Casey Mize said he wanted to "tread carefully," and he did. That didn't prevent him from speaking the truth.
Because truth is, MLB teams have been manipulating the service time of their top prospects for years. The only thing that changed in the past week is that former Mariners president Kevin Mather publicly admitted the club was doing so with 2018 first-round picks Jarred Kelenic and Logan Gilbert.
That was the same draft in which the Tigers took Mize first overall. Because Mize wasn't summoned to the majors last season until he was past the point of accruing a full year of service time, Detroit extended its control of his contract. Now the earliest Mize can hit free agency is 2026. Seattle could push Kelenic and Gilbert out to 2027.
So, Mize's thoughts on Mather's admission and the situation in Seattle at large?
"I need to tread carefully here," he said Wednesday. "I'm not in too much of a position to speak. It really is unfortunate to see those comments. But is it a surprise? Not really. That's all I'm really going to say about that."
Mize has more important things to focus on, anyway. Like coming north with the Tigers out of camp (and starting his clock toward free agency). Mize, along with fellow top prospect Tarik Skubal, is vying for a spot in Detroit's starting rotation.
"It's just good to be here in the spring with a chance to break camp with the team," Mize said. "The last two times I was here was just to show face and gain some experience and be around the guys. This time I have an opportunity in front of me to make the team. It's just up to me to compete and perform and go take it."
To that end, Mize said he's "definitely trying some new things on the mound" this spring with the help of new pitching coach Chris Fetter.
"Some of them are feeling great, really easy to come by, and others are going to take a little work. But it's interesting to work on those things and see what clicks and what doesn't," he said. "As pitchers, I think we constantly need to evolve and see where we can get better."
Mize pointed to one such adjustment he originally mentioned in the offseason: more fastballs up in the zone. As for the others, he smiled and said, "I don't want to give too much away."
"It's a little out of my comfort zone," said Mize, "but I think it's going to lead to success."
