Tigers fourth-round selection Gage Workman says he fully intends to sign with the club, as Jeff Metcalfe of the Arizona Republic reports. While the sides haven’t yet agreed to terms, it appears there’s at least a mutual expectation that’ll come to pass.
While it’s never much of a surprise to see a draft pick join a team — usually, there’s at least some amount of correspondence in advance of the selection to assure as much — there was reason to wonder whether Workman would end up turning pro. The Arizona State product had “lots of leverage due to his age” — Workman graduated from high school early — and the still-appealing possibility returning to school, Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs notes on Twitter.
Workman, you may have noticed, was the infield mate of top overall draftee Spencer Torkelson. The pair will launch their careers with the Detroit organization — perhaps even sharing the left side of the same infield once baseball finally resumes. The Tigers announced Torkelson as a third baseman, the position that Workman played at ASU. Workman is seen as potentially being capable of sticking at shortstop over the long haul and could at minimum begin his professional career there.
These two weren’t the only collegiate hitters selected by the Tigers over the past two days. The club took three more such players in the middle before going for high school third baseman Colt Keith with their sixth and final selection. It seems clear the Detroit organization hopes that some of these new draftees will catch up with the club’s imposing slate of upper-level pitching prospects.
Willl torkelson end up at first in the upper minors/majors most likely?
I would think so. He and everyone else were surprised when the Tigers announced him as a third baseman.
Yes, because he last played at the hot corner in High School.
Yes, Tork will be a first baseman.
The Tigers have a history of playing big bats/bad gloves at 3B. Remember Miggy at the hot corner?
Yes I do
Miggy played mostly 1B for the Tigers for four seasons before shifting back to 3B for a couple more years. I was at a game in Detroit when he made a nice leaping grab of a line drive as a third baseman to help preserve a shutout.
I love Miggy and he always has my appreciation and admiration on a baseball field. I also remember a tricky grounder eating him up, blasting him in the eye, and smashing his sunglasses.
These guys are pros for a reason. Miggy shook that off and played very decent 3B because he worked his tail off. If Tork wants to break the bigs, as soon as possible, he’ll need that type of work ethic which can get his glove and bat on the field wherever there is a need he can reasonably fill.
Miggy was a competent 3B, certainly no Brooks Robbie but not “bad.” He moved back there from 1B to accommodate Prince Fielder.
Cabrera put up a total war over 14 the two years he played at 3rd.
People that complain about him being bad at third are dumb. He was already an allstar 1st baseman and moved to 3rd so they could get Prince Fielder on the team. There are few players that would be able to make that work like he did.
Sorry, I came off wrong. I loved Miggy for how hard he worked to be a passable 3B, especially since it was obviously not an easy fit for him. If Tork wants to make it fast, then he’ll have to show that type of commitment and grit to fill a position that might not be the easiest fit.
But Tork is not a “bad glove” He was a 3-4 sport athlete(if you include hockey)…a running back in football who has speed, good hands, can move and probably could stick at 3B…However, Paredes is probably the Tigers next 3B. Tork can also play corner OF or 1B.
Great to have athleticism and versatility something the Tigers players lacked in their last run of contention.
The 3B situation appears to be a way to keep Tork in the minors in 21 and move him up with the young pitchers and prospects in mid 21 or 22.
Tork is a multi sport athlete who was a running back in football, He has the moves to play 3B. His Az St coach said the only reason Tork was put at 1B was because Az State had a “loaded inf” with many potential 1st round picks at 3B, SS, 2B etc. Tork was also used in OF including CF.
They dude has “game” and could play multiple positions.
He is not another Prince.
CJ Cron and Miggy can’t both DH and both bats need in lineup. Tork is 3B and Candy is benched.
CJ is a free agent at the end of the year. Tork is probably a couple years away
Obviously the Tigers have turned the corner
They certainly do like the older prospects who are closer to big league ready. Maybe they aren’t telling us something about how fast those young pitchers are ascending in skill.
Top secret quarantine workouts and Vince McMahon vitamin packs?
Tork is 20 years old…not quite a senior citizen EJ! With the advanced pitching prospects (AA/AAA/MLB?), they need college bats to join them, not high school prospects that take 5+ years to develop.
In a few years they should arrive at the same time the pitching does. They will sign a few free agents and be back in contention. Taking Colt Keith shows that they are still planning on building a farm system beyond that time. Tiger fans should be excited.
I expect the pitching to start showing up when they start games again. Boyd, Fulmer and Turnbull are up with Mize, Manning and Skubal ready at AAA. Even a few years may be too long. If teams show an unwillingness to sign Free Agents this off season, hopefully the Tigers will take advantage and get a value contract with someone like Springer. It might just take offering a normal contract in an unnormal year.
yeah i wouldn’t chance going back to school when there may be issues with playing next season and more competition for selections with 5th year seniors.
Is is really all that’s surprising Workman is going to sign? I mean statistically speaking he hasn’t really been all that impressive in College. Outside of a solid Sophomore season he hasn’t really hit all that much. And even during that year he’s never shown all that much power. It almost looks like this pick was a “safe signing” guy intended to maybe be a bonus for Torkelson to have a friend/former teammate to start out his professional career. (I’m not saying that’s literally the main reason for drafting him… but I’m also not entirely sure I see his career thus far justifying going in the 5th round of the MLB draft) — then again there were only 5-rounds so maybe they liked him enough that they wanted him and knew he wouldn’t sign for the $20K non-drafted players will be eligible for so they took him here. And assuming he and Torkelson are friends/friendly — they probably figured it would aid in his signability. Whereas maybe some other similar prospects would’ve been more inclined to stay in college for another season.
You’re crazy. This kid is an excellent player and a very good pick by Detroit. He went in the 4th round not the 5th and I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if he signs for a million dollars or more.
Tiger scouts probably knew workman fairly well after watching torkelson so much.
Also, tigers really hurt asu… not only took York and workman, but took their top high school commitment 3b Colt Keith.
Assuming they can sign Colt.
Colt told the press he was looking for a specific offer, declined lesser offers from other teams until Avila marched his number. He said he plans to sign once the paperwork arrives.
Workman is what they call a “dirtball” player…A spark plug who has not even reached his ceiling as a player. Saw highlight of clutch hits and clutch home runs hit by Workman. All contending and championship teams need guys like Workman,
Of the 6 Tiger picks I rate them in this order for “most likely to have solid ML careers”.
1. Torkelson
2. Keith
3. Cabrera
4. Dingler
5. Cruz
6. Workman
Workman strikes out a lot vs. college pitching. His biggest challenge will be closing the holes in his swing against pro pitchers. He looks like a K machine in the making.
Teams don’t look at K’s as bad nowadays… as long as he connects fairly often, Workman should be up pretty quickly. He has plus defense at 3B.
Tigers had a A+ draft. Cabrera and Trei Cruz can hit and if the catcher from OSU makes contact, ball goes far….Looks like 2022 is the aim point for competitive baseball being back in the D
Would be happy to see the Tigers finish last or close to it a few more years
to complete restocking the farm and team with high round draft picks.
I can see the Tigers moving towards their next run of contention in ’22 or ’23