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Reaction: Kevin McGonigle makes the Opening Day roster · Tiger Territory: A Detroit Tigers Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: And welcome into another episode of Tiger Territory, part of
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the Foul Territory Network, Tiger's podcast. I'm Karen Seckley with
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: me as always as a man who was living out
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: his own manifest destiny. He is Cuddie Steven Eggen.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: How are we doing?
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: Doninger?
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: Kier and I am headed out to California, and so
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: is Kevin McGonagall.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Baby, Oh my gosh, it's him. They did it. They
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: did it.
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: They did it, They did it. They are putting the
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: number two prospect in baseball on the opening day roster,
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: and they are doing it without him playing a single
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: day in TRIPLEA. They took this thing to the wire,
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: which I had said, like, why are we doing this
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: if you're just going to option him? But I was
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: never fully sold. I mean I did not know. I'm
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: not sure they knew until the last minute. It actually
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: did come like one day earlier than I might have
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: ex I thought they'd just do it Wednesday. But yeah,
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: McGonagall making the opening day roster. A lot of thoughts
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: on this number one. I think he earned it, and
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: I was kind of as cautious as anyone on whether
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: he should be on this roster, but the way he
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: carried himself, the quality of his at bats was just
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: impeccable all spring long, and defensively, I think really improved,
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: really exceeded expectations. I was talking with Ryan Garko about
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: that a little bit. I think he impressed even someone
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: like Garko who's seen this every step of the way,
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: from his pre pitch to his footwork, a lot of
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: little things that have helped him play well on the
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: defensive side of the ball. I also wonder would this
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: have happened without the prospect promotion incentive. The Tigers aren't
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: probably going to talk about that much, but this is
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: why I continue to think it's a good rule, and
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: I guess I like it more than some factors into
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: my equation, more than it might for everybody. But if
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: there were no promotion incentive, why wouldn't you just leave
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: him in triple A for a little bit. If you're
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: looking for more reasons to push down the throttle, this
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: is a big one that Tigers think they have something special.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: Why not put them on the team now, see if
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: he can get you a draft pick, Because let's be real,
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: you weren't holding this kid down until the end of August.
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: I personally believe that had to play a role, knowing
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: the Tigers and how they manage their assets and how
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: much they love draft picks. But regardless, this kid, this
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: kid's made the team. I think he certainly deserves congratulations
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: for a heck of the camp and now we will
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: see what is ahead. Remember, you guys cannot start yelling
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: for him to get sitting down if he starts slow.
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: It's just not allowed.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And I and I think I think everybody's aware.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: I think I do believe everybody is like self aware
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: enough with the hype that like, you know, you you
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: the general you have have given this kid justifiably so,
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: and I think, like the runway, here is something that
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: is gonna work to his benefit and maybe he won't
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: even need it because the thing that makes this different
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Cody A. I do believe Kevin McGonagall. Like I don't
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: want to get into like being overly hyped about Kevin McGonagall.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: I do try to like be measured, but this entire
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: spring training, I was continually impressed with his maturity and
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: I do believe that he is a different kind of prospect,
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: like they're as long as we've been doing this thing
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: called baseball. There have been hot shot hitting prospects, some
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: have hit, some have not. And and Kevin McGonagall has
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: a makeup and a maturity about him at a very
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: young age that makes me think, like that part, I
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: don't have to worry about and that way, it makes
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: me more excited for what his potential success could be.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: And the word different there is also applies to the Tigers, because.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: This team is not two thousand and twos team, right.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: This is you know, when you're trying to put up
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: green and torque and you're kind of talking yourselves into
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: like what upside is for the squad overall? This is
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: a legitimate playoff pennant, you know, World Series whatever contender
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: that Kevin McGonagall is you know, gonna be lining up for.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: But it is not. The hope does not rest on
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: Kevin McGonagall.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: And that is and that is a big difference from
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: just the history of us talking about the Tigers on
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: this podcast.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: So that's different.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: And then another thing that's different is the Tigers going
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: about a different approach when it comes to handling assets.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: And I mean, like you know, players and service times
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: and like all this stuff. They could have easily just
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: kind of stuck with what would be sort of a
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: normal operating procedure for them and just be like, we're
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: just gonna give them a couple of weeks or whatever,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: and just like not throw everything out of all at once.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: They could easily done that, and it would have been
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: somewhat justified.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: I think I would have disagreed with it.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: I think a lot of people would have disagree with it,
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: but I think it would have been justified. But the whole,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: the whole thing about the Hinch Harris era is being adaptable.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: And this is adapting to somebody who, quite frankly, was
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: probably ready a little bit earlier than they anticipated, and
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: they rolled with in this case a good use of
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: the analogy. They rolled with the punches, and you know,
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: operated from that standpoint as opposed to being stubborn. So
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: I want to commend Kevin. I want to commend the
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: state of the Tigers organization. I want to commend the
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: front office and coaching stafford being able to everything kind
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: of coming together for this to be what could be
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: like one of those things that is a special season.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: Because I do want to make one other point is
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: that it's very possible he has a season two, you know,
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: whatever the reasonable expectation is. And we say it, wasn't
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: it dumb that we spent so much time speculating whether
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: he was gonna be with the team. Wasn't that kind
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: of silly of us? Uh So, so yeah, I mean,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: old that fodder, all the speculation. It comes down to
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: Ken McGonagall is on your opening day roster and and
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: boy did he earn it. So that's a lot of fun.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: So then it becomes what position does he play? Like where, like, like,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: how do you kind of envision the usage? Because you
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: put a little a little nugget here in your story
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: on the Athletic, which obviously I encourage everybody to go read.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: Is that.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: You know, obviously he's a shortstop by trade and and
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: maybe a shortstop until better options persist. Is kind of
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: what we thought of Kevin McGonagall. But you kind of
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: put in there it's like, well, you know, maybe third
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: base isn't so bad for him, So I don't know,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: like where do you what do you kind of think
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: about defensively where we'll see Kevin the most or a
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: lot of or what do you think?
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: Well, I'm not sure right now? For a long time
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: it was looking like shortstop. But I don't think it's
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: coincidence that he has played a lot more third base
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: here in recent days and not because he can't handle shortstop.
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: He looked fine there Now. I still come back to like,
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: I don't know if he's ever gonna have plus range
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: at that position. Watch him. I do think he could
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: be a plus defender at third base, And if the
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: Tigers want to prioritize defense, if from Rivaldez, who's an
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: elite level ground ball pitchers on the mound, maybe there
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: are times they will go Hobvey bay Is at short
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: Kevin McGonagall at third. That's been pushing Cole Keith to
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: DH Carrie Carpenter playing a lot more in the field
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: kind of leaves McKinstry up in the air a little bit.
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: So there. You know, it's not always going to be
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: the perfect construction, but I think we're going to see
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: some of that. Otherwise the Tigers wouldn't be doing it.
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: AJ Hinch wouldn't be doing it as frequently as he
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: has here at the end of camp. Some of that
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: may depend on the Tigers starting pitchers. Some of that
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: may depend on the opponent it made a bend on
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: on if Hovey Bayas hit, because if Hovey Baias is
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: not productive, it's pretty easy to sit him down and
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: have McGonagall spend a lot more time at short. So
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: I think there are a lot of factors here, which
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: is very Tigers esque, is very aj hinch esk. They're
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: not going to peg themselves into one position right now.
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: AJ I think has already basically said I'm just going
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: to take it day by day as he goes about
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: building his lineup. So that's what I would expect. But
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: would it shock me if he ends up playing more
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: third than we would have thought even two weeks ago. No,
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: it wouldn't. And as much as he has surprised and
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: impressed me at short, I do probably think third is
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: probably his better spot long term. Sounds like they're not
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: really going to play him at second at least anytime soon,
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: given he just worked so much on the left side,
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: So we'll see how that shakes out well. So see
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: where he hits in the batting order. He's been hitting
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: what a lot of sixth, maybe a little seventh here
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: in recent days. I bet that's probably where he starts
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: the season left handed, bad I would work with that construction.
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: But in the events he's hot, I don't think it
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: will take long to bump him up in that order.
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: If his performance merits it.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you could probably guarantee that he'll bet
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: top six on opening day because AJ likes to not
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: have these guys like wait too long or whatever for
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: their for their for their debuts. So I would, I would,
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: I would feel pretty comfortable with that. All Right, we
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: are going to take a quick break, and then afterward
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: we will discuss the decision that had to be made
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: in order to make.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: The Kevin McGonagall decision. That's next. First, a word from
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: our sponsors AJ.
• 9:48
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• 10:37
  Speaker 2: All right, coming back here.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: It ended up coming down to a decision that we anticipated,
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: and that was a you know, Wentzel Perez conversation, a
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: Parker Meadows conversation, a conversation that we have had at
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: length on this show. And as much as I love Wenzel,
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: and to his credit, he took the news and was
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: probably pretty pissed about it and decided to hit two
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: home runs on the day of the announcement, So good
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: on him. He's obviously gonna have, you know, some sort
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: of role you know, throughout, you know, throughout the course
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: of the year with this team. Uh I I really
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: wanted to say, like, maybe you gotta go Winzil And
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: I know I've said this before, but I just can't
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: kept coming back to give me as many elite traits
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: on a team trying to win a World Series as possible.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: That's why you have Kevin mcgonigal's bat, and that is
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: why you have Parker Meadows as glove and legs. With
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: some now it probably not gonna be saying very long,
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: but with some offensive I'll say intrigue and I won't
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: use the word upside, but offensive intrigue with with Parker Meadows.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: So I maybe it was as simple as that is
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: that you just you know, you want elite skill sets
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: and even some known commodities, and that's obviously defense. So
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: any any thoughts on on that decision, Cody going with
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: Parker over Wentze.
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: Well, I think the Tigers got it right, and I
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: would also venture to say that by the end of camp,
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: I'm not sure it was that hard of a decision,
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: believe it or not. Parker Meadows in March Grapefruit League
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: games hit two ninety. He really turned it on the
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: last maybe ten days or so of camp and make
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: some of the overall numbers look a little bit better.
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: Winsel Perez meanwhile, did not really turn it on until
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: this last exhibition game that we don't actually have proof happened.
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: No no broadcast, no radio. I wasn't there. Max Anderson
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: hit won four hundred and eighty feet and Cole Keith
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: hit at like one hundred and fifteen miles an hour.
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: I think this might have been like a work of
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: fan fiction. I'm not sure. So anyway, good for all
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: those but yeah, Meadows, look, he improved, he showed some
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: progress at the plate, and we know how much the
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: Tigers value his defense, so once he continued to display
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: having better bats, I don't think it was even really
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: much of a decision. Winsle. You know, it's tough a
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: guy who's contributed so much and he gets sent down.
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: Welcome to life in major league baseball, even if it
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: sometimes means life in minor league baseball. I think we'll
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: see plenty of Winstle Paris this year. He'll probably go down,
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: tighten up his own control a little bit, something will happen,
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: and we'll see this guy. He's a big leaguer, he's
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: a contributor. But Meadows certainly makes the most sense to me.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and obviously as part of the you know these
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: moves Tray Cruz, Jayce Young also you know, sent to
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: or options. I should say to Triple A Toledo and
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: then you know, Max Anderson, Sean Gunther, Thomas Nido, John Peck,
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Burch Smith and Ricky Banesco also been a sign to
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: the minor league.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: So yeah, like there's still as over this recording.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: I believe Cody, there's still some you know, crossing t's
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: and die nays of the roster.
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: We're looking at basically one decision. It's the bullpen in
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: Manuel DeJesus. This guy's on the team, but that hasn't
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: been officially announced. Brent Herder, Brennan Hannafee seems like now
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: battling first spot. So it's a matter of how many
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: lefties are you taking. Does seem as though maybe Tajesus
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: has jumped Hurder in that conversation. The Tigers have a
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: new guy on the team, Connor siebald Doo. We had
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: not heard of twenty four hours ago. He's on the Tigers.
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: He's on the opening day roster. We'll get to that
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: in a second. There also will have to be another
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: forty man move to add McGonagall to this roster. Not
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: positive what that's going to be. It could be someone
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: to the sixty day il, maybe Sawyer Gibson Long, maybe
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: Trey Sweeney. Even though it seems like those guys are
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: up and running. Being up and running versus being up
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: and running in Major League play are two different things.
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: Otherwise you might have to make a pretty difficult DFA
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: just decision. So I'll be interested to find out what
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: that move is. But I would I have to think
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: it's going to be someone goes to the sixty day.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: Well, you know it, it's fun I'm not saying it's
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: funny that somebody went to the sixty day. I'm just
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: saying from reading the news it was funny, like you see,
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: like the bow Brisky and might as well get to that.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: Now bow Brisky goes to the sixty day. I l
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: with a left adductor strain and right.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: It was the left one right got that right? Yes,
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: uh so so and and that that.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: So I was like, okay, well maybe there's uh, you know,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: maybe that's a McGonagall piece, you know you're thinking beforehand.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: But no, it's with Connor Sebold, who is thirty years old.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: He's out of options, and I think was technically the
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: first I would say kind of fringe guy, because as
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: soon as he comes on to the team, he's a
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: fringe guy. Announced on the opening day roster, I think
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: I think a j's yep, we're bringing the man.
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: He's going to be in the Major League roster.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Not a whole lot to you know of a track
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: record there, but obviously somebody that you know, they identified,
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: and he had just been he was just in camp
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: with the Blue Jays. It didn't seem like he was
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: available very long. So a decision was made pretty quickly,
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: it seems. But yeah, bow Briskey to a sixty day
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: il and then Seabolt on this roster. So a guy
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: that we're gonna have to get acquainted with really quick
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: because I imagine like he's probably gonna be probably not
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: gonna be at the end of the bench if they
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: grabbed him this quickly and you know, put him on
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: the roster player without options.
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we'll see what happens. I mean, he pitched in
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: an exhibition game what Monday evening, two thirds of mining,
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: gave up two hits. Seemed fine, we're gonna have stat
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: cast page. Like, nothing really jumped out at me. He
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: pitched ten innings in the big leagues last year. Wasn't good,
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: So hard to know what to make of that. I
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: think it's a sign that the Tigers, again, they don't
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: treat this opening day roster as this end all, be
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: all thing like the public sometimes does. They thought Hey,
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: this guy's somewhat intriguing. We have a chance to grab him.
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: If that means we have to carry him for a
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: little bit, okay, And if it doesn't work out, maybe
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: we can seek him through waivers like I think they weren't,
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: you know, someone like hand if he has options. It
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: was just a way to get another arm in their organization.
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: Seabolt had impressed some people in Blue Jay's camp. The
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: fastball at times was hitting ninety five where he's average
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: closer to ninety two ninety three, and I think came
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: out a little closer in ninety two ninety three in
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: his Tiger's debut, but the velo was up. There was
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: some action, getting a little more swing and miss. So
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: you can see what they liked, I will say the
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: Blue Jays. I heard they liked him in camp. The
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: Blue Jays ultimately let him go. And you know who
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: did make the Toronto Blue Jays, old friend, Chase Lee.
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: So this guy lost to roster battle to Chase Lee,
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: which doesn't get me super hype, although I love me
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: some Chase Lee. That's what I got on Connor Seabolt right.
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: Now, level thinking right there? Uh, all right, let's let
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: let's get to let's get to some projecting, projecting out Cody,
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: because now that now the opening day is tomorrow by
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: the time you guys, or today, by the time you
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: guys are are listening to this episode, it's it's it's.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: Real, it's real, it's here.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: The names are gonna count, the stats are gonna count,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: all all all the speculation, everything leaning up to this.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: You know, now now we get something actually tangible we
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: can put our hands on, uh and and react to.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: And I was trying to think of, you know, just
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: encapsuling everything from McGonagall to from Or to Verlander to
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: you know, the school Ball kind of last dance element
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: that seems to be at play here. And I was
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: trying to think of, like what's kind of like a
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: theme for for this year's team. And one of the
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: ones I kept coming back to, and it's not I'm
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: not saying it's some like great like you know, cognitive
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: dissidence that I have here, But one thing that I
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: just kept coming back to was like exercising demons. This
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: is a team that is still on a long streak
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: without a division championship. Like you know, he gets lost
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: in the sauce a little bit when you and the
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: Astros dynasty or postseason success and then you avenge a
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: historic division lead, giving up, you know, in Cleveland, but
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: you still have two game five heartbreakers that you are
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: coming back, you know, And a lot of these guys
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: were there for both, right and so as a franchise.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: For these guys at this point.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: In their careers, there's a little bit of an exercise
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: some demons and slash breakthrough the glass ceiling. They are
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: obviously they positioned themselves to do so in the offseason.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: So that feels like a bare minimum. So I don't know,
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: like you, I don't know if that makes sense to you,
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: but I just feel like this is like even if
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: you go about individual players like Riley Green, like get
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: cut the on the strikes out of exercise, some of
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: those demons, Garret Carpenters, stay healthy, exercise, some of those
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: demons like and like every A lot of these guys
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: have that element that they can put on a little
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: chip on their shoulder to ride them out through the
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: through a year. It's very rare to have a team
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: that has had like some measurable success, but like no
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: banners at all for it, you know, in terms of
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: either a division or a pennant or obviously a world Series.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: So like you know, they're chasing everything, but they can
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: still hit certain checkpoints along the way that they missed
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: over the past couple of years.
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: I thank god they don't put up like banners or
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: little pennants at Comerica Park for wild Card appearances. There
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: are teams that do that drives me crazy. Yeah, I
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: think my theme is just kind of all grown up
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: right and hopefully better than the Rugrats show. Uh, these
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: guys are legit now, Like, like I said, feels like
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: the first time I've covered a team that knows it's good.
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: It Like this feels like the big leagues, and not
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: just because you've from Bear and JV on board, but
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: like Riley Green, for all the criticism he's faced, this
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: guy has two All Star appearances to his name. Like
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: up and down the roster guys are some level of established.
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: Pretty much everyone except Kevin McGonagall, who is it might
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: be the best player of all of them. So like
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: there is there is a level of seriousness, There's a
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: level of professionalism. There is a level of track record
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: that I think makes this year feel so much different
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: than it has in a long long time. Now, sometimes
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: I wonder like, are we, including myself, are we starting
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: to over hype this team a little bit? Like we
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: still don't know if these how well this team can hit.
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: There are some guys who had mid to bad springs
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: that we should talk about not overreacting to spring that
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: we mostly just kind of gave a pass for. If
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: this offense comes out and has a terrible april, like
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: it could be bad because expectations are really high. That
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: wears me a little bit. But then then when I
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: ask myself that question, I'm like, I don't know, man,
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: I think the floor is a lot higher for this
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: team than it has been. I don't know if they'll
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: win the World Series. I don't know if they'll win
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: ninety games, But like I think they're gonna step on
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: the field most days and feel like they have a
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: chance to win.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think that's a good way to put it,
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: Like this is this is a high floor team. It's
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: obviously a very winnable division like that.
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: That's that's certainly that factors in here.
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's certainly part of the equation.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: And and and you know, it's funny, like I was
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: trying to come up with, like you know, ways it
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: will succeed and ways they will fail. And I'm gonna
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: tell you why that's a hard exercise. But first we
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: got it. First, we got to pay some bills. So
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: hear a word from our sponsors before I say why
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: this is a hard exercise.
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: AJ Baseball season is finally here, and there's nothing like
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: listening to the sweet sounds of the game while you're
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• 23:55
  Speaker 4: this good, nothing hits like home cooking.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: It's very appropriate codey home cooking because that's exactly now.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: Obviously there's been some you know, freezing editions from berg Labor,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: you know, all this stuff, but this is a very
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: home like we're at a point now in this Tigers.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: Run.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: I guess that it's a very home cooking like organization
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: intentionally so. And the reason it's difficult to be like
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: this is, you know, here's where it could go wrong,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: here's where it could go right, is that it's all
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: really the same like like like you said there, like
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: if if if these young hitters, which is how they
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: want to go about their business, don't ascend like like
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: like like they're capable of like they're anticipated to, then
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: it could get really dicey, really gamy really quickly, right
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: and then and then and then there's you know, this
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: is not unique to the team. But then there's always
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: the risk of kind of having a picture centric model.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: We know what pictures do. Pictures get hurt right, Like
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: that's that like that's that's that's part of it too.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: So you know, if if the team takes off and
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: wins ninety games, I guarantee you, Colt Keith have himself
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: a hell of a year.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: I guarantee you. Parker Meadows, you know, figured out.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: A way to be an operational guy at the plate,
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: you know, and and torgl Sen has remained steady, and
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: Riley Green has cut down on the strikeouts and like
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: all this stuff, like anybody can kind of tell you
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: that if they you know, if they fail. It's kind
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: of simple, like you have a hole in center field,
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: Parker Metals can't hit went Soil Perez is you know,
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: not not not not an elite player obviously, you know,
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: we believe what Maddy Bee can do this year, but again,
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: like we haven't seen it. And then Max Clark doesn't
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: appear to be banging down the door. So like you
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: can have a hole at center field and and that
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: and that, you know, throws off your entire lineup slash
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: roster construction. So like it's all like it's all like
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: right in front of us. It's all pretty simple, like
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: you know, it kind of ties into the theme of
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: what you said spring training, they're just good. You know,
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: how do you go good to great? It's like you
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: need guys to take take leaps, and you need uh
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: and you need good fortune with injuries. Pretty simple, like
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: the it's all it's it's all a rather simple exercise
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: and thus difficult to sound very interesting.
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: Just everybody, good year. It's easy, right, It's easy right.
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: It always works out that way.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: But like you know, like there there are a couple
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: of things that like I do believe, like the cold
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: key thing is probably one of the more real ones,
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: like and we and we've talked about it, but we
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: haven't given it like the amount of airwave minutes that
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: we that it probably deserves. Is that this this is
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: a guy that his entire career as a major leaguer
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: has not really had a home on the field. And
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: and but he's had a home in the lineup, but
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: he has had a home on the field. And so
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: now we begin this podcast saying, well, maybe you know,
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: we thought he'd be playing third base. Made McGonagall plays
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: their bit, you know, and then and then it's like
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: and then Cole Keith is sitting here being like, hey, dude,
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: I'm like twenty three years old, I don't really need
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: to be dhing, you know, and and so like, and
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: he's had a tough go of it, uh in a way,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: but he's persevered. So but like like if he takes
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: a step major step forward, boom, Like I like that,
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden, like the pecking order of this
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: team like changes a little bit. So like you know,
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: again the Parker piece. And then of course like mcgoga
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: like and McGonagall lives up to the hype. And I'm
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: talking about like national hype, not even from like you know,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: Tiger centric people or whatever, like national hype. If he
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: lives up to that hype, oh boy ooh boy, Like
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: this could really change the complexion of how we view
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: this team. And then Mamy, that's and maybe that's maybe
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: like the number one key. There's a lot of guys
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: on this team that can change our complexion of how
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: we view them. Like that is the opportunity in front
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: of them. There are some that have already done that.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: Terror School is probably not gonna change our complexion of him.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: I think we're going in thinking he's a great pitcher,
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: and I think we're gonna come out of it thinking
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: he's a great pitcher, but but there are plenty of
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: guys that could just be like, hey, if this one
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: thing goes, then the sea, then the floor is a
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: lot higher, and thus the ceiling is too.
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's we're talking about the pitching a
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: little bit too, because all right, Scooble's legit Fromberg just
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: made everything look really easy this spring. These other guys
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: supposed to be part of one of the best rotations
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: in baseball, Like, I TI kind of time to kick
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: it into another gear here, Jack Flaherty, we know he
• 28:39
  Speaker 3: can be up and down. You know what. He kind
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: of was a spring pretty up and down. Casey Mayes
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: was mostly bad this spring. Looked a little bit better
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: in his most recent outing, assuming that game actually happened,
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: justin Verlanders. Pretty encouraged with his last outing in Florida,
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: and then he got beat around in this exhibition game that,
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: assuming it actually happened, everyone was getting beat around. But
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: you know, I don't know how good are you feeling
• 29:09
  Speaker 3: entering the season about Flaherty, Mize Verlander. I actually feel
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: pretty good. I think you could do a lot worse
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: than those three dudes in your rotation. But the best
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: version of that team has all these guys pitching really well,
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: and just bold prediction based on knowing how baseball works.
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: About one of them has a good year. I bet
• 29:29
  Speaker 3: one of them's okay. I about one of them has
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: a bad year. That's what I'm gonna go.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: With, and TVD on which one is now, I don't
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: know which one.
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: I'm not sure the best scout in the world knows
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: which one.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, like, I think, what you're hoping for ideally,
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: and again it's before opening days, so we're gonna go
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: with the ideal scenario. What you're hoping for ideally is
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: a team that or at least like those three guys.
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: You can kind of stagger some of that, you know,
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: can you like maybe who's the who's the quote unquote
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: like number three? You know, and hierarchy could change month
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: to month, And I think, actually you're okay with that,
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: Like I think like I think you're I think that's
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: a problem. I don't know if it's a problem, but
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: that is a circumstance you can deal with and and
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: work around, like it's not gonna break you if you
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: just kind of have to navigate those those kinds of
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: waters and and given all of their histories. Uh, obviously Verlander,
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: like you know, recent history, when he's this older version
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: of himself, Like that's probably baked into the cake. I
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: would say that that is exactly what they when when
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: they constructed everything, they said, like you just said, one
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: was probably gonna have a not so good year, one's
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: gonna have an okay year, one's gonna have a great year.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: If you break it down by month, you know, we could,
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: we could, we can live with this. Uh, you know,
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: we haven't really talked about the bullpen. I think there's
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: you know, some I think just generally speaking, there's concern
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: there with bull guys. It's it's highly volatile in terms
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: of what you can expect sometimes. And then also at
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: the back end, what if aj just doesn't have a
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: pulse for like who you know, kind of gets the
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: all important eighth inning to get to the ninth inning,
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: you know, between Finnaginvest and you know Jansen obviously the
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: figures to be the back end guy. But what you know,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: he's old, he didn't have a spectacular season last year,
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: you know, and then what if that gets awkward really
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: quick as he approaches five hundred saves? But he doesn't
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: necessarily have it, and you got you know, you got
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: a dicey situation to roll with there, like these are
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: things that could happen as well.
• 31:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, the bullpen's certainly when I'm circling the Jansen thing
• 31:37
  Speaker 3: in particular. Otherwise it's it's really hard to evaluate relievers
• 31:42
  Speaker 3: in spring training. The workload is different, they're still they
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: usually get built up a little bit later dan starters.
• 31:50
  Speaker 3: The adrenaline which some many of these guys thrive off of,
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: just isn't the same. So I don't even really try
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: to evaluate these guys. You want to see their velocity
• 31:59
  Speaker 3: look close to where it should be. You keep it
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: in an eye. Did they add anything new, as you know,
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: any pitches getting drastic, drastically different movement. It seemed like
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: all these guys you felt fine enough about leaving camp, right.
• 32:15
  Speaker 3: I don't know that anyone wowed you, but also good
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: that none of your main guys vest Finnigan, Janssen, like Holton.
• 32:24
  Speaker 3: They didn't disappoint you either. They were fine, they were solid,
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: and probably most importantly, they were healthy. Like you said,
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: bullpens are volatile. That's why you get guys like Connor.
• 32:34
  Speaker 3: Siebold added to the fold here in the last minute.
• 32:38
  Speaker 3: Of all these things that are hard to predict, the
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: bullpen is number one. But I do think they have
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: good enough arms and manual. The Hayesus was really encouraging.
• 32:47
  Speaker 3: He was the guy who popped, like, I think the
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: bullpen is going to be good. Now is it elite?
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: You need some things to go right. But you talk
• 32:55
  Speaker 3: about high floor, I think the floor for this bullpen
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: should be pretty high. Just because you have moultiple options
• 33:01
  Speaker 3: really at all times you can feel pretty good about.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that would be the idea.
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: All right, let's get to my bull prediction. I don't
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: know if you're going to make that your official bull prediction, Cody,
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: but uh my my bull prediction.
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: I tease it a little bit there.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: It's like what if, what if we're in the midst
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: of like a like real sort of like national conversation
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: breakout Carry Carpenter season. Like I don't want to say
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: it's simple, but like you think about the back injuries
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: that that he's endured and the hamstring the hamstring injuries
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: as we as as we found out later that that
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: he endured. What if he can have close to a
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: real healthy season in his age twenty eight season and
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: he gets the thirty home runs and his batting average
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: gets back closer to I'm looking at the sets right now.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: I know batting average, you know, you know what I mean,
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: take some walks. But like at the same time, he
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: he was two fifty two his rookie year, like his
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: first year, you know, a Bayley experience. It was only
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: thirty games, and then last year he was two fifty two.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: Other than that, he's a two seventy eight and two
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: eighty four hitter. So if he can get something closer
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: to that, take some walks and then stay healthy, that
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: he's gonna have a thirty home run season. He is
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: a guy that is known as a big game hitter.
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: He has earned that reputation the past two years in
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: the playoffs, so like there's some national recognition there. My
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: bull prediction is Kerry Carpenter, Silver Slugger and All Star.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: That's my That's that's my bold prediction for uh for
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: for Edit, the lineup's deeper, you know, like that that
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: will be to his benefit as well. He's gonna be
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: put in plenty of situations to succeed.
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: That's my bold prediction. If you look at it.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: Last year, George Springer had a hell of an offensive season.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: He was the DH Silver Slugger. That average is high,
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: but Kerry Carpenter could certainly match that or come close
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: to it, and in his own way, and then All
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: Star again. A lot of its name recognition. Carrie Carpenter,
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: I think has some well earned name recognition. If the
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: Tigers are at the at or near the top of
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: the standings at that time, he's going to be a
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: guy that people are going to look to for content
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: and you know, interviews and and all that stuff. So
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: that's my prediction. All Star Silver Slugger, Carrie Carpenter.
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: I like that.
• 35:28
  Speaker 3: I did. I did three bold predictions when the Athletics.
• 35:30
  Speaker 3: I'll just go through him real fast. Number one, I
• 35:32
  Speaker 3: said Kevin McGonagall, it's gonna win Rookie of the Year.
• 35:34
  Speaker 3: My degree of confidence in that actually not sure. Maybe
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: a little higher now that I know he's on the
• 35:39
  Speaker 3: opening day roster. But I did note it's kind of
• 35:42
  Speaker 3: a weird rookie field. You have the three big Japanese guys, Okamoto, Murakami,
• 35:47
  Speaker 3: and tetsuoy Emi all in the American League, guys who
• 35:50
  Speaker 3: have experience, and if they are at all the players
• 35:53
  Speaker 3: you know that that people think they could be could
• 35:55
  Speaker 3: win Rookie of the Year. If Tracy is savage, who's
• 35:58
  Speaker 3: already established himself on a big stage, who is really good,
• 36:02
  Speaker 3: and there's always someone random who pops. No one was
• 36:05
  Speaker 3: really thinking about Nick Kurtz this time last year. But
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: I think McGonagall gets the playing time that he should
• 36:12
  Speaker 3: now he's on the opening day roster. It's hard to
• 36:15
  Speaker 3: see a world where this guy isn't close to a
• 36:17
  Speaker 3: three win player, and maybe there's even a version of
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: him that is better than that. So I think he's
• 36:22
  Speaker 3: in that conversation. I wouldn't be shocked if he won
• 36:26
  Speaker 3: the award. Number two, I said, Matt Vierling is going
• 36:29
  Speaker 3: to see the most innings in center field. As much
• 36:32
  Speaker 3: as I've supported Parker Meadows being on the opening day roster,
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: he's been nothing but a streaky hitter. The track record
• 36:40
  Speaker 3: worries me a little bit. He did pick it up
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: at the end of camp, but I'm not sure that
• 36:44
  Speaker 3: that's a super long leash. If he struggles early, if
• 36:47
  Speaker 3: that swing starts getting long again, which has always kind
• 36:50
  Speaker 3: of been one of his tendencies, or he starts chasing
• 36:53
  Speaker 3: a lot of spin. I wouldn't be shy. Especially mcgonagall's
• 36:56
  Speaker 3: playing some third, and you have some hobby at short
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't be shocked if Matt Vierling, who had a
• 37:02
  Speaker 3: really productive camp, starts getting some of those at bats.
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: Now.
• 37:07
  Speaker 3: Hobby Biz is an option there on sol Peiz, maybe
• 37:09
  Speaker 3: even Max Clark. You have a few guys. This spring
• 37:13
  Speaker 3: has reminded me that Matt Vierling can be a really
• 37:16
  Speaker 3: good baseball player, and in the event Meadows struggles, I
• 37:20
  Speaker 3: think he's gonna be the guy to take that mantle
• 37:23
  Speaker 3: for a little bit in center field. Number three, I
• 37:26
  Speaker 3: think the Tigers are going to win the Al Central. Again.
• 37:29
  Speaker 3: There's still some things that worry me. The hitting worries
• 37:32
  Speaker 3: me a little bit. But I think you pointing out
• 37:34
  Speaker 3: this is not a week, this is, excuse me, a
• 37:36
  Speaker 3: weak division. The Tigers, on paper, I think are by
• 37:40
  Speaker 3: far the most talented. I also think they probably have
• 37:43
  Speaker 3: the highest upside. I'm gonna start stop talking about upside
• 37:46
  Speaker 3: and floor. I'm starting to sound like an NBA draft
• 37:48
  Speaker 3: analyst here, but I think the Tigers are pretty good. Man.
• 37:52
  Speaker 3: I think as long as they stay relatively healthy, they
• 37:56
  Speaker 3: should win this season. Anything less kind of a failure.
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree with that.
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: I like that the that is bold, the the Maddie
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: V one that is bold. I I teetered with a
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: Max Clark is your center fielder in October.
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: It's along those yeah, yeah, along those same lines.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: And I also didn't know if like schoolbl winning the
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: cy Young is like both bold and not bold because
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: like he's the odds on favorite, but that it also
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: means winning three in a row, which is.
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: So so well. Yeah, so I teetered with that a
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: little bit.
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: And I did have some Matt V like, you know,
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: could he you know, could he like really do something
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: that you know, come out of nowhere like last year
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: with McKinstry and Bias, like you know, the come out
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: of nowhere guys.
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: Uh, you know, like in terms of national recognition. So
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: that's a good one. That's a good one.
• 38:47
  Speaker 5: Uh.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: Real quick tradition here on the podcast for those who
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: may be new uh here. Every year, I asked my wife,
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: It started when she was my my fiance. I asked
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: my wife to just name her five favorite Tigers. He
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: just looks at the forty man looks at the headshot.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: Joosly follows the team, but you know, not as closely
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: until the games start, and just her five favorites, you
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: know that she her guys basically, and that is Trek
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: Scougal who has been and will be number one probably forever.
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: Hobby Bias is on that list, Labor Torres is on
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: that list, Dylan Dingler is a new addition to that list,
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: and Jami Jones rounding out her top five. So so
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: the wife is a fan of schoobl Bias, Torres, Dingler.
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: And Jami Jones. So that's the that's their animaltriction here.
• 39:39
  Speaker 3: For for that breaking news, Brendan Hannafy has been optioned
• 39:44
  Speaker 3: to Triple A Toledo. I should mean Brent Herder is
• 39:47
  Speaker 3: on the team. That in theory means in Manuel Djesus
• 39:50
  Speaker 3: is on the team.
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: There you go.
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: I think any uh, I mean that one feels pretty
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: uh pretty chalky like.
• 40:00
  Speaker 3: I don't not a huge shock. I mean I think
• 40:02
  Speaker 3: Herder is deserving. I think three lefties is going to
• 40:06
  Speaker 3: make sense. Again, that'll that could flip based on matchups.
• 40:08
  Speaker 3: I will say, Hanna Fee, I mean he didn't have
• 40:10
  Speaker 3: a great spring, but he kind of does this thing.
• 40:14
  Speaker 3: He can handle Righty's he can keep him on the ground.
• 40:18
  Speaker 3: Guy kind of got screwed over in the option cycle
• 40:20
  Speaker 3: a couple of times last year, and now he's get
• 40:22
  Speaker 3: an option for like Connor Seabolt, some guy who appeared
• 40:25
  Speaker 3: out of nowhere. Feel a little bad for Brendan Hannify.
• 40:28
  Speaker 3: He's just gotten the short end of the stick a
• 40:30
  Speaker 3: few times.
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, tough business, tough game, but a fun game and
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: a game that we love talking about and discussing with
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: you guys, and you know we made it.
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: We made it so exciting.
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: Rats again to Kevin McGonagall, anything else, Cody before we jet.
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: Out of here.
• 40:48
  Speaker 3: No, I think that is it for now. The next
• 40:51
  Speaker 3: time we're coming to we will be talking about real,
• 40:53
  Speaker 3: meaningful baseball games that count, and you're not allowed to
• 40:56
  Speaker 3: tie in these games. So I'm certainly excited.
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: There you go, well said, all right at Cody Stavenhagen,
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: at Kieran Underscore Stecney pot page, at Tiger Territory, Underscore, YouTube, Apple, Spotify,
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: you guys know what to do. We appreciate all of you.
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: So for Cody Stavenhagen, I'm Kieran Steckley. Everybody, have a
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: great opening day.