of all pitches not just singers in baseball which is very very strange to say and maybe there is something more to him even though he isn’t as flashy as the others en ree Olsson I really do like the slider is fantastic the biggest question I have is can his change up be also as consistent as the slider has been because the Sinker and the for seamer are not a good enough Foundation reing can go the way of the Cleveland Guardians of the past of say Cory clubber or Shane Bieber where they don’t have an overpowering fast ball but they have two secondaries that are excellent call Carrasco you can throw into that group as well re ssen could be that kind of mold and has shown that he’s able to go sixth inning so I really really do like Rees Olsen there is that extra element that does lower his ceiling without those at fast balls but Reese Olsen should get better over time and S Gibs along when he does return I really love the foundation that he has a very good Sinker that is akin to Logan web in the way that he’s able to keep it down with a lot of break that is going to induce a lot of ground balls and then of course you have two good secondaries as well I think there’s a lot of Promise in s giong but you probably won’t really see it come to fruition in 2026 and this really does say that scoel and Olsen you should feel good about those but the 34 five hopefully Jackson jobes takes that step I’m not quite sure they might be a lot of what I call the shag rug which is the young man’s floor their first year in baseball it’s just a little bit different than other veterans who haven’t had the time who actually have had the time rather to learn what adjustments to make in gamees so young pitchers they have worse command it’s a lot more volatile I hope Jackson job can find that R make him to Paul schemes as we saw last year so I’m really excited to watch him go but yeah there are holes to fill here with the Tigers rotation okay so let’s dig into one of the Tigers get in free agency and one of the most popular names in free agency right-hander Walker ber yes the Tigers have shown interest in Walker beer yes a lot of teams have interest interest in him and yes the pitching Market is through the roof right now but Walker be is on the Tigers radar let’s start there are the tigers smart to consider Walker beer and should Walker be consider the Tigers after the Tigers helped Miche Lorenzen and Jack flairty improve over the past two seasons yeah so Walker beer I think the biggest appeal about him is that he is a wide Arsenal he really has about three pitches he throws against lefties about three to four he throws against righties but generally having a larger Arsenal does mean that you are more immune or at least more resistant to the third time through the order penalty if you don’t know this essentially the third time you face batters they’re getting used to pitchers and if you only have one or two dominant pitches then it’s a lot easier to hit against them and their numbers improve the third time they see them but if you have more pitches that means you can’t really expect a certained offering to come you haven’t seen everything yet and you’re more resistant to that Ding of offense that you normally get when you face it a line a third time so that’s a positive for beer especially with a a rotation where you have two depth pieces really in scoble and Olson and then a lot of question marks it’s really really helpful for this team to get some sort of Veteran arm who can go at least five if not six constantly and berer does fit that profile the biggest thing about ber though that I think isn’t discussed enough is how much sticky stuff helped Walker berer and if you’re unfamiliar or you forget the timeline of this 2020 2021 pitchers were using sticky stuff until about halfway of 2021 and then Walker buer was hurt in the beginning of 2022 got Tommy John missed about four months of 20122 and then all of 2023 and we didn’t really get a good look at what ber looks like for a year without sticky stuff until this past year and what does that do what does this extra spider attack do due to your pitches really the biggest impact for Walker bu was his for Seer and as we considered Walker berer in the past it was about hey you have a for seamer that is just your catchall pitch you can throw it early in counts you can throw it late to put guys away upstairs and your secondaries are not really the star of the show they are not the oh my gosh he’s just going to whip out this slide and strike him out he’s not t scoble change up he doesn’t have those kinds of elements inside of his Arsenal it’s about that fast ball and everything else is just trying to help along the way to make that for seamer better but when you take away spider attack that for seamer is not as dominant and we saw that this year for Walker beer throughout most of the Season his struggles can be can be assigned to this for steamer not carrying the train forward and the secondar had to do more and he didn’t really know what to do I remember watching so many Walker berer starts and he didn’t know what the approach should be I even saw a game where ber just didn’t throw four seamers who threw sinkers instead to try and find something else his cutter approach against righties and lefties alike was I don’t know just throw a strike maybe the curveball of old that was more of a weapon against lefties was fine it was very confusing and I remember watching these games I don’t know if you got a chance to watch them in season at all Evan and have that pitch’s mind that I know you do have of saying okay what are you trying to do Walker buer because I didn’t know and I’m shouting and I’m like what you don’t have a game plan you just have like my stuff moves and you’re just like I don’t know I’m just gonna throw down the center and hopefully that works so I I think with Walker beer it’s a case where as the season went on he started to figure out a little bit of that old form he said okay my for seamer I need to try to do the whole go upstairs go down low with it have a sinker that kind of mix in at times against righties to go inside against them and leaned a lot more on the SL slider and the cutter which is good and then the curveball was saved again for lefties which is good but overall the Arsenal is not Walker beer pre Tommy John yet however we did see him in the World Series and we did see him at the very end of the year all of a sudden get this vertical break back on his for seamer so when I talk about the sticky stuff with the for the biggest impact is that it added break to this pitch added more spin which in general that spin is going to say okay we’re going to deny the a of gravity and we’re going to keep this pitch upstairs yes I understand that Wicked is in theater so here you go define gravity is what that scky stuff does and that had about 19 inches up to actually 20 or 20 one of ivb or vert as the players call it on that for seamer if you’re unfamiliar with the references of it that is absurdly Elite that is like 99th percentile vertical break on your for Seer which means that batteries are going to be swing underneath this pitch you’re going to get more pop-ups you’re going to get more swings and misses especially when this pitch is upstairs however what we saw actually the second half of 2021 the beginning of 2022 was that this vert went from 19 to 20 to 16 he was losing it now he didn’t have it because he didn’t have a spider attack and then there’s of course the injury that happened too which would affect it so when he came back this year Walker berer was around 15 to 16 vert for most of the season and that is oh that that is why this this whole change but thing is by the end of the year then became 16 then became 16 and a half and by his final start of the year it was 17.3 and then looking at the World Series on October 28th against the Yankees where he had six whiffs on that fourer to right-handers guess what 18 inches of vert and I don’t know why it’s one of those things that maybe over time you get more confident behind it you get behind it the you’re able to adjust your arm angle a little the spin rate wasn’t up which is generally a major reason for us to point to look sticky stuff you have more spin on the ball it was a little bit more up than the average about 75 RPM but really when you see sticky stuff it’s like 250 it’s a massive jump from like 2300 to 2550 like it’s just okay there sticky stuff and you know it’s just throwing the stuff at your face like hi am using it so it wouldn’t wasn’t that for Walker beer and there is some sign that maybe he is figuring something out with to his old for for that four steamer which is encouraging I still have some worry that Walker be isn’t going to have that same fast ball I I want to imagine that in the playoffs that that pitchers essentially take lots of pain relievers they just push themselves as far as they can and to expect that high adrenaline immunity to what their body is saying in the playoffs is not reflected in the regular season so I don’t expect Walker beer to have that same kind of ability that he had in the World Series throughout the year next year I think he’s going to be more like an sp3 kind of arm as opposed to a guy flirting with that sp1 ceiling of the past which doesn’t mean he’s bad that’s really effective for a team like the Tigers I would say there are a lot of really good arms in the market right now I have no idea where teams are on Walker buer I I mean I think he’s a much much different class and say like Max freed or Corbin Burns were on the market right now you see Luis saverino getting year 67 million for with the Athletics which is by the way more expensive than us Kikuchi the same amount of years which is Bonkers to me but I would say that berer should be a step above that I I wouldn’t I wouldn’t say that Walker beer is someone that you go oh yeah this is going to be great I don’t necessarily say that he is super fixable what I will say is that command is generally good if he has an approach that he can stick to Walker be has a good enough fast ball has a cutter that should work against lefties a slid that should work against righties a curveball that he can throw strikes with and that should be enough to be effective maybe there are little tweaks here and there and I trust the Tigers and their staff to say great let’s you know squeeze out the most of what Walker beer can do I I want to see another full season of BU before I can really assess because I don’t know if he’s going to be able to climb back up or if it’s just going to be another season of struggling and figuring out how do I get guys out consistently without this overwhelming fast ball I had before my injury yeah for me it’s all about the fast like I’ve had somebody describe it to me as an invisible fast ball when it’s at its best because hitters basically can’t see it and it missed a ton of bats right in 2018 2019 2020 even some in 2021 but then the whiff rate on the pitch it’s been under 20% ever since then yeah and then again in the postseason 2024 surprisingly had a 29.3% whiff rate you know who knows where that came from but Nick I want you to take a second and put yourselves in the Tiger’s chair okay let’s say Walker berer wants to sign a Oney year high aav type deal let’s say he wants to sign a two-year deal with an opt out where he can get out of that contract after one year go back into free agency at age 31 and try to get a ninef fig deal like we’re going to see Jack flarey get let’s say that Walker be wants to take that route because like yourself I’m sure a lot of teams are asking I want to see a little bit more before I really know what this guy’s going to be about so Walker bu is not going to get that big payday this year that maybe he’s looking for if he’s looking for that huge payday it’s not coming this year but maybe it could come next year if the Tigers did go that route and if Walker ber wanted to go that route of a one-year high aav or a two-year with a player opt out how do you recommend the Tigers fix Walker berer if they sign him this off season absolutely I I I think that’d be a great call by the way obviously Just Jack flare is a perfect example of a player who has shown potential before but hasn’t quite found his Groove lately and uh is you know now going to be in a better position of course moving forward I would say with flarity of the thing was command and consistency that’s the thing that the Tigers unlocked from him where his breaking balls his slider specifically was just so beautifully placed at the bottom of the zone and it masked that his fast B wasn’t very good over the plate and that is a hard thing to get into Rhythm but I do want to give tigers credit for figuring out how do you flarey figure this out and get into that it could also just be the environment we’re going to make sure you have this routine and you’re not getting disrupted from this you’re not getting pulled away thinking about other things like you are focused and you’re going to stay in this and flare did that and yeah credits the Tigers for helping him get there with with bu I would say the biggest focus is really leaning into everything that he has understanding look your for Seer is not that pitch aable the 29% whiff rate is good I would say that when you see 30 to 35% whiff rate which is different by the way from swinging strike rate whiff rate is on a swing and then swing strike rate is overall so when you how often you get a with per pitch you throw as opposed to how often you get it with per swing which is whiff and you want to see close to like 35% for it to be like oh man okay this is the pitch again the overall swing strike rate for that for steamer this year was under 10% and that’s just oh boy in the playoffs a little bit higher than that but not really anything that I think that is going to be suggestive of an overwhelming pitch throughout the year and I would say focus on those secondaries I think the cutter is still really good I think mailing that down in way uh really actually down in Middle down in a way to both righties and to lefties is is going to be a major major thing I think it’s an amazing tool against left-handers I think the curveball is still a fantastic offering as well and leaning in on those as much as possible and trying to find a rhythm of surprising batters with four seamers and sinkers as opposed to just saying this is the thing and you have to deal with this one that is the biggest strength of Walker berer is that depth of Arsenal and to really squeeze out everything inside of it instead of just riant on that for seamer to get everything done Walker beer 16.9% whiff rate on the for seamer the regular season 29.3% whift rate on the for seamer in the postseason it sounds like that fast ball is a little bit more like the regular season then the postseason we look at big picture but we’ll see what ends up happening all right Nick that’s all we have for you thanks for joining us to break down free agent Walker bu who is a Tigers Target and from both of us congrats again to TK scoel on winning the 20124 American League sa Young Award Nick thanks for coming on the show oh my pleasure thanks for having me everyone that was Nick Pollock founder of pitcher list we have JJ Cooper the editor-in chief for baseball America coming up to talk Tiger’s prospects but first let’s take a [Music] break i’ like to welcome JJ Cooper editor-in chief for baseball America who has worked for baseball America since 2002 to the days of Roar podcast for the first time we’re going to be talking about Tiger’s prospects JJ thanks for joining us glad to be here so interviewing you about baseball America’s top 10 list it just came out on Thursday for everybody who wants to know number one Jackson job number two Max Clark number three Kevin mcgonagal number four Bryce rer number five thyron loronzo number six Dylan dingler number seven Jace Young number eight Trey Sweeney number nine hosway breno number 10 brand herder JJ when you were putting together that list what were some of the challenges what were some of the debates that you had and how did you come up with those guys in the top 10 I would say having done the Tigers list in years before this is a good challenge that it’s a fun challenge now of like okay these are most of these are top 100 type candidates and let’s just be honest there were many a years before where I’ve done this where there were not really top 100 candidates you know as I’m putting our Tigers list it’s much more enjoyable to be like okay how do I slot this guy versus this guy when they’re both have clear paths to Big League roles to when there’s been some other years where you kind of been doing a lot of projecting like okay you’re how do you Aline this guy up versus this guy where both these guys have really clear flaws but okay which one’s less likely more likely to to solve some of those flaws this is one of the best Tigers Farm systems that I’ve done you know and again I’ve done the Tigers on and off I don’t want to make it sound like I’ve done them every year since 2002 or anything like that but as I’ve done them this one the the thing that jumps out about it is it’s got a nice mix it has in Jackson job that was actually a pretty easy number one because when you talk to people about Jackson job it’s like okay that’s the best until Roki suzaki post and signs that’s the best pitching Prospect in baseball probably and then after them the the debate between Max Clark Kevin mcgonagal that’s the real fun one now when they were drafted I would say I would say that the general consensus was Clark was part of that clear top five mcgonigle’s done a good job of kind of closing that Gap as a pro to the point where now I can argue that one kind of either way and that was a fun kind of back and forth and kind of which one am I G to go with and you up Clark still ranks ahead they’re really close together and so that was kind of the fun and then you got the thing that the Tigers did really impressively I thought this year is they somehow managed to both sell at the deadline and then get better but what that also meant and this is where this does get a little tricky that meant that there are some guys who are a little maybe lower ceiling than some other guys who did make the 10 but it’s hard not to include a Trey Sweeny a Brandt herder guys who they’ve done it like you know there’s always a certain level of when you’re talking about like let’s say a friend Yuber montia who’s a really good Prospect but you’re you’re if friend Yuber montia has the career that Trey sween’s already had that’s not a terrible outcome Trey Sweeney’s already been the starting Shortstop on a playoff team now and still he’s eligible so like those are some fun debates as well so it’s again it’s a really I would say a fun Tigers top 10 working on the top 30 for the prospect handbook now it’s a really fun 30 as well so you mentioned a lot of these guys are top 100 guys or could be in the mix to be top 100 guys what has changed about the Tigers Player Development Department over the last five years or so especially since hiring Ryan Garo in September 20121 I would say we see it with Garo and then you also see it with the scouting side you see it with the front office like there’s a cohesiveness now and kind of a pretty clear plan I would say that that’s worked very well together where the scouting and Player Development seems to work really well together I felt like for a long time that kind of the Tigers profile was the hard throwing relish type usually coming from the SEC at the top of the draft and then a whole lot of what I describ as athletic college players who have questions about their bat that was kind of the Tigers profile and to be honest it often didn’t work I was doing our chat at baseball America this week and kind of was posing the question like so who are the tigers impact homegrown position players of the last since 2010 so that’s that’s almost 15 years now and you’ve got castios you’ve got Riley green and you start to run out of guys really quickly after that what you’ve seen now is if you said well what’s the Tigers type now when it comes to position players the first thing is is they’re guys who can hit like the the overarching tool is is if you have a hit tool in some cases there may be questions about the defense right we’ve seen this with at the big league level Colt Keith okay how good is he gonna be defensively Jace Young even more so is he going to be good enough defensively to play let’s just be clear but these guys start with hit tools and then you look at the guys like talk about Clark mcgonagle you know guys like that where and Bryce Rainer who they they acquired you know they drafted first round this year these are all guys who you would say okay they have tools but more than anything they’re hitters first and then is mcgonagal going to be a short stoper going to be a second base okay we’ll see but if he ends up at second base and he hits like he thinks he gonna hit that’s fine is Max Clark gonna be a center field yeah he’s probably a center field but the overarching thing again is he can hit that’s the thing that they’ve kind of lacked when they were taking the Gage workman’s and the the the Nick andanas and all the world it was college guys who could field and they’ll see if we can get them to hit it seems to be better to take guys who can hit and then see where they’re get up defensively field and by the way we talk about that but these are drafting up the middle guys who could hit and then if they end up having to slide down Riley green was always a guy who could hit and now is he gonna be a center fielder or a corner well he end up at a corner but that’s fine because if a dude hits like that no problem at all JJ let’s touch on Jackson job to start because he’s at the top of the list what should fans expect from him in year one so this is where it gets tricky because it is he is really young you know we saw this little taste of him at the end of the season in the pen but if you told me that there’s a little bit of an adjustment period to the big leagues I wouldn’t be shocked at all however everything’s there whether it arrives on day one or it arrives on start 10 everything’s there for this guy to be kind of the he it’s great for him he doesn’t have to be the ace right away because they’ve got the Sai Young winner at the top of the rotation but Jackson job is a pretty close to about everything you could look for in a pitching proc the one thing that does jump out that I think has kind of been a misnomer and I wrote about this season if you want to look at the walk rate and say oh but there are control questions there are no control questions here this is a guy who threw who had a better strike percentage and a better walk rate in 2023 than basically any one of the miners and even this past year you can quibble about his pitch selection at times at times it seemed like he was throwing weird pitches in two strike counts that kind of extended you know get fouled off things like that but he still had one of the best strike percentages in the miners this past year this is a guy who throws a 100 who throws strikes who has four pitches I I’m not gonna say that again like he’s not Paul schemes don’t expect anyone to kind of come in and debut like that at the big league level but if you told me that he you know this at the same time there’s not a lot left on his to-do list other than final refinements here and you’re saying that as a guy who’s still gonna be know he’s going to hit the big leagues who’s already hit the big leagues at a time where he’s not a whole lot older than the the college players were you know the college pitch are getting drafted so let’s touch a little bit about a couple of facts that people often you know they’ve been they’ve been fed a little info that isn’t necessarily 100% accurate about where job is now relative to when he was drafted he’s developed a devastating change up now in fact you know in my opinion it might be his best pitch I’m just curious how you want to rank and and quantify his slider versus his change and you know what’s the difference between him now and when people touted him as a draft choice he’s definitely again this is another thing that I think stands out as far as what the Tigers do the tigers I would say on the pitching side very much want to make sure that pitchers especially starting pitchers have an array of ways to attack both same side hitters and hitters have the platoon advantage and when I watch job like that’s one of the things of the development of that change up right he’s got now the sweeper he’s got a cutter he’s got the change up he has ways to attack right-handers he has ways to attack left-handers in his case because his stuff’s so good he really sometimes can kind of go at both of them kind of the same way but he’s that’s where I think he’s developed is when he was coming out of high school we you know the the spin rate on the the breaking ball was always and the velocity on the fast ball and the life on the fast ball was always talked about he has shown also though the ability to continue to improve the pitches like you mentioned the change up changes grip on the change up and that really did make a difference for him I still think he may add another pitch you know if you told me that he added you know wrote this in the report like that down the road he’s going to add a two seamer a sinker to basically just give hitters one more thing to worry about wouldn’t shock me because I think it might be beneficial for him but he’s already shown aptitude to improve his stuff in the miners and really that I mean again the to-do list right now is durability and there is some legitimate concern there because he has had a number of injuries but they’re not it’s not like he has a bulky elbow that keeps causing a problem the I would say that the back you know the the the spinal injury two the lumbar injury two years ago is probably the most concerning one he’s had but even that like he has shown no ill effects since it really seems like and this year was more of really of a annoyance type of injury but the one thing that that does stand out is is it’s probably unlikely that he’s going to be ready to go 180 180 Innings this year because he’s never really had a chance to get close to that stretched out in the miners largely because he’s missed time and spent time on the I most every year let’s shift gears to position players because there are a ton of hitters on this top 10 list Kevin mcgonagal what makes him so good at the plate and do you think he can stick it shortstop looking at the Tigers maybe like now I at least again in the short term like if you said to me who’s going to be we do a 2028 lineup which is something we’ve tried to kill with you know the four year ahead look ahead we’ve tried to kill it at baseball America about 10 different times and always the readers are like no you need to do that even though it is a flawed exercise in A M A Million Ways on that we have rer Bryce rer at Short I do think with his arm with his tool set he’s more of a prototypical shortstop I would say but if you told me obviously mle is in you know he going to be in doublea and Bryce rer is really kind of getting his pro career started if you told me can mgle be at shortstop in the short term and then move over when Bryce Rainer arrives I would say that’s plausible now and I would have said that coming out of high school I would have thought of that coming out of high school that by now he would probably be like okay yeah short Stop’s really not something that’s even in potentially an option he’s shown he’s better there than than kind of what we thought he was going to be coming out of high school there’s more I’ve kind of the saw skills of shortstop the anticipation the internal clock those kind of things but really what it comes down to is he’s just a really really good hitter that was kind of expected coming out of high school but he’s shown that every bit as much and to the point where you know our hit grade for him is actually higher than our hit grade for Max Clark I think Max Clark’s Tool Set overall is probably still a little bit louder than mold but as a pure hitter I think you could argue mle may be the best cure hitter in the organization minor leag side another short stop you just teased him what are your expectations for Bryce rer whom the Tigers selected number 11 overall in the 2024 draft he’s going to make his professional debut in 2025 what do you think I I think that this is the this this hopefully if you’re you know if you’re a Tigers fan you’re hoping that this is the last chance right this is the last time that Detroit has been able to draft at near the top of the draft for a number of years and the hope if you’re you know if you’re the Tigers is is this was the last bu of the Apple Bryce rer you know they took 11th overall but this was a player who was clearly in that top tier of uh of draft prospects last year really took steps forward as a high school senior as far as at the plate kind of made people much more comfortable this is a guy who could have been 100% could have been a first- round pitcher the arm is kind of a key part of why he’s such a good short stop his arm is really special now the question is going to be okay celestium pro ball how good is the bat there’s some power here there is some hit ability but until you do that against Pro pitchers there’s still that little bit of uncertainty and we have chance really to see that yet so so that’s kind of the what we’ll be looking forward to seeing in 2025 but if it all comes together it’s you know again this is the tigers’s long-term shortstop and a guy who can do so while hitting somewhere middle of the order which obviously is a pretty special package if it all comes together the Tigers drafted Bryce rer in mid July and then the trade deadline happens at the end of July three players on the top 10 list were acquired in that 15-day time frame obviously Rainer in the draft and then two players acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Jack flarity trade Byron loronzo at number five and Trey Sweeney at number eight how do you evaluate that trade now that it’s been four months since it happened well I mean it’s already a win let’s just be clear because as good as flare was the Tigers figured out a way credit to them to they did miss him that much because of guys like they figured out how to get bulk Innings they did start them all the time but get bulk Innings out of ker Montero brand herder guys like that to where you can’t say over the last two months of the season oh starting pitching really derailed them they figured out a way to do that and at the end of the day Trey Sweeney’s arrival I mean I’ll ask you guys you guys saw it every day more than I did but I felt like that Trey Sweeney’s arrival as a solid consistent Dependable shortstop was huge huge for them down the stretch and that’s why he’s on this 10 like he was not a guy who I would have thought at the deadline would be in the 10 but the more I watched his defense the more I talked to people about his defense doesn’t have a great arm everything else though he anticipates his first step his exchange kind of helps play up helps the arm play up because he gets rid of the ball so quickly all these things come together and I mean I’ll ask you have like I kind of felt like the defense kind of took a step up when he arrived there’s no doubt about that I mean it’s steady it it was steady performance at the shortstop position which the Tigers needed the big question is like is he going to be able to hit enough like that that’s really the big question is he going to be able to hit enough to stick that’s a b question but at the same time let’s also be clear the Tigers have had a short stop who hasn’t been hitting for for a while now so you’re not wrong so at the same time like Trey Sweeny is a guy who’s going to at minimum provide defense at you know at that position at at major league minimum and and I think that’s kind of to be honest the other thing about this is if you look at the big picture of the Tigers infield they need a short stop who’s really reliable because there’s hope that col Keef can keep getting better but col Keef’s not a great defensive second baseman I think that’s fair to say and then I you know I’m sorry I’m jumping loronzo but jaay young jaay young is the one that as I tried to do the reporting on this and again when we do this it’s talking to people as we can wish I had more time to talk to more but also the great thing that we can do now is is you know we have tools that we didn’t have where it’s like okay so I dialed up let’s watch every tough play that Jayce young had defensively at third base and just put him on a reel and just watched him and there’s a reason that he came up and it was like jaay young is the starting third baseman and for the first two weeks he played first inning till the end of the game two weeks in now he’s playing first inning and if they’ve got a lead he’s playing to the seventh or eighth and then in tr’s a better defensive replacement then you get to the end of the season and the postseason and it’s like he’s a pinch hitter because he was not consistent enough or playable at third and that’s going to be like I do think he’s better at second I don’t know if there’s a room for him to play second though because they have the guy named col GE who they’ve already signed to extension playing second but he’s gonna have to get better to be playable at third because right now like again you hope he’s gonna hit too more than the bat it’s about will the glove be enough to make him part of that plan but I bring that back to Sweeney if you’ve got Chas young at third you really want someone reliable at short because you don’t have a particularly reliable third baseman yet all right let’s jump to a little bit about what happened this fall both Daron loronzo and Jose breno especially torched the Arizona fall league before we get out of here give us a quick couple minutes on what you saw from both of them because what we saw was something pretty special this fall so the this is where this gets tricky right like Jose breno had one of the best afls that you’re ever going to see and then we’ve kind of went back and did the little work and the research and it’s like okay so let’s look at Great AFL Seasons before my prospects and it it is a nice reminder that the pitching is very erratic nowadays in the AFL I would say that the key thing we want to see from Reno in 2025 is he didn’t get to catch that much this year because of the KN inury he needs to be able to catch next year because I he may be able to hit enough to be a first baseman but ideally you want to see him he’s still very young you want to see if he can stay at catcher loronzo I would say even though breno had the better year in the well better month month and a half in the AFL loronzo is the one who you know we do an AFL top 20 prospects we talked to Scouts we had people out there from most of the AFL he’s the one who really kind of opened I would say more eyes from the standpoint of like this is one of the better catching prospects in the game right now the the Tigers now are overloaded with catching prospects like the other thing we didn’t talk about that also happened at the deadline is they traded away Carson Kelly and felt very comfortable about making Dylan dingler their everyday backup and I think he’s he’s essentially Jake Rogers 2.0 and you kind of hope that he might even be a little bit better long term at the plate Than Jake Rogers but good defensively all that between dingler loronzo breno Enrique Jimenez Steven Madero this is a team that now has a whole lot of catching talent and you know that that’s a good that’s a good thing to have because obviously you look around the major leagues right now there’s never enough catching I’m not saying that all these guys are going to make it by Stretch imagination but having a multitude of options there is something that that gives you not just options for your own team but at the same time down the road it gives you options in trades as all as well because if you have I was talking completely separately than Tigers but work you know and other work I’m doing it’s like some other organization made the point you pay a premium to acquire catching like you may say this prospect’s here and this prospect’s clearly better but there’s so little catching that most teams asks for a catcher you’re going to get you know a125 a150 on the dollar if you trade a catching Prospect who can believe to be be able to catch because there’s just you look at it right now there are the I do the Tampa Bay Rays you know list and the ray entire 40-man roster right now catchers is Logan Driscoll and Ben rvet and there is no way that those are the catchers they’re going to go into the season with but you look at the free agent market right now and you say okay there’s about one or two guys left there this is where not where the tigers are right now but if you told me that a year or two from now the Tigers are in a situation where hey let’s just say that they’re comfortable with dingler as the regular or dingler and loronzo well then all of a sudden Jake Rogers might be valuable or they may say you know what we really like Jake Rogers but this is going to make dingler available in a trade and get real value for him because lon’s ready or maybe again whatever order they do it is something that you do look at I would say this is something we talk about the Dodgers are kind of a model organization Dodgers have done this really well the Dodgers you know CT Ruiz they got real value for him he’s now with the Nationals D ronzo they got real value for him he’s now with the Tigers Will Smith is in the big leagues obviously with the Dodgers they still have catching prospects in that system having catchers is a really valuable thing to have we can’t let you get out of here JJ without talking about at the top of the Tigers Prospect food chain Max Clark had a really strong 2024 really started polishing some skills they were really good at doing that with him but what do you expect from him in 2025 I I if you told me by the end of the year he’s knocking on the door of the big leagues that would make perfect sense it is like again we do the the fun thing about doing the 2028 exercise is again this is these are problems that the Tigers have not had for years I will be interested to see if Max Clark continues to develop as expected if Parker Meadows continues to go as expected this is going to be a really good problem to have which is you’re the the Tigers could be a year away from having essentially a three center field or outfield right because Riley green there are organizations where Riley green could play center you you would not probably want him to but you could Max Clark is a center fielder can play right that that can do that but he’s a center fielder Parker bow quite clearly is a center fielder but I think of that as kind of an asset for them which is obviously that the Tigers do play at a park where being able to cover ground in the Outfield is is really valuable and I think that by 2026 it’s going to be a question of okay is it Meadows in Center Clarken right is it Clarken you know is it Clark and Center Meadow and R probably Meadow and Center Clark and R because Meadows just so good out there that’s going to be a really fun thing for the Tigers because you you see I mean there are teams that take this to the extreme but like again I do the Rays list the Rays almost always play a 70 Defender a plus plus two grades above normal defender in center but then they usually put in their Corners other center fielders like who they feel like that the Randy Ros Arenas can really make a defense an impact defensively there as well and the Viewpoint is is in a lot of cases is run prevention is cheaper to acquire High than than than producing runs right so if I can cut down on doubles and triples in the Outfield that’s something I can usually acquire a little cheaper than the guys who hit the doubles and triples in the case of the Tigers Max Clark is the guy who could prevent the doubles and triples and hit the doubles and triples which is really what you’re looking for and which is why he was a you know a top pick in the draft just a couple years ago this is what we were kind of expecting and hoping to see the debates will continue to go on because you got the three outfits like okay would you rather have Langford would you rather have Clark would you rather have Walker Jenkins it’s going to be a fun debate for years to come but the thing that stands out right now is is so far there is no wrong answer to that question yes you want Paul schemes because but he went one1 I don’t like you can throw Dylan Cruz to that discussion too but I don’t know if right now I’d rather have Dylan Cruz than Max Clark or Walker Jenkins or Wyatt lingford all four of those outfielders still have very promising Futures but it’s going to be really interesting to see how that plays out over the next 10 15 20 years best Tigers Prospect who is isn’t on the top 10 list and best Tigers Prospect who people don’t talk about yes I’m asking for two different players there okay best who’s not on it at this moment I’m gonna say Owen Hall who was a drafty this year I have not finalized my 11 through 30 for the for baseball America yet but he’s one that does jump out that way from a standpoint of like he could be really good as a pit again this the pitching I would say is a little bit thinner than the hitters right now so maybe that’s why I lean that way too then not talking about okay I’m go a weird way on this one he just was added to the 40 men probably not the answer you’re looking for but I think that Tyler Madison I think it was smart for them to add him I think he could be very much making an impact very quickly as he comes back from surgery like if you told me that he ends up being one of the better relievers in the Tigers Bullpen by second half of 25 and 26 27 going forward I I think that that’s something that very much fits that I will say like okay but giving you a better like a more sleeper if you’re a dieh hard Tiger fan you probably have heard about Fran yber montia but he’s another guy a little further away who I think is really interesting him Jose Dixon are a couple guys who I want to keep digging deeper on as guys who are kind of a little ways away but have some interesting tools interesting skill sets that could really develop we just had Tyler Madison on the podcast last week now we had JJ Cooper raving about Tyler Madison gotta love it all right JJ that’s all we have for you thanks for joining and breaking down the top 10 Tigers prospects as you put together for baseball America thank you guys appreciate it everyone that was JJ Cooper editorinchief for baseball America all right it’s time to get out of here got a big week coming winter meetings hopefully the Tigers do something I want to remind everybody to rate share and subscribe wherever you listen to podcast Apple Spotify Amazon and especially YouTube you can always find us embedded in every single Evan pets old article at the freep.com like to thank the Free Press editor and Cole Avery Nichols our producer the Magic Man Robin Chan love the MC grandson the spectacular Bren Michael gorash and soon to be the next addition to the gorash family hopefully within the next couple weeks another grandson coming out here shout out to the ever beautiful and Christmasy Savannah petel until next week peace [Music]

🔗 Watch on YouTube

🚀 Related Hashtags: #Breaking #Detroit #Tigers #target #Walker #Buehler #Baseball #America39s #Cooper #talks #top #pro..

Disclaimer: This video is embedded directly from YouTube. All rights to the video and content belong to the original creator, Detroit Free Press. For more details, please visit the original source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKTKdNaUiyc.