Latest / Tiger Territory: A Detroit Tigers Podcast / Rotation Reinforcements

Transcript

Rotation Reinforcements · Tiger Territory: A Detroit Tigers Podcast

0:01
Speaker 1: Hey everybody, welcome in to another episode of Tiger Territory.
0:10
Speaker 1: This is the only place where talking about the Tigers
0:13
Speaker 1: makes you cooler by association. I'm Cody Stavenhagen, Rogelio Castillo
0:17
Speaker 1: is here with me. Raj, how we doing?
0:20
Speaker 2: Doing really well. I had a really good, powerful lunch
0:22
Speaker 2: today and I was thoroughly impressed by the way a
0:28
Speaker 2: shout out to where we went to lunch today at
0:30
Speaker 2: Nemo's baseball writers, uh, chapters meeting. And, uh, as you said,
0:35
Speaker 2: it's always fun to catch up with everybody all at once. And, um,
0:38
Speaker 2: it has that, it has the Nemo's has a really
0:42
Speaker 2: good old bar feel to it. It really, really does. And, um,
0:46
Speaker 2: they redesigned the place recently too. So it looks really
0:49
Speaker 2: nice in there.
0:49
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. Big fan of the old school vibe there
0:52
Speaker 1: at Nemo's, uh, get right to some news and notes
0:55
Speaker 1: coming out of that meeting. Um, No surprise, but Kevin
0:57
Speaker 1: McGonigal was named our BBWAA Chapter Tiger of the Year.
1:02
Speaker 1: I believe only the third rookie to ever win that award,
1:05
Speaker 1: joining Riley Green and Mark the Bird Fidrich. And then
1:10
Speaker 1: Riley Green was winner of the Dan Ewald Good Guy Award.
1:14
Speaker 1: That is an award that goes toward a player who
1:17
Speaker 1: is cooperative and helpful and friendly with the media. I
1:20
Speaker 1: actually voted McGonigal number one for that, just given the
1:25
Speaker 1: the scrutiny, the pressure McGonigal was under kind of all
1:28
Speaker 1: season as a rookie, but was always there and available.
1:32
Speaker 1: But Riley was my number two vote. And I actually
1:34
Speaker 1: think he's a very deserving winner. Riley's not maybe known
1:38
Speaker 1: as the most quotable, but especially in a tough year,
1:40
Speaker 1: that's a guy who is kind of always out of
1:42
Speaker 1: his locker, willing to kind of take the bullet and
1:45
Speaker 1: talk after games, especially off camera, can have some really
1:48
Speaker 1: good conversations with him before games. So You know, I've
1:51
Speaker 1: told Riley that before. Spencer Torkelson, who won the award
1:54
Speaker 1: last year, those guys have been consummate pros through a
1:58
Speaker 1: lot of ups and downs in their careers. So congratulations
2:01
Speaker 1: to Riley Green and Kevin McGonigal, winners of our local
2:06
Speaker 1: Baseball Writers Association of America Chapter Awards.
2:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, Riley Green's always kind of right. We have Matthew
2:15
Speaker 2: McConaughey in Los Angeles. Just like the all right, all right.
2:18
Speaker 2: Just like always laid back. There's like a theme to him.
2:21
Speaker 2: Like he just, you know what I mean? Like he's just,
2:22
Speaker 2: you can always shoot, you know, you can always shoot
2:25
Speaker 2: with him. And so, yeah, that part of the award
2:28
Speaker 2: is pretty cool. There's a couple of the right, the
2:32
Speaker 2: whole story behind the award too and how it was named.
2:34
Speaker 2: We heard about that today too. But now they changed
2:37
Speaker 2: it because like basically Tom Cage said, oh, no one's
2:40
Speaker 2: ever heard of that guy.
2:41
Speaker 1: He used to be named the Big Ed Award. I
2:42
Speaker 1: don't know who Big Ed is. Dan Ewald was an
2:45
Speaker 1: old Tigers PR guy in kind of their heyday, I
2:48
Speaker 1: think in the 80s and onward. Let's go ahead and
2:52
Speaker 1: get into kind of the meat of the episode. We
2:54
Speaker 1: had talked about starting pitching free agent targets. We said
2:57
Speaker 1: we would be back with five more. Don't worry, we're
2:59
Speaker 1: going to get to the bullpen as well. But let's
3:03
Speaker 1: dive a little further into what I think is a
3:06
Speaker 1: really interesting market for starting pitching for kind of these
3:09
Speaker 1: mid-tier guys that I would think the Tigers are going
3:12
Speaker 1: to want to help round out or add some depth
3:15
Speaker 1: to their rotation. The first guy we're going to talk
3:18
Speaker 1: about today, I was just around him a little bit
3:21
Speaker 1: in the World Series. That is Nick Martinez. Raj, off
3:25
Speaker 1: the top of your head, do you have any thoughts
3:26
Speaker 1: about Nick Martinez and how he could or could not
3:30
Speaker 1: fit the Tigers?
3:32
Speaker 2: I think he's a guy who, we mentioned this earlier,
3:34
Speaker 2: mentioned in the last show about a veteran that can
3:37
Speaker 2: fill the gap while they have other starters trying to
3:41
Speaker 2: develop a little bit. And Martinez, last year, gives them
3:45
Speaker 2: a little, you know, gives them 180 innings. His change-up,
3:48
Speaker 2: just like the fifth-step motif, again, change-up, batters only hit
3:53
Speaker 2: 184 against it, produced a 30% whiff rate on it. And,
3:58
Speaker 2: you know, in terms of, like, he's a guy who
4:00
Speaker 2: I think can help while the other young guys in
4:04
Speaker 2: the rotation develop, like Troy Melton, to reduce their innings,
4:08
Speaker 2: reduce those stressful innings, and give them one or two
4:10
Speaker 2: years of really good solid, at least 150 to 180 innings,
4:15
Speaker 2: which is weird to think that that has changed so
4:18
Speaker 2: much in the last decade or so. And so, I mean, there's,
4:23
Speaker 2: you know, the, the, the question I have for you
4:25
Speaker 2: about Martinez though, does, does he solve a different workload
4:28
Speaker 2: problem with, with Anderson coming back? I mean, does he
4:33
Speaker 2: give you that dedicated starter or do you make him
4:36
Speaker 2: that simple, similar situation with like drew Anderson?
4:39
Speaker 1: Yeah. Coming off a season where he had a 3-1-0 ERA,
4:42
Speaker 1: I'm not sure Nick Martinez would want to sign up
4:45
Speaker 1: to be a swing man. Uh, although I, one of
4:49
Speaker 1: the good things about him is he does have that
4:51
Speaker 1: versatility and some history of that, but he's coming off
4:54
Speaker 1: a great year where he logged 180 innings. So I
4:56
Speaker 1: think if they were to sit down and have a
4:59
Speaker 1: conversation with his agent, that would be one of the things, Hey,
5:01
Speaker 1: am I guaranteed a starting role or not? Um, So,
5:06
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think there are a few more
5:08
Speaker 1: things that kind of leap out at me. We just
5:11
Speaker 1: had it on the screen, but he is worse metrically
5:14
Speaker 1: than I thought, given this is a guy that the
5:17
Speaker 1: Rays liked. He went to Tampa. He improved under the Rays.
5:21
Speaker 1: And yet, you still look. He doesn't miss bats at all.
5:24
Speaker 1: Bottom second percentile in all of baseball. Does not strike
5:27
Speaker 1: guys out. Really overperformed a lot of his metrics. His
5:31
Speaker 1: ERA was... better than his FIP. Now, one thing the
5:34
Speaker 1: Tigers might like about him, he does not, does not
5:37
Speaker 1: walk guys. One of the lowest walk rates in all
5:39
Speaker 1: of baseball, only a 3.6% walk rate. So I could
5:43
Speaker 1: see that being something the Tigers like. Fangraphs is projecting
5:47
Speaker 1: him to get two years, 38 million. So really nothing crazy.
5:52
Speaker 1: At the same time, he is 36 years old. And
5:54
Speaker 1: we've talked about that with several guys, like how much does,
5:57
Speaker 1: you know, if you see a guy over 35 right now,
5:59
Speaker 1: that's kind of lighting up at me with, you know, big,
6:02
Speaker 1: yellow caution lights right now. Martinez was a guy who
6:06
Speaker 1: was overseas for a while, so maybe it's a little
6:08
Speaker 1: bit different coming off a year where he was healthy
6:10
Speaker 1: and durable. But in this market, given those metrics, I'm
6:14
Speaker 1: actually not sure I like him that much.
6:17
Speaker 2: And the one thing, too, about Martinez that is continuously
6:22
Speaker 2: with Fit the Tiger's quote-unquote curse of signing veteran pitchers
6:26
Speaker 2: is at a past age of 36 is that this
6:29
Speaker 2: is a year that all of a sudden he– would
6:31
Speaker 2: fall apart or what have you. And that's an inherent
6:33
Speaker 2: risk with this. And so I think he, if it's
6:38
Speaker 2: a one year deal, just like I said, as a
6:40
Speaker 2: stopgap measure, that's one thing to me, it just gets
6:44
Speaker 2: a little dangerous when it gets the multi-year deal. So
6:46
Speaker 2: I think for one year it comes in and he
6:49
Speaker 2: helps you finish a rotation that has like the ultimate,
6:53
Speaker 2: like the ability to get in the post season. But
6:57
Speaker 2: if you're relying on him to be like your third
6:58
Speaker 2: or fourth guy, on a consistent basis. I don't know.
7:01
Speaker 2: It just seems like a lot of, uh, risk with that. Yeah.
7:04
Speaker 2: All right.
7:05
Speaker 1: Well, we'll go on to the next one and that
7:07
Speaker 1: is going to be clay homes. You had mentioned them
7:10
Speaker 1: a little bit ago off air. Uh, how do you
7:13
Speaker 1: feel about clay homes?
7:16
Speaker 2: And, you know, but in terms of ground ball rate,
7:19
Speaker 2: you're talking about another guy that gives you a ground
7:22
Speaker 2: ball rate, 60%, the sweeper and change up gives you
7:26
Speaker 2: the ability to, um, and then, The fact is stuff
7:30
Speaker 2: that gets chased all the time. He's younger than what
7:33
Speaker 2: we mentioned Martinez, but then it comes back to the
7:36
Speaker 2: factor of he missed time with the right fibula fracture.
7:39
Speaker 2: So I don't like it's, it is health is concerning
7:43
Speaker 2: a little bit, but you look at his K rate again, it's, it's,
7:48
Speaker 2: it gives a little pause for concern. The Tigers need
7:50
Speaker 2: some more bats, but there's all the, a lot of
7:52
Speaker 2: the stuff that like to, I mean, the Cape, like
7:53
Speaker 2: I said, if the Tigers can use this guy, the right,
7:57
Speaker 2: similar to how they use Fran Bear and get him
7:59
Speaker 2: to do ground balls, I think he would be a
8:00
Speaker 2: good addition to this rotation.
8:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that might lead right into my concern with
8:05
Speaker 1: Clay Holmes, who viewed as maybe one of the top
8:08
Speaker 1: three or four starters on this market. Fangraph's projecting him
8:11
Speaker 1: to get three years and $ 57 million, which, again, isn't
8:15
Speaker 1: a ton. It's not breaking the bank, although it is
8:17
Speaker 1: still a healthy contract. 99 percentile ground ball rate, heavy
8:23
Speaker 1: sinker usage. very similar to Frambois Valdez. He is in
8:27
Speaker 1: many ways a right-handed Frambois Valdez, and I'm not sure
8:31
Speaker 1: that's exactly what the Tigers need. If they're going to
8:33
Speaker 1: do that, if they're going to have another guy two
8:37
Speaker 1: out of every five days being, in theory, elite ground
8:41
Speaker 1: ball pitchers, they better get serious about improving this infield defense.
8:45
Speaker 1: They better add somebody up the middle who can make
8:48
Speaker 1: a meaningful impact because there are going to be a
8:50
Speaker 1: lot of balls on the ground. You risk getting babbitts
8:53
Speaker 1: to death a little bit. Some other notes I wrote down,
8:56
Speaker 1: Holmes did throw from a little bit of a lower
8:58
Speaker 1: arm slot. He's kind of gradually lowered his arm slot
9:00
Speaker 1: over time. He's had some success with it. Another guy
9:03
Speaker 1: with a bullpen history used to be really nasty, throwing
9:07
Speaker 1: bowling ball sinkers out of the pin for the Yankees.
9:12
Speaker 1: One red flag, he was traded to the Cubs and
9:15
Speaker 1: was not really very good in his final nine games
9:18
Speaker 1: or so. 4.25 ERA and the walk rate shot up
9:21
Speaker 1: to 4.4 walks per nine innings. So I don't know
9:25
Speaker 1: if something was going on there. But, you know, it
9:28
Speaker 1: could give you pause. He did not finish the year
9:30
Speaker 1: near as well as he started it.
9:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, there is a– what I think ultimately before we
9:38
Speaker 2: move on, I think the one thing the Tigers would
9:40
Speaker 2: have to address with them really is a matter of–
9:44
Speaker 2: I know the American League and National League difference isn't–
9:46
Speaker 2: it's not the big difference like it used to be,
9:49
Speaker 2: but it's just a matter of, okay, when he goes–
9:53
Speaker 2: can he go every five days without a problem? And
9:56
Speaker 2: right now it's the same thing with Martinez. Like it's
9:58
Speaker 2: kind of, it's a question mark, even despite his age.
10:00
Speaker 2: I still think that's a question mark.
10:02
Speaker 1: Yeah. Overall, I think Clay Holmes is a pretty good,
10:04
Speaker 1: pretty safe pitcher, but given that he could be one
10:08
Speaker 1: of the better guys on the market, I'm not sure
10:10
Speaker 1: he's who the Tigers are going to land on. At
10:12
Speaker 1: least he wouldn't be my pick. Another guy I wanted
10:16
Speaker 1: to talk about, Nick Pavetta, who the Tigers liked. before
10:20
Speaker 1: he ended up signing with the Padres, and he had
10:23
Speaker 1: a pretty good tenure over there. I was kind of surprised,
10:26
Speaker 1: believe they declined an option in that contract. There's a
10:29
Speaker 1: thought he could maybe work out a new deal with
10:31
Speaker 1: the Padres. But there's also a guy who might garner
10:34
Speaker 1: interest from some other teams. Raj, you got anything on
10:38
Speaker 1: Nick Pavetta?
10:40
Speaker 2: I really liked him when he was in Boston. He
10:42
Speaker 2: was a guy who went out there and was, for
10:46
Speaker 2: whatever reason, I just remember him just kind of shoving
10:49
Speaker 2: against the Tigers pretty well. I look back a couple
10:53
Speaker 2: years ago, he struck out almost 200 in 2023, I
10:55
Speaker 2: believe it was. And so this guy got some Cy
10:59
Speaker 2: Young award votes last year. It's really weird to think
11:02
Speaker 2: about it that way. And out of all the ones
11:04
Speaker 2: that are on this list, I think he would give
11:07
Speaker 2: them a good two or three years of solid, as
11:11
Speaker 2: a solid starter. The K per nines, good. I mean,
11:15
Speaker 2: it's the first one in the double digits, but we
11:17
Speaker 2: just talked about a 10 point, 10.9 so you like
11:21
Speaker 2: that a lot and the fact he's already been able
11:25
Speaker 2: it's kind of like the seasoned veteran to go in
11:27
Speaker 2: there and really give a different compliment he's because he's
11:31
Speaker 2: right he gives him a different look than framberg does
11:34
Speaker 2: and so um based off that i think i think
11:37
Speaker 2: it'd be a good mentor too for some of the guys.
11:39
Speaker 1: In rotation yeah i like pavetta a lot i see
11:42
Speaker 1: why the tigers have liked him uh in the past
11:45
Speaker 1: kind of one of those stuff plus monsters who was
11:47
Speaker 1: for a long time never quite Lived up to the billing.
11:51
Speaker 1: Really still maybe hasn't quite missed as many bats as
11:55
Speaker 1: the sheer stuff would suggest. Started using his cutter a
11:58
Speaker 1: little more in San Diego, and that seemed to help him. Now,
12:01
Speaker 1: he also missed a pretty big chunk of time with
12:02
Speaker 1: a right flexor strain. So here, if you want to
12:05
Speaker 1: know why all these guys are kind of in this
12:07
Speaker 1: middle of the market, it's all like good, good, good,
12:09
Speaker 1: but there's this little caution flag. Now, Fangraphs is picking
12:13
Speaker 1: Pavetta to get two years, $ 30 million. I think his
12:16
Speaker 1: upside is so high, like I would do that maybe
12:20
Speaker 1: in a heartbeat. And I do think other teams will
12:22
Speaker 1: be after him. I wouldn't be shocked if he gets more,
12:26
Speaker 1: probably depending on what teams ultimately think about that flexor
12:29
Speaker 1: strain and what they can glean from it, because that,
12:31
Speaker 1: of course, can be a pretty scary injury. But the
12:35
Speaker 1: stuff is there. If you sign this guy to be
12:37
Speaker 1: a four or five, but he could have serious top
12:41
Speaker 1: of the rotation type upside, that's certainly a reason I
12:44
Speaker 1: would like him.
12:46
Speaker 2: I can see him going to a contender for sure.
12:49
Speaker 2: I see a team, somebody like the Yankees.
12:51
Speaker 1: Are the Tigers a contender? What a big question.
12:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know. Some of your fans are going to
12:58
Speaker 2: get mad at me for saying that, but a team
13:00
Speaker 2: that's about to just need another finishing touch, if you will.
13:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right. One of the other guys to get to,
13:07
Speaker 1: Tyler Molle, I think I'm pronouncing that right, who has
13:11
Speaker 1: been with the Braves. I think he kind of checks
13:14
Speaker 1: the box of just a classic– back-end rotation guy where
13:18
Speaker 1: there's nothing remarkable about him, nothing that bad about him either,
13:24
Speaker 1: other than maybe some of those health concerns we've talked
13:28
Speaker 1: about before. Anything stand out here to you, Raj?
13:31
Speaker 2: Not really. I mean, it just seems like one of
13:33
Speaker 2: those guys that fits the back of, it's fitting too
13:38
Speaker 2: that he was with the Giants because it just seems
13:41
Speaker 2: like kind of like a classic a journeyman picture picture
13:45
Speaker 2: that they signed just to put a stopgap measure. And
13:48
Speaker 2: that's all he is to me. And if you get
13:51
Speaker 2: some upside out of him, great, but I don't know.
13:53
Speaker 2: Like there's something really that's like, to be honest with you,
13:55
Speaker 2: it's yeah. It could be fit up rotations. Not sure,
14:00
Speaker 2: but could he be somebody that also gets beat up
14:03
Speaker 2: on a consistent basis? Possibly, you know, like it's just,
14:06
Speaker 2: I know it's, it's early on his career. He did.
14:08
Speaker 2: He had some good years in Cincinnati, but he's, I
14:11
Speaker 2: don't think he's just the same picture like he was before.
14:15
Speaker 1: Some interesting signs. Walk rate declined last year. Strikeout rate
14:18
Speaker 1: went up a little bit. Throws a splitter. Tigers tend
14:21
Speaker 1: to like splitters. Now he's only exceeded 150 innings once.
14:27
Speaker 1: I think it's in his career or at least in
14:30
Speaker 1: recent years. Get a fact check on that one real quick.
14:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, 2021 he threw 180 innings. I don't love that.
14:35
Speaker 2: He threw 149 last.
14:36
Speaker 1: Year, but This is a guy who has never really
14:45
Speaker 1: carried that full starter workload. He's only made 30 starts
14:49
Speaker 1: in his career that one year, and that was five
14:52
Speaker 1: years ago. Now, again, the Tigers have Fromber, Jobe, Melton, Montero,
14:59
Speaker 1: Drew Anderson. I'm forgetting someone. Reese Olsen coming back. They
15:04
Speaker 1: don't necessarily need One of these more top-end guys, they
15:08
Speaker 1: probably just want someone to be there for depth. So
15:10
Speaker 1: if they're trying to get someone a little cheaper, someone
15:13
Speaker 1: like Tyler Molle could be an option. We'll close with
15:18
Speaker 1: one more name. It's going to be Shota Imanaga of
15:21
Speaker 1: the Cubs. He is now a free agent. I think
15:24
Speaker 1: he does a lot of interesting things. He actually might
15:27
Speaker 1: be my favorite of all the guys we have talked about.
15:31
Speaker 1: What do you think of this one, Rush?
15:34
Speaker 2: You know, out of the guys that you mentioned, this
15:36
Speaker 2: is the one who I think the more I look
15:38
Speaker 2: at him, the more he fits what Tiger's looking for,
15:41
Speaker 2: a guy to go out there every five days and
15:43
Speaker 2: give them a chance to win. The K per nine's
15:46
Speaker 2: a good, solid nine. So, you know, for the fact
15:49
Speaker 2: that he's not going to be worried about, like, he'll
15:53
Speaker 2: get struck out when you need him to. He is,
15:58
Speaker 2: and also I know that there's going to be this,
16:00
Speaker 2: Tiger fans are going to be worried about, like, if
16:01
Speaker 2: he's going to be the same thing as Kenta Maeda
16:04
Speaker 2: He's a little younger, and the numbers don't really, to me,
16:07
Speaker 2: don't stand out that there's any sharp declines or anything,
16:10
Speaker 2: unlike Maeda in his last year in Minnesota before he
16:12
Speaker 2: came over to the Tigers. So the numbers are at
16:14
Speaker 2: least there, at least health-wise and what have you, are
16:17
Speaker 2: encouraging that he could be a valuable add to the
16:20
Speaker 2: Tigers rotation.
16:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, unlike a lot of these guys we've talked about,
16:24
Speaker 1: he strikes people out. He gets a lot of chase,
16:26
Speaker 1: 91st percentile in chase rate, 82nd percentile in whiff rate.
16:31
Speaker 1: He also commands the ball pretty well, 95th percentile in
16:33
Speaker 1: terms of walk rate. So if you can miss bats
16:36
Speaker 1: and limit walks, that is a great combo. He's a lefty. Again,
16:40
Speaker 1: I kind of think the Tigers could benefit from a
16:42
Speaker 1: second lefty in addition to Fromber. When you play a
16:45
Speaker 1: team like the Guardians a billion times, White Sox fairly
16:48
Speaker 1: left-handed as well. Splitter, he's a pretty high fly ball pitcher.
16:53
Speaker 1: And that got him in a little bit of trouble,
16:56
Speaker 1: I think, playing in Wrigley Field. I mentioned this last time.
17:00
Speaker 1: Oddly enough, the Tigers have not had a great track
17:03
Speaker 1: record in recent years, bringing in fly ball pitchers despite
17:06
Speaker 1: playing in a big park. But if I were Shota
17:09
Speaker 1: Imanaga's agent, I would probably say, hey, we hit you
17:11
Speaker 1: in a little bigger ballpark. We think your home runs drop.
17:14
Speaker 1: We think that ERA comes down a little bit. There
17:17
Speaker 1: are some reasons I could see this being a pretty
17:20
Speaker 1: nice fit. Fangraphs is only projecting him to get two years,
17:23
Speaker 1: $ 34 million. So, yeah, I don't know. Something to think about.
17:28
Speaker 2: And the Tigers seem like they're trying to get more
17:32
Speaker 2: into the Asian market. I mean, we've seen this recently
17:36
Speaker 2: with them trying to scout the area and make a
17:40
Speaker 2: focus on sending more Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese players. So
17:46
Speaker 2: I think that fits that trend a little bit here.
17:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, given the Maeda thing didn't work out so well,
17:52
Speaker 1: maybe you could try again to make a good impression.
17:54
Speaker 1: When a guy like Shota Imanaga, and again, the thought
17:56
Speaker 1: there is he can then kind of tell people back in,
17:59
Speaker 1: in PB or whatever, like, Oh, the Tigers are a
18:01
Speaker 1: good organization. They treat players well. And, and sometimes that
18:05
Speaker 1: goodwill can go a long way.
18:08
Speaker 2: All right.
18:08
Speaker 1: That's all we got for starters. We're going to talk
18:11
Speaker 1: about the bullpen a little bit. And I thought you
18:13
Speaker 1: had some interesting ideas here, Raj. I'm going to let
18:15
Speaker 1: you kind of take, take the reins if you're okay
18:18
Speaker 1: with that. Oh yeah. Where do we start this conversation
18:22
Speaker 1: in terms of the bullpen?
18:24
Speaker 2: So as far as like the, so the, the reason
18:26
Speaker 2: why I wanted to go with minor league free agents
18:29
Speaker 2: is because of minor league free agent list came out
18:31
Speaker 2: today and I was like, the Tigers tend to what
18:35
Speaker 2: minor leader is worth pursuing that could potentially be a
18:38
Speaker 2: major leader or maybe did some major league time. And
18:42
Speaker 2: so some of the guys I was looking at guys
18:44
Speaker 2: like Ian Hamilton, who was with the Braves last year
18:47
Speaker 2: and the Tigers love Tigers love former like pitchers with
18:52
Speaker 2: the Braves for some strange reason. It's something that they do.
18:56
Speaker 2: And his numbers at the big league level are not
18:59
Speaker 2: great in a short period of time last year. But
19:03
Speaker 2: a guy at Gwinnett last year, AAA, 43 strikeouts, 15 walks,
19:07
Speaker 2: and three innings last year. So a guy that could
19:10
Speaker 2: go out there and maybe compete for a middle relief role.
19:13
Speaker 2: They brought up a series of guys like this last
19:15
Speaker 2: year where they just came out and were in Toledo
19:18
Speaker 2: for a little while and helped out when they could.
19:20
Speaker 2: Another guy at AAA went out last year who they
19:24
Speaker 2: were familiar with is Joel Payams. Another guy who was
19:31
Speaker 2: a veteran. He is a guy who has been with
19:34
Speaker 2: the Braves for a little bit. And Atlanta has this, again,
19:38
Speaker 2: these pitchers and players that stick around for a little while.
19:41
Speaker 2: And he has some service time as well. A guy
19:44
Speaker 2: that maybe could give you with his sweep. He has
19:47
Speaker 2: a really good sweeper, four-seamer. his minor league numbers again
19:51
Speaker 2: just gives you minor league depth that they don't really
19:53
Speaker 2: have right now outside of you know the return of
19:55
Speaker 2: rj pettit but he's still injured still recovering carlos hernandez
20:00
Speaker 2: i mean if you guys remember the carlos hernandez yeah
20:03
Speaker 2: the carlos hernandez era of uh the tigers he was
20:06
Speaker 2: here for What was it, for a week maybe? No, no, no,
20:10
Speaker 2: I'm thinking of the other one.
20:12
Speaker 1: Carlos Hernandez was pretty short-lived.
20:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, but nevertheless, I think he's a guy that if
20:20
Speaker 2: they wanted to bring back, I mean, if it's somebody
20:23
Speaker 2: else that would be minor league depth. This is all
20:25
Speaker 2: minor league stuff, okay? It's somebody's tryout. And then the
20:29
Speaker 2: final two pitchers I have is Anderson Pilar, who, again,
20:33
Speaker 2: another guy that was in Gwinnett. the Braves, and he's 28,
20:37
Speaker 2: he's a little younger, but the stuff right there, there's
20:40
Speaker 2: some good stuff for him that he's bounced around a
20:43
Speaker 2: little bit between Colorado and some other organizations. He, as
20:49
Speaker 2: far as like just the strikeouts is what stands out.
20:52
Speaker 2: He is a guy that gives him AAA time and
20:56
Speaker 2: maybe be called up in a pinch. And that's, and
20:58
Speaker 2: then the last thing with, uh, uh, Leonardo Nunez, maybe
21:02
Speaker 2: I'm saying that incorrect. I know I'm saying that incorrectly. E-D-U-A-R.
21:08
Speaker 1: Yeah.
21:10
Speaker 2: Yeah. Fastball velocity is really good. He's got fastball 96, 97.
21:18
Speaker 2: Spent some time with Baltimore. A guy you can probably
21:22
Speaker 2: maybe do the same thing, just recent pitches. Fastball, slider, curve.
21:27
Speaker 2: But maybe the Tigers can weaponize him a little bit.
21:30
Speaker 2: What I don't like, what I know the Tigers don't
21:32
Speaker 2: like about him, is he doesn't have that powerful extension.
21:35
Speaker 2: But the velocity is there, and it gives him kind
21:38
Speaker 2: of a flamethrower to work with. So all these guys
21:41
Speaker 2: are like low-risk, minor league arms. Some of the Tigers
21:44
Speaker 2: do like on a traditional basis. Scott Harris loves bargain
21:47
Speaker 2: bin shopping, and I'm saying that in the nicest way possible.
21:51
Speaker 2: But these are guys that can go in Toledo, give
21:53
Speaker 2: them some depth, and who knows, maybe can make a
21:57
Speaker 2: big league appearance in 2027.
21:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting in that the Tigers brought in a
22:02
Speaker 1: ton of guys on minor league deals to big league
22:05
Speaker 1: camp last year. And the thought was like, pitching's hard,
22:09
Speaker 1: relievers get hurt, relief pitching is volatile. If we hit
22:12
Speaker 1: on one of these guys, it's worth it. And they
22:16
Speaker 1: kind of hit on, I would say, none of them.
22:18
Speaker 1: Birch Smith was looking good for a minute until he
22:20
Speaker 1: got hurt. Now as the year went on, they kind
22:22
Speaker 1: of hit on Wagaspak when they brought him in. And
22:25
Speaker 1: maybe you could say toward the end, Tyler Kinley. So,
22:28
Speaker 1: The thought process probably lingers. I would hope the Tigers
22:31
Speaker 1: have realized that can't be your only methodology of building
22:35
Speaker 1: a bullpen. I've been thinking about this a lot, like, well,
22:38
Speaker 1: how do you build a bullpen? I don't know. Dave
22:42
Speaker 1: Dombrowski's going to the Hall of Fame. I'm not sure
22:44
Speaker 1: he's ever really figured out how to build a bullpen.
22:46
Speaker 1: I think you have to use every possible stream of
22:49
Speaker 1: player acquisition, and so guys on minor league deals are one.
22:53
Speaker 1: I think I'm kind of done with the guys who
22:55
Speaker 1: are just 60% slider like Ian Hamilton is. That usually
23:00
Speaker 1: tells me you don't really have anything else. You're kind
23:03
Speaker 1: of throwing this trick pitch just to miss some bats.
23:06
Speaker 1: You're probably going to be limited to only getting out
23:10
Speaker 1: same-sided hitters. Of the names you mentioned, I think Anderson
23:15
Speaker 1: Payar is one of the more interesting because he's been
23:19
Speaker 1: pretty good in AAA and has just never gotten a
23:22
Speaker 1: shot at 28. spent parts of three years there, 123
23:25
Speaker 1: and a third innings, decent strikeout per nine, nine Ks
23:30
Speaker 1: per nine, not too bad on the walk side of things,
23:33
Speaker 1: three walks per nine. So I'm like, there's gotta be
23:36
Speaker 1: a reason he's never gotten a shot with the Braves.
23:39
Speaker 1: I don't know exactly what that reason is, but there
23:41
Speaker 1: are guys like that out there. Maybe the computer hates them.
23:44
Speaker 1: Maybe the models hate them. I don't know enough about
23:46
Speaker 1: his stuff. Um, Carlos Hernandez, there was a time I
23:50
Speaker 1: was in favor of the Tigers bringing him back so
23:52
Speaker 1: you could actually see fastball, splitter, like a tweak or
23:56
Speaker 1: two away. He went to the Guardians last year and
24:01
Speaker 1: they didn't fix him. So if they can't fix him,
24:04
Speaker 1: I don't know if the Tigers can either. But I
24:06
Speaker 1: don't hate the thought there. The Nunez guy you mentioned,
24:09
Speaker 1: he throws 98. He has real stuff. Now his walk
24:13
Speaker 1: numbers are just horrific. So avert your eyes there and
24:18
Speaker 1: That's the problem with any of these guys. It's either
24:20
Speaker 1: they've never really had success, they're broken in some way, or, oh,
24:24
Speaker 1: they actually have good stuff, but they cannot hit the
24:27
Speaker 1: broad side of the barn. So that's why these conversations
24:32
Speaker 1: are always tricky. I'm sure the Tigers will sign several
24:34
Speaker 1: players like this. It'd be nice if they can get
24:39
Speaker 1: at least one of them to kind of pop this
24:41
Speaker 1: time around, like they once did with Tyler Holton and
24:44
Speaker 1: some other guys of that ilk.
24:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, they went through 57, or sorry, 52
24:50
Speaker 2: pitchers last year, give or take. You mentioned Bruce Smith,
24:54
Speaker 2: Nick Sandlin. Remember Nick Sandlin? There was guys like that
24:57
Speaker 2: that they had. Tyner Riley, who was up here for
25:00
Speaker 2: a minute. Tyner Rainer is the same thing. He has
25:03
Speaker 2: that fastball slider, and that's all he did. He pitched.
25:06
Speaker 2: He was the only reliever for a while in Toledo.
25:08
Speaker 1: That dude can't do strikes.
25:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then remember the Wooks on Go, who ended
25:14
Speaker 2: up going to Minnesota. And he was having a really
25:16
Speaker 2: good year at Toledo after he figured things out in Erie.
25:18
Speaker 2: So it just fits that motif what the Tigers are doing,
25:21
Speaker 2: like just going, you know, they're going around the bend going,
25:25
Speaker 2: let's see what's going on here and let's go from there.
25:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, it's interesting. And then the prize of the
25:30
Speaker 1: free agent crop, right, is Adrian Morrone. He's who everyone's
25:33
Speaker 1: talking about. I've said I like him. He was extended
25:36
Speaker 1: a qualifying offer, which I think makes it even less
25:40
Speaker 1: likely the Tigers will pursue him. I think when Scott
25:43
Speaker 1: Harris says they're not, building through free agency. One of
25:46
Speaker 1: the things he probably means, we're not really trying to
25:47
Speaker 1: prioritize free agency over draft picks. So if they were
25:50
Speaker 1: to sign more home, they would have to forfeit a
25:53
Speaker 1: draft pick a billion. Other teams are going to want him.
25:55
Speaker 1: There's also some talk. He could convert to a starter.
25:59
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think he's really good. I think
26:01
Speaker 1: he's the type of thing they need, but I don't
26:03
Speaker 1: know if it's going to happen. Uh, kind of a
26:06
Speaker 1: poor man's, I don't know if he's a poor man's
26:07
Speaker 1: more home at all, but, uh, another name I like
26:10
Speaker 1: is Brian Abreu from the Astros.
26:12
Speaker 2: Yeah.
26:13
Speaker 1: Um, he had a really poor first half last year. Uh, and,
26:17
Speaker 1: and to the point, I think people kind of wrote
26:19
Speaker 1: him off and didn't realize he had a one seven,
26:21
Speaker 1: one ERA in the second half, um, has had double
26:25
Speaker 1: digit strikeout rates throughout his career happens to have pitched
26:31
Speaker 1: 115 major league games with one Martine Maldonado, the new
26:35
Speaker 1: Tigers quality control coach as his catcher. Um, I think
26:40
Speaker 1: his fastball fell off a little bit last year in
26:42
Speaker 1: terms of its performance, but This is a guy who
26:44
Speaker 1: punches people out, who has experience, who has experience in
26:47
Speaker 1: big moments. I don't know. He's never been like a closer,
26:51
Speaker 1: a ninth-inning type. But if you're trying to fix particularly
26:53
Speaker 1: the right-handed side of your bullpen, that's what the Tigers
26:56
Speaker 1: really need. Righties who can miss bats. I think Abreu
27:01
Speaker 1: really checks that box. He's projected to get two years,
27:05
Speaker 1: $ 18 million. I think I would do that for him
27:09
Speaker 1: without a doubt.
27:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's a guy you can put in seventh inning
27:13
Speaker 2: and he kind of solves that problem of having a power,
27:16
Speaker 2: kind of a power righty out of there. I mean,
27:18
Speaker 2: you're putting up K per nine. I mean, as far
27:20
Speaker 2: as like putting up strong K per nines, he is
27:23
Speaker 2: who I really would like from the Tigers to consider
27:26
Speaker 2: him a lot because he would solve a lot of problems. And, and,
27:30
Speaker 2: and again, the Houston connection, hate to say this and
27:34
Speaker 2: it's a cliche, but it has some sort of bond
27:38
Speaker 2: to it. And so if, even with Fran bear, I mean,
27:42
Speaker 2: there were teammates at one point too. So we'll see.
27:45
Speaker 2: I mean, I wouldn't mind that deal at all. Hmm.
27:48
Speaker 1: All right. Well, Raj, is there anything else you wanted
27:50
Speaker 1: to get to regarding the bullpen?
27:54
Speaker 2: I would hope that, I mean, well, I think we'll
27:57
Speaker 2: go into a little more about a potential closer possibility,
28:00
Speaker 2: but I, I'm still going to stick to, I'm going
28:03
Speaker 2: to put my, you know, now the voting season is over.
28:05
Speaker 2: I'm still putting my candidacy for river Ryan and, to
28:09
Speaker 2: be the Tigers' closer in 2027. I'm sticking my flag
28:12
Speaker 2: in it. I know people are going to say, well,
28:16
Speaker 2: they just didn't give up Tarek Skubal for just a
28:18
Speaker 2: reliever starter, or a reliever, just a reliever. I get it. But, folks,
28:23
Speaker 2: look at the stuff, okay? Look at what he can do.
28:26
Speaker 2: If he can give you a multi-inning reliever that solves
28:30
Speaker 2: the Tigers' problems of, you know, actually closing games, why not?
28:36
Speaker 2: You know, like the Tigers that had problems to have
28:38
Speaker 2: that Tigers have had problems with that, so why not
28:39
Speaker 2: have a guy like that? The rest of the market,
28:43
Speaker 2: I don't know, Cody.
28:46
Speaker 1: If you're not going to sign Morajon or Bednar, who
28:48
Speaker 1: also has a qualifying offer attached to him, there's not
28:51
Speaker 1: really a guy who jumps out as a proven lockdown
28:55
Speaker 1: ninth-inning type pitcher. There's Evan Phillips. There's some other quality
29:01
Speaker 1: relievers out there, but they're not stud closers just sitting there.
29:05
Speaker 1: Even Morajon has never actually been a closer.
29:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, and look, I like Marrone as a fellow Cuban.
29:12
Speaker 2: I get it. I mean, it would be cool to
29:14
Speaker 2: have a Cuban in the bullpen, but honestly, like, it's just,
29:18
Speaker 2: if you have a Brayu and then look at what
29:20
Speaker 2: you have, again, if Harris is going to stick to
29:24
Speaker 2: what he's saying about sticking with the eternal options, they're
29:27
Speaker 2: probably looking at somebody as we talk tonight. They're doing
29:31
Speaker 2: the chalk talk tonight at the Fox. I'm sure they're
29:34
Speaker 2: maybe talking about that behind the stages. I don't know,
29:37
Speaker 2: but I just don't... see the Tigers spending big money
29:40
Speaker 2: i think the kenley option i mean maybe they sign
29:46
Speaker 2: them at a cheaper rate who knows but i just.
29:50
Speaker 1: I think they should stay far away from kenley jansen
29:52
Speaker 1: personally but.
29:53
Speaker 2: Yeah no yeah i yeah i'm with you on that
29:56
Speaker 2: but just Somebody mentioned that online, and I think it
30:00
Speaker 2: was a fan talking about maybe they just had him
30:02
Speaker 2: because the optics weren't that bad, but I'm with you, Cody.
30:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's only another year older. A couple other notes
30:12
Speaker 1: that we didn't get to. One thing that could help
30:14
Speaker 1: the bullpen, R.J. Pettit is back in the organization. The
30:18
Speaker 1: Rockies had selected him in the Rule 5 draft last year,
30:20
Speaker 1: ended up getting hurt, didn't pitch for them, although he
30:23
Speaker 1: still got A sweet full year of service time, he's
30:26
Speaker 1: now been returned to the Tigers. Raj, you've followed him
30:30
Speaker 1: for a while. Is R.J. Pettit any good? Could he
30:33
Speaker 1: be of use in the major leagues?
30:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, I still wasn't sure. In my report, I did
30:38
Speaker 2: a scouting report on him back in 2025. His fastball
30:42
Speaker 2: at 55, slider at 50. The changeup is where the Tigers,
30:45
Speaker 2: I think, were kind of hesitant on why they didn't
30:47
Speaker 2: call him up because he didn't have a third pitch.
30:52
Speaker 2: Especially trying to handle left-handers. And so that's why I
30:55
Speaker 2: think the Tigers never brought him up. Again, as far as, like,
30:58
Speaker 2: K rate goes, he had a really good rate in Toledo, 34%.
31:03
Speaker 2: The walks were a little bit concerning when he adjusted it.
31:06
Speaker 2: Of course, people may or may not know that there's
31:08
Speaker 2: a difference between the baseball in AA and AAA, where
31:12
Speaker 2: they're using the major league ball in AAA, and in
31:15
Speaker 2: AA it's more of a stickier, more, I think it's
31:18
Speaker 2: the difference of the ball, sort of like the difference
31:21
Speaker 2: of surface play. Either way, regardless, once he adjusted, Pettit
31:26
Speaker 2: did pretty well, but I think if he can continue
31:30
Speaker 2: to develop that slider and change up with this big fastball,
31:34
Speaker 2: he was only one of the few guys that could
31:35
Speaker 2: throw 98 and above in the system. I think Tiger
31:40
Speaker 2: fans take that for granted. If he can come back
31:43
Speaker 2: to form a little bit, that gives him a really
31:44
Speaker 2: good option. That solves a lot of their problems they
31:48
Speaker 2: didn't have last year. They didn't have a guy like
31:49
Speaker 2: this last year when healthy that can give them tall
31:53
Speaker 2: it was like the was that the all these pitchers
31:56
Speaker 2: also the tigers have these six four or six five
31:58
Speaker 2: six six guys in their system that it looked like
32:00
Speaker 2: football it could be a football team right now and
32:02
Speaker 2: uh pettit would probably be the quarterback for a minute
32:05
Speaker 2: or what have you or maybe the tight end but
32:07
Speaker 2: the just a huge dude who can who can miss
32:10
Speaker 2: bats and so that's the most important part of it
32:12
Speaker 2: i think he once he gets back to the full
32:14
Speaker 2: health i think he gives him a good option just
32:18
Speaker 2: in case an injury happens.
32:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, it's certainly interesting that the Tigers did not
32:23
Speaker 1: protect him from the Rule 5 drafts. They couldn't have
32:26
Speaker 1: thought that highly of him, but the Rockies were there.
32:28
Speaker 1: I got him with the first pick. I know the
32:31
Speaker 1: Rangers were another team. There were multiple teams that were
32:34
Speaker 1: ready to take RJ Pettit because they thought he could
32:36
Speaker 1: help them in the major leagues. So maybe this year
32:40
Speaker 1: he could get the chance to help the Tigers in
32:42
Speaker 1: the major leagues. Last thing, the Tigers have a new
32:45
Speaker 1: first base coach. It's Kyle Hudson. He was formerly on
32:49
Speaker 1: Alex Coors' staff with the Red Sox. He was let
32:52
Speaker 1: go in the Red Sox red wedding. He was the
32:56
Speaker 1: third base coach in Boston. He'll be the first base
32:58
Speaker 1: coach for A.J. Hinch. I don't know a ton about him.
33:01
Speaker 1: I actually didn't hear a ton about this hire, but
33:03
Speaker 1: seems to have a good reputation when it comes to
33:05
Speaker 1: both base running and helping outfielders. So we wish Kyle
33:09
Speaker 1: Hudson well with his new job.
33:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, same. I wasn't familiar with him at all. And yeah,
33:17
Speaker 2: if he does what he was supposed to do, continuing
33:20
Speaker 2: what Anthony Sanders was doing, the Tigers will be fine.
33:24
Speaker 1: All right. Well, I think that's all we've got for today.
33:27
Speaker 1: For Rogelio Castillo, I'm Cody Stavenhagen. Thank you for listening, watching.
33:32
Speaker 1: Hope you guys have a great weekend.