Call to the Pen 14 hours ago
Detroit Tigers: Understanding who’s running my team
One of a series of articles looking at the front office structure of each major league team. Let’s take a closer look at the Detroit Tigers. Detroit Tigers Owner: Christopher Illitch Executive Vice President and General Manager: Al Avila Illitch became the owner of the Detroit Tigers when his father, Mike Illitch, died in 2017. […] Detroit Tigers: Understanding who’s running my team - Call to the Pen - Call to the Pen - A Major League Baseball Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More
Rob Rogacki / Bless You Boys Jan 19, 2020 
Roundtable: Who else should the Tigers sign this offseason?
Photo by Scott Taetsch/ The BYB staff debates which outfielder they would like to see land in Detroit. The Detroit Tigers lost 114 games last year, most of them in demoralizing fashion. The farm system is improving, but is still probably another season away from giving the major league club a serious lift. To their credit, the Tigers have done well in adding talent this offseason that should make the major league roster much better in 2020. We (roughly) estimated that Austin Romine, C.J. Cron, and Jonathan Schoop could help improve the Tigers roster by 10 WAR on their own. The club has...
Bless You Boys Jan 18, 2020
Links: Prospects are all the rage right now
Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via The Tigers have prospects adorning many various lists, while spring lies just around the corner. MLB Pipeline’s latest prospect rankings have been pretty high on a few Tigers pitchers in a sign that the farm-side of the rebuild — at least from a pitching standpoint — is going strong. As mentioned before, Tigers’ top-ranked prospect Casey Mize also sits atop the list of all right-handed pitchers, with his advanced arsenal and mature approach to the game working strongly in his favor, while Matt Manning comes in at seventh among righties....
Bless You Boys Jan 18, 2020
Tigers 2020 roster: options, service time, payroll, & more
Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via The Tigers have a $100 million payroll for their 26-man roster, barring any late additions. The Detroit Tigers will enter the 2020 baseball season with a payroll of about $100 million for their 26-man active roster, barring any late additions or trades. The Tigers’ 40-man roster features 10 players with no major league experience and another 11 players with less than one season of experience in the majors. Detroit certainly could add players and boost the payroll some before Opening Day as general Al Avila scours the free agent market for...
Bless You Boys Jan 18, 2020
Mock draft: Tigers projected to select SS Austin Martin
Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports Baseball America predicts that Detroit will spring for Vanderbilt’s star middle infielder. The Detroit Tigers earned the first pick of the MLB Draft for the second time in three years. This position, thus far, has yielded Victor Reyes and Rony Garcia from the Rule 5 Draft, and, of course, righthander Casey Mize in the 2018 MLB draft. Mize was a clear cut choice at the time, but that is not a luxury the Tigers have this year. At least, not yet. There is a long way to go between now and when Detroit officially goes on the clock, but the consensus is...
Detroit Free Press Jan 17, 2020
Detroit Tigers trade lefty Matt Hall for catcher Jhon Nunez
Detroit Tigers traded left-hander Matt Hall to the Boston Red Sox for catcher Jhon Nunez
Bless You Boys Jan 17, 2020
Tigers trade LHP Matt Hall to Boston Red Sox
Photo by Duane Burleson/ The lefthander was designated for assignment on Monday. On Friday, the Detroit Tigers announced that they traded left-handed pitcher Matt Hall to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for minor-league catcher Jhon Nunez. Hall was designated for assignment on Monday following the signing of righthander Iván Nova to a one-year deal. Because Hall was no longer on the Tigers’ 40-man roster, there is no expectation of a corresponding move to this trade. In addition, Nunez was given a non-roster invitation to spring training. A sixth round pick in 2015, Hall made his major...
Bless You Boys Jan 17, 2020
2020 BYB Tigers Prospect #21: RHP Paul Richan
Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Innings? Eaten. Did you know? To successfully pitch in Major League Baseball, you need to throw strikes. Crazy, right? Good news, Tigers fans: righthander Paul Richan throws a lot of them, and he hates to issue walks. In 2019, the Tigers shipped out long-time third baseman/outfielder Nicholas Castellanos to the Chicago Cubs for right-handed pitchers Paul Richan and Alex Lange, the No. 27 prospect on our list. Richan then joined the High-A Lakeland Flying Tigers’ rotation. While his 4.11 ERA in his five starts (covering 30 2⁄3 innings) with...
Bless You Boys Jan 16, 2020
2020 BYB Tigers prospect #22: SS Adinso Reyes
Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports The shortstop is carrying some significant momentum into the upcoming season. The Detroit Tigers have made their presence felt on the international market over the last few years. Instead of adhering to their old practice of spreading their international bonus pool between a large number of inexpensive youngsters, they have begun to commit large percentages of their resources to a select few players with more talent. While it will take a long time for the strategy to bear fruit at the major league level — the kids they are signing are 16 and 17 years old,...
Detroit Free Press Jan 16, 2020
Detroit Tigers invite Casey Mize, Matt Manning, other top prospects to spring training
Detroit Tigers' Matt Manning and Casey Mize are two of five pitching prospects that have been invited to spring training
Rob Rogacki / Bless You Boys Jan 15, 2020 
2020 BYB Tigers prospect #23: RHP Rony Garcia gives the Tigers a chance to experiment in 2020
Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports Garcia has come up through the minors as a starter, but could move around the bullpen in the majors this year. Having the worst record in baseball is never a great idea, but it comes with a few perks. One of them, albeit limited, is the first selection in the Rule 5 draft. The Detroit Tigers have had that honor in two of the past three offseasons now, and used their most recent Rule 5 selection on righthander Rony Garcia from the New York Yankees. While Rule 5 picks are generally little more than a shot in the dark, the Tigers have done well with their...
Bless You Boys Jan 15, 2020
FanGraphs releases 2020 Tigers ZiPS projections
Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports The latest outlook for the Tigers team is still pretty bleak, but more encouraging than the 2019 team. Dan Szymborski over at FanGraphs has released his 2020 ZiPS predictions for the Detroit Tigers, and what he had to share was... as underwhelming as one might expect. His opening paragraph says it all. The Detroit Tigers will continue to struggle to score runs. I don’t mean in the “occasionally getting shut out by the Orioles” sense, but more like when you’re watching Tigers games, you should channel flip when they’re at the plate rather than...
Detroit Free Press Jan 15, 2020
Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera works out in preparation for 2020 season with ... Gronk?
Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera hit just 12 home runs last season.
Bless You Boys Jan 15, 2020
BYB Podcast 66: Astros bang their way into the doghouse
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports The BYB staff talks the week in baseball news from a Tigers perspective. The Tigers signed Ivan Nova, which is cool and all, but like all the moves this offseason, they promise a more watchable brand of baseball but don’t do anything for the organization’s longer term goals. But yeah we’re gonna talk a whole bunch about the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal, and the fallout from the isolated, but stern punishments delivered by MLB on Monday. In the final analysis, pitchers and catchers are the ones needing a technological solution, and some way to...
Bless You Boys Jan 15, 2020
Detroit Tigers News: The Tigers’ pitching prospects are looking pretty good
Tigers pitching prospects Matt Manning (35), Alex Faedo (21) and Spencer Watkins (51) prepare to warm up before a spring training match on March 2, 2019 at TigerTown in Lakeland, Florida. | Adam Dubbin / Bless You Boys The team’s crop of pitching talent appears to be on the verge of producing at the major league level. As the calendar inches closer to spring, the prospect hot stove begins to heat up along with the weather. For the Detroit Tigers, its stable of young hurlers is among the best in the majors and the rankings have continued to take notice. Tigers’ top right-handed...
