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Worth noting that it’s ticket renewal time. I wouldn’t be shocked if some strong feedback was given by current customers. My “executive” happened to call me today to check in and ask when the next game I would be at.

Very nice gesture from that young man.

Cleveland Guardians (57-52) at Detroit Tigers (43-68)

Ladies and gentlemen.... We got him

Note to self if I ever take over baseball ops for a team. Keep the prospects on the farm as long as possible so you can point to the strong farm system. Once they are promoted, you are actually held responsible for the shitty results.

I’m hearing that Alex Avila will be named the new GM as soon as tomorrow. Chris wanted new blood.

I think if you just transplanted them from then to now that they would definitely struggle particularly at first but I think if you could transplant them from when they hit puberty and let them grow up using today's nutrition, 24/7/365 type coaching with top technology, top fitness gurus etc. and had them facing today's velo and tougher pitching all throughout like today's young players do/did then they'd be just fine in today's environment especially the elite ones like Williams Dimaggio and Musial.

And hitters.

Hinch is so damn good drawing that play up on the fly.

I understand where you’re coming from but…Chris was asked specifically about JV and JD. This organization has been a flaming turd for years now. If Al was responsible for the shit, lay it out there. He’ll, we all knew it. It’s no secret Avila was in way over his head. The fans deserve to get an honest cut from the owner if he’s willing to talk. Illitch needs, more than anyone, to learn from this. He doesn’t need to play Steinbrenner but he should have an idea of what really is going on in the organization.

The only potential positive I could take from this fiasco is that Chris is making a statement that he will never fire-sale his top assets off like that again.

This public statement will do wonders for recruiting. 😐 Jackass.

Nailed it

As a reminder, they hired a bunch of folks from outside of the organization last year around this time. All the old guard need to be swept out, but idk if indiscriminately firing everyone is the right idea either. It all kinda depends on who they hire I suppose... it may not matter depending on who they hire.

Whoever the next GM is, I hope they come in and gut this scouting and player development staff from top to bottom. Our player development, especially when it comes to positional players and developing everyday ballplayers, is a complete joke. There is a reason our farm system has plummeted in the ratings recently. A reason why those we call up frequently don't look ready for primetime. A reason why you can't name any positional All Stars developed by this organization. Who is is the last home grown, perennial All Star we've had from this organization? Who is the last positional player we've developed that is worthy of batting in the 1 through 5 spot in the lineup? Once they get traded out of Detroit (see Nick Castellanos or Andrew Miller) do they seem to really turn it up and develop into top-tier players. The scouting and player development side of this organization needs a complete overhaul and I hope it gets one.

Unfortunately it's being audited.

BTW is the News and Free Press sports page off line ? Did Al crash it ?

Also, apparently, the gate is exactly what Al got. No kicking upstairs to President or anything like that, as I and other here have speculated might happen.

Speaking to what Ed suggested earlier, isn't now kind of an ideal time to do it as opposed to waiting to October? Gives you a head start on a search, particularly if they are planning on going outside the org, might make it easier to get someone on board before free agency begins, etc.

In a phrase seldom uttered around these parts, he would probably be wise to take a page from the Lions (very recent) book here. Admit that he doesn’t have a clue about how to find/hire an external GM, and outsource the search process.

I hear Joel Zumaya is in the running.

Not sure much else we can infer from the letter, but regarding all the rumors about Skubal at the deadline, there's zero doubt in my mind that this was probably in the works before the deadline took place. Would Chris I have even signed off on a deal for Skubal?

There goes Al and he's LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNG GOOOOOOONNNNNEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

It needed to be done. I just hope Chris relies on someone who actually knows what he is doing in making the next decision.

When else would it be? Now's kinda the lull for front offices. You don't want to cut the legs out from the draft or the trade deadline.

I suspected this after the Whitaker ceremony, when Al and Chris sat on their hands to avoid getting booed mercilessly. Thought it would come after the season, though.

Loss

I couldn’t agree more. Time for a heart to heart talk. He is only eroding his legacy. Take a bow and call it a day. All the handicap parking spaces are full.

The problem is they have a whole team of Tommy Brookenses and they can't even replicate his stache.

Seems like the Russians had a bad day in Crimea.

This isn't about Putin but rather about the better angels who are working to help the people of Ukraine

This is awesome! I've got the Kool Aid jug filled up high tonight

No consequences for veterans who don't produce....Good accountability.

Wasn’t it? His parents have to be proud that their son has so much empathy. It was such a “damn… there ARE really good people in this world” moment. Beautiful.

Ha ha ha, Documentary about Dumbass.

He said Johnson u-uh-huh-uh-huh Yeah, Yeah, He said Bush too, Yeah, he said Bush

At this point I have to think they are doing something wrong with these pitchers, and it’s not just bad luck.

Muddlers Row

I am all for this

The story of my life....

I never knew this existed. Charles Mingus wrote this incredible piece of music in 1959 as a tribute to sax player Lester Young who had passed away a short time before. Shortly before Mingus died of ALS in 1979 he asked Joni Mitchell to put lyrics to his composition. They never had a chance to perform it together.

Although Kiley Mcdaniel og ESPNranked is 24th there was one positive in his right up, since it's behind a paywall I'll have to paraphrase but it was something to the extent of "I liked there first two picks of Jung and Graham, and Colt Keith has rocketed his way into the top 100..." it was then followed by negative talk but the main point I was bringing up is that it sounds like Keith is in his top 100 so along with Jung, Jobe, Flores and Dingler(101 on FG ) that makes 5 different guys make atleast 1 of the national's top 101.

The old timers tell me that Williams and Musial were the best players they ever saw. I think a good ballplayer in any era would find a way to be a good player in any other era. Williams was obsessed with hitting. If he had that attitude today with the proper training, nutrition, etc. he would be just fine. He was 6-3, 205 lbs in his playing day. I imagine he would lift weights, train hard, etc. He also had 20-10 eyesight which would be a huge advantage today. He ended up with a .344 average, .482 OBP, and .634 slugging percentage. He did manage to hit 521 home runs while missing 5 years in his prime years while averaging around 36 home runs a year in the years around those. Had he not missed those seasons, you are talking possibly around 700 home runs, 3500 hits, 2400 rbi, 2700 BB, 2400 runs. He won 2 MVPs and got screwed out of 3 other MVPs because he wasn't a Yankee. He would have been a contender in those missing years as well. Little doubt he would easily be considered the greatest player of all time had he not missed those years.

Read Willie Horton’s newly released book. It was a good one. All Tiger fans will enjoy it.