On the Bright Side: 2023 MLB Draft

[mtutiger]

3 minutes ago, Tigermojo said:

Nobody knows who will end up with more career WAR between Clark or Langford. I understand wanting the more complete hitter, impact bat, of Langford because we just don't have many here in Detroit. I also look at Comerica Park and envision Clark's speed, defense and arm being very valuable in that vast centerfield. I like Clark because I think he'll be able to impact games in a way very few players can. Could you really go wrong with any of the top five? I'd be happy with any of them.

There's a few things going on here:

1. By nature of the discussion surrounding the draft going into it, the fan base was primed for the Tigers picking one of Crews or Langford going into it (both Tiger and national reporters were involved here)
2. Langford is much more high profile given an appearance in the CWS more recently, Clark doesn't have the public tape / record to match.
3. Langford is a college player, Clark is a prep player, which leads to assumptions (not ungrounded, fwiw) that it will take longer to see him if things go well than it does for Langford, who has more experience.
4. The fanbase is separated by two years from the selection of Jackson Jobe over Marcelo Meyer, and there's a segment that seems to have reacted by treating this situation as being the same, when it really isn't (ie. had the Tigers taken Langford at 3, Clark would have gone in the very next pick)

Overall, these guys are both extremely talented players.... Clark isn't a Jobe who would have went 15 picks later had the Tigers not taken him, he's a guy who could have easily gone 1-1 in a different draft. And Clark, if he's as talented as advertised, will move fairly quickly one imagines.

Either way, I would have taken Langford, but I get the Clark pick, and just the general disposition of trying to take more younger, high school bats in this draft. The bottom of the Tigers system is fairly empty at the moment, and this is a good way to add talent and give the player development staff (many of whom are fairly new to the org) some talent that they can work with and put their stamp on.

[chasfh]

17 hours ago, romad1 said:

If I had more freetime I'd post a picture of the actor that each draftee is named after or had same last name of.  Or in the case of a certain Frankenmouth player...hey oh!

So, there would be a picture of a Hamm's beer or Jon Hamm or Gregory Peck or you get the idea.    My McGonigle was the McGarnegal character from the Simpsons. 

 

I’m pretty sure that for a while, every time I hear of McGonigle, I’ll think of Patty and Selma.

[RandyMarsh]

I hear Kevin McGonigle and I just picture either a High School science teacher or a specialized Doctor like an Optometrist or something.

Also it is kinda refreshing to see the name Kevin for a kid of his generation since I associate that more with my generation. 

Edited July 11, 2023 by RandyMarsh

[Shinzaki]

Jobe would not have lasted 15 picks had Al Al not taken him...Noble Meyer isn't as highly rated and he went 10th in a deeper draft.

Jobe needs to be in WM ASAP...he's far too advanced for Lakeland

[gehringer_2]

6 minutes ago, Shinzaki said:

Jobe needs to be in WM ASAP...he's far too advanced for Lakeland

He's still on the WM roster.  Lakeland is just  rehab.

Edited July 11, 2023 by gehringer_2

[Tiger337]

54 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I’m pretty sure that for a while, every time I hear of McGonigle, I’ll think of Patty and Selma.

McGONEigle! 

[Tiger337]

26 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said:

I hear Kevin McGonigle and I just picture either a High School science teacher or a specialized Doctor like an Optometrist or something.

Also it is kinda refreshing to see the name Kevin for a kid of his generation since I associate that more with my generation. 

It doesn't really fit with McGonigle though.  

[1984Echoes]

1 hour ago, mtutiger said:

There's a few things going on here:

1. By nature of the discussion surrounding the draft going into it, the fan base was primed for the Tigers picking one of Crews or Langford going into it (both Tiger and national reporters were involved here)
2. Langford is much more high profile given an appearance in the CWS more recently, Clark doesn't have the public tape / record to match.
3. Langford is a college player, Clark is a prep player, which leads to assumptions (not ungrounded, fwiw) that it will take longer to see him if things go well than it does for Langford, who has more experience.
4. The fanbase is separated by two years from the selection of Jackson Jobe over Marcelo Meyer, and there's a segment that seems to have reacted by treating this situation as being the same, when it really isn't (ie. had the Tigers taken Langford at 3, Clark would have gone in the very next pick)

Overall, these guys are both extremely talented players.... Clark isn't a Jobe who would have went 15 picks later had the Tigers not taken him, he's a guy who could have easily gone 1-1 in a different draft. And Clark, if he's as talented as advertised, will move fairly quickly one imagines.

Either way, I would have taken Langford, but I get the Clark pick, and just the general disposition of trying to take more younger, high school bats in this draft. The bottom of the Tigers system is fairly empty at the moment, and this is a good way to add talent and give the player development staff (many of whom are fairly new to the org) some talent that they can work with and put their stamp on.

5. Langford is limited defensively. Clark looks like he could turn into an outstanding Centerfielder. Between that, and his much higher Hit tool, those were two things that the media and fanbase were not considering.

If everything went aces for these two players, I would guess Langford ends up with more career HR's but Clark ends up with a much higher career WAR based on his superior defense, speed (SB's and SB%), OBP (both BA and walks...), and while less HR's than Langford... more doubles and triples (gap power).

Something to think about...

But I'm just guessing...

[1984Echoes]

56 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

It doesn't really fit with McGonigle though.  

Professor McGonigle taught Harry Potter everything he knows.

[Scottwood]

Looking back at the first ten rounds, and I wonder if the Tigers have enough bonus pool money left to take one more big swing on one of the top best players still available.  There are several top 100 prospects out there and that would really boost the draft class. 

The saved money on Clark probably mostly went to McGonigle. But then they probably saved a few hundred thousand with the Anderson pick and those savings went towards Wilson and Rucker.  I'm guessing Lee, DIaz, Minton and Sears were all under slot. Thus, there could be extra money saved for a $500 k+ bonus offer on top of the $150 K that players get from rounds 11-20.

The big unknown is Rucker, though.  On the surface, it doesn't seem like they would have had to go way over slot to draft him.  He was ranked around where they drafted him or even a little lower.  But, he was kind of a pre-draft guy where he's raw now but could have hit in college and gone 1st round a few years from now.  So, it's possible the savings from Lee, Sears, etc. went towards him.

[LongLiveMaroth]

 

[RandyMarsh]

Jim, like Kevin another common name from mine and previous generations. Great to see!

I am a bit surprised though that he is a SS, I figured a scrappy middle infielder would go by Jimmy while Jim would be saved for the slugging corner fielder or DH.

Edited July 11, 2023 by RandyMarsh

[LongLiveMaroth]

 

[RandyMarsh]

I'd be more than satisfied if a 12th round pick turned into a number 3 or 4 starter. 

[LongLiveMaroth]

 

[Cruzer1]

6 of the Tigers first 15 picks are HS. Sounds like a trend.  6 Pitchers, 1 catcher, 6 infielders, and 2 outfielders have been picked.

[Cruzer1]

3 hours ago, Scottwood said:

Looking back at the first ten rounds, and I wonder if the Tigers have enough bonus pool money left to take one more big swing on one of the top best players still available.  There are several top 100 prospects out there and that would really boost the draft class. 

The saved money on Clark probably mostly went to McGonigle. But then they probably saved a few hundred thousand with the Anderson pick and those savings went towards Wilson and Rucker.  I'm guessing Lee, DIaz, Minton and Sears were all under slot. Thus, there could be extra money saved for a $500 k+ bonus offer on top of the $150 K that players get from rounds 11-20.

The big unknown is Rucker, though.  On the surface, it doesn't seem like they would have had to go way over slot to draft him.  He was ranked around where they drafted him or even a little lower.  But, he was kind of a pre-draft guy where he's raw now but could have hit in college and gone 1st round a few years from now.  So, it's possible the savings from Lee, Sears, etc. went towards him.

The pool money goes to rounds 1-10, there are rules about rounds 11-20.

[LongLiveMaroth]

2 hours ago, Cruzer1 said:

The pool money goes to rounds 1-10, there are rules about rounds 11-20.

Below are those rules.

 

 

Clubs are allowed to spend up to $150,000 on players selected in Rounds 11-20 without it counting toward their bonus pool. Any overages go against the pool, so there’s a chance that an organization with lots of early savings could have the space to add a premium talent late on Tuesday.

[Tenacious D]

.985 slugging?  Wowza!

Edited July 11, 2023 by Tenacious D

[Hart]

7 hours ago, mtutiger said:

There's a few things going on here:

1. By nature of the discussion surrounding the draft going into it, the fan base was primed for the Tigers picking one of Crews or Langford going into it (both Tiger and national reporters were involved here)
2. Langford is much more high profile given an appearance in the CWS more recently, Clark doesn't have the public tape / record to match.
3. Langford is a college player, Clark is a prep player, which leads to assumptions (not ungrounded, fwiw) that it will take longer to see him if things go well than it does for Langford, who has more experience.
4. The fanbase is separated by two years from the selection of Jackson Jobe over Marcelo Meyer, and there's a segment that seems to have reacted by treating this situation as being the same, when it really isn't (ie. had the Tigers taken Langford at 3, Clark would have gone in the very next pick)

Overall, these guys are both extremely talented players.... Clark isn't a Jobe who would have went 15 picks later had the Tigers not taken him, he's a guy who could have easily gone 1-1 in a different draft. And Clark, if he's as talented as advertised, will move fairly quickly one imagines.

Either way, I would have taken Langford, but I get the Clark pick, and just the general disposition of trying to take more younger, high school bats in this draft. The bottom of the Tigers system is fairly empty at the moment, and this is a good way to add talent and give the player development staff (many of whom are fairly new to the org) some talent that they can work with and put their stamp on.

Langford may be higher profile right now among people who follow baseball.  But Clark may actually have quite a bit more marketability long term based on his personality.  I doubt this came into play but it has crossed my mind.  Maybe this isn't a fair comparison but I feel a little bit like you are comparing Mike Trout's image (Langford) to Bryce Harper's image (Clark).  One thing I will say about Clark though is that even if he carries a lot of flash, he also seems like he genuinely a good dude to go along with it.  

I also would have taken Langford, even though I acknowledge there is a good case to be made for Clark also and it's splitting hairs.  I just feel like the speed and defense profile of Clark does not outweigh the extra risk that comes with being a star high school bat versus a star college bat.  

[1984Echoes]

If he can't catch stick him at 1B.

(Cerkownyk... pronounced: Chur-cove-nik).

Edited July 11, 2023 by 1984Echoes

[1984Echoes]

3 minutes ago, Hart said:

Langford may be higher profile right now among people who follow baseball.  But Clark may actually have quite a bit more marketability long term based on his personality.  I doubt this came into play but it has crossed my mind.  Maybe this isn't a fair comparison but I feel a little bit like you are comparing Mike Trout's image (Langford) to Bryce Harper's image (Clark).  One thing I will say about Clark though is that even if he carries a lot of flash, he also seems like he genuinely a good dude to go along with it.  

I also would have taken Langford, even though I acknowledge there is a good case to be made for Clark also and it's splitting hairs.  I just feel like the speed and defense profile of Clark does not outweigh the extra risk that comes with being a star high school bat versus a star college bat.  

I'll take Riley Greene any day of the week and 3 times on Sunday...

[digitalpigsmuggler]

On 7/5/2023 at 12:38 PM, Tenacious D said:

If everything goes well/as planned, here are the starters I believe we have in the organization:

-Mize, Skubal, Manning, Jobe

Many who fall in the might be a starter-or-reliever category:

Olsen, Brieske, Faedo, Hill, Englert, Flores, Madden, D. Smith, Hurter—probably a few others

I eliminated ERod (likely opt-out), Lorenzen and Boyd (one-year rentals) from this.

The point is that we have few clear cut SP, and all have experienced injuries this season.  Adding Skenes, who appears to be a sure starter, could only help our depth.

of course, I still prefer Crews or Langford if they are there at #3

 

I presume the Tigers make some off season moves to sign a SP. There has to be at least one veteran guy on the staff.

[Tenacious D]

5 minutes ago, Hart said:

Langford may be higher profile right now among people who follow baseball.  But Clark may actually have quite a bit more marketability long term based on his personality.  I doubt this came into play but it has crossed my mind.  Maybe this isn't a fair comparison but I feel a little bit like you are comparing Mike Trout's image (Langford) to Bryce Harper's image (Clark).  One thing I will say about Clark though is that even if he carries a lot of flash, he also seems like he genuinely a good dude to go along with it.  

There is something to this.  Huge social media following and active on TikTok. We may scoff, but he’s a hit with the kids.

Both the Tigers and MLB need more marketable players. It’s not the reason to draft him, but more of a potential bonus.

[Tenacious D]

6 minutes ago, digitalpigsmuggler said:

I presume the Tigers make some off season moves to sign a SP. There has to be at least one veteran guy on the staff.

I’d like to see Lorenzen back.  And a healthy Turnbull.