Jason Beck
May 22, 2025
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0:30
Max Clark swats his second career grand slam
DETROIT — Mother Nature washed out Wednesday’s Tigers-Pirates matchup at Comerica Park, but it was still a good day for talking baseball. Here are some of the highlights (which have been edited lightly for clarity and brevity) from a Reddit AMA Wednesday afternoon with MLB.com Tigers beat writer Jason Beck. You can read the full transcript here.
How aggressive will the Tigers [be] in the trade market? — tcguy71
I think the Tigers will be aggressive on the guys they want to bring in. That doesn’t mean they’ll make the biggest deal. But I think president of baseball operations Scott Harris knows what he and manager A.J. Hinch want/need — particularly relief depth, maybe another starter, possibly a right-handed bat for the lineup or a more full-time answer at third base — and they have the prospect depth to make a few deals without selling out the farm system.
How much do you think the Tigers are willing to give up in a future trade? Are their top prospects like [Max] Clark [No. 1], [Kevin] McGonigle [No. 2], [Josue] Briceño [No. 4] pretty much considered untouchable at this point? — foxy7474
I would not expect the Tigers to offer up their top prospects. I think Scott Harris strongly hinted in his radio interview on June 11 that they want to build around those guys in the years to come. But they’ve built some depth in some areas, particularly in the infield, where they could part with a prospect or two without mortgaging their future.
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What are the Tigers thinking about adding a starter? Or are they banking on Alex Cobb and José Urquidy coming back and working out? — Go_J
The Tigers can explore the starting market and see if there’s a deal to be made for depth. But if Reese Olson comes back healthy, I’d be surprised if the Tigers go big for a starter barring more injuries. With Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize and Olson, they would have a potential postseason series rotation intact. A fifth starter only comes into play in the regular season, and with Keider Montero holding his own, plus Cobb and Urquidy potentially factoring in, they have options there.
Which of our young core is getting the next contract extension? — hundredgrandpappy
Skubal is the obvious player looming, and I don’t know how that one will ultimately turn out. The last few years have shown us that pitcher situations can be hard to predict given the injury risks, so I’m less inclined to try to predict. After that, Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter are all on track to become arbitration-eligible this coming winter. Greene would be a logical candidate, given his consistency and how much he means to the team.
