The Tigers began their season three weeks ago, but for some, the most important moment of 2018 will come on June 4, when Detroit picks first in the MLB Draft. The team is giving fans a chance to go behind the scenes and follow the process as it prepares to make its pick.
It's not a scouting hire or a sweepstakes, but an online documentary showing the meetings and the decisions involved in making the first overall selection. The video, which went online Monday, introduces the decision-makers from general manager Al Avila to assistant GM David Chadd, amateur scouting director Scott Pleis and senior director of baseball analytics Jay Sartori. It includes a look inside the scouting meetings that took place at the Tigertown complex in Lakeland, Fla.
While Detroit is picking first overall for the first time since 1997, the club is no strangers to the process. Avila was the Marlins' scouting director and Chadd a Marlins scout when the team selected Adrian Gonzalez with the top overall pick in 2000 after selecting Josh Beckett with the second overall pick a year earlier.

They explain the decisions and factors that went into the Gonzalez pick -- projecting the high school first baseman getting stronger despite his relatively thin frame as a teenager -- while Chadd reflects on his experience as the Red Sox's scouting director when Boston used a second-round pick in 2004 on an undersized infielder and future American League MVP Award winner named Dustin Pedroia.
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"Adrian was a high-risk kind of player because he was a high school first baseman," Avila said. "If you look at the history of the Draft, very few high school first basemen have made it to the big leagues, much less made a big impact. Back then, the question was: Is he going to have enough power to play first base in the big leagues?
"He was a very slim guy. If you look at his history and his family, they were big, strong guys, and you could see him developing into a much bigger, stronger player."
Gonzalez has hit 313 career home runs to go with a .288 batting average and an .846 OPS over a 15-year Major League career with the Rangers, Padres, Red Sox, Dodgers and now the Mets. The Marlins traded him as a prospect to Texas to acquire closer Ugueth Urbina during their 2003 run to the World Series.
"The important thing is to do everything you can to know the player on the field, off the field, how he competes, how he handles adversity and get as many looks as you can so you can make the best decision you can at that moment in time on June 4," Pleis said.
The video also examines the role analytics will play, from grading the current field to looking back on top picks throughout history to finding common tendencies of success.
"You have a chance to maybe take a player that's going to have an impact in your organization for many years to come," Chadd said.
Tigers radio broadcaster Dan Dickerson narrates the mini-doc. For hardcore baseball fans, it's an insightful look at the scouting considerations and careful projections that make the MLB Draft different than its counterparts in other sports. For casual fans, it's an introduction of sorts to the Draft and its role in the player development pipeline that is expected to fuel Detroit's return to chasing a title.
"It's just like a batter coming up to bat with the bases loaded," Avila said. "You have that adrenaline going, you get some butterflies, but it's more that type of excitement than pressure."