Detroit Tigers News: Still waiting for our pitch

Editor’s Note: We’ve been rather strapped for news, and especially good news, over the past month. Unfortunately, the biggest news of the day was not good at all as Mr. Tiger himself, Al Kaline, passed away at the age of 85.

You can find our story here, and an initial remembrance as well. In the coming days we will be bringing you reactions from around the baseball world, as well as our personal remembrances. The links themselves below were complied prior to the news breaking.

Faedo takes his place

With all the hype around Matt Manning, Casey Mize, and Tarik Skubal, it’s easy to see how a down year and time have combined to put Alex Faedo on the back burner for a lot of fans. As Anthony Fenech of The Detroit Free Press points out, a visit to the University of Michigan’s sports science team, and a year of getting back into the swing of things has put the young hurler back in the competition for a future rotation spot. Following a 2019 season that saw a return to form velocity wise, and the further development of a change-up, the future looks brighter. While some people still see Faedo as a future relief arm, former Erie Seawolves manager, Mike Rabelo, sees a starter.

“He’s going to give you innings, man,” Rabelo said. “He’s going to give you innings and that dude is not scared of contact. And I’ve said this forever — there’s a lot to be said about that.

Goodrum’s home gym

Chris McCosky of The Detroit News had a conversation with Niko Goodrum from his home outside Atlanta recently, and while there is no baseball to be played, Goodrum is keeping sharp in his self-styled workout facility in his backyard.

“If you could’ve seen where it came from and how it came together,” Goodrum said. “It was fun doing it. Me, my dad and my brother did everything together. We had some people come in to knock a wall down, but we did everything else together – laying the turf, putting the equipment together, hanging stuff, everything.”

Goodrum, like the rest of us, is still hopeful that baseball is going to be played this season. Now, in the garage in his backyard, he can do almost everything he needs to do to stay ready.

Fair trade

Evan Woodbery of MLive takes on the daunting task of evaluating the trades the organization has made since the start of the rebuild in 2017. Since that point the Tigers have acquired 19 prospects. Five of them have made it the big leagues, and it’s fair to say that none of them have had much of an impact. Woodbery believes that outside of Justin Verlander and his remaining control the team didn’t give up all that much to acquire what they currently have. From a financial perspective the trades have all been worthwhile, allowing the team to shed payroll and stockpile young bodies. Going through the overall list it’s a tough read. In my humble opinion — unless Franklin Perez is finally able to shake the injury bug — The Alex Avila and Alex Wilson trade, which netted Isaac Paredes and Jeimer Candelario, is the front runner for coming out as the best deal of the group.

The next pick?

Jeff Seidel of The Detroit Free Press looks ahead to the amateur draft and profiles Vanderbilt multi-position player Austin Martin. Martin is the number one overall player as ranked by Baseball America. He played third base last year and made the switch to centerfield this year. Martin’s ultimate position is an unknown, but he is said to have the ability to cover anything in the range of third, short, second, or the outfield. That kind of versatility could prove beneficial. I personally am a Spencer Torkelson fan, but it doesn’t seem like the team could go wrong with Martin either.

Around the horn

A look at the best late round draft picks of all time. Justin Verlander to donate the next two months of his pay to those in need. The time Darryl Strawberry hit a home run so far scientists got involved. How to get a job in baseball, according to GMs.

Baseball is awesome

This thread of weird high school baseball field dimensions is amazing.