00:00248-539-9797, the Valenti Show with Rico Stoney in for Mr. Valenti.
00:07Yesterday at around 7.30, Scott Harris had a Zoom press conference.
00:15I participated, so did Wojo, Will Birchfield, of course, and all the beat writers and some of the other columnists
00:21in town.
00:21And I thought, you know, because Scott Harris, a lot of times when he speaks, a lot of people don't
00:27like what he has to say or the way he said it.
00:30I thought he came off really well yesterday.
00:33And to me, when people either make mistakes or whatever, you want accountability.
00:40Ownership, yep.
00:41You know, when things aren't going good, you know, you don't want to say, well, this reason and this reason.
00:46Well, Scott Harris, I think, from the get-go was, I likely had to say, because he gave himself part
00:55of the blame.
01:00We just didn't make that case.
01:01It's not on the players, it's not on the coaches, it's on me.
01:03Like, if there's anyone you should point to, it's me.
01:06We didn't collectively make this case compelling enough to add to the team,
01:10you know, we didn't make a case compelling enough to not distract from the team,
01:15because, again, it costs real parts of your future to decide the whole.
01:20It's not just a sort of costless decision.
01:24And, you know, he also talked about all the injuries and things like that.
01:27And I thought, well, is he making excuses?
01:29No, because then he blamed himself for not having enough depth to get through all the injuries that, you know,
01:38they suffered in the month of May, which led to, you can say, oh, you're just making excuses.
01:43No, those injuries led to a horrific month.
01:47It's not the only reason, you know, because the players that played couldn't hit baseballs either.
01:52So, but he's right.
01:53And Rico, you know, you want to see guys, I mean, some coaches will always say, well, it's always on
02:00me.
02:00And it's always lip service.
02:02This, I think, was genuine.
02:04No, I think because, I guess, I've been waiting to hear from him for a long time of, hey, Scott,
02:11how do you feel about this team?
02:13And, yeah, to hear some ownership of, yeah, could have did better.
02:17Maybe we should have did this.
02:18Maybe I should have done that.
02:20It was refreshing because it was, you felt the sincerity that, you know what, he's not just saying this because,
02:27you know what, I have to say this.
02:30So, I did like that.
02:32I like the fact that he realized this is just probably what's going to happen.
02:37And, you know, he was kind of forthcoming and honest, too, because they asked him about Scoble and, you know,
02:43when did you think that you would possibly move him?
02:46And, you know, here's what he had to say.
02:49We explored an extension once.
02:53The response that I got from the agent was pretty clear that he was intent on going to free agency
03:03and exploring the market, which is totally his right.
03:07And nobody could be upset about that.
03:10He has put himself in a position to be able to explore a market, and he decided that he wanted
03:16to do that and should not be criticized for it.
03:20But it was very clear from the exchange about what the intentions were, and he deserves it.
03:27And so, I expect him to be a free agent this winter, and we'll see what happens next.
03:31Now, the funny thing about that – I'm sorry, Stoney.
03:34The funny thing about that is we'll never know what the offer was because then Boris comes out and says,
03:39hey, it was four years, $75 million.
03:42Which, if this is the case – we heard this before, and I remember Mike and I were talking and
03:48was like, okay, that's a joke if that's the case.
03:51For two-time Cy Young Award winner, that's beyond low-ball offer.
03:58And then Boris came out and said, no, he expected something more, and the Tigers thought, okay, we could possibly
04:07get to the World Series.
04:08So, that's why they didn't trade him in the offseason, which I can respect.
04:12The fact that after May, you kind of knew that it wasn't going to happen, but then they got hot
04:17again.
04:19And ironically enough, he said it – and I don't know who asked the question, but it got to the
04:24point where I believe it boiled down to the Baltimore Series, Stoney,
04:29and I really think it boiled down to the game where Scooble and the Tigers were up 7-0 and
04:33ended up losing the game 10-9.
04:35Was that aha, come-to-Jesus moment?
04:38Yeah, this just ain't going to happen this year.
04:40We're going to have to sell off some pieces.
04:41Still go for it, but we need to start looking at the future, which is something I've been saying for
04:47the longest.
04:48For Tiger fans, here's the deal.
04:52Scooble is gone.
04:53Mize is gone.
04:55Team is still two-and-a-half games out.
04:57Here's what I foresee for the rest of the year.
05:00Buckle up.
05:01It's going to be a rollercoaster ride.
05:03Oh, yeah.
05:03And you're going to go up and down.
05:04But in the end, you may not make the playoffs, but it's going to be entertaining.
05:08It's going to be entertaining for the final couple of months.
05:11Probably until like the last week when you become mathematically eliminated.
05:16And you might see some other young players come up, maybe Max Anderson.
05:19River Ryan is supposed to be on this team.
05:22So, yeah, it might be fun to watch.
05:24By the way, the contract that was offered that you were talking about, actually, according to Cody Stavenhagen in The
05:32Athletic,
05:33Scott Boris told The Athletic the Tigers presented this offer after the 2024 season, which was at Cy Young No.
05:431.
05:44Quote, Scott informed me that he had offered a four-year contract to Tarek for $75 million.
05:51I advised him that a great deal for the Tigers would be something with an eight-year length.
05:55But we had two years to go into arbitration and another six before free agency.
06:01Now, whether they would have taken that or not, I have no idea.
06:04Because it always seems that Boris wants to take his guys to free agency.
06:09Now, you mentioned the rest of the season.
06:11You know, he said he's not waving the white flag.
06:15So, here's his response to that.
06:18Not at all.
06:19Like, firm no.
06:21This season is not over.
06:23We are 112 games in, and we've learned a lot about this group 112 games in.
06:30But this is still the end of the season, and we still have a lot of the same players that
06:35in 2024 completely flipped the script.
06:37The Gritty Ties got hot in August, and they completely flipped the script of this season.
06:42And so, our record right now on August 3rd does not define us.
06:48Okay.
06:49Now, this is the one thing I'll disagree with him on.
06:52And Will Birchfield, as always, Birchie points it out perfectly in his article on, if you want to read it,
06:58on 97.1theticket.com.
07:02This team has a horrific bullpen.
07:05And he intimated that the price for high-end relievers was very high.
07:10But there were other relievers, not definitely the highest of end, but like, as Birchie points out, Luke Weaver, the
07:17Mets, went to the Pirates for the Mets' No. 9 prospect.
07:23Okay?
07:23Who was a shortstop, and the Tigers don't want a shortstop.
07:26Weaver's ERA's 1.84, and he signed through next season.
07:30The Mets also traded left-handed rental Brooks Raley to Philadelphia for the Phillies' No. 27 prospect.
07:40The Blue Jays sent Jeff Hoffman to Minnesota for their 7-17, so that's iffy or not.
07:48The Rays acquired Tyler Wells for Tampa's No. 8 prospect.
07:52And the Giants got Eric Miller, who's under team control through 2029, acquiring former top prospect Marcelo Meyer.
08:01So the point is, there were actually some relievers available who did not demand, or teams did not get high
08:12-end prospects.
08:13The Angels traded Ryan Zephyrjan, 3-6-6 ERA, under team control through 2030 to the Cubs for a former
08:22top 100 prospect and a No. 18 prospect.
08:26So I think the Tigers could have dipped into their prospect pool and gone.
08:32They could have, Stoney.
08:34Hear me out really quick before we hit the break.
08:37Matter of fact, I'll just give it to you next.
08:39So 248-539-9797 for you Tiger fans out there.
08:44After hearing what Scott Harris had to say, what's your expectations for the rest of this year?
08:5297-1.
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