Bless You Boys: for Detroit Tigers fans

Ashley MacLennan's worlds collide in a first ever Bless You Boys/D Rays Bay mashup podcast. It's been a heck of a busy couple weeks getting prepped for the season, so for once, we kept a podcast to a half hour format. We may try to do these short, targeted pods a little more often this year, but our real jobs and running the blogs keep us busy, and I've learned not to make too many promises. On this one, Brett Rutherford from the DRaysBay podcast network joins Ashley, who writes and edits for both sites, among a million other gigs, and BYB managing editor Brandon Day for a chat about Austin Meadows, Isaac Paredes, and the Rays chances this year in the always tough AL East. Thanks as always for joining us, for reading Bless You Boys, and for being part of the fantastic Tigers' fanbase. We're going to have a fun year, come what may... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Well it certainly looked bleak the past few weeks, but we got there in the end. Major League Baseball and the MLBPA union have a new collective bargaining agreement, and baseball is back on the menu. Ashley MacLennan joins Brandon Day for a quick reaction pod to the day's events. We'll look back at the contentious negotiations, the tactics and mistakes that led us to the brink of losing part of the season, and the deal that finally emerged as we and our baseball writing brethren and the fans followed along in real time on social media. We'll conclude with a look at where the Tigers stand as free agency re-opens, and consider what work remains to put a real contender on the field in April. Thanks for hanging in there, and thanks for joining us for a little chat after a day that left us both elated and drained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trevor Hooth writes for Prospects Live, one of the best public scouting sites available, as well as for Bless You Boys. He returns to the podcast this week in the wake of our new top 30 ranking of the Tigers' farm system. This is a fairly long one, as Trevor and I haven't talked other than via chat for quite a while. There is a lot to to discuss. The Tigers system is going to fall off hard when Riley Greene, our number one for the Tigers, and Spencer Torkelson reach the major leagues. However, there are still some talented players with upside, led by 2021 first round pick Jackson Jobe, and then a much better quality of depth pieces than this system has seen in forever. The top shelf prospects may be few and far between if the Tigers can't draft well outside the top ten, but there remains a pretty good supporting cast if the upgrades to the player development leadership and coaches goes as hoped. We spent the first 40 minutes talking about the league and then the Tigers improved circumstances, overhauled player development system, and recent draft history. Then we get into the Tigers farm system specifically, starting with Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson, at the 50:00 mark. Our individual profiles of Tigers prospects will continue until mid-February, when, with luck and a new CBA, we'll still get a semi-normal spring training. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thanks for joining us again. Brandon Day and Ashley MacLennan return to talk Javy Báez, what he means for the Detroit Tigers' future, and how to separate the player from what his contract says about Chris Ilitch and Al Avila's plans. We'll also look at where the Tigers' stand as far as potential playoff contention and why they've arguably had the best offseason of any team. From there, we'll move to far less entertaining matters and talk labor strife between players and owners, the bad blood between the parties after a lot of league shenanigans in recent years, and why these negotiations will look and be reported far differently than the last major battle in 1994. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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John Stolnis, Kris Willis and Ashley MacLennon set the table for the World Series showdown between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros! Presented by T-Mobile Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Talent from all around SB Nation come together to preview the MLB AL Playoffs as John Stolnis, Ashley MacLennon and Andrew Mearns debate all the biggest topics and make their predictions! Presented by T-Mobile Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back folks. We're firing up the pod again as the season winds down in preparation for a busy offseason, and we've got some big questions to answer. We got a lot of responses to our call for questions, but four main themes emerged. So rather than going question by question, we're just grouping it all under four main questions, and host Brandon Day will take them all on in turn. Who is Ryan Garko, the Tigers new VP of Player Development, and does this feel like a good hire? Who are the Tigers likely to send to the Arizona Fall League in October? Were the Tigers lucky this year, or just pretty good? Are there players who seem ripe for regression? In short, how stable is this 2021 foundation to build on? What should the Tigers attitude be toward free agency this offseason, and how would you go about ranking positions of need and then filling them? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

MLB great John Kruk joins Sam Wilson, John Stolnis, Brady Klopfer and a host of community guests from around SB Nation to watch the 2021 MLB Home Run Derby! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SB Nation's all-star cast (Sam Wilson, John Stolnis, Eric Stephen and guest Jeremy Brener) breaks down everything that happened in the 1st round of the 2021 MLB Draft! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SB Nation welcomes you to it's coverage of the 2021 MLB All-Star Week, powered by T-Mobile! On today's episode, Sam Wilson, John Stolnis, and Brady Klopfer break down the rosters, set the state of the league, discuss trade rumors PLUS Talking Chop's Demetrius Bell joins the show to talk about the move from Georgia to Colorado! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With the draft less than two weeks away, it's time to check in again with another of our favorite sources of draft info. Keanan Lamb, Senior MLB Draft Writer for Baseball Prospectus joins me for a look at the 2021 draft from a Detroit Tigers' perspective. We'll hit on most of the big names at the top of the draft in this one, but we also step back to look at the unique conditions of this particular draft after college players spent most of 2020 on the shelf. Either way, it's a fascinating draft with an awful lot of good prep talent, and even so close to the draft, not much certainty at all. You can follow Keanan on Twitter @keananlamb. You should always consider a subscription to the wonderful Baseball Prospectus. And you can also find a ton of quality scouting video on Keanan's YouTube channel as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is always a pretty fun podcast with two of my favorite people to talk baseball with. We've got a bit of a yearly tradition going around the draft, and hopefully we'll get back for a post-draft special as well. Your host for this one is actually Mark Gorosh of the Don't Call it a Rebuild podcast. Mark and I split these occasionally and he's the lead on this one. Since our podcast has been quiet lately, I thought I'd put this up for those interested. Our guest, is Mr. Brian Sakowski, the national scouting director for Perfect Game USA. From his vantage point, Sakowski has seen everyone in this draft, and many of them from the time they were young juniors, giving him a lot of perspective of their trajectories beyond his pure scouting acumen. He's also an assistant coach for Orchard Lake-St. Mary's high school in the Detroit area, who recently won a state championship. We'll chat about that a bit as well. Thanks so much for joining us. Hope you enjoy the conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thanks for all the good questions yesterday. We appreciate the response, and this may become a more regular feature of the podcast going forward. Managing editor Brandon Day talks about the sudden outrage burning through Detroit media and the Tigers fanbase over the team’s rough start. While putting GM Al Avila on the hot seat is well and good with us considering we’ve already had him there for years, let’s remember what is important, and what isn’t, in regard to the Tigers 2021 season. As the team has struggled, too much of the emphasis has been placed on Miguel Cabrera as scapegoat, or the miserable offensive performances from Jonathan Schoop, JaCoby Jones, and Victor Reyes. Let’s try to remember that what matters are players who can be traded, and players who might still be around to help in 2023 and beyond. For all the hot take theater going on out there, it will only take a brief stretch of winning for all these Johnny-come-lately’s to turn right around and start preaching unending patience once again. Over the last five years, Tigers fans have been patient enough waiting for evidence these are the guys to build a World Series champion in the near future. Still don’t see it. Beyond that, we’ll get into reader questions ranging from the prospects to A.J. Hinch’s managerial stylings. Thanks for participating, and thanks as always for reading and commenting here at Bless You Boys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're back with a look at a whole lot of fun action, and a few sour notes, from MLB's opening week. We'll start with Tigers talk. Miggy in the snow. The legend of Akil Baddoo. A pretty good first six outings for the rotation. Michael Fulmer as reliever. And then we'll get into the new brand of baseball A.J. Hinch is preaching, and whether he'll stick to his guns, and fold after a few mistakes the way Brad Ausmus and Ron Gardenhire did. Then we'll take the second half to look around the league at the many, many interesting stories we've already gotten out of the young 2021 season. We'll take Nick Castellanos and his quest to become swag incarnate. Jose Iglesias' ludicrous highlight reel so far with the Angels. The glory of two-way Shohei Ohtani, and much more, before our attention finally turns to Trevor Bauer, as it so often does. We'll discuss MLB seizing Bauer's sticky balls, the whole concept of making this illegal, and why Bauer may have simply dug his own grave and then handed Rob Manfred the shovel here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're joined by an old friend on this edition of the Bless You Boys podcast. Kenon Carter, who runs the Detroit Tigers Minor League Tracker accounts on social media joins us for an in depth dive into the Tigers spring training roster battles. Most of you will remember Kenon from his work covering the Tigers farm system for Bless You Boys for a few seasons. In this episode we'll unpack the Tigers training camp with under two weeks left to Opening Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Grapefruit League action underway, and the long awaited return of Dan Dickerson's dulcet tones to the airwaves--many of us are still waiting for MLB to actually permit us to watch our favorite teams--the spring ritual has arrived. In that spirit, we're joined on this episode by David Laurila of FanGraphs.com. Laurila has written for Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus in the past, so his work at FanGraphs completes the baseball writer trifecta. He is a frequent contributor as a host for FanGraphs Audio, and his articles and interviews are a weekly staple for the site. In this episode, we'll consider the Tigers offseason, contrasting a more patient approach from Laurila to we Tigers fans here at Bless You Boys. We'll consider the Tigers approach to free agency and some of the interesting young veterans they signed this offseason. The chat touches on A.J. Hinch and the Tigers new coaching staff, and the development of the club's top prospects. Throughout, Laurila deploys an ample supply of interviews and anecdotes collected over the years with which to spice the conversation. We ultimately get to a key reason why they didn't do much more as the conversation ends with us somewhat bleakly considering the breakdown in relations between the league and the players as a next CBA looms over all of MLB's endeavors this year. But we hate that topic, so let's just learn one of the key lessons of the past year and take it one game at a time for now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With spring camp underway and Mr. Stavenhagen, the Tigers reporter for The Athletic Detroit, days away from a flight to lovely Lakeland Florida to cover them, he joins us for a preseason conversation about the 2021 Detroit Tigers. This is a pretty wide-ranging, state-of-the-organization conversation, but we start off discussing some of the interesting small scale additions like Nomar Mazara and Julio Teheran while also lamenting the lack of any major moves this offseason. The 2021 Tigers do feel different as AJ Hinch and his coaching staff make their presence felt, and Cody talks about the contrasts with Ron Gardenhire's staff, but we appear set for another year in a holding pattern hoping for a lot of player development. We talk through the pitching staff and what constitutes progress in another season where the team is largely treading water. The need for the young pitching prospects to start establishing themselves is very clear as well. Finally, we consider the farm system and the meager depth in mid-tier prospects, particularly on the pitching side, that informed the Tigers collection of veterans they'll invite to camp on minor league deals. Finally we discuss a few key players and our hopes for a farm system that needs to show major improvement in 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back Tigers fans. We didn't get the big deal we were hoping for this offseason, but as the yearly scramble for odds and ends hits high gear, Al Avila and the Tigers have added some interesting names that will at least be interesting projects for the new coaching staff. We'll talk Jonathan Schoop, Renato Núñez, and Nomar Mazara, and how the roster is shaping up overall. Finally, we'll talk about MLB's attempt to de-juice the baseball, and offer wise alternatives to make the game a more watchable product on the field, as well as a few ridiculous ones. We're just days away from pitchers and catchers reporting, so while it's still frigid in the northern realms, we can feel the first faint rays of sunshine as the 2021 baseball season gets underway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are back with another overdue episode of the Bless You Boys podcast. Brandon Day and Ashley MacLennan return with an overview of the quiet offseason to date, and what may lie ahead. First we'll catch up on some of the signings and news from around the league. Then, we'll discuss the new coaching staff, the signings so far, and what the Tigers may do in the month remaining until pitchers and catchers are supposed to report to Lakeland. And, since we're regularly asked to do a segment after the baseball portion of the podcast on what we're reading, watching, or listening to, particularly in this year of the quarantine, there's a whole bonus segment past the 52:00 mark in which we'll dive into some of the best movies and shows we've seen over the past year. This exercise is almost entirely an excuse to obsess over our mutual favorite obsession of 2020-2021, the actress Anya Taylor-Joy. With the Queen's Gambit breakout star as the centerpiece, we'll talk about her career, some of her co-stars, and follow that chain into some of non-Anya Taylor-Joy work we've been most impressed by over the past year. Tom Hardy, Johnny Flynn, and Aubrey Plaza will all be name-checked along the way. Next time out, we'll include a segment on what we've been reading. Once again, this is totally self-indulgent on our part, and if you're here for baseball alone, the 52:00 mark is going to be your stopping point. As always, thanks for reading and commenting at BlessYouBoys.com. One more month and we'll all be in the best shape of our lives once again. It can't come soon enough. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is no more recognizable voice in Detroit Sports media than that of Jeff Riger. As a reporter and broadcaster, he's made a name for himself by his willingness to ask the questions fans want asked, and at time irritate the powerful. Joined by Mark Gorosh from the Don't Call it a Rebuild, it's a Team Build podcast, we had a fun chat about the Tigers past, present, and future, got some good Jim Leyland stories, and talked the state of talk radio in the social media era. The first hour is devoted to the state of the Tigers and some of Jeff's experiences covering the team. Starting at about the hour mark we get into Jim Leyland stories. Three way calling via Skype remains a bit of a crapshoot, and the sound is not ideal. My apologies. We have some investments coming up that should make for a more consistent product going forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What wizardry was this? Certain that the White Sox would hire the former Astros skipper, we didn't really allow ourselves to hope this would happen. Now, as we record on the evening of Thursday, October 29th, A.J. Hinch appears to be a lock to become the 49th manager in Detroit Tigers franchise history. For this episode we're fortunate to be joined the Tigers beat writer for the Athletic Detroit, Cody Stavenhagen. He'll provide his own inside insight into how this decision came to pass. -White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf goes old-school, does it his way. -A.J. Hinch is coming to Detroit (we're 99 percent sure). -We'll explore how Hinch can overcome his damaged reputation, and why he feels like such a perfect, and necessary, fit for the Tigers. -We'll preview what promises to be a slow moving offseason market. -Finally we'll talk a bit of instructional league ball and Tigers farm system and player development staff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brandon Day and Ashley MacLennan back to discuss a very interesting two weeks of Tigers baseball. After pushing to the .500 mark, they've slumped to a 3-7 record over their last 10 and now look at a three-game road series in Chicago. At the end of a stretch of 12 games over 10 days, there is no choice but to win. A tired Tigers club has their backs against the wall now, and somehow need to find a way to take the series if their impressively scrappy campaign for a wild card spot is going to live a little longer. -A couple of brutal losses have laid bare how far the Tigers have to go to becoming a legit threat in a normal length season. But that doesn't mean baseball can't produce a miraculous little run over their final 15 games. Anything can happen in 15 games. We'll discuss the fun and disorienting ride of the 2020 Tigers. -The compressed nature of the season has produced a wild rollercoaster of narratives, and not enough bankable information. Jeimer Candelario and Victor Reyes seem like viable pieces, but the track records are still a little hard to trust. Meanwhile Mize, Skubal, and Paredes haven't impressed much, while Willi Castro has. Knowing the numerous wild swings in performance that accompany the average player's regular season, how much can we really trust in such an odd, short, season of baseball? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Monday night after a trade deadline with no real action from the Detroit Tigers, we're back with part two of our midseason review. Mark Gorosh of the Don't Call it a Rebuild, it's a Team Build podcast joins host Brandon Day for another wide ranging conversation. We'll reflect on what was already expected to be a pretty quiet deadline, and was in fact very quiet. That's not necessarily a bad thing either, but whether a team makes real moves or doesn't, they're telling you something about how they see themselves. The position players are our focus tonight after talking about the pitching staff last time out. With the Tigers in it to win it, kinda, how do you best optimize this roster and still work to develop your young players? How much of the surprisingly strong performance through 32 games is real, and how much just a temporary streak? You probably won't love the answer, but there are also real positives throughout the organization now, and the team has been fun no matter how it plays out in the end. We both believe the Tigers have a mountain to climb to return to being a regular postseason threat, but for now we'll take the club's cue and enjoy the show for another month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well here we are now, and the Tigers are actually entertaining us. The Motor City Kitties are just a game under .500 and right on the heels of the final Al Wild Card spot. Things couldn't be going too much better. Brandon Day and Mark Gorosh got together Friday night prior to the club's Saturday doubleheader victories over the Twins to take stock of what we've seen from the surprisingly resilient Tigers over the first half. This will be another two part epic, with this episode focused on the pitching staff. First we'll talk about the big news of the week, namely Matt Manning and Alex Faedo getting shutdown with forearm strains. We'll consider why the Tigers seem down on Jake Rogers, and then we'll get into general impressions of the 2020 Detroit Tigers thus far. We'll talk about the rotation first, and we're definitely feeling more optimistic about that group with Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal in the mix. Matt Boyd should settle in, and some of the concern there is overblown. Michael Fulmer is a bit of a problem, but Daniel Norris and Tyler Alexander have generally had some solutions. And finally, Spencer Turnbull just needs to go out there and play catch, because as long as he's throwing strikes, they can't hit him. From there we ponder the question: Now that we have a bullpen what are we gonna do....with it? Hope you enjoy. We'll be back with part two, mainly focused on the lineup, the trade deadline, and who we may yet see called up from Toledo, early in the week. Take care, and thanks as always for your support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're back in the wake of an exciting week of call-up, that, unfortunately, did little to curb the Tigers rapid descent to last place. Brandon Day and Ashley MacLennan meet up for an admittedly lengthy podcast (sorry about that) recorded on Thursday night after the Tigers were swept by the Chicago White Sox. We'll talk about the happy stuff first, as the Tigers addition of Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, and Isaac Paredes is going to make this a fun five weeks of baseball. We'll then discuss the host of Dombrowski guys in their late 20's and whether any of them have a place in the Tigers future. We'll expand from there to see if anything more can do down to stave off the suck factor. At about the 40 minute mark, we'll get into a long segment of listener questions (thank you!). Finally we wrap up with the old boys network being a pain in the butt to the rest of baseball fans everywhere. Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a 3-0 grand slam with a seven run lead and a bunch of people were upset. Fortunately, everyone else piled right in on social media to shut that nonsense down. Finally, we'll wrap with the ugliest story of the week, as Reds broadcaster Thom Brenneman showed his true colors in a hot mic moment and probably got himself fired. He of course followed up with the save my job style apology and played the victim while taking a long time to even apologize to the community he slandered. Not good. Not good in society. Not good for baseball, and definitely not good for baseball having a strong future that welcomes all fans to the table. We're really sick of this crap. Imagine how others feel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi folks, we're back with another podcast summit with the Don't Call it a Rebuild, it's a Team Build podcast. Our special guest is Cody Stavenhagen, Tigers beat writer for The Athletic Detroit. Thanks to Cody for sitting in with us yet again as we recorded Monday night during the Tigers' loss to the Chicago White Sox. With the imminent debuts of three of the Tigers top prospects, there was much to discuss. We'll kick things off discussing Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, and Isaac Paredes, and get the latest word from Cody on reports out of Toledo prior to their call ups. Then we move on with a little speculation as to who else might find their way to Detroit in the very near future. We'll also get into the sense that these call ups mark the end of the teardown phase, and the beginning of Al Avila's mark finally making itself felt on the major league roster, for better or for worse. Of course, this isn't your Daddy's AL Central either. The competition appears set up to be a lot fiercer than during the Tigers 2011-2014 run atop the division. Finally, we discuss the struggles of Miguel Cabrera and Matt Boyd, debate the merits of the Jhonny Peralta card where Paredes defensive home is concerned, and consider which Tigers prospects will now get the invite to Toledo to work out with the Tigers alternates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a night of pure dominance from the vaunted Tigers bullpen (just go along with it) the club is out to a solid 3-2 start in this compressed season of madness. The Tigers have a tendency to look their best early in a season before the long fade to the bottom begins, so don't get too excited, but there are at least reasons for optimism and in 2020, optimism is an especially valuable commodity. Hang in there long enough, Tigers, and your front office may reward you with some top prospect backup in the rotation and bullpen. In the meantime, Daniel Norris seems soon to return, and the club could really use him right now. Hosts Brandon Day and Ashley MacLennan will talk early returns from the Tigers' position groups. Obviously the flame-throwing work of relievers Gregory Soto and Jose Cisnero has been the most obvious thing to get too-soon excited about, but overall there are encouraging signs from the offense as well. We knew they'd be better this year, and if they could just trim the punchouts a little bit they might surprise with league average performance. Michael Fulmer's return to action went reasonably well, but oddly it's the rotation where the club now looks weakest. At least for the moment. Funny how things change. From happy thoughts on the Tigers, we'll then wrap the show discussing the league's miserable handling of the Miami Marlins COVID-19 outbreak, why we still have no idea if baseball can pull this off, Justin Verlander's injury, and a few more odds and ends before we wrap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summer Camp has only been underway for about two weeks, and yet here we are only another week until Opening Day. Co-host Ashley MacLennan is back as we take a look at the early returns. We discuss baseball without fans and how best to present this unusual package via television broadcast. We'll take the temperature of the notables based on their performance so far, and consider the possibilities for the starting rotation and the bullpen. Then it's on to some of the fringe candidates fighting for a job, and the likelihood the league can pull off a complete season without having to shut it down due to COVID-19 cases spiking in one or more organization. We'll talk about speculation over players who haven't reported yet and why it shouldn't be assumed they have the virus. First though, we must marvel at young Riley Greene who has repeatedly looked like the best player on the field over the past week. That has been quite fun, as Mr. Greene seems to do something spectacular every time he's in a game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back. Thanks for joining us for round two. As these do, the conversation stretched out into a two-hour marathon last Friday night, and so here is the second half of our chat with Cody Stavenhagen, Detroit Tigers beat writer for The Athletic Detroit. In this half, we'll talk bullpen, you'll hear why Brandon and Mark regard Spencer Turnbull as a bit of a hot potato, and then talk turns to some of the position players hanging onto a spot on the Tigers' roster but in need of a modest breakout to secure their role. Guys like JaCoby Jones, Jeimer Candelario, Harold Castro and more will take their turn under the lens. Finally, we'll talk about the AL Central, the impossibility of making predictions this season, and then chat Cody up about the COVID enforced sabbatical from baseball and how he spent the break. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back folks, and thanks for joining us. This is another combination pod with Brandon Day of the Bless You Boys podcast, and Mark Gorosh of the Don't Call it a Rebuild, it's a Team Build podcast. The Detroit Tigers beat writer for the Athletic Detroit, Cody Stavenhagen, joins us for a lengthy chat after a week of Summer Camp. In part one, we'll talk about some early impressions made, particularly by players on the cut-line and fighting for a roster spot. We'll talk Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson. We'll talk about the catching group. And we'll size up where Casey Mize and Matt Manning are respectively, in their quest to earn a major league debut this summer. All that, and a look at constructing the starting rotation are on the docket for part one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the early managing editors of Bless You Boys, the lovely Ian Casselberry joins host Brandon Day and the host of the Don't Call it a Rebuild, it's a Team Build podcast, Mark Gorosh, for a wide-ranging conversation. You can find Ian these days writer for Awful Announcing, and links to his myriad podcasts can be found at his Twitter handle, @iancass. We'll talk about the early history of the Bless You Boys blog, and the Wild West days of the Tigers' nascent blogosphere in the mid-00's. Social media has radically changed the landscape over the years, while the analytics era has radically changed how the game is covered. We'll talk about that and the history of the Tigers in the intervening timespan, and contemplate sports in the year of COVID-19. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There was quite a bit of news on Tuesday, and blessedly little of the unexpected variety. We'll take it after the past four months. However, it wasn't all good. On the positive side, Spencer Torkelson is now officially a Tiger, and headed to the taxi squad (why isn't Uber in on the branding there?). Unfortunately, MLB also announced as expected that the minor league season would be cancelled. It's hard not to have a split perspective right now. One can't realistically consider any potential outcomes in this strange short season without considering the chances that playing games just isn't realistic without increasing the likelihood of serious illness and even death for many of the participants. Hosts Brandon Day and Ashley MacLennan will have to speak out of both sides of our mouths a bit. We'll discuss possibilities for a really interesting season if the Tigers were to, you know, try to win and stuff. But in the end, this may be best viewed as nothing more than exhibition baseball, and we'll have to take whatever we get until the pandemic is under control. Intro: “Let’s Save Tony Orlando’s House” -Yo La Tengo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wake of their strange and ultimately futile renegotiation of this season of COVID-19, and with the looming CBA negotiations next year, we brought in a heavy hitter for this one. Jon Pessah is one of the founding editors of ESPN the Magazine, and the acclaimed author of two books on baseball which will frame our discussion. The first, is The Game: Inside the Secret World of Major League Baseball’s Power Brokers. A behind-the-scenes history of the business of baseball from the tenure of early MLBPA chief, Marvin Miller, to the Rob Manfred/Tony Clark era, The Game focuses particularly on the 1994-1995 lockout and strike through the lens of Commissioner Bud Selig, Yankees’ owner George Steinbrenner, and MLBPA chief Don Fehr. The book is comprehensively researched and sourced, the product of hundreds of interviews with all the major players, and a tour de force exploration of the games behind the game. As a result, Pessah is uniquely situated to understand the power structure and dynamics behind major league baseball, and their evolution to the present day. We talked about the current strife, how all of this is a product of relatively recent history, and look ahead warily to next year’s expiring collective bargaining agreement. Second, is the biography, Yogi: Life Behind the Mask, which was just released in April. Again the product of hundreds of interviews and years of research, the biography unpacks the man behind the myth and places one of the greatest players of all-time in his rightful context as the true hero and force behind the classic Yankees’ teams of the 50’s and 60’s. For the final 20 minutes or so, we chatted about the life and times of one of the more enigmatic players in baseball history. Circumstances dictated we do this by phone, so please forgive the sound quality and occasional car passing in the background. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, that was something! The Detroit Tigers, the team we know and love so well, had quite a night for themselves on day two of the draft. Somehow, they took not one pitcher, spent a high pick on a catcher, and still manage to procure a nice array of position players without reaching an inch. Instead, Al Avila and company just lay in the cut while interesting players dropped into their laps over and over. Vinnie Cervino and Brian Sakowski, the top evaluators for Perfect Game USA, were gracious enough to join hosts Brandon Day of the BYB Podcast, and Mark Gorosh of the Don't Call it a Rebuild, it's a Team Build Podcast, for another podcast summit. Together, as our two intrepid guests covered the final five round picks, (you're going to hear some rustling and typing in the background, sorry), we reflected on the overall picture from the past two days. In particular, we were broke down a wild day for the Tigers, and our generally positive impressions of the results. 1. IF Spencer Torkelson (Arizona State) 38. C Dillon Dingler (Ohio State) 62. OF Daniel Cabrera (LSU) 73. IF Trei Cruz (Rice) 102. IF Gage Workman (Arizona State) 132. IF Colt Keith (Biloxi HS) Intro: “Suzie Thundertussy” -Junie Morrison Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the draft under 48 hours away, host Brandon Day spoke to Keanan Lamb, Senior Draft Writer & Amateur Scouting Coordinator for Baseball Prospectus. Schedules are frantic between work and other media engagements, so we kept it to a tight half hour or so. Lamb weighed in on the positive developments in the Tigers' farm system over the past two years and the new hires last fall. Then it's into draft talk. This is such a peculiar and compelling draft, and we're so starved for real baseball news, that we can't help feeling like it's almost Christmas morning waiting for draft day to arrive. Without amateur baseball to watch for much of this spring, many of the usual cues prospect writers and scouts look for were absent, lending even greater uncertainty to the coverage. We can expect the unexpected, but then the draft never fails to hold some big surprises. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey we're back with another podcast summit between BYB and the Don't Call it a Rebuild, it's a Team Build podcast. Hosts Brandon Day and Mark Gorosh spoke to Brian Sakowski, National Scouting Supervisor for Perfect Game USA about the Tigers, the draft, and the challenges of evaluation in a fast-changing game. Unfortunately, Cody Stavenhagen of the Athletic Detroit wasn't able to join us on this one as planned, but we'll hope to have him back on soon as well. Open- Introductions and setting the stage with a look at the Tigers rebuilding effort, then we'll take a look at Spencer Torkelson and the other top guys on the board. 33:00 - A look at Perfect Game's recent mock draft for the Tigers 52:00 - The undrafted, and how to lure them to sign for a measly $20K 1:10:00 - Dealing with the unmeasurables in player evaluation. 1:32:00 - Quick snapshot of the developing 2021 draft class. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We've been gently easing our way toward draft season in recent podcasts and we'll continue on with the theme here. On this episode, we have a first timer on as we talk Tigers and start sussing out an overview of their draft options. BYB writer Trevor Hooth joins host Brandon Day for a little getting to know you conversation, an assessment of the Tigers current state, and the opportunities and pitfalls available in the 2020 MLB draft. In the first half, we discuss Trevor's path into baseball writing and sports journalism at large. We then get into discussion of the Tigers current assets and the trajectory of the organization as they attempt to transition into a more modern, data driven approach to drafting and player development. Draft conversation starts right around the (52:00) mark. This is a long one folks, but as this is Trevor's first appearance, we figured some introduction was in order. We discussed the Tork/Martin decision with the first overall pick, consider the draft class overall, and speculated on other higher round options the Tigers seem likely to consider. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back folks. We don't usually begin our draft coverage for a few more weeks, but then again, we're usually two weeks into a baseball season and covering the opening of the minor league season by this point. With tentative plans for a partial season still very much in the early stages, the draft is the one thing we've got to look forward to for certain, so let's start getting into it. Joining host Brandon Day are a pair of strong guests. First we have Joe Doyle, who writes for Lookout Landing, our Seattle sister site on the SB Nation platform. He covers amateur players and the draft for Prospects Live and Baseball America. Secondly, we have former BYB prospects writer Jay Markle. He's now with Motor City Bengals on the Fansided platform. We'll talk about the strange new rules that will govern the revised 2020 draft, the bonus pools, and how the draft class sets up for this five round free-for-all. The Tigers number one pick still has folks divided between Vanderbilt's Austin Martin, and Arizona's Spencer Torkleson, along with a few Asa Lacy believers to spice the mix. We'll talk about each of them, and look into the heart of the draft for the Tigers, who will hold picks 38, 63, and 74. Getting those picks right is going to be the key, and in a pitcher-rich draft class, finding a good arm or two without neglecting the dire need for good positional talent may influence the Tigers approach here. Along the way we'll talk about the Tigers farm system, their strengths and weaknesses, and whether they can close the gap between them and the top farms any time soon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back! It's been tough finding topics to talk about that aren't completely up in the air along with the rest of the game right now. So, to alleviate the issue, we've got a pair of special guests on tap for this one. We recorded on Sunday night, before the full release of MLB's new tentative plans for a partial season based in Arizona on Monday the sixth of April, but as it turns out we anticipated a lot of the potential issues in advance. Cody Stavenhagen, Tigers beat writer for the Athletic Detroit joins us on the podcast to talk about his impressions of spring training and hopes for the season prior to the COVID-19 delay. We're also joined by friend of the pod Mark Gorosh, host of the Don't Call it a Rebuild, It's a Team Build podcast (we need to shorten this moniker btw) over on the Tigers Minor League Report network of pods. Discussion started with MLB's contingency plans for a partial season and the problems and possible opportunities at hand as a result. We looked into the potential impact of the Tigers revamped player development department, though it's still going to be some time until their impact, for good or ill, becomes tangible. Stavenhagen also gives us his impressions of Casey Mize and some of the other standouts he observed down in Lakeland a few weeks ago, though it now feels like it's been months since we saw any action. Finally, the last half hour or so is largely a quick discussion of some of the music, books, movies, and tv shows getting us through the lockdown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you're not familiar with the website the Pitcher List, well you should be. One of our favorite sites for analysis and good writing, the site has evolved from fantasy coverage and video focusing mainly on pitching, into a full-blooded baseball site covering all topics with a lot of great insight. We were pleased to welcome Alex Fast to the podcast to talk about the Tigers 2020 pitching staff and pitching in general. We talked a lot about Matt Boyd, because Boyd remains one of the more intriguing pitchers and developing personalities in the game. Beyond him, we look through the Tigers rotation and the odds of a better showing this season. You can check out Pitcher List's recent interview with Boyd here. Joe Jimenez is another interesting breakout candidate, and we'll discuss his stuff, and the Tigers organizational philosophies as it comes to pitching and pitcher usage. Finally we'll talk the Tigers big three, as Casey Mize, Matt Manning, and Tarik Skubal continue to turn heads in Lakeland. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm told that it's still too early to say anything, so what follows is an hour of silence. Yes of course I'm kidding. The numbers don't matter, although some of them are hilarious, but what's happening on the field and on the backfields as well, does matter. With all that in mind, Brandon Day and Ashley MacLennan will take a look at some early returns. We'll also check in on how several roster battles are shaping up in the early going. The prospects are making their presence felt in Lakeland, and that's been more fun than anything else. We'll check in on Riley Greene, Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Tarik Skubal and the rest, and what they're working on this spring. Matt Boyd has become the staff leader, and took his fellow lefties to Driveline this offseason. Finally we'll discuss Keith Law's farm system rankings briefly, and explore how whining about bias has come to substitute for rational thought and inquiry. Good times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this edition of the Bless You Boys podcast, host Brandon Day is joined by Mark Simon of Sports Info Solutions. Mark has worked supplying statistics for ESPN, has appeared on MLB Network, and is one of the authors of the brand new Fielding Bible V hitting stores next week. Sports Info Solutions is the creator of defensive runs saved (DRS), probably the most popular and useful defensive metric available. For this new edition of the Fielding Bible, DRS has been radically overhauled to help take the prevalence of defensive shifts into account, and more accurately account for the individual parts of a player's defensive game, as well as the greater whole. It also allows a better sense of which teams do the best job of positioning, gaining or losing value by putting their defenders in better/worse positions to succeed. We'll talk about DRS and defense generally, and chat about other areas of the game where new metrics are having a major impact, both in quantifying player skill, but also in terms of altering what is measured and valued. You can tweet any questions about defense, or baseball generally, to Mark @SportsInfo_SIS, and we thank him for joining us for a discussion on the podcast. Fielding Bible V meanwhile, is available for pre-order on Amazon and will hit stores next week as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mercifully, after a strange offseason, spring camp has arrived full of feel-good stories, talented prospects, a lean, mean Miguel Cabrera, and all the trappings of the 2020 season’s beginning. We’ll take a look at some of the news, notes, and general chicanery coming out of Lakeland with the boys now back in town. MLB announces pay raises for MiLB players, which is good, but as expected, they seem to come at the expense of a lot of jobs rather than any commitment from owners to treat their players more fairly. Finally, the sign-stealing scandal won’t leave the headlines as players weigh in with frustration and anger, and Rob Manfred’s story seems to change every day. Now we wait for the other shoe to drop in Boston, and at least one of us (Brandon) fears this is going to get worse before it gets better. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re back with a special edition on the state of the Detroit Tigers farm system. Joined by BYB prospect analyst Jay Markle, we’ll run through a host of prospect topics in this one. Also, I need to apologize in advance for a little racket at times caused by a grouchy graphics card. The sound quality has improved a lot since we started the podcast up again, but we're still working with a time and resource crunch. Thanks for your understanding. First, we take a look at FanGraphs recent top 39 list for the Tigers system and discuss what surprised us and stood out in their evaluations. We’ll also look at some of the published data they have available and some hints that the Tigers are making some progress in using data to improve their pitchers. We’ll take turns offering up players we’re higher or lower on than FanGraphs or the rest of our staff seem to be. Several players are in a position where at least a modest breakout is required this season. We’ll discuss who really needs a good year to stay on track in the system, and which of the 2019 draft class will move fastest. Finally we’ll talk a bit about the state of the organization, the future and how to get there successfully, and positive and negative signs from the Tigers’ front office. This will be Jay’s last podcast with us before taking on his new role over at Motor City Bengals, and we’d like to thank him for all his hard work over the past four years. We’ll also miss him personally, but the baseball writing community remains tight knit and ever changing, so perhaps this isn’t Jay’s last rodeo with us here at BYB. Check out his work over at MCB coming in February, and as always we’d also like to recommend our friends over at Tigers Minor League Report for more excellent prospect coverage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sorry. The Tigers have been quiet, and these damned Astros won't stop putting their whole foot in their own mouth. This whole offseason has felt like a steady dose of black eyes to MLB, and baseball you can get here any time now, thank you very much. Hosts Brandon Day and Ashley MacLennan will talk a little about that creeping pitchers and catchers reporting vibe we're starting to catch as the Tigers Winter Caravan breezed through our social media feeds and then disappeared without a trace as there was no Tigerfest to center these quite random events on. We'll look at the incredibly tone deaf responses Astros players have offered in their first questioning over the Trash Can Conspiracy, Bang-gate, Bang-hazi, or whatever you prefer to call the cheating scandal. And most painfully, our long-time hero Justin Verlander proves again to be a hypocrite of the highest order, and should probably stop talking and start showing some leadership as the face of the Astros organization. Nicholas "Nick" Castellanos is headed to Cincinatti on a deal packed full of deferred money and opt-outs. Wish we knew how to do those things here in Detroit. However, Castellanos is good for the Reds, but might not move the needle enough for the Reds to thread it in their brief window for contention in a closely packed NL Central. Finally we'll chat a bit about FanGraphs new top 38 Tigers prospects list, and one very interesting decision they made at the top of said list. Thanks for tuning in, and please keep a lookout on Friday when we'll have a lengthy prospects conversation with BYB prospect writer Jay Markle. And as always, please check out our friends at the Tigers Minor League Report for further coverage of the Tigers farm as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 surreptitiously convey signs needs to be developed in a hurry. One of the wilder things about the Astros scheme is just how low tech and brazen their signaling system was. Probably other teams who really wanted to could come up with something rather more clever. Somehow the players involved escape punishment, which sucks, and other than the draft picks, Jim Crane and the Astros get to move on like nothing happened. Other than in the court of opinion where their 2017 World Series title will forever be tainted. Man, these are tough times for a baseball fan. MLB has so many credibility problems going on at once. Can we ever just get back to baseball? Not bloody likely. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BYB staff writers/editors Brandon Day and Ashley MacLennan are back after the holiday break, and there is much to discuss. We'll tackle the weirdness surrounding the Tigers decision to end the winter version of Tigerfest in favor of doing in July, and why that seems like a terrible idea poorly communicated. The Tigers did reinvest their Nick Castellanos savings in a few solid stopgap players this offseason and we're reasonably happy with their choices. The club also brought back reliever Alex Wilson, who resumed graduate studies in psychology last year and will function part-time as the Pitcher Whisperer. And finally we'll discuss Dan Dickerson's fanpost on the baseball itself, the juiced ball era, and the league's failing credibility on this and other issues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are a few minor bits of news to discuss as we reach Thanksgiving, but our listeners/readers responded to the call with plenty of good questions, so we dive right into our mailbag in this episode. Hopefully we have a few good answers. Topics range from the Rule 5 draft and free agency to recent Tigers history, Comerica Park's dimensions, and much more. Thanks to BYB's community for reading our work, listening to the podcasts, and always participating in smart, lively discussion on the site. On behalf of the whole staff, we wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're back with a special guest, as Emily Waldon of The Athletic Detroit and Baseball America joins host Brandon Day for a conversation on her time scouting the Arizona Fall League, the Tigers roster crunch at Triple-A, and the minor league restructuring proposals MLB has put forward. -We check in on Daz Cameron, Anthony Castro and some of the action from the Arizona Fall League. -2020 is going to be crunch time in the upper minors within the Tigers system. -Rob Manfred says it's his way or the highway, and surprisingly everyone is quite upset about his confrontational posture and desire to contract the minor leagues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Tigers set their 40 man roster, and protected just about every likely suspect this week. We'd like to encourage them to sign Travis d'Arnaud or some other decent catcher please. The Astros punishments should be coming soon. It's going to be very interesting to see how a year of blunders and reprehensible conduct is dealt with by MLB. Finally, Commissioner Manfred sounds an awful lot like he's daring the players union to strike, and we're not thrilled with he and the owners right now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices