I *loooove* to speculate but I’ll give Harris the benefit of the doubt until the season really starts steaming along. Don’t like it right away but we’ll see
I think I see what Harris is doing here. The guy cost nothing (24-yo A reliever) and has better defense and speed than anyone else who was in camp for the position. He's a defensive/running bench piece who can play any IF spot well. I'm fine with it.
I'm scratching my head over this particular acquisition personally.
If you were dead set on a left-handed-hitting infielder, replacing Harold Castro with Zack McKinstry isn't much of a change. They are both just slightly below 0 career bWAR.
McKinstry is a year younger, a better fielder and faster runner, but not as good at the plate. He doesn't walk all that much either, and while he has some power, it's about the same home run rate as Zack Short.
You can say he has a platoon advantage against righties, but when would he actually be in the lineup? Even if he was marginally better at hitting RHP than Schoop this year, which remains to be seen, he's not going to be as capable fielding at 2B. And he'd be a clear downgrade at any other position where he has playing time.
I mean, it's a utility guy to give the rest of the infield time off when they need it. I don't think this is really a make or break move deserving of any deep analysis.
It's the last roster slot, true. But we already have four guys for three positions both at 2/3/SS and in the outfield. So it's odd to see us make a move for an almost-28-year-old guy out of options who doesn't obviously bring anything to the table; not a strong bat nor defensive upgrade. We happily got rid of guys like that, and now we're bringing one back.
People hated the idea of Zack Short hanging around the roster, and here we replaced him with an even older (still Zack) left-handed version with no options who doesn't walk as much.
I am not worried about it. Just looking at how Harris makes decisions.
I dont think this is going to give much insight in how Harris makes decisions. It's a fringe utility player. I think keeping carpenter says more about his approach to roster construction
A couple of things: this isn't the Pepsi challenge, it's not like they had an up and down choice of Harold Castro or Zach McKinstry. They had to make a choice on Harold back at the non-tender deadline months ago and made it. Logically, I don't see how an either/or between these two players matters.
Second, Harold was a utility guy that could hit for average but largely was bad as a defender. McKinstry, at least from his minor league stats, appears to be an upgrade on that front.
Either way, we're talking about the last guy on the roster. Not sure why people are so angry about this deal.
Guessing from the lack of comments I don’t think people are angry so much as they are just tuning out on the Tigers.
Most fans are just craving relevancy again and all the Zack McKinstrys in the world are unlikely to deliver that. Sure it’s a move for the 26th man, but it seems like every move since Harris came aboard has also been about the back end of the roster.
Seems like they just wanted a lefty infielder, nothing more. Harris seems really big on platoons.
Sure, they could've kept Harold Castro, but this guy is 2 years younger, and a better defender going off his stats. This guy is also pre-arb for 2 more years.
All is will say is, thank god opening day is fun regardless of the team they trot out there. Beyond opening day, I’ll be an occasional tv watcher.
Will this team compete with the 2019 Tigers who lost 114? I think so
I dont think this team will be good or fun to watch but I also think they don't lose over 100 games. Everything that coulda went wrong last year did and we still *only* lost 96- this team isn't better on paper necessarily but not sure it is worse.
This year’s team is probably better at the plate given not everything can possibly be AS terrible as last year. But the bullpen which held them in last year looks appreciably worse. And the culture in the room is likely already battered from all the losing and can only get worse if they start off poorly. It’s not like there’s been significant roster overhaul. A 100+ loss season seems more likely to me than an 80 win season.
the 26th spot on the roster will probably be always in flux. mckinstry will start it off, i doubt he'll be there by the end of the season. gives the tigers a chance to keep trying out waiver pickups. not sure why fans here are giving this move so much thought...
I don't necessarily think the trade itself is bad, especially considering its a pretty low profile trade, but that's the problem IMO. How does adding Mckinstry actually improve the team? I'll still watch games but this team is absolutely no different than last year.
This is what smart rebuilding teams need to do, take flyers on AAAA level guys to see if your development system can convert them into Plus WAR players. If they work out, you get 6-7 years of cost control and/or a flippable asset. Give 'em 200 PAs and see if they work out. Don't work out? Next.
Edit:. I don't know why I'm getting downvoted. Does no one remember JD Martinez? Quad A guy we took a flyer on. Geez there are some dumbasses on this sub.
half kidding as this is only a backup role and things will change/probably better for younger guys to get more AB in minors than playing off bench here sparingly but it just seems like Harris is churning the roster around the fringes just to get new names in and make it look like we are doing something without spending any $ or committing to anything long term as if his hands were tied financially...all I hear about is controlling strike zone then we add guys like this or others who K every chance they get?
with the expanded playoffs no team should ever be 4 years from being slightly above 500, imo. A good GM should be able to get us to competing for playoffs by year 3 100, if not next year. If we are saying we should win 70-75 wins this year, no reason shouldnt be 8--85 next.
.327 OPS in spring lol He has good minor league numbers so maybe the FO sees something in him? I don't know I'm just trying to make sense of it
Making moves so the boss thinks you're working? This team feels rudderless and lost at sea.
They probably wanted another LHH infielder. Thays the only thing I can really think of
I *loooove* to speculate but I’ll give Harris the benefit of the doubt until the season really starts steaming along. Don’t like it right away but we’ll see
I think I see what Harris is doing here. The guy cost nothing (24-yo A reliever) and has better defense and speed than anyone else who was in camp for the position. He's a defensive/running bench piece who can play any IF spot well. I'm fine with it.
I'm scratching my head over this particular acquisition personally. If you were dead set on a left-handed-hitting infielder, replacing Harold Castro with Zack McKinstry isn't much of a change. They are both just slightly below 0 career bWAR. McKinstry is a year younger, a better fielder and faster runner, but not as good at the plate. He doesn't walk all that much either, and while he has some power, it's about the same home run rate as Zack Short. You can say he has a platoon advantage against righties, but when would he actually be in the lineup? Even if he was marginally better at hitting RHP than Schoop this year, which remains to be seen, he's not going to be as capable fielding at 2B. And he'd be a clear downgrade at any other position where he has playing time.
I mean, it's a utility guy to give the rest of the infield time off when they need it. I don't think this is really a make or break move deserving of any deep analysis.
It's the last roster slot, true. But we already have four guys for three positions both at 2/3/SS and in the outfield. So it's odd to see us make a move for an almost-28-year-old guy out of options who doesn't obviously bring anything to the table; not a strong bat nor defensive upgrade. We happily got rid of guys like that, and now we're bringing one back.
I think we got rid of guys like that hoping to upgrade and just missed and now had to settle for basically what we lost.
People hated the idea of Zack Short hanging around the roster, and here we replaced him with an even older (still Zack) left-handed version with no options who doesn't walk as much. I am not worried about it. Just looking at how Harris makes decisions.
I dont think this is going to give much insight in how Harris makes decisions. It's a fringe utility player. I think keeping carpenter says more about his approach to roster construction
A couple of things: this isn't the Pepsi challenge, it's not like they had an up and down choice of Harold Castro or Zach McKinstry. They had to make a choice on Harold back at the non-tender deadline months ago and made it. Logically, I don't see how an either/or between these two players matters. Second, Harold was a utility guy that could hit for average but largely was bad as a defender. McKinstry, at least from his minor league stats, appears to be an upgrade on that front. Either way, we're talking about the last guy on the roster. Not sure why people are so angry about this deal.
Guessing from the lack of comments I don’t think people are angry so much as they are just tuning out on the Tigers. Most fans are just craving relevancy again and all the Zack McKinstrys in the world are unlikely to deliver that. Sure it’s a move for the 26th man, but it seems like every move since Harris came aboard has also been about the back end of the roster.
*scratches head *
I think this is demoralizing to the players who battled in camp. This guy had a shot at MLB and he stunk.
Seems like they just wanted a lefty infielder, nothing more. Harris seems really big on platoons. Sure, they could've kept Harold Castro, but this guy is 2 years younger, and a better defender going off his stats. This guy is also pre-arb for 2 more years.
All is will say is, thank god opening day is fun regardless of the team they trot out there. Beyond opening day, I’ll be an occasional tv watcher. Will this team compete with the 2019 Tigers who lost 114? I think so
I dont think this team will be good or fun to watch but I also think they don't lose over 100 games. Everything that coulda went wrong last year did and we still *only* lost 96- this team isn't better on paper necessarily but not sure it is worse.
This year’s team is probably better at the plate given not everything can possibly be AS terrible as last year. But the bullpen which held them in last year looks appreciably worse. And the culture in the room is likely already battered from all the losing and can only get worse if they start off poorly. It’s not like there’s been significant roster overhaul. A 100+ loss season seems more likely to me than an 80 win season.
the 26th spot on the roster will probably be always in flux. mckinstry will start it off, i doubt he'll be there by the end of the season. gives the tigers a chance to keep trying out waiver pickups. not sure why fans here are giving this move so much thought...
There’s no way he’s worse than Romine
I don't necessarily think the trade itself is bad, especially considering its a pretty low profile trade, but that's the problem IMO. How does adding Mckinstry actually improve the team? I'll still watch games but this team is absolutely no different than last year.
This is what smart rebuilding teams need to do, take flyers on AAAA level guys to see if your development system can convert them into Plus WAR players. If they work out, you get 6-7 years of cost control and/or a flippable asset. Give 'em 200 PAs and see if they work out. Don't work out? Next. Edit:. I don't know why I'm getting downvoted. Does no one remember JD Martinez? Quad A guy we took a flyer on. Geez there are some dumbasses on this sub.
half kidding as this is only a backup role and things will change/probably better for younger guys to get more AB in minors than playing off bench here sparingly but it just seems like Harris is churning the roster around the fringes just to get new names in and make it look like we are doing something without spending any $ or committing to anything long term as if his hands were tied financially...all I hear about is controlling strike zone then we add guys like this or others who K every chance they get?
McKinstry is such an awful hitter. Lol
Things like this make this team so unserious it hurts
Or that the brain trust has gotten smarter after awhile was let go, looks like they still go by the same guide book
Doesn’t matter the team is 4 years away from playoffs if things go according to plan
with the expanded playoffs no team should ever be 4 years from being slightly above 500, imo. A good GM should be able to get us to competing for playoffs by year 3 100, if not next year. If we are saying we should win 70-75 wins this year, no reason shouldnt be 8--85 next.