Detroit Tigers News & Notes: Dingler, Baddoo, Skubal, Bregman, and More!

Detroit Tigers News & Notes: Dingler, Baddoo, Skubal, Bregman, and More!

We are almost one full week into the off seasonason already. Hard to believe, but there’s a lot of news and notes to go over in that time. We have Dylan Dingler being nominated for a Gold Glove. Obviously, Alex Bregman set to be a free agent again. And so, so, so much more. All today on Locked on Tigers. You are Locked On Tigers, your daily Detroit Tigers podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What is up everybody? Welcome back to another edition of Locked On Tigers. I’m of course your host, Scott Bentley. Today is Friday, October 17th, 2025. Thank you so much for making Locked On Tigers your first listen every single day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcasts, including YouTube. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every single day. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Just download said app today. Welcome in. Welcome all everybody. Happy Friday. So, as I said in the cold open, we’re almost a week into the off seasonason here. Just a handful of small news and notes that on their own are not even close to a full halfhour of conversation, if you will. But nice little relaxing Friday show. We’ll throw them all into one episode here and send you off on to your weekend. So, some are really interesting and I I will be conversations we have honestly again and again and again throughout the off season. Some are just kind of footnotes and everything in between as well. So, want to start off with Akquil Badu electing free agency. The former rule five pick and and rookie sensation of 2021 has officially elected to become a free agent. uh unfortunately just has not figured it out since then. Um he look man I I maintain that he has tools that organizations really like and that somebody will man this collar is just abs I love this shirt too. Jeez. Anyway, he has tools and skills that organizations really lack, right? And and I almost can promise you that an organization will take a chance on him uh to improve his bat to ball skills because that’s really what he’s lacking. He draws walks, he’s very fast, and he has power. And those three things all in one have become more common over the last 10 20 years than they were for the first, you know, 80 years to a century of baseball. However, they are still things that if when you find allinone player, you hold on to and you try to get the most out of th those are those are still relatively rare tools to all find together in one player. So, I don’t disagree with the Tigers holding on to him this year and seeing if they can get something out of him. Um, but I mean, he’s 27 and was removed from the 40man roster this season. Um, like I said, I’d imagine somebody gives him an opportunity, but it also wouldn’t be the most shocking thing in the world to me if he returned to Detroit on a minor league deal. I I don’t think that would be the most shocking thing ever and I wouldn’t be too mad about that either. All in all, I just hope he figures it out wherever he ends up. Um he he if you look at the last five years of Tigers baseball, I mean legitimately he is one of the more exciting players that this organization has had. you know, when he was rolling and when he was playing really well and and no matter what happens I in his career, not even just in 2026, just completely going forward. I I will always be a fan of Akquil Badu, man. And I will always appreciate the 2021 run that he went on. You know, the the 2016, I guess 2015 was terrible, but that was more because of injuries. Either way, the 2015 through 2023 Tigers were just so bad and and drained you of all hope and joy that that run that he went on was so fun. even if it only lasted, you know, a month, two months, it was so unbelievably fun and to a point where he transcended the Tigers, you know, news cycle and organization and really was one of the bigger stories in baseball. Like, how quickly we forget he was one of the like he was on national, you know, highlight reels and and was getting posted by, you know, the MLB account like every day. Like he he was he was a big name there for for the first half of that season. Um, and and that run that he went on, I I truly do believe will be a part of Tigers lore, you know, forever. And and people that grew up in this era are always going to remember like, oh yeah, like the Akil Badu run. Do you remember the the Akil Badu season, you know? So, tip of the cap and a thank you to Mr. at Badu and uh yeah, like I said, wishing for the best wherever he ends up, whether that’s ultimately back on a minor league deal or with another organization. Also, Tomasito elects free agency. Shout out my dog, man. Uh a guy that also wouldn’t surprise me if he came back on a minor league deal just as a depth piece. Um but he’s certainly going to test the market. Uh, not that he’s going to get a starting catcher job anywhere, but if he can find anywhere where he’s higher than like the third or fourth catcher in line organizationally, then he’s going to go there and sign a minor league deal with them. So, um, yeah, we’ll see. We’ll see what happens with him. Dylan Dingler, gold glove nomination. officially a gold glove nominee. One of three catchers, Alejandro Kirk in Toronto and then Narvay in Boston who had a fantastic season, a very under the radar year from him. I I I think realistically this could kind of go to any of these guys. Uh and it’d be pretty understandable like I would imagine Kirk is the favorite. I I would imagine like he had an exceptional season behind the dish. He graded out in like the hundth percentile and multiple catching defensive stats. Um but all three of these guys graded out incredibly well and I think they are the three most deserving candidates for this award. So good job to, you know, the people who put together the nominees for starters. But uh yeah, it’s it’s just really exciting. I mean, Dylan Dingler had such an unbelievable year for really on both sides of the plate in terms of just like a coming out party for him. Um, but that really does start and end with the the defense, man. He he was such an anchor back there and graded out so well. Had a great arm, threw a lot of runners out, just did everything right. So, tip of the cap also to Dylan Dingler and hopefully he can bring home some hardware. When was the last tiger gold glove catcher? Was it Pudge? I don’t even know if Pudge won. What? Pudge definitely won. I mean, a lot, but th those might have been more with with Texas or even the one year in Florida. I don’t remember. I mean, I was in elementary school. I don’t remember if he took one home while in Detroit. Either way, it’s been a while. It’s been a while. So, that’d be really cool. and he’s only a rookie. He’s only a rookie. He doesn’t win it this year. He’ll be in the running going forward. Fantastic season. Let’s talk Alex Bregman because we have to put our seat belt on and and go on this ride again for the second winter in a row. We’ll talk about that right after this. First though, got to talk to you about our friends over at Prize Pick. This episode is brought to you by Prize Pix. Every day we make decisions. Right, you and me. But on Prize Pix, being right can actually get you paid. So don’t miss the excitement of this football season with Prize Picks, where it’s good to be right. 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That’s a lie. We’ll be back on Monday. We’ll be back on Monday as we send you off into your weekend here talking. We’ll we’ll start a player uh review, I guess, is the word. I keep saying that. I guess we’ll roll with it. Uh series next week. We’ll also obviously talk about any other news and notes surrounding the Tigers off season. Today though, we talk about a lot of things and one of those is Alex Bregman, who has not officially done it because the season is literally still going on. Okay. And those aren’t officially official until after the World Series, but a report came out that Alex Bregman was intending to opt out of his deal with the Boston Red Sox. Here we go again. You know, um, and we will go much more in depth on this, okay? So, do not think that this is even close to the last time we’ll have a Bregman conversation. I’m sure we’ll have four or five. To be honest with you, I’m already dreading it. Um, but to just, I guess, get the ball rolling and start the conversation here, I understand why he opted out. Last year, he said he wanted more of a long-term deal. He has an opt out after all three or in between each of his three seasons with Boston. Now, it’s a ton of AAV, you know, 40 mil. He’s not going to get that in free agency. He’s not going to get anywhere close to that. Um, that being said, if he can get something into the 25 to $30 million a year range and have that be a five to sevenyear deal, then I’d imagine he’s going to prioritize that over just taking the highest AAV but not having long-term security. So, we’ll see what happens. This year was kind of a weird one for him. Um, he had an exceptional first half. exceptional ops over 900 was playing plus defense all around fantastic first half of the season. Um the second half I mean it wasn’t a train wreck but it wasn’t great either you know ops around 730 720 in that range. Um look I mean whether you like it or not whether you want it to happen or not I mean obviously it was a big talking point last year. The Tigers are going to kick the tires. The Tigers are going to kick the tires on Bregman again this winter. That doesn’t mean they’re going to, you know, offer the same contract as last year, pay, you know, 40 mil a year for him or anything, but they’re going to be interested. And there there’s three reasons why, maybe even four, but we’ll see if I can do it in three. One is he’s still a fantastic defender. um that the defense even I I I would say took a little bit of a step back metrically this year and he was still a a plus plus defender over at third base. So even if the offense maybe declines over the next again however long the contract ends up being four, five, seven, eight years whatever the defense should hold for a longer period of time. B, he is the exact profile of hitter that the Tigers are looking for and that a lot of this fan base is begging for, right? Like it’s you you got to pay people what they’re worth, man. Like ultimately if you’re sitting there and you’re like, “Wow, I want a guy that doesn’t strike out as much and you know doesn’t swing and miss as much, doesn’t chase out of the zone, is better with runners of scoring position and draws walks. Okay, that that’s that’s a pretty darn good player, and those cost money.” And that is exactly what Bregman is. He doesn’t swing and miss. He doesn’t strike out. He doesn’t expand the strike zone and chase. And he walks a lot. That’s what the Tigers want to add to this lineup. And he’s a righty, which the Tigers also want to add to this lineup. The third reason, C, is I think there’s a chance he may be cheaper contract valuewise than he was a year ago. That’s not because he had a terrible season. His OPS this year was actually higher than it’s been in I think three years. So, it’s not like he’s he’s, you know, hardcore on the decline or anything. I just think he’s another year older. He’s now 31 years old this off season. So, we’ll turn 32 next year and had an underwhelming second half. I don’t know. We’ll see. Again, we’ll go far more in depth on all the ins and outs and intricacies with that and what it could mean for the Tigers later. But I think if there is a a letter D here, a fourth thing, it’s that third base, there isn’t a clear and obvious option for the Tigers in 2026 and beyond. McGonagal, you you’d love for that to work out for him to be the third baseman. He’s also still getting reps at shortstop and still has played second. Colt Keith is not going to be the long-term third baseman, I don’t think. I mean, you can really go down the list. Matt Beerling, not sure you want him to be like your everyday third baseman for the next five years this year. I mean, Andy Abana, Zach McKinstry, like the platoon situation, right? So, they’ll kick the tires. We have a long time till we find out exactly the extent of the tire kicking that they will induce in this situation, but they will be prevalent in these conversations for the second winter in a row. Trick Scooble extension conversation. Um, we talked about the press conference. We’ve talked about Scooble pretty much every day since. I I’m already tired of this and it’s it’s not going anywhere. If anything, it’s just going to keep getting worse, actually. Um, but I’m already exhausted from the TK school saga and it hasn’t even truly started yet. Um, the the biggest thing that I’ve seen, the reason why we’re even talking about it today is because online on the internet within the fan base over the last week, I I I’ve been seeing the biggest frustration that people had was a quote that I don’t even think I really brought up in the posts in the episode that was recapping the press conference. And that was that Harris said he was asked about, you know, wanting to sign Scubble long term. And he basically said, “I don’t want to talk about players that will or won’t sign or or uh trades that I may or may not do.” And everybody focused in on the trade part of that and was like, “Oh my goodness, why would you even say that?” Um I, as I said on that episode, and I’ll say it again, I’m not like I I’m not diving too deep into any of the comments made in the press conference, man. I actions is what I care about. Um I would have preferred I guess if he just said yes, we’re going to try to resign him. I’m not sure what the the negative is there. Like from a PR perspective, I’m not sure how just saying, “Yeah, he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball. We’d like to have him around long term.” I’m not sure how that’s uh just keeping it at that is a bad thing, but he elected to to say that he doesn’t want to talk about anything. So, like we’ll see. I I I didn’t love it. I’m not like, you know, jumping up and down for joy over what he said, but I I just I’m not I I don’t know. I I I have a hard time hyperfixating on, you know, passing quotes like that. It’s It’s whatever. We’ll see what happens. It’s going to be a long winter. It’s going to be a really long winter in regards to the Terk Scoo situation. Okay, next up, George Lombard. I think this is the year that he finally gets poached and leaves for another managerial job. And that makes me very sad. We have been blessed with a very good coaching staff over the last five years. Um, with Federer and Lond and Neves and Hinch, the hitting coaches, there’s been some question marks in that regard. I’m not going to praise them or pump their tires as much as uh, you know, the other guys here, but they also haven’t been here since, you know, the very first year that Hinch got here either. So, it’s it’s been again, but you know, most people have a positive outlook on the Tigers coaching staff, and George Lombard has been a big part of that. Um, he’s been the bench coach ever since the the second that AJ got here. And I I think every single year since then, there has been at least one rumor about George Lumbard leaving for another team to be their manager. and in he’s incredibly well-liked. He is uh incredibly respected in the baseball world and community and somehow he’s made it five years and hasn’t left for anybody else. I I’m sure part of that is his own decision- making. I’m sure maybe part of that is not getting far enough in like the the um not negotiation interview process this year. I hope I’m wrong, but this year I think that finally ends and I think we probably lose him to another team. And the reason for that is just the profile of some of the jobs that are available don’t come around very often. the Atlanta Braves being probably the biggest one in that conversation. But even like we’ll see what happens with, you know, if if Boone is here long term, etc. Like the there there’s going to be some managerial openings that are are very highly soughta in big markets with good rosters with front offices and ownership groups that are willing to spend money. And I I just think at some point like he’s still young enough in in like the managerial world where he’s been able to wait for these last few years and and kind of let the dust settle. I just feel like this year is probably the year that that ends and our luck runs out there. Um now again, I hope I’m wrong. I I think he’s an incredibly valuable asset and everybody loves him. Um but uh it would not shock me if he was a manager this year. So that’s something I want to keep an eye out for as well. Okay, got a few more things to talk about really quick. Nothing too crazy. We will do that right after this. First though, got to talk to you all about our friends over at FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 at FanDuel and get 300 in bonus bets if you win. That’s right. You pick a bet, put down five bucks, and if it hits, you’ll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. The NFL season is in full swing and FanDuel has so many offers you don’t want to miss. We just talked about one, but there’s so many great ways to play at FanDuel as well. You can build parlays, try player props, and even follow along live during games. So, what are you waiting for? Visit fanuel.com to download the FanDuel app today and get started. All right, everybody. Welcome back here. Third and final segment of Lockdown Tigers. appreciate you all for tuning in as always. Uh the next thing I want to talk about is another comment that was made during the press conference that I’ve seen a lot of people online really bringing up a ton that I just again did not really care about. Um, Scott Harris mentioned that he wants to cut down the strikeouts and earlier this season, Riley Green said in in an interview that nobody cares about the strikeouts and now everybody that this is like a story and I I just I I wish I could be like hot take clickbait guy like in this moment. I I really do. But I I just do not feel strongly about this as a lot of other people do, man. I I I am very glad that Scott Harris wants to cut strikeouts organizationally and at the major league level. Okay, he should. It’s an issue that needs to be resolved. I promise you people care about the strikeouts. I promise you, Hinge cares about the strikeouts. Riley Green should care about his strikeout numbers and should want to lower them. I think he needs to lower them to reach the ceiling that people I mean I still believe he has. I will continue to be very critical of his approach and his bat path if he does not cut down the strikeout numbers. I also think that in the middle of a season, coaches were probably not in his ear telling him that he sucks and like asking him to make a million changes and tweaks midame or or or you know in between a game when you play every day throughout the second half of the season trying to address that. You can be mad at Riley Green. Okay, I’m not going to get in the way of that. But I think it’s pretty, at least in my eyes, it’s pretty clear that the organization doesn’t want the strikeout number to be as high as it was this year going forward. And that’s really all I care about. They can say whatever. Like I am convinced that this front office at least wants to attempt to address the strikeouts. Now, if they don’t do anything all off season and we have and Riley Green strikes out 200 times again and hasn’t made any adjustments, then I will be critical of that next season. I I I’m not going to let that those two quotes occupy my brain in October of 2025 after the Tigers are done playing uh uh in regards to the 2026 Detroit Tigers. M. We’re gonna see how the offseason plays out. Some other cool footnotes here. Uh Winil Perez and Parker Meadows both being inducted into the West Michigan White Caps Hall of Fame. Not really like a huge deal obviously, but um I think it’s cool. I think it’s cool to bring up. Wil Perez is a dog. Uh you know, kind of had a a quick rise through the system a couple years ago. And Parker Meadows, man, his minor league career is really interesting because he was such a weak hitter when he first became a pro. And it was like, man, if he can just figure out how to be even an average hitter, right? Something I’ve said a million times about him at the major league level. Um, and then he made a couple adjustments and really figured it out and skyrocketed very quickly because of all of his tools. So, um, yeah, I mean, good for them. I think it’s a cool thing. Not the biggest deal in the world obviously, but I think it’s a really cool thing to at least mention. The Arizona Fall League is officially underway and the big talk of Tigers organization, prospects, fandom, whatever, is Max Anderson is absolutely crushing the baseball. Uh he’s only played three or four games as you listen to this, but he’s hitting dang near 500 with a slug over a thousand. Not an OPS, a slug over a thousand. He’s got like four extra base hits in five games and it’s hitting about 500. So, uh, the AFL is really hard to evaluate and we will try to do our best evaluating that throughout the AFL season and at the conclusion of the Arizona Fall League. Um, but it’s just tough because competition is is so it varies so much. Um, but we’ll take it. We’ll take it. I I know that he was a big talking point over the trade deadline. Obviously, I was a part of that. I certainly do not take back or like regret anything I said in that regard. That being said, like it it is still important to note that this is a a prospect that had a really good year and that flew up prospect rankings for a reason and it’s great to see him succeed and hopefully he’s helping if he’s going to be here. I I I I hope he’s the greatest player of all time. Like I I will uh you know I I hope that he is helping out Detroit sooner rather than later. So, um, yeah, rooting for him and and there’s a handful of guys in the AFL for the Tigers again. We’ll we’ve already talked about that a couple of times and we will continue to do that throughout that season. But just an interesting note that he is already kind of the talk of the town over there for how well he’s doing. Um, Ryan Kriedler claimed by the Minnesota Twins. Uh, I’m only even bringing this up because they also picked up Willie Castro a few years ago and they turned him into an all-star for a year. So, I don’t know. I I guess I maybe I’m just kind of like scared, but no, like I don’t know. I I I I doubt he even makes it through the winter still on the 40man roster with the Twins. He he might not even make it through, you know, October on on the 40man roster. Um, best of luck to him. Just not against us. Uh, the Twins are going into full rebuild mode, which is crazy given, you know, who’s been on their roster the last couple of years, but we will see how all of that works for them. Only other note I have here is game five of the ALDS was the most watched ALDS game in over a decade. Uh, that’s kind of a bittersweet feeling to me. It’s cool to be a part of, uh, but it stings even more to be on the losing side of like a classic. I don’t know. We’re going to see replays of that uh and highlights from that game for years and years again and again and again. And we’re going to probably be the only fan base that hates seeing them. And so it’s it’s it’s cool to be back on that stage, I guess, after a lot of years of not. Um but yeah, result makes its thing even more. So, okay, I think that’s all I got. I mean, postseason ball, man. We’re uh we’re in the thick of it here. the Dodgers are in control of the NLCS. But, uh, game three, I think, will kind of determine long term. Long term, it’s a seven game series, but we’ll kind of determine, you know, whether this series is already put to rest or whether the Brewers maybe, I don’t know, give themselves a fighting chance to to even this thing up. And then, yeah, a huge win for Toronto the other night as well. So, we’ll see what happens there. I would love for that either series really to go the distance, but I would love for the ALCS to go the distance just because I I think that those two teams are really fun. So, okay, that’s all I got. Thanks for making Lockdown Tigers your first listen every single day. Shot for the everyday that do tune in every day and we will of course be back on Monday. Keeping the offseason train rolling here. Peace and love. Going to therapies dope and I’ll catch you on Monday, baby. Go Tigers.

Today we discuss the Detroit Tigers news and notes from the offseason so far. We talk Tarik Skubal, Alex Bregman, Akil Baddoo, Dillon Dingler, and more!

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