Two years ago, the Tigers drafted pitcher Jackson Jobe third overall. Now, Jobe isn't even one of the top 100 prospects in baseball.
That's according to MLB Pipeline, which dropped the 20-year-old righty from its latest ranking of the top 100 prospects, released Sunday. This comes after Jobe "underperformed at Single-A Lakeland last year," says MLB Pipeline, and was sidelined this spring due to a spine injury that could cost him all of the 2023 season -- "thus losing a big year of development."
Meanwhile, shortstop Marcelo Mayer, who went one pick after Jobe to the Red Sox, is MLB Pipeline's fifth overall prospect, "a potential combination of Corey Seager's bat and Brandon Crawford's glove" at a premium position.
If nothing else, the Tigers and their fans can take solace in the fact that the front office that drafted Jobe over Mayer, when just about the entire baseball community was screaming at the club to do the opposite, is out.
Former GM Al Avila has been replaced by new president of baseball ops Scott Harris, who fired former amateur scouting director Scott Pleis -- the man who said Jobe over Mayer was "an easy pick" for the Tigers -- and brought in Rob Metzler from the Rays and Mark Conner from the Padres to take over amateur scouting.
Of course, it will take time for the Tigers to undo the prior regime's mistakes. They have just two top-100 prospects according to MLB Pipeline: infielders Jace Jung (No. 73) and Colt Keith (No. 88). Jung, the 12th overall pick last year, is with High-A West Michigan while Keith, a fifth-rounder in 2020, is with Double-A Erie.
The Tigers also saw pitcher Wilmer Flores fall out of MLB Pipeline's top-100 prospects, making them the only organization with two drop-outs in the latest update. (Flores from No. 83, Jobe from No. 53.) Flores, a breakout star in the Tigers' farm system last season "has proved a lot more hittable in his second go-around with Erie."
But it's Jobe who the Tigers have to be most concerned about looking ahead, a pitcher who "has the tools to be a No. 2/3 starter" in the majors, per MLB Pipeline. For now, getting him healthy is priority No. 1.
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