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Yes and to me the most important point here is that Chris Ilitch, who took over the business in early 2017, runs a very large business and most of us don't, and so you have to ask yourself how in the world he would think that having 5 losing seasons - it isnt 5 by the way, it's 4 - would improve profitability. Clearly he would not think that. He did it for the draft picks? That's preposterous. There was never a Bryce Harper available during that 4 year period. Having 4 losing seasons makes him less profitable. Lower gate revenue, lower merch sales and, most importantly, less leverage in negotiating broadcasting rights. That's what he cares about, money, nothing else. And I don't judge him at all for that, I am just stating an obvious fact. He isn't the frustrated minor leaguer that his dad was. He wanted a more sensible approach to payroll, no more Zimmerman or Upton contracts. No more using free agency as the path to success. Put the organization on a more stable long term footing. The results weren't good. The results were bad. That was an unintended outcome of a smaller payroll. Predictable perhaps, but unintended. To suggest that Chris Ilitch wanted to deliberately lose games though is to not understand the motivation of a business owner. And finally, if Chris Ilitch wanted to lose deliberately during the 2017 season, why did he fire Brad Ausmus at the end of it. So no, the Tigers did not tank "for 5 years" for draft picks.

It’s amazing that two groups founded on fighting Nazis, racists, and corrupt cops became the sworn enemies of the Trumpies. Tells you all you really need to know.

He's almost 20 pounds and the size of a small dog. I prefer him to most humans.

I wouldn’t have done a thing differently, except the prospects I traded for would all have panned out.

I don't know what more they could have done to lose games. They put a team on the field that wasn't even a good AAA team. I understand the aspects of a rebuild but the Tigers didn't have to completely destroy the team to rebuild. They could have kept a few "building blocks" and added to it. They got very little for the trades they made of the veterans. An expansion team could have started better than the rebuilding Tigers did. Its not a good look for a team and horrible for the loyal fans.

Meet Rumor. She's 6 years old and wishes Puggles could fly

So sorry, MC. 😢. It is always hard when they are gone, but I can’t imagine how hard it must be to lose your buddy that way. These are my two currently, Lucy (dog) is just about 14 yrs old… Adopted her when she was one year old. Sam the cat, is maybe a year older (or younger… no one’s sure). I got him seven years ago. My good friend got Sam from a shelter for her mom to keep as company, but couldn’t keep him her self when the mom passed away because her dog didn’t like cats. Lucy on the other hand, is fine with cats, but isn’t crazy about other dogs. Go figure. I know it’s gonna be tough in a couple of years with the two of them, but there is no better company than our pets. Again … so sorry for your loss.

The real reason for drafts is to reign in costs. There's no cynicism about it. That's the straight up history of the draft and the reason it exists.

Freep: Retired radio host Frank Beckmann in hospice care, family says Sad to see former Michigan play-by-play man Frank Beckman is in hospice care and only has days to live it appears. Frank was a voice I grew up on for many years listening to Michigan football games on WJR. Thoughts to his family.

This is my buddy, Jungle Jack. He's definitely getting on in years—best guess is 18-19—but he's still doing fine for his age. Chronic kidney failure, chronic asthma, and not really anything else wrong with him. He's the sweetest, cuddliest, snuggliest, friendliest cat I've ever met. I don't know what I'll do when he's gone, but it seems at present that it'll be a while (a year or so?) before I have to worry about that.

Those 20 run games happened the first week I discovered the internet. I was looking at news groups and there was a messageboard where people all over the country were talking about baseball. And someone mentioned the Tigers. It was amazing!

I'm so sorry about Charlie. I lost one that way in Georgia in 1994 (same day Cobain died). It was completely devastating. His name was Bongo. I honored Bongo by getting a shelter Dog named Tony. I had him for 13 years. This is Diego. He's a 16 year old Border Collie. (Pic was from March 2020). He is a very very good dog. He has problems moving around now, as well as with his eyesight and I had to build a ramp out of dirt and grass up to my front porch because he can't step on the concrete steps anymore and can't do the tile steps in the kitchen by the back door I bought a ramp with grip strips on it but he refused to step on it. The grass ramp looks dumb, but I don't care. Even though he has trouble getting around and only goes outside when I do now, he is still very good about holding his water. Most dogs I had that got older didn't make that kind of effort. When I say this, I don't mean it metaphorically...........He is literally my best friend in the truest sense of the word and I know he won't be around much longer, but he's happy and he's gotten me through a lot of tough times.

Prospects in particular. I bet if you went through all the proven player for prospect deals in the last 15 years, you would find out that the team getting the propspect loses more often than not. That doesn't mean a team shouldn't make those deals, but if your team gets into that position too often then the odds will be against them.

Filed under things that put a smile on your face. Hot ginger cake just out of the oven from Raleigh Tavern. Fife practice in the background and a leisurely walk down DOG Street on a sunny morning.

But let's keep the logic straight. There is a difference between being bad because you are trying to stay profitable during a rebuild and being bad with the objective of getting good draft picks. The Tigers cut payroll to maintain profitability, not to be bad to get draft picks. The difference being that you can't solve that with a draft lottery because the picks were not what motivated the behavior. If you want to stop teams from cutting payroll when they are losing and revenue goes down, you have to do what the NFL does and uncouple revenue from winning. But that requires 'nationalizing' the major leagues, and NY and LA are never going to give up their current market advantages and agree to a more fully revenue shared league.

Agree. They didn’t have to go the nuclear route. I say, No Tanks

Remind me when blm and antifa shut down a major international border crossing for multiple days.

Tony Phillips, baseball's ultimate utility player.

A lot of people dislike Frank Beckman. I think there were rumors about him being responsible for Harwell being fired, but that seems dubious. I thought he was a good broadcaster. He wasn't Harwell or Dickerson, but he wasn't rathbun/Rizzs either.

Frank Beckmann was one of the voices of my young adulthood. His is one of those voices that is imprinted in my brain such that I can replay it pretty faithfully. His wife was quoted in the Detroit News, I think, yesterday, as saying he probably wouldn’t make it to Monday. That’s a very unusual thing to read in the media, that the relative of someone says they are going to die in the next couple of days. I can’t recall when I last saw something like that. Godspeed to him and his family.

Love Frank Beckmann. Best football announcer from this area, which is a tall task going up against Dan Miller. I've listened to Frank since the 70's.

A dozen assists out of that and some efficient scoring too... The bench has been very good for Killian...

One could say that, but it isn't like draft money goes unspent. Revenue sharing (and tying draft picks to revenue sharing) does create some f'ed up incentives though.

Who is talking about sending American kids to war in Ukraine? I start from the position that will never happen. What I'm seeing from the Ryan Grim types, however, is that pushing back as hard as possible with every tool possible and you make is as costly for them as possible is the same as instigating a war or sending kids to die. And that's a load of crap. They'd all rather we did nothing and let Ukraine be subjugated with no support, regardless of their wishes. I just wish people who held that position wouldn't wax on about spheres of influence or the status quo 100 yeas ago... just admit that you dont think we should do anything and that you don't care. At least that would be intellectually honest.

The Tigers just spent five years doing it.

I’m very sorry MC.

oh, man, I'm so sorry. not much sucks like suddenly/unexpectedly losing a special pet.

There is a pretty significant advantage in that his offer to make him a restricted FA will likely be $7.2 mil as he likely won’t meet the thresholds to increase it to $11 plus million. Then, if they want they can match any offer he gets and don’t have to outbid everyone else. They also get to see if he fits the culture as Betrayer said. I like this move. I am definitely upset we didn’t move Grant.

Plus Ted and Lindsay's heads would get in the way.

I’m not much of a thread starter, but I’m mourning the loss of my boy tonight and didn’t have much else to do. Thought I’d start something in his memory. Charlie was hit by an SUV on Rochester Road this afternoon after he got loose of the leash while my foster son was walking him. I was at work. He helped me out of many a dark place this past summer. I’m doing better now, but I’m going to miss him like crazy. Figure this can be a place to talk about all our doggos and pets and how much they mean to us.