Jim Cowan Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 47 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said: Isn't the received wisdom that Sparky disliked HoJo as much or more for personal -as in off the field reasons? I can't find anything online about that. I did find an article in SI Vault from 1992 in which Sparky said nice things about him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger337 Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 Johnson's career splits suggested that he hit well with RISP and in close games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyMarsh Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 I always think of This video game I played on sega as a kid called "Sports Talk Baseball" when I think of Hojo. It came out in 1992 and he was on the Mets coming off a 38HR season(still remember the number just cause of the game) and was just a total beast on the game. It was before the old chuck Norris facts jokes but my friends and I would kinda make those type of jokes about Hojo when playing the game. We treated him as this mythical being cause on the game he kinda was. Basically a total cheat code. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenacious D Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 Pretty cool autograph card of Pacheco that I just purchased off eBay: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casimir Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 On 2/6/2023 at 4:25 PM, RandyMarsh said: I always think of This video game I played on sega as a kid called "Sports Talk Baseball" when I think of Hojo. It came out in 1992 and he was on the Mets coming off a 38HR season(still remember the number just cause of the game) and was just a total beast on the game. It was before the old chuck Norris facts jokes but my friends and I would kinda make those type of jokes about Hojo when playing the game. We treated him as this mythical being cause on the game he kinda was. Basically a total cheat code. My dad and brother and I went to this game. Mon & Dad splurged on it big time, we didn't have much money, and they got us tickets 2nd or 3rd row behind the plate. It was our (brother and I) 2nd trip to The Corner. Anyway, the drunks behind us yelled "Oh no, its HoJo" every time he was at the plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1984Echoes Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 10 hours ago, Tenacious D said: Pretty cool autograph card of Pacheco that I just purchased off eBay: In 1973 Topps style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongLiveMaroth Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 Law came out with his top 20 for the farm, it is interesting but I won't post the whole list because you know paywall and all but the top 6 are Jobe, Jung, Keith, Flores, Meadows, Dylan Smith. He seems to be pretty bullish on Meadows saying he wouldn't be surprised if he makes the top 100 list or gets to the majors this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatkoVarda Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 Santana (9th last year) only made his "Others" list. Admittedly, Cristian's numbers were not that good at Lakeland, which he is set to repeat. Last year he included Eric de la Rosa, Eli Afonso and Austin Bergner in his Top 20, which is not a dig at Law, but just pointing out how difficult it is to know who will make it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenacious D Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 Santana was also 19 years old. I don’t think I’d drop him based off last year, especially with a high walk rate and some power. You could easily make the argument that he is a top-5 talent in the org. I also can’t get behind putting Jung over Keith, but I hope that is the outcome because I’m very high on Colt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanley70 Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 I watched Meadows in WM several times over the last few years and he really did struggle, he rarely barreled up a ball. So to see him make this much progress is exciting, because he is a legit plus CF'er. Santana struggled with injuries in 22, dropping that far seems extreme since there are some low ceiling types towards the bottom of that list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanley70 Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 Jung and Keith are pretty similar. Bat first guys the Tigers are hoping that do not drop down the defensive spectrum too far. Law was fairly high on Jung before the draft as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1984Echoes Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 I'm comfortable with the top 4 being Jobe, Jung, Keith and Flores... And not in any particular order. Order them however anyone wants to... At least at this point it's hard for me to separate them so I think of them only as our top 4... If Jobe or Keith separate themselves this year... then a ranking may become more clear with those guys... But not there yet IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1984Echoes Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 5 minutes ago, Stanley70 said: Jung and Keith are pretty similar. Bat first guys the Tigers are hoping that do not drop down the defensive spectrum too far. Law was fairly high on Jung before the draft as well. Plus... this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edman85 Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 4 hours ago, RatkoVarda said: Santana (9th last year) only made his "Others" list. Admittedly, Cristian's numbers were not that good at Lakeland, which he is set to repeat. Last year he included Eric de la Rosa, Eli Afonso and Austin Bergner in his Top 20, which is not a dig at Law, but just pointing out how difficult it is to know who will make it. Santana had some iffy exit velos if I remember right. I think KL has that data and weights it heavily. I'm not sure off hand what his injury was last year but between that and age and pedigree, I can at least be talked into looking past it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted February 9, 2023 Author Share Posted February 9, 2023 (edited) 16 minutes ago, Edman85 said: Santana had some iffy exit velos if I remember right. I think KL has that data and weights it heavily. I'm not sure off hand what his injury was last year but between that and age and pedigree, I can at least be talked into looking past it. The Freep's puff piece on Santana went directly to that point. Garko (as per Petzold) said they are less interested in changing his swing/mechanics than just making him stronger to get his bat speed up https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2023/02/01/detroit-tigers-prospect-cristian-santana-takes-next-step-in-growth/69857673007/ Edited February 9, 2023 by gehringer_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongLiveMaroth Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 More Colt Keith coverage https://blogs.fangraphs.com/sunday-notes-approach-altered-tigers-prospect-colt-keith-is-looking-to-loft/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatkoVarda Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 I did not know this https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/02/al-notes-mahomes-haggerty-vogt-rays.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenacious D Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 BA discussing the Tigers Top 10 on their podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/baseball-america/id201539011?i=1000599958425 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeattleMike Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 On 2/9/2023 at 8:33 AM, Tenacious D said: Santana was also 19 years old. I don’t think I’d drop him based off last year, especially with a high walk rate and some power. You could easily make the argument that he is a top-5 talent in the org. I also can’t get behind putting Jung over Keith, but I hope that is the outcome because I’m very high on Colt. Santana was 18. And hardly overwhelmed, at least statistically. He was the youngest player in his league. He should be on everyone's top 20 list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edman85 Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 LOL, Keith Law responded on the Athletic baseball podcast to a Tigers blogger saying he was wrong about the farm system ranking. Responded specifically to the list of names that was listed. "That's the point. Those guys aren't good." I chuckled. I tend to think he's more right than a fanboy blog, but do think he missed the mark to some degree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtutiger Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 1 hour ago, Edman85 said: LOL, Keith Law responded on the Athletic baseball podcast to a Tigers blogger saying he was wrong about the farm system ranking. Responded specifically to the list of names that was listed. "That's the point. Those guys aren't good." I chuckled. I tend to think he's more right than a fanboy blog, but do think he missed the mark to some degree. To the extent that he missed the mark, it's not so much that the Tigers lack talent generally (they are clearly a bottom third farm system right now) more than there are a handful of systems out there who appear on the surface to actually have less at the moment. The Braves, to their credit, have graduated a ton of talent into the big leagues over the past couple of years and have seen a lot of success with them (including a World Series, which is the point of all of this lol), but objectively, at this current moment, is the talent in the system actually better than the Tigers? Peoples' mileage will vary, but at least one of Keith's counterparts (Kiley McDaniel) doesn't think so, as he ranked their system dead last. In an article about the Braves' ranking, Keith did also state that "I don’t think anyone’s rankings matter – where I placed Atlanta’s system has no bearing at all on the players or the team. It’s just my highly subjective opinion." I assume the same extends to the Tigers - people place a lot of weight on Law's opinions, but other people in the profession may see things differently as well and should be taken into account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edman85 Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 (edited) It gets into an existential conversation about what farm system rankings should include. If it is a snapshot of current prospect grades of players who have not exhausted rookie eligibility, well that doesn't mean much. If it also includes infrastructure and recent track record of developing talent, that gives a much better and more significant evaluation IMO. I think, in general, Law missed that there were a lot of prospects who went from the brink to the radar last year. It's not that they are all great, it's just that there were less disasters last year. Edited February 17, 2023 by Edman85 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatkoVarda Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 the Tigers certainly do not deserve the benefit of doubt when it comes to talent identification and development, especially on the position player side. Law would probably deny this matters, but it totally understandable that that plays a part in how organization is viewed externally, even if it is not "fair" to current prospects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanley70 Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 Law has a bunch of contacts in the industry having worked in a front office before. So the Tigers may be a weaker spot for him, knowledge wise. Plus he may be factoring in the Tiger inability to develop hitters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtutiger Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Edman85 said: It gets into an existential conversation about what farm system rankings should include. If it is a snapshot of current prospect grades of players who have not exhausted rookie eligibility, well that doesn't mean much. If it also includes infrastructure and recent track record of developing talent, that gives a much better and more significant evaluation IMO. I think, in general, Law missed that there were a lot of prospects who went from the brink to the radar last year. It's not that they are all great, it's just that there were less disasters last year. I dont know enough about each individual/ group at the national level that releases rankings and grades, but I presume that all of them approach rankings holistically. Maybe with some differences in how they weight current talent v. track record / infrastructure / etc. Nonetheless, didn't listen to the podcast, but the quote that you pulled would suggest that Law's opinion isn't just infrastructure or recent track record, some of his ranking comes down to talent and how he views it. I suspect, no different than political polling, it's probably better to just aggregate rather than throwing in with one outfit or another. Edited February 17, 2023 by mtutiger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.