Kevin McGonigle naming closest friend on Tigers' roster will raise some eyebrows

Tigers fans desperately want to see No. 1 prospect Kevin McGonigle break camp with the team, but the Tigers have waffled throughout the offseason on whether or not he has a real shot of making the Opening Day roster.

McGonigle's odds are better than Nos. 2 and 3 prospects Max Clark and Josue Briceño, but the Tigers have gone through back and forth through periods of insisting that they're in no rush to bring him up and hinting that they'll give him a long, hard look in Lakeland.

Either way, the hype for McGonigle is real. The experts at Baseball America, who are typically a little difficult to impress, have said that McGonigle might be the best prospect the Tigers have ever had. MLB Pipeline's experts had him tied with Toronto's Trey Yesavage as most likely to win AL Rookie of the Year in 2026.

Then there's also the issue of a contract extension. Maybe we're getting way ahead of ourselves, because top prospects frequently don't work out and the Tigers hate taking good risks, but they did break out of their own mold just a few years ago, when they signed Colt Keith to a six-year extension before he set foot in a major league batter's box — the very same Colt Keith whom McGonigle named as his closest friend on the Tigers' roster.

Kevin McGonigle-Colt Keith connection is definitely making Tigers fans hope harder for a contract extension

In an interview with Valor Sports Cards, McGonigle said, "The last two years, [Keith] has been really, really tight with me. Just giving me pointers throughout his career so far and he's just been helping me out."

It's a tentative connection, but we'll happily read into anything that might hint that McGonigle could be guaranteed a spot on the Tigers' roster for a long time. Keith signed his extension almost exactly two years ago now, and perhaps ... it takes one to know one? Game recognizes game? Real recognizes real?

Other examples of other risky but team-friendly extensions for top prospects have surfaced throughout the league since Keith was signed. The Orioles gave Samuel Basallo eight years and $67 million, and the Red Sox gave Kristian Campbell eight years and $60 million. Both have significantly more money attached than Keith's six-year, $28.64 million deal, but both were also far more hyped than Keith was when the Tigers decided to make him the de facto centerpiece of their organization.

We're just hoping that the Tigers will follow their own example here, and maybe Keith's dropping some nuggets of wisdom for his maybe soon-to-be co-centerpiece.