Latest / Tiger Territory: A Detroit Tigers Podcast / Same players, different team? How the Tigers can be better in 2026

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Same players, different team? How the Tigers can be better in 2026 · Tiger Territory: A Detroit Tigers Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: And welcome into another episode of Tiger Territory. The first
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: episode of Tiger Territory in the year twenty twenty six,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: part of the Foul Territory. Now we're going to Detort
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Tiger's podcast. I'm Karen Stegly. With me as always as
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: a man who just missed out on being baby New
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Year by a mere ten days. He is Koby Staviniggan.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: How you doing doing all right?
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: Happy New Year everybody. Hope you're not too hungover, or
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: hope you didn't spend all morning trying to get in
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: the gym or whatever New Year's cliche we are going with.
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: It is a new year, which means spring training coming
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: up real quick. It always kind of sneaks up on
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: us a little bit, but we're about six weeks out
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: and before you know it, we're gonna be in Lakeland.
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: We're gonna have some actual stuff to talk about. But
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: for now, we're gonna.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: Keep speculating about some stuff.
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: We're gonna keep diving in, diving a little deeper on
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: some topics that maybe we haven't fully unearthed this offseason.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: So Kieren, without further ado, Yeah.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's gonna sneak up on us. I was,
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: you know, Cody and I talking off air about things
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: he's trying to do before you know, his his his
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: his date with Lakeland, And I was like, well, I mean,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: it's a short amount of time because pretty soon we're
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: all gonna be, especially you gonna be drinking out of
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: a fire hose. So so it'll come up quick on us.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: And again, it's a new year. That's gonna be kind
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: of the theme of this podcast, Cody, is that it's
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: it's new, it's kind of a lot of old as well.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: And then like and can some can something old become
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: something new for the Tigers in twenty twenty six, because
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: like the reality of the situation as of this recording
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: is that the Tigers, as we've talked about a lot,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: look to be about the same team that they were
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty five in a lot of ways. You know,
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: a lot of the same pieces that were there in
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty four as well.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: What players not the same team? Come on, that's the script? Yeah, Yes,
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: that's the party line here.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Yes, well that okay, So that's okay. So if that's
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: gonna be the party line, then we gotta kind of
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: see where that's gonna be where's the new team gonna
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: come from? And so like an example of this, I
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: know he was an acquisition into the franchise, but like
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: Jamia Jones would have been an example of this for
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty five where he was a new player, but
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: like his production like fill a void that was like
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: the same what I mean by that as he took
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: the Andy of Banya's role right the lefty killer. And
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: then somebody like like Troy Melton would have fallen into
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: this category last year as well. So there's you got
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: your squad who's gonna kind of make you a new
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: look team in a way. And so we're just gonna
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: parse through some guys and maybe just start with maybe
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: the easiest ones there, Cody and that's center field. We
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: talked about it in our last episode as well. But
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: Matt Verling, you basically got nothing out of him due
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: to injury last year. Parker Meadows, you got a hair
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: above something from him due to injury last year. If
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: you can get twenty twenty four, Matt vere Lane, if
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: you can get the promise of twenty twenty four Parker Meadows,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden, like that does feel like a
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: new team from what we experienced in twenty twenty five.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Matt
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: Verling was a three war player in twenty twenty four.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: That would have been good for just just below the
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Dylan Dingler war number among position players, So basically would
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: have been your best player in terms of war positionally
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty five. So, Matt Vierling, Parker Meadows, you
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: get those guys rolling or at least two expectation. I
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: do think that does change the complexion of your team.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: If you would specifically up the middle and center field,
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: then we know Vierlean's gonna have some duties at their
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: base as well.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: To be clear, the point of this exercise is kind
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: of the unpacking of the Scott Harris quote. If the
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: Tigers are going to be a different team or a
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: better team with the same.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: Players, how does that happen?
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: Who has to step up, who has to emerge, who
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: has to maybe exceed expectations? And center field is a
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: great place to start here, and the Tigers were twenty
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: fourth in war among center fielders last year with one
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: for a team that the good teams tend to be
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: built up the middle.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: One is not going to get you very far Parker Meadows.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: We all know he's a huge X factor, and we
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: all know the range of outcomes there are pretty vast.
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: He could be a star or he could really struggle.
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: I'm a little worried about the hit track record, of course.
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: Now Vierling, I think is a player we just have
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: not talked enough about. It's very easy to forget how
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: productive Matt Vierling was in twenty twenty four one oh
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: seven WRC plus, hit two fifty seven, hit sixteen homers.
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: Just imagine if the Tigers could get a guy like
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: that back, if he plays at that level or even
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: a little better, fifteen to twenty homers and a guy
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: who can hit somewhere in the top half of your order,
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: that would be massive for the Tigers. Now, Vierling, whether
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: he plays center field, whether he's playing a corner, whether
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: he's playing third base, He's probably gonna play a little
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: bit of everywhere, or it may depend on who is healthy.
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: So I don't love just talking about him as a
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: center fielder, but maybe one of the most important players
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: on this entire team. I feel like as a collective,
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: like Tigers fandom, Tigers media, Tigers social media, we've.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: Kind of been like, yeah, Virling's back. Whatever.
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: It's like, well, to your point here, they could be
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: getting the second most productive player, you know, it could
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: be a real difference maker. We'll see what version of
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: Matt Veerling we get, especially after he missed so much time.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's that's kind of a weird thing too
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: when it comes to Matti v is that like he
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: was brought in as like this kind of like cornerstone
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: of what the Tigers are kind of like attacking for
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: attacking with i should say, and the versatility and the
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: athleticism and and and ll stuff, and then he became
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: like the elder statesman just kind of by the fault
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: with the first playoff run. Now, like he doesn't really
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: have like that much of a veteran leg up on
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: any I mean, I mean, like you know what I mean,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: Like he like you have Labor Torres in the clubhouse,
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: you have you have like Jack Flaherty, who you know,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: since he came to the Tigers for the first time,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: has a World Series ring, you know what I mean.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: So like Matt Vierlely can kind of settle in a
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: little bit intangibly if you're into that kind of stuff
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: as opposed to being looked at as the only one
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: that has to be off his parents' health insurance, you know.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: So like so I do think there's there's an element there,
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: and then I kind of want to mention me again,
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: this is where it's a little bit weird to kind
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: of like try to talk about it because it feels
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: like we're talking about breakout candidates. I want to make
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: the distinction here. It's not a breakout candidate thing, although
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: there are some parallels, but it is a like can
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: you get somebody either back or can somebody take a
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: step up? Vera Lan's a back guy. Parker is kind
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: of a back and a step up guy. So that's
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: why he said that that one's so easy. Here's one
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: that's like can you get him back a little bit?
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: Because the ultimate example of this last year was what
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: you got out of Dylan Dingler, and we talked recently
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: about how that was like the epitome of what Sky
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: Harris was referring to with that quote, what about the
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: other catcher, Cody, what about like a full Jake Rogers,
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: a full of Jake Rogers season and then and like
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: a fully formed Jake Rodgers I'll remind you, I'm looking
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: at his page right now. In twenty twenty one, he
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: was a one point two war guy. Twenty twenty three,
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: his first year back from injury, he's, you know, point eight.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: Twenty twenty four, he's a one point zero catcher. Last
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: year just point two. If like, what if you get
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Jake Rodgers, who is about a one war catcher, He's
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: literally averages SAI. If you take out last year as
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: a one war catcher and you combine that with the
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: Dylan Dingler that we saw last year, and you know,
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: maybe some improvements maybe you know, we talked about Dylan
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: Thingler recently. Like that to me can make a difference too,
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: because as you don't want Dylandingler catching whatever one hundred
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: and thirty games like you did last year. So I
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: don't want to dismiss the Jake Rodgers thing either. I
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: think that's I think that's a thing that could make
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: a difference.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know.
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't probably put Rogers on this lie just because
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: I think Dingler is going to play one hundred and
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: twenty plus games. Maybe, you know, we'll see how much
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: Rogers is actually behind the plate. Assuming I guess English
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: stays healthy.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: But I see your point. It's easier to forget. Jake
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: Rogers hit.
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: Twenty one home runs in twenty twenty three, and I
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: think a lot of us kind of felt like that
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: was an anomaly at the time. But then he only
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: hit three home runs last year and one hundred and
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: forty two played appearances. There is a little more pop
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: in that bat. I'm not confident that Jake Rodgers is
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: going to have a better offensive season, particularly in terms
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: of average. I could still see him being a blow
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: two hundred hitter. But is it crazy to think he
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: runs into eight to ten home runs and the overall
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: offensive production six back up from a seventy WRC plus
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: to maybe a little bit closer to league average. I
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: don't think that's totally out of the realm of possibility.
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: And to be one of those little things where maybe
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: you're the this time next year, we're going down the
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: war leaders and Jake is at like zero point eight
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: and it doesn't really stand out, but maybe it hits
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: a couple homers that win you a couple games. Definitely
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: not out of the Roman possibility.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, because again, like this is this is something
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: that like the team was largely missing last year. And
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: with respect to Tomas Nido and what he you know,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: what he did in the media aftermath of the injury.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: And then yeah, obviously they brought him back because they
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: like him. But like if you can get you only
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: got forty six games at Jake Rodgers. Now again, some
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: of that was part of the collapse, and you just
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: had that dingling the lineup. I understand all that. But
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: six home runs in thirty eight games. In twenty twenty one,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: he had twenty one home runs, like you mentioned. In
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty three he had ten, and twenty twenty four
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: he plays one hundred. I don't know, he plays eighty games.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: Could he get to ten twelve home runs? I feel
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: like it's in there.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: Like you hoping he's not played eighty games though.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, like again, playing not necessarily starting like
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: you know, pinchhit situations, and.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: He's more productive, he might get some more pinchh It
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: looks sure.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: I mean yeah, because we've seen that controversially over the years.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: There's a there's a callback there. So yeah, I just
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: wanted to make mention of him, and then let's go
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: back to the to the outfield for a section section
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: second Cody Wentzel Perez is a guy that like it.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: If there's something in there more, it kind of has
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: to be this year. We joke all the time that
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: it's like, oh man, he's still so young. We feel
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: like we've been doing you know, Winzel Perez content or
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: reading about him for a long time, which we have.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: But he also is gonna be in his age twenty
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: six season, so he's not so much the young guy anymore.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: And if there's something more in there for him, which
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: maybe he is about a one more player, and you know,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: he gives you the you know a little bit. The
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: pop from the right side is actually kind of real
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: as he's into his body defense, you know, athleticism, all
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: that stuff. Maybe that's who he is. But I still
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: think like he is someone talented enough and versatile enough
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: that like, if there's gonna be someone who could emerge
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: like he he had this is last year, he could
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: possibly be on that list, if that makes sense.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: I yeah, I don't.
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: I don't know if it's the last year or if
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: it isn't the last year, but I do think Wintel
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: Perez is a fascinating player and that he's coming off
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: a year in which he was productive, which he was
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: a lot of fun. He was key to everything the
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: Tigers were doing. And at one point this offseason we
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: were like, are we sure he's even gonna be on
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: the roster next year?
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: Now?
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: Given the Tigers have done nothing in terms of position players,
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: I think his roster spot for now if here's quite safe.
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: But it's like, well, is he could he be off
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: the roster or he have some sort of breakout. I
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: tend to think wintle Perez kind of is what he is.
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: Like we were talking about that one more player who
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: feels a little more productive than maybe the stats sheet suggests.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: I've talked before.
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: The projection systems aren't confident on him repeating last year's
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: performance or even certainly not improving on last year's performance.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: But to the point again of this exercise team that
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: made the World Series last year, the Toronto Blue Jays,
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: how did they do it well? It wasn't just their stars,
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: It was not just Vlad Junior and Boba Schett. It
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: took a comeback year from George Springer, it took an
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: excellent year from Alejandro Kirk and more importantly, it took
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: Ernie Clement having a random career three point two war year.
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: It took Addison Barger becoming a two point war player.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: Wincele Perez is a switch hitter, He's an outfielder. Ernie
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: Clement is an infielder. But if there's any parallel, there
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: could Wincele Pearaz be the Ernie Clement of this or
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: maybe the Addison Barger who randomly popped off for twenty
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: one home runs. Like, crazier things have happened in this sport.
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: No one was really picking Addison Barger to do that
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: this time last year.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you're right, the crazier things have happened.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: It is time Cody for our not sponsored but contractually
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: obligated Terek Schooble update. This comes from John Hayman, who
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: is with the New York Post. He does also content
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: for bleacher Report, so on a Bleacher Report live stream
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: on December twenty ninth, he had this to say, quote,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: the Mets are certainly interested. They need a top of
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: the line starter, and they do have prospects. We do
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: know that David Stearns did trade for Christian Yelich did
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: do that, but not a guy who likes to trade
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: big time prospects, particularly for a one year guy. Still,
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna put them Mets and the Dodgers there as
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: the most logical landing spots if the long shot comes
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: in and Schooble is traded so hard reaction Cody from
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: that Scalpleene report.
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: I'm glad people don't aggregate little clips we say too much,
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: because that is just like talking about the situation like
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: we do a lot without really saying much of substance
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: or anything new. Yeah, that that means nothing. The Mets
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: should be interested in the Mets to.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: Have the prospects. So far, there has been no movement
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: toward anything actually happening.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: And that is your unsponsored book, contractually obligated. Terek Schooble update,
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: all right, I wanted to go back to Parker Meadows
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: for a second real quick, so I forgot to mention this.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: Eighty two games in twenty twenty four, fifty eight games
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty five. I think we know he has
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: injury like history or whatever. But sometimes when you just
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: look at it and it's like, man, can you get
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: a hundred? Can you get a hundred? Can you get
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: one to ten out of Parker Meadows? Like it's just
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: you look at it like frankly, it's just kind of
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: like makes you think what could be? And again, some
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: of these guys, what could that? What could be is
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: already So we'll see, we'll see Parker Metto still has
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: that potential. But I wanted to make mention of that.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: All right, let's kind of go with a couple candidates here.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna loop them together. Maybe it's unfair. I know
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: their situations aren't exactly the same, but a couple of
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: guys that if they did pop in some way in
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six, Cody would be certainly surprising. And that
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: would be Trace Whinney, and that would be Jace Young.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: Is there. These are a couple of guys that, like, if.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: You talk about unexpected pleasant surprise, as those two would be,
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: would be up there.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: And I remind you that Tray Sweeney has got traits
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: that this front office believes in values and does not
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: want to does not want to move on from until
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: they exhaust every resource possible to try to get out
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: of him. And then Jace Young, you know, former first
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: round pick. I know, not of this regime, but a
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: former first round pick, guy who's hit his entire life.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: He might have been better suited being on the Tigers
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: about three years earlier than he was, because he might
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: have had some time to just kind of work it
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: out in the major leagues. Stakes are higher, have always
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: been high for him in terms of where the Tigers
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: are at. You know, once he was major league ready.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know. I did like two
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: former first round picks, none by this current regime, but
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: two former first round picks. Is there something there? Because again,
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: you get something out of these guys all of a sudden,
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: you gotta change your can you almost gotta change your
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: team completely if you can get like average major league
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: offensive production out of those two guys.
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm not confident about either of them. We'll see
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: if if both of them even make it to spring
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: training still in the forty man roster, but for the
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: spirit of the exercise, worth noting two guys who were
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: undergoing swing changes. Tiger has been working with Tray Sweeney
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: for a while to just change his batpath. Jace Young
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: changed his total setup, had some success with it in
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: Triple A. Didn't get a huge sample to see if
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: it would translate to the major leagues. As you said
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: former first round picks. These guys are talented, they're they're
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: not nobody's despite their struggles in their young big league's
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: big league career, maybe one of these swing changes clicks
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: and they exceed expectations, not not unheard of.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: Maybe it could happen. I'm not confident.
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: I certainly would not advise anyone to wage on that,
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: but you never know. I still look at this, and
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: we've talked about before, but it blows my mind every
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: time Trey Sweeney appeared in one hundred and eighteen games
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: last year, started at eighty two. I would guess if
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: Tray Sweeney appears in one hundred and eighteen games next year,
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: the Detroit Tigers ain't going to the playoffs. But maybe
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: if Tray Sweeney plays in one hundred and eighteen games
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: next year because he unlocked something and he becomes there
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: every day, short sut.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, both both. Yeah, it's either problematic or
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: you plus. Yeah really really the only and that's and
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: that's again, that's why we're talking it out here, and
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: and we'll talk about you know, another guy that would
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: probably be the definition of a of a huge plus
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: would be like Ken McGonagall.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, like he is about to say.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: If he is a obviously he's not in A he
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: would be a new addition to the major league team,
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: but obviously he's not new to the organization. But Ken McGonagall,
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: undisputed one, indisputably one of the top hitting prospects in
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: baseball by every single publication and metric available, becomes a
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year, like a top three Rookie of
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: the Year. Guy probably means the Tigers are going to
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: the playoffs? Would I would guess so.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: One of the most striking things in the Fangrafts Zips
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: projection article about the Tigers is the offensive comps. You
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: can go up and down this list and honestly, it
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: will make you feel less optimistic probably about certain players.
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: Riley Green is compared to Jim Edmonds, that's great, and
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: Sixto Lescano, I don't know, Claber Torres, Mike Andrews, Dennis Minky,
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: even the great Dylan Dingler On Helpena, Sean Wootton. Some
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: of these guys statistically who were really high on do
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: not compare to all time greats. Kerry Carpenter compares to
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: Candy Maldonado, who was a good player, But come on,
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: Kevin mc though comp won age based comps based on
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: their stats, their data, including the minor leagues. Mookie Betts
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: ump two, Gary Sheffield comp three, Rance Mullinicks. If anyone
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: knows what team Rance Mullinick's debuted, boy that, I'll send
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: you a T shirt or something, So you gotta hope
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: he's more like the first two than Rance Mullenicks, who
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: did have a nice little career for himself, but not
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: quite the other two. If Kevin McGonagall is really that good,
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: he could be a complete difference maker for the Tigers
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: this year. I'm never optimistic about young players being smashing
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: successes early on, because I've seen too many of them struggle.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: But Mookie Betts in his age twenty one season, he
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: only played in fifty two games. He hit two ninety one,
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: he hit five homers. He was a one point eight
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: War player. If you could get one point eight War
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: and half a season of Kevin McGonagall, I know we
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: argue maybe he should be on the big league roster
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: the whole year, But if you could get one one
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: point eight War, I mean, what if he's that guy,
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: that little piece that plays out of his mind the
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: last month of the season and puts you over the top.
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: We want to talk about best possible outcomes for the
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: twenty twenty six Tigers. I think that would could easily
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: be dependent on Kevin McGonagall being a sensation right away.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that's why is this hard? Why is it?
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: Why is this game hard? It's the wide range of
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: outcomes by the metrics alone. It tells you, like, why
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: why this is so difficult? Because you just don't know?
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: But yeah, uh got a fight.
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: Did Rance Mullenicks do in the minor leagues to make
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: that list of comps?
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah? I got research on that one.
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: That's uh, hit three point fifteen in double A? Actually
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: wasn't all that good in Triple A?
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: Shout out Rance moll No, he was. He was really
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: good in Triple A. This guy at three forty three
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: in Triple A his last year in triple before you know,
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: a two seventy two hitter in the big League's not
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: a lot of power for our friend Rants Mullinicks.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: But I sawid career.
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: Let's just hope McGonagall is more like Mookie Betts were
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: Gary Sheffield than Rants, who accumulates seventeen war in his career.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we'd make make things quite simple. But I I
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: don't disagree with what you just said there about like
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: could that be the best possible outcome like boom for
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: the team, because I almost wonder if this next guy
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: is actually the best possible outcome. Well, if we get
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: like the Colt Keith real breakout season, yeah, that might
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: that might do. This is where I remind people he's
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: gonna be in his age twenty four season, still still
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: quite young, and he's got one hundred and forty eight
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: and one hundred and thirty seven games under his belt
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: in the in the previous two seasons. Colt Keith coming
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: into his own, coming into his power a little bit more,
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: being a little bit better with his body, just you
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: know that naturally comes with you know, with being in
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: that age and having gone through a couple of grueling
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: Major league seasons. Could he get off to a not
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: horribly slow start and what does that do for him? Uh?
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: An unlocking of Colt Keith actually, to me might be
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: the number one like actually changes the twenty twenty five
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: to twenty twenty six season, because this is a guy
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: that has had he banked on his future, and the
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: Tigers banked on his future more so than any other
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: player on this roster. Cody is the fact that you
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: know it like signed him to that extension because they
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: believe in in what he can do. And obviously we
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: know the dollar amount and what that does, but I
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: don't know you have You've basically got no production from
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: him in the postseason. If I gave you the over
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: under of two and a half hits for him in
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: the in his postseason career, what would you say.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: Based on this question, I'm gonna take the under.
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: Well, it's over. It's three, so he only has three.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: He only has three career postseason hits. If you could
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: unlock him, like you know, in the course of a
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: regular season, maybe he finds a defensive home, maybe he
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: doesn't for another year, and then he and then he
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: is a real force in your lineup in the postseason.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: That literally, especially the postseason part, is completely different than
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: what the Tigers have experienced the past couple of years.
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: So Cold Keith might be number one on those lists.
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: Maybe I think Cold Keith that the guy I'm most
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: confident is going to have a pretty big year. Number
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: one hitter age based comparison is Wally Joyner, a guy
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: who had some real pop for a minute in the
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: major leagues. If you could get Wally Joyner level offensive
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: production out of Colt Keith, you would take that. Wally
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: Joyner had a one sixteen career WRC plus. Look, Colt's
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: home in the field is, you know, can he be
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: an average or attic third baseman. That may determine how
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: valuable he ultimately is, both short term and long term,
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: but just at the plate. If he can continue to
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: pull the ball and pull it in the air more
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: the way he did, especially in the second half of
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: last season, he has a chance to I think exceed
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: even what the projections are picking for him, which is
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: kind of a modest increase of what he's already been doing.
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: If he can lift the ball to the pull side more,
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: Colt Keith can have a different profile as a hitter,
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: and I think Colt Keith's offensive ceiling is still pretty high.
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: If you can start to see twenty twenty five homers
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: out of cold Keith and still hitting the ball hard
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: and still hitting for average, I I think I feel
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: strongly that that is like an outcome that is more
• 26:48
  Speaker 3: likely than less likely or I feel better about col
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: Keith having a big year than probably any of the
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: other guys we've talked about so far.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and also like if they're he's young enough that
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: this is this is not like what I was talking
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: about with like even Perez or Parker. But like, if
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: there was a formula for this to happen, it would
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: be Colt Keith, a guy who you know, there's been
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: a professional since he you know, since he turned eighteen
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: basically and and and has has a boatload you know,
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: I just read the games off just a boatload of
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: major league experience for his age, I do believe, and
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: again not someone who's been given the greatest kind of
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: like path to like comfort level with having the change
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: positions multiple times and then uh, you know, being in
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: you know, there's doesn't know what it's like. It's like
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: the anti Bobby Higginson. He doesn't know what it's like
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: to play for the Tigers and not being the postseason,
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: so like, you know, like it. He came in at
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: a less than less than ideal time to try to
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: find your find your feet a little bit, and he's
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: again has done well. And it kind of there is
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: anyone primed it would it would be him. Uh real quick,
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: does anybody like, is there any unlocking of a carry carpenter?
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: Is there any We talked about Riley green In specially
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Torkelsen a good bit on our last episode, Like Carrie
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: is like, is there something still there that he could do?
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Or is he another guy that kind of like might be?
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: Is what he is? You know? He's a two basically
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: a two war player. Uh maybe two point two to
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: two point three offensive war guy platoon, not going to
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: give you much on the base pass, not going to
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: give you much defensively, but still a power threat that
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: you have the game plan against if you're the opposing
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: team and a good postseason player make that.
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it can be hard to know with those guys.
• 28:47
  Speaker 3: I'd put Carrie Riley in that same bucket already really
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: good productive players.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: Is there more in there? It's like hard to bank on,
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: but not impossible.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So yeah, again, like I I kept coming back
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: to in my head after you said it, Michael about
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: twenty minutes ago, that you know is what he is.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: That's that's the crux of this exercise is most of
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: these guys probably are is who he is type players
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: and that's and and and that's that's the game, right
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: that that's how that's how this works. And so if
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: you want the team to improve and you know that
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: they're not going to do it externally in the way
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: that uh that makes fantasy and video games fun. That
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: this is the this is the kind of boring stuff
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: that it has that it has to be. So just
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: kind of recap we you know, Parker, Matt, you know,
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: Slim chance On, the Youngs and the Sweeneys of the world, McGonagall, huge,
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: Colt Keith, you know, the ingredients are there for like
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: a real for a real breakout, and you know, change
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: the complexion of your team, and then everyone else Torres, Dangler,
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: Torgels and you know, Rogers to a certain extent, the
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: guys that you're going to rely on. It's kind of
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: like marginal improvements and hoping that you know, at worst,
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: their productions stay steady. It's what we've seen either last
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: year or the past couple of years. And then all
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: of a sudden, you're you're in that race to what
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: you say, guys, stay on the athletic, the race to
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: eighty three.
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: I think we should have made it eighty four.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: Come on and and and you're and you're right there
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: where you you know, I guess want to be as
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: a franchise, the other chance to win a division and
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: make a postseason run. So I hope that was helpful,
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: but it was helpful to kind of look through this
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: and realize there's that many guys that you can really.
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: We talked a lot about position players here. We didn't
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: really talk about pictures.
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah, the bullpen is kind of always a toss up,
• 30:54
  Speaker 3: but you know, if Kyle Finnegan, Missus batts, and if
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: ken Lee Janssen can at least hold his performance, you
• 31:00
  Speaker 3: know this late in his career, but in the rotation,
• 31:04
  Speaker 3: Resulsen would be kind of my pick to click. A
• 31:06
  Speaker 3: guy who's been really good and remains I think underrated
• 31:09
  Speaker 3: across the league. He just hasn't stayed healthy. He's gonna
• 31:13
  Speaker 3: have to stay healthy. You need a full season of Resulsen.
• 31:16
  Speaker 3: And can Resulsen be the pitcher he was really two
• 31:20
  Speaker 3: years ago or even even last year Kieran he only
• 31:23
  Speaker 3: started thirteen games, but he had three to one five
• 31:25
  Speaker 3: ERA like Resulsan's career ERA is three six. Oh, if
• 31:29
  Speaker 3: Reesulsen can maybe get a hair better and is like
• 31:32
  Speaker 3: a legit number two, you know?
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: Is that is that asking a lot? Sure?
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: But uh, this guy's been really good. If you can
• 31:41
  Speaker 3: get a full season out of him, he could take
• 31:42
  Speaker 3: your staff to the next level. My well, I think
• 31:45
  Speaker 3: we'll have to do official predictions here sometime soon in
• 31:48
  Speaker 3: the new year. But my first prediction, I think the
• 31:51
  Speaker 3: Tigers offense is going to be a tad worse than
• 31:55
  Speaker 3: it was a year ago. They finished eleventh and run scored.
• 31:57
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna pick him to finish lower than that, but
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna pick them to make them. I'm gonna pick
• 32:02
  Speaker 3: them to win the Ale Central because I think the
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: pitching staff is going to rebound, could be a top
• 32:07
  Speaker 3: five pitching staff if all things go well, and I
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: think that's what they're going to need to offset all
• 32:13
  Speaker 3: the many questions around their offense.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: Casey, my is one point six war last year and
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: those thirteen starts resource and one point seven so so results.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: That's that's your That's that's your first tease of twenty
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: twenty six. A lot of fun, A lot of fun
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: doing this, h Cody, anything else before we jet out
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: of here.
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: No, No, that's it for now.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: All right, Well, We're gonna have plenty in store this
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: year and and just can't wait. Like you said at
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: the top, spring training will be here before we know it,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: and there's gonna be so many storylines, so many like expectations.
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: How these guys handle them, kind of shape they're in,
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: we know, you know, we love that, uh, And we'll
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: start hearing from aj and and the guy on a
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: regular basis to see, like how they carry themselves a
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: team that's not a fluke playoff team anymore. So twenty
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: twenty six Tigers not fluke postseason guys anymore. You gotta
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: go and kind of act act accordingly, so we'll be
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: there to react to everything as unfold. So thank you
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: to everybody who has made it with us to the
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: new year. Thank you to everyone who's subscribed on YouTube,
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: follow us on x onely, know Twitter at Coley Stavenhagen,
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: I'm at here on his course exectly pot page at
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: Tiger Territory Underscore, and they get everybody to sub subscribed
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: and give us a five star review on your platform
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: of choice. So for Cody Stavenhagen, I'm curiously everybody have
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: a great thing