WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.980 So, Bill, I like to ask you this question, like 00:00:01.980 --> 00:00:03.899 on the eve of the season starting here, like, 00:00:03.980 --> 00:00:06.639 what is your biggest hot take for the Detroit 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:10.859 Tigers in 2026 at this point? Inmanuel DeJesus 00:00:10.859 --> 00:00:16.399 in the 26! Any! But what's the hot take in that? 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:19.160 Nothing. Nothing. You're just shocked and you're 00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:21.500 happy. He was the first guy you mentioned in 00:00:21.500 --> 00:00:24.420 our preseason gig a couple weeks ago. Now, Kevin 00:00:24.420 --> 00:00:28.359 McGonigal's on the opening day roster, and let's 00:00:28.359 --> 00:00:33.880 go Tigers. You're listening to The Litterbox, 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:38.039 a Detroit Tigers podcast with your hosts, Chet 00:00:38.039 --> 00:00:45.439 West and Bill Patterson. Tigers Litterbox listeners, 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:49.100 welcome back. We got the kickoff to the 2026 00:00:49.100 --> 00:00:51.619 season for you a day away. We are doing this 00:00:51.619 --> 00:00:54.520 podcast on Wednesday and we've got our first 00:00:54.520 --> 00:00:56.119 game of the major league season this evening 00:00:56.119 --> 00:00:58.560 between the Giants and the Yankees out in San 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:01.119 Francisco. I'll probably watch a little bit of 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:04.209 that. Bill, we got a 26 man roster to blow through. 00:01:04.370 --> 00:01:06.090 They kind of released this a little later than 00:01:06.090 --> 00:01:08.109 some other teams. We didn't get it until about 00:01:08.109 --> 00:01:10.349 Tuesday morning this week. What are your thoughts? 00:01:10.489 --> 00:01:11.829 Do you have any takes? Why don't we go through 00:01:11.829 --> 00:01:13.549 the roster? Give us what we're looking at here 00:01:13.549 --> 00:01:16.689 for the 2026 season to kick things off. So, Chet, 00:01:17.090 --> 00:01:20.129 it's very expected what we're seeing on this 00:01:20.129 --> 00:01:23.049 26 man roster. Not a ton of surprises. However, 00:01:23.430 --> 00:01:25.569 there's a couple question marks that we really 00:01:25.569 --> 00:01:27.890 need to, you know, digest as we go through this. 00:01:28.430 --> 00:01:31.010 So listeners of the Litterbox, bear with us. 00:01:31.250 --> 00:01:33.569 Our starting rotation is going to be Tarek Scoobel. 00:01:33.689 --> 00:01:36.670 He's obviously a lefty. Framber Valdez, another 00:01:36.670 --> 00:01:39.959 lefty. Jack Flaherty, JV, Justin Verlander and 00:01:39.959 --> 00:01:43.519 Casey Mize. No surprises there. Chet, do you 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:46.299 have any thoughts on the starting five? So as 00:01:46.299 --> 00:01:48.739 it stands, it looks like Verlander is holding 00:01:48.739 --> 00:01:51.620 down the fourth spot in the rotation. Mize gets 00:01:51.620 --> 00:01:53.900 the fifth spot. Do you think that probably would 00:01:53.900 --> 00:01:55.900 have been the intent there would have been to 00:01:55.900 --> 00:01:59.370 have that flipped? It might not had such a struggle 00:01:59.370 --> 00:02:02.849 this spring. Yeah. And I mean, obviously, Reese 00:02:02.849 --> 00:02:05.709 Olsen setbacks throw this whole thing into a 00:02:05.709 --> 00:02:07.489 tizzy. I mean, that's why JV is pretty much here. 00:02:07.890 --> 00:02:10.530 So yeah. Yeah. Well, OK. So give me the bullpen. 00:02:10.629 --> 00:02:12.590 I'm curious about the bullpen here. So I'm going 00:02:12.590 --> 00:02:15.330 to start with the usual suspects. We're going 00:02:15.330 --> 00:02:17.909 to hear a lot about. These three, we're going 00:02:17.909 --> 00:02:20.069 to hear their names a lot because I imagine they're 00:02:20.069 --> 00:02:22.389 going to be in to close out a lot of games. And 00:02:22.389 --> 00:02:24.789 that's going to be Will Vest, Kenley Janssen, 00:02:25.009 --> 00:02:28.310 newly signed, re -signed Kyle Finnegan. And then 00:02:28.310 --> 00:02:31.949 my guy from last year, the lefty, the big guy, 00:02:32.229 --> 00:02:34.289 Tyler Holton. Your guy. And then we're going 00:02:34.289 --> 00:02:37.550 to go over to our another H who's a lefty, the 00:02:37.550 --> 00:02:41.870 4 -H club. But there isn't a 4 -H club this year, 00:02:41.930 --> 00:02:43.789 but keep going. We'll touch on that in a minute. 00:02:44.169 --> 00:02:46.310 Two leafs were torn off that little... Yes, they 00:02:46.310 --> 00:02:50.169 were. They were. Who else we got? Drew Anderson, 00:02:50.490 --> 00:02:54.449 who I am kind of high on, being able to be either 00:02:54.449 --> 00:02:57.669 the sixth starter or do some long innings in 00:02:57.669 --> 00:02:59.530 the bullpen. We'll see. I don't think you're 00:02:59.530 --> 00:03:01.110 on your own on that. I think a lot of people 00:03:01.110 --> 00:03:02.969 are excited for some Drew Anderson this year. 00:03:03.310 --> 00:03:06.129 And then my guy that I already mentioned, N. 00:03:06.330 --> 00:03:09.689 Manuel de Jesus, really a star rising through 00:03:09.689 --> 00:03:12.310 the world baseball classic. And it basically 00:03:12.310 --> 00:03:17.229 propelled him to a roster spot. Any time, any 00:03:17.229 --> 00:03:20.699 place, any day. Jesus. That's going to be the 00:03:20.699 --> 00:03:23.819 thing this year. He's going to shut people down. 00:03:24.099 --> 00:03:26.620 That's a t -shirt or a bumper sticker. Could 00:03:26.620 --> 00:03:29.979 be. Could be. And then the last guy on that list, 00:03:30.099 --> 00:03:34.280 a question mark. This guy, Carl's already chiming 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:37.719 in. Carl hates him. He hates him. Yeah. So this 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:40.340 is a weird one, listeners. It's Connor Siebold. 00:03:40.460 --> 00:03:43.259 And if anybody's raising an eyebrow saying whom 00:03:43.259 --> 00:03:47.080 or who, here's the deal. He was just cut by the 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:50.599 Blue Jays and picked up by the Tigers and somehow 00:03:50.599 --> 00:03:54.800 found his way onto the 26th man. I don't get 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:58.199 it. So Dillon Smith, who had a pretty decent 00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:00.639 showing last year, he was crazy good, but he 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:03.360 had some potential, got designated for assignment. 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:06.199 They say make room for McGonagall. That's the 00:04:06.199 --> 00:04:09.300 reasoning for it. And he's no longer on the 40 00:04:09.300 --> 00:04:11.300 man. He could get picked up by another team. 00:04:11.659 --> 00:04:15.699 Brennan Hannafee. Okay. A leaf of the 4H was 00:04:15.699 --> 00:04:18.240 optioned to AAA Toledo. And you know, you've 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:21.180 got Bailey Horn is on a 15 day IL. You got Sawyer 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:24.379 Dipson Long on a 15 day IL. I just wondered like, 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:28.220 why Seibold instead of say Hannafy, was Hannafy 00:04:28.220 --> 00:04:31.379 looking that bad in spring training? Why lose 00:04:31.379 --> 00:04:33.759 a Dylan Smith who I think could be a talented 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:38.000 reliever in exchange for Seibold who is, I just 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:40.740 don't see it. I don't see it. I don't see it 00:04:40.740 --> 00:04:44.600 either. And time will tell. Yeah, I agree. Let's 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:46.240 let's get out of the pitching side of things. 00:04:46.300 --> 00:04:49.279 Let's go to the offense here. Give me the catchers. 00:04:49.420 --> 00:04:52.100 Let's start. No surprise there. It's our guy, 00:04:52.339 --> 00:04:56.339 Dylan Dingler and the stachio Jake Rogers. There 00:04:56.339 --> 00:04:59.360 are no shocks there. I mean, Rogers had the concussion 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:02.139 injury, whatever, from the, I think it was a 00:05:02.139 --> 00:05:04.319 cage incident or something along those lines 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:06.899 that put him in concussion protocol for a while. 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:10.180 But he seems to be fine and he's back. No shocks. 00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:12.180 Love to see Dylan Dingler leading the charge 00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:14.699 there for the battery. How about infielders? 00:05:14.740 --> 00:05:16.480 Let's do some infielders here. Who do you have 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:19.860 for me? Torque at first, Glabar at second, KMAC. 00:05:20.139 --> 00:05:22.220 I'm going to get used to saying that is short. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:26.779 And Colt Keith at third base. Yeah, so. What's 00:05:26.779 --> 00:05:29.360 interesting here is you've we have a utility 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:31.220 section below there We'll talk about that one 00:05:31.220 --> 00:05:33.199 next because it's very related to the infield 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:35.399 But you've got a utility section here in our 00:05:35.399 --> 00:05:39.019 notes was Zach McKinstry and Javier Baez If it's 00:05:39.019 --> 00:05:42.379 Javier Baez, do you see go from being utility 00:05:42.379 --> 00:05:44.459 to everyday? What are you doing with him being 00:05:44.459 --> 00:05:46.399 in utility? Do you feel like he's just not gonna 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:49.360 start much now that McGonagall's up? Do you feel 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:52.379 like he's gonna be used as a piece all over the 00:05:52.379 --> 00:05:54.680 field? Maybe some centerfield, maybe some short. 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:56.680 What are your thoughts for him? Or do you just 00:05:56.680 --> 00:05:58.439 kind of forget about them like I do sometimes? 00:05:58.740 --> 00:06:02.240 Well, actually, this came from MLB. This is via 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:05.319 the Detroit. Tigers. So they called him a utility 00:06:05.319 --> 00:06:07.079 player. So this is what they're calling them. 00:06:07.300 --> 00:06:10.079 Interesting. What I think is going to happen. 00:06:10.220 --> 00:06:13.180 And if I can, let me do the outfielders and circle 00:06:13.180 --> 00:06:15.339 back to this question. Circle back. Okay, fine. 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:17.079 We'll circle back and touch on that. You got 00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:19.199 Riley Green and left. You got Kerry Carpenter, 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:21.959 either DHing or in right. You've got Matt Vierling 00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:24.740 playing wherever he can. You've got Parker Meadows 00:06:24.740 --> 00:06:26.860 in center. And then you've got Jami Jones playing 00:06:26.860 --> 00:06:31.149 wherever he can. Back to Javier Bayes or Javi 00:06:31.149 --> 00:06:35.370 Baez. Yeah. And the thought is that I think Parker 00:06:35.370 --> 00:06:39.269 Meadows has a really short leash. And I think 00:06:39.269 --> 00:06:43.850 Javier Baez is going to be. His love for centerfield. 00:06:44.170 --> 00:06:46.670 Yes. And if not, then you've got Veerling there. 00:06:46.889 --> 00:06:49.829 So you take all these guys into consideration 00:06:49.829 --> 00:06:52.350 one through nine. What's your order look like? 00:06:52.449 --> 00:06:55.149 Where does Veerling fit? Well, I think he's going 00:06:55.149 --> 00:06:58.910 to be your nine hitter chat in this either here 00:06:58.910 --> 00:07:02.970 McKinstry, which actually, I think, strengthens 00:07:02.970 --> 00:07:06.589 this team. I would say that. I think their lineup 00:07:06.589 --> 00:07:09.329 is maybe a touch stronger this year, even though 00:07:09.329 --> 00:07:11.810 the only real addition to it would be McGonagall 00:07:11.810 --> 00:07:16.050 if he plays every day. heard in red is that he 00:07:16.050 --> 00:07:19.110 would slot into that eight slot in terms of a 00:07:19.110 --> 00:07:21.209 one through nine. So kind of the weakest spot 00:07:21.209 --> 00:07:23.350 in the order right now as constructed because 00:07:23.350 --> 00:07:27.250 the nine, the nine is renaissance into a secondary 00:07:27.250 --> 00:07:29.589 lead off guy type thing or something. It's like 00:07:29.589 --> 00:07:33.769 one B to one B to one B to one A basically. So 00:07:33.769 --> 00:07:36.730 I'm curious and this is just, I'm throwing things 00:07:36.730 --> 00:07:39.870 around here. Where would you hit Kerry Carpenter 00:07:39.870 --> 00:07:42.050 right now? Is he your cleanup guy? Or is Riley 00:07:42.050 --> 00:07:45.689 Green? No, Green's your clean -up guy. Torque 00:07:45.689 --> 00:07:49.490 behind him. Okay, is Kerry your five? No, that 00:07:49.490 --> 00:07:52.670 would be Torque. Kerry'd be your one. Kerry'd 00:07:52.670 --> 00:07:54.670 be your one. You're going to let that lead off 00:07:54.670 --> 00:07:56.889 with Kerry right now. Yeah. I feel like Cole 00:07:56.889 --> 00:07:58.810 Keith would be a leadoff hitter. You could do 00:07:58.810 --> 00:08:01.089 that as well. So it's interchangeable. We know 00:08:01.089 --> 00:08:04.029 Glavar won't do that. No, he has to be two. He 00:08:04.029 --> 00:08:06.829 has to be two. He has to be. He has to be. OK, 00:08:07.170 --> 00:08:10.250 so that's what we're looking at for our kind 00:08:10.250 --> 00:08:13.589 of one through nine there. I had a question. 00:08:13.649 --> 00:08:15.670 We're talking about the outfielders here. And 00:08:15.670 --> 00:08:17.730 I was reading Cody Stavey Agen's piece today, 00:08:17.750 --> 00:08:20.449 and he had these three predictions for the season, 00:08:20.649 --> 00:08:24.069 right? His three odd takes. And one of those 00:08:24.069 --> 00:08:26.930 is that Matt Veerling is going to play a lot. 00:08:27.170 --> 00:08:29.329 Will probably play the majority in centerfield, 00:08:29.509 --> 00:08:32.450 which means Baez may not have that as an option 00:08:32.450 --> 00:08:34.710 if Veerling is successful. Then what are you 00:08:34.710 --> 00:08:38.169 doing around the infield with your 20 some million 00:08:38.169 --> 00:08:41.830 dollar man, Baez? You don't care as long as you 00:08:41.830 --> 00:08:45.470 keep on winning. That answer, winning fixes everything, 00:08:45.649 --> 00:08:49.090 doesn't it? That answer plays in any conversation. 00:08:49.330 --> 00:08:52.590 And Scott Harris, nobody will care. Scott Harris 00:08:52.590 --> 00:08:55.009 basically laid his cards on the table with the, 00:08:55.009 --> 00:08:59.659 you know, Heldaz signing in. I don't know that 00:08:59.659 --> 00:09:02.139 that is a real concern of the Tigers going into 00:09:02.139 --> 00:09:04.700 the season. I think if they can get the first 00:09:04.700 --> 00:09:08.279 half, first hundred game, Javier Baez, not the 00:09:08.279 --> 00:09:10.779 Javi Baez, they'll take it in every way, shape 00:09:10.779 --> 00:09:13.580 and form. Yeah. I got a couple of odd ones to 00:09:13.580 --> 00:09:15.620 throw at you. Yeah. Due to spring training and 00:09:15.620 --> 00:09:18.289 whatnot. Trey Sweeney has been placed on the 00:09:18.289 --> 00:09:21.350 10 -day IAL, retroactive March 22nd. He's destined 00:09:21.350 --> 00:09:24.009 for AAA. I don't think he's coming up and taking 00:09:24.009 --> 00:09:26.210 any of these guys' spots on the roster, at least 00:09:26.210 --> 00:09:29.389 at this point in time. I think he is trade bait. 00:09:29.450 --> 00:09:31.409 You think he's trade bait? I was just about to 00:09:31.409 --> 00:09:33.490 say, when he comes off that IAL, how quickly 00:09:33.490 --> 00:09:35.870 are we looking at trading him and can they get 00:09:35.870 --> 00:09:40.769 much for him? Well, we just explained... in other 00:09:40.769 --> 00:09:43.730 terms, I guess, if you would. You've got KMAC 00:09:43.730 --> 00:09:47.330 is a potential shortstop. You've got J .M. at 00:09:47.330 --> 00:09:50.289 his spot. You've got a Javi that can play it, 00:09:50.809 --> 00:09:55.029 or Javier. You've got ZMAC that can play it. 00:09:55.149 --> 00:09:58.730 And then you could, I wouldn't love it, but you 00:09:58.730 --> 00:10:01.110 could put Vierling there as well. I'm going to 00:10:01.110 --> 00:10:02.929 throw another name at you, two more names at 00:10:02.929 --> 00:10:06.159 you. Please. How you Lee. Yes. Prospect that 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:08.019 we've talked about a lot in the preseason so 00:10:08.019 --> 00:10:09.799 far. He did have some injury issues, but he did 00:10:09.799 --> 00:10:12.039 play in an exhibition the other day. He's a third 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:14.639 baseman by trade. But he could play the hot... 00:10:14.700 --> 00:10:17.259 He could play the hot corner, he could play the 00:10:17.259 --> 00:10:18.840 shortstop. McGonagall's even played some hot 00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:22.220 corner. Exactly. We have some interchangeable 00:10:22.220 --> 00:10:24.220 pieces there, but I think Howie Lee will stay 00:10:24.220 --> 00:10:26.240 in AAA until he hits the cover off the ball. 00:10:26.820 --> 00:10:28.860 And somebody else on our infield doesn't somewhere. 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:31.740 And unfortunately, I have a feeling it'd end 00:10:31.740 --> 00:10:34.360 up being McGonagall, if anybody, or McKinstry. 00:10:34.419 --> 00:10:36.899 But what do they do then? Jemai Jones? I don't 00:10:36.899 --> 00:10:39.460 know. It gets very, we don't have a lot of room 00:10:39.460 --> 00:10:41.299 to bring guys up. And you look at a guy like 00:10:41.299 --> 00:10:43.820 Jace Young, who had a wonderful spring training. 00:10:43.960 --> 00:10:46.580 Wonderful. And he's not going to get his shot 00:10:46.580 --> 00:10:49.220 on the big league club as things stand now. You 00:10:49.220 --> 00:10:51.059 can look at that also as having, hey, we might 00:10:51.059 --> 00:10:53.039 have some depth, some young depth to come up 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:55.019 as somebody gets injured or we need to move some 00:10:55.019 --> 00:10:57.320 guys around. So there's options out there. I 00:10:57.320 --> 00:10:59.580 think in case we run into injury, at least on 00:10:59.580 --> 00:11:02.019 the infield, probably an option or two in the 00:11:02.019 --> 00:11:05.980 outfield. It makes me feel feel pretty good about 00:11:05.980 --> 00:11:08.879 this lineup. Now. What does this do for us? It 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:10.759 does a lot of things. What does it look like 00:11:10.759 --> 00:11:12.279 for the division? What does it look like for 00:11:12.279 --> 00:11:15.440 your win -loss prediction? So going back to your 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:17.580 initial question, what does this do for us? A, 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:21.320 I think it's sending a ripple effect across Major 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:24.659 League Baseball. A, the Valdez signing. B, having 00:11:24.659 --> 00:11:28.259 Kevin McGonigal come up and be part of the 26 00:11:28.259 --> 00:11:31.580 man. The Tigers aren't playing any, you know, 00:11:31.740 --> 00:11:36.200 hokey. terrible salary cap, arbitration, service 00:11:36.200 --> 00:11:38.899 time, games. They're just saying, you've earned 00:11:38.899 --> 00:11:44.220 it, let's see you go. You can skip AAA. And hope 00:11:44.220 --> 00:11:45.919 you get more than four hits over the course of 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:47.539 the first month of the season like you did in 00:11:47.539 --> 00:11:51.279 spring training. Exactly. Exactly. Yes. With 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:55.539 that, I think this is a 90 -91 win team, Chet. 00:11:56.460 --> 00:11:59.220 They've strengthened the greatest weaknesses 00:11:59.220 --> 00:12:03.440 in terms of we have a legit five, and I mentioned 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:06.559 Drew Anderson as a potential six starter, and 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:10.039 that is not doing, you know, chaos, Chet. That's 00:12:10.039 --> 00:12:12.990 just one through six. And that's without talking 00:12:12.990 --> 00:12:15.889 about the reinforcements that are coming in terms 00:12:15.889 --> 00:12:18.970 of, you know, some of the guys that you really 00:12:18.970 --> 00:12:21.350 like as well that unfortunately are just injured 00:12:21.350 --> 00:12:24.590 right now. Sure. Some of the younger guys part 00:12:24.590 --> 00:12:26.669 two, I think we have a real bullpen this year 00:12:26.669 --> 00:12:30.470 with defined roles. I think we have a much improved 00:12:30.470 --> 00:12:33.090 bullpen this year. I think our staff from the 00:12:33.090 --> 00:12:36.049 rotation to the bullpen has gone from being about 00:12:36.049 --> 00:12:38.940 a C I mean, not the rotation, because Scoot Bowl 00:12:38.940 --> 00:12:41.059 takes any staff and boosts it up. It's fine. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:44.399 C plus, B minus. From a C plus, B minus staff 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:46.700 overall between rotation bullpen that we had 00:12:46.700 --> 00:12:49.879 last year to being an A minus to A staff this 00:12:49.879 --> 00:12:52.019 year. I think people have already said we get 00:12:52.019 --> 00:12:54.360 the number three rotation in baseball, and that 00:12:54.360 --> 00:12:57.000 bullpen looks pretty darn good to me right now. 00:12:57.159 --> 00:12:59.659 And then the battery, I think, is rock solid. 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:02.919 If anything... The only concern there is the 00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:05.879 fact that we've got two of our top five prospects 00:13:05.879 --> 00:13:08.960 sitting behind Dingler and Roger. So you've got 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:11.679 a young catcher, you've got a Wiley veteran who 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:15.759 can grow facial hair. You're loaded. So that 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:18.600 could be another trade possibility. And then, 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:21.379 you know, the only thing I can see slowing this 00:13:21.379 --> 00:13:25.580 team down is if certain players don't only, I'm 00:13:25.580 --> 00:13:27.500 not talking to regress to the mean, I'm talking 00:13:27.500 --> 00:13:31.059 regress below the Mendoza line. And I'm looking 00:13:31.059 --> 00:13:34.940 at like Spencer Torkelson, you know, you know, 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.399 let's just say KMAC does start slow. Yeah. What 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:42.440 does, you know, does Colt Keith go through a 00:13:42.440 --> 00:13:46.139 slump? You know, do we get first half ZMAC? Highly 00:13:46.139 --> 00:13:48.940 doubtful. But do we get only second half ZMAC? 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:52.179 Geez. I don't know if he's still. Yeah. No. Okay. 00:13:52.600 --> 00:13:55.820 Which Javi, do we get Javi or Javier? And so 00:13:55.820 --> 00:13:58.139 those are my questions as far as the division 00:13:58.139 --> 00:14:01.899 goes chat. The only real challenger I see is 00:14:01.899 --> 00:14:05.139 probably a young and feisty Royals team. I know 00:14:05.139 --> 00:14:07.639 the Guardians won't be an easy out, but they 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:11.940 did nothing but lose outside of re -signing a 00:14:11.940 --> 00:14:14.480 class act and a guy that I think should be a 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:16.519 first -ballot Hall of Famer when he gets there, 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:19.860 Jose Ramirez. So I'm going to say 93 wins would 00:14:19.860 --> 00:14:22.580 be my prediction. I'm going 93. You're in the 00:14:22.580 --> 00:14:24.460 same ballpark as you, but I'm going to add two 00:14:24.460 --> 00:14:26.519 more on there just in case it goes over yours. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:32.559 I get the win. As far as the division goes, I 00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:34.539 think we will have to win the division. You and 00:14:34.539 --> 00:14:36.799 I have talked about this before. The person who 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:39.360 wins this division gets the playoff spot. I don't 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:42.100 know unless things go awry in other divisions 00:14:42.100 --> 00:14:45.220 and other AL divisions that we aren't predicting. 00:14:45.580 --> 00:14:47.600 to go awry. If those things go awry, then maybe 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:49.659 we get a second team from the central into the 00:14:49.659 --> 00:14:52.399 playoffs. So I do think you have to win the division. 00:14:52.740 --> 00:14:54.980 You're going to go through a gauntlet, though. 00:14:55.220 --> 00:14:57.360 You kind of looked at the division as being somewhat 00:14:57.360 --> 00:14:59.460 weak. I think the Royals are going to be a better 00:14:59.460 --> 00:15:01.919 team. I think the Guardians are going to be the 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:04.600 same pain in the butt that Stephen Kwan and Ramirez 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:06.740 and everybody else have been to us. And I think 00:15:06.740 --> 00:15:09.200 the I'm going to throw a team out there right 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:12.379 now. I think the White Sox. are going to present 00:15:12.379 --> 00:15:15.000 some problems this year for us. They have a lot 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:17.379 of good young pitching coming up. They have a 00:15:17.379 --> 00:15:19.779 lot of good young hitters coming up. Guys like 00:15:19.779 --> 00:15:21.639 Colson Montgomery probably going to make a name 00:15:21.639 --> 00:15:24.899 for themselves this season. I don't know if it's 00:15:24.899 --> 00:15:27.159 enough to be competitive in the division. Maybe 00:15:27.159 --> 00:15:29.200 they'll be like the Royals of last year or the 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:33.139 year before. I'm not sure. No, no, no. No. You're 00:15:33.139 --> 00:15:35.059 sour on the White Sox right now because of what 00:15:35.059 --> 00:15:37.000 they're doing to Frank Thomas. I get it. You 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:39.740 don't want to see a team succeed that operates 00:15:39.740 --> 00:15:43.279 like that. But I gotta say, I think they're gonna 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:46.379 be competitive. And the Twins, good luck. No. 00:15:46.379 --> 00:15:49.000 Yeah, good luck. The best thing the Twins got 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:51.220 going from right now is that Mick Abel can keep 00:15:51.220 --> 00:15:53.620 his trajectory going and they got two very good 00:15:53.620 --> 00:15:57.899 starting pitchers. And they got a couple of guys 00:15:57.899 --> 00:16:00.340 on offense, but nothing that can stay healthy. 00:16:00.539 --> 00:16:02.539 So I think the Twins are gonna be in the basement 00:16:02.539 --> 00:16:05.279 for this season. So can we come back to why we 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:07.720 think that you have to win the division? And 00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:10.919 it's because both you and I think that... Whoever 00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:13.559 wins the American League East, it's going to 00:16:13.559 --> 00:16:16.080 be really competitive. Like possibly the most 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:18.600 competitive division in all of baseball. The 00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:21.379 Yankees look formidable. I think the Red Sox 00:16:21.379 --> 00:16:23.840 even look better. They're younger. They've got 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:27.000 a better staff. Roman Anthony is going to be 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:30.100 a beast this year. That kid's going to be crazy 00:16:30.100 --> 00:16:34.919 good. And then the Orioles made all sorts of 00:16:34.919 --> 00:16:39.419 improvements. Pete Alonso and the Blue Jays, 00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:44.100 I mean, They were, what, you know, a couple innings 00:16:44.100 --> 00:16:46.820 and a few outs away from being World Series champions. 00:16:48.539 --> 00:16:50.779 That division's a meat grinder. A meat grinder. 00:16:50.860 --> 00:16:52.840 I don't know who comes out of that whole thing. 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:58.039 However... it supports our hypothesis that you 00:16:58.039 --> 00:17:00.679 might not get two teams out of the ALS. Exactly. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:03.379 And then you go over to the West, you've got 00:17:03.379 --> 00:17:05.700 the Mariners who gave the Blue Jays everything 00:17:05.700 --> 00:17:08.700 they could handle. You've got the Astros who 00:17:08.700 --> 00:17:11.440 are similar to the Guardians, always a pain in 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:14.220 your rear. And then the Rangers, I would say 00:17:14.220 --> 00:17:16.680 underperformed last year. And then the other 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:19.400 two teams, you know, the Angels and Athletics 00:17:19.400 --> 00:17:23.759 fall into, you know, somewhat the raise and in 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:26.519 twins camp of probably not going to be that competitive 00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:28.799 this year. So that's basically your American 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:35.119 league outlook for that. Tigers win the division 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:40.200 and host at home. I think they advance beyond 00:17:40.200 --> 00:17:46.019 the ALDS and into the ALCS. And I think it all 00:17:46.019 --> 00:17:48.619 depends, Chet, and I know this is a weak answer 00:17:48.619 --> 00:17:55.329 on who they face. I think they would fare best 00:17:55.329 --> 00:17:58.529 against one of those ALA teams. And why I'm saying 00:17:58.529 --> 00:17:59.990 that is just because they'll have been through 00:17:59.990 --> 00:18:02.049 a meat grinder and I don't see one of those teams 00:18:02.049 --> 00:18:05.009 with the pitching depth to match ours. I don't 00:18:05.009 --> 00:18:06.750 think anybody would disagree. We are up on this 00:18:06.750 --> 00:18:09.960 team right now. I mean, we, these guys are, the 00:18:09.960 --> 00:18:12.039 trajectory is flying through the roof at this 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:14.579 point. I mean, the Framber signing, the Girlander 00:18:14.579 --> 00:18:18.200 signing, the bullpen signings of Kenley Jansen, 00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:22.599 just really beefed up that pen. The signing of 00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:24.779 Connor Siebold just pushed me right over the 00:18:24.779 --> 00:18:28.670 ledge. I don't know what happened there. But 00:18:28.670 --> 00:18:31.009 if these guys can hit a little like they did 00:18:31.009 --> 00:18:35.910 in 2024 and most of half of 2025, I think sky's 00:18:35.910 --> 00:18:38.269 low. We got to have 100 win season. I know that 00:18:38.269 --> 00:18:39.829 sounds crazy and I don't want to put that number 00:18:39.829 --> 00:18:41.809 out there because it's just so pie in the sky, 00:18:41.809 --> 00:18:44.930 but we'll see what happens. We got our first 00:18:44.930 --> 00:18:48.750 game tomorrow in San Diego. We get to play in 00:18:48.750 --> 00:18:51.130 a pitcher's ballpark to start things off, which 00:18:51.130 --> 00:18:53.720 should work out great for Tarek. We'll see how 00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:55.640 that goes. They're going to be a pretty good 00:18:55.640 --> 00:18:57.440 team, too. They got some good ballplayers. So 00:18:57.440 --> 00:18:59.480 we'll see how that works out. Everybody stick 00:18:59.480 --> 00:19:02.380 around. We'll be back to report on the series 00:19:02.380 --> 00:19:05.059 when it's over this coming weekend and to look 00:19:05.059 --> 00:19:07.640 ahead at what comes for next week. But baseball 00:19:07.640 --> 00:19:14.519 is back, Bill. Go Tigers. Go Tigers. All right. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:17.240 That's gonna do it for this episode of the Litterbox, 00:19:17.319 --> 00:19:19.960 a Detroit Tigers podcast. Thanks for hanging 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:22.359 out with us. We're Bill and Chet. We'll be back 00:19:22.359 --> 00:19:25.200 soon with more Tigers Talk. If you're enjoying 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:28.259 the show, be sure to follow or subscribe on Spotify, 00:19:28.779 --> 00:19:31.880 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:34.740 And hey, if you got a minute, leave us a quick 00:19:34.740 --> 00:19:38.000 review. Till next time, go Tigers.