Hot Takes: 2019 Edition

It is here.  The 2019 MLB season starts today!  I did this last year so I figured why not do it again?  Hot takes are fun when you make predictions based on some hope but also outlandish thoughts.  With the Tigers circling the bottom of the standings, you might as well have some fun with it.  Here.  We.  Go.  

• JaCoby Jones will be a Gold Glove finalist
• Niko Goodrum will have a 20/20 season (I whole heatedly believe this)
• Jordan Zimmermann will have a 15 win season
• Miguel Cabrera will steal two bases
• Christian Stewart will lead the team in home runs
• Nicholas Castellanos will sign an extension with the team
• Shane Greene will be traded, but will still end up leading the team in saves
• Casey Mize will make at least one start in the Majors
• The Tigers will win five games against the Cleveland Indians
• Matt Moore and Tyson Ross are both flipped for prospects at the trade deadline
• Ron Gardenhire will be ejected five times

I cannot wait for the Detroit Tigers to be good again.  Most everyone thinks they'll be good again in 2021 which sounds like a long ways away, but it's only two more seasons.
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*begins to cry uncontrollably* 

A Season of Sadness

The 2019 MLB season is upon us.  We have already seen games that matter played.  Granted it was just the Mariners and A's so no one really paid attention.  Except to see Ichiro play his last games.  And the games were played in Japan so they were on SUPER EARLY.  The real Opening Day is the 28th.  One week from now!  My co-workers make fun of me because of my excitement, but I take the day off and just soak it all in. 

It is going to be a very painful season for us Tigers fans.  The youth movement has started, but all the prospects that are going to bring this team back to relevance are still a year or two away.  By all accounts, 2020 and 2021 is when we will start to see the top ten to fifteen prospects in the bigs.  If they're still with the organization.  Also, one of the core starting pitchers, Michael Fulmer, is out for the season after his elbow exploded recently.  We'll see him back some time in the 2020 season.  If you want to find the positive to this devastating news this just means he'll have one less season's worth of innings on his arm.  He'll be well rested and could be the true number one we thought he would be after his rookie season.  This could also be Castellanos's last season with the Tigers.  And Miggy is coming off a lost season and is another year older.  

With all this bad news, what do Tigers fans have to look forward to?  Ummm, Christian Stewart is gonna mash a ton of baseballs.  Just don't watch him in the outfield.  Niko Goodrum is the new Don Kelly/Andrew Romine.  But better.  I think he has the ability to make games fun to watch, but as a utility player he won't have a true position each and every game.  The bullpen, surprisingly enough, could be a bright spot.  If the starting rotation can eat enough innings where the bullpen won't be taxed by August that is.

There are going to be long stretches this season where the Tigers are going to be unwatchable.  There are no two ways about it.  The first month of the season they have a chance to be a .500 team playing teams like Toronto, Kansas City, and Minnesota, but they've also got Boston, Cleveland, and New York on the schedule.  As fans, we just have to look for the fun and positive to get us through what is undoubtedly going to be a tough season.

End of the season record prediction:  67-95. 4th in the AL Central.  Kansas City sucks more than Detroit does.