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He was on the field for 120 games last year and it didn't work out. And if I were a betting man, it probably won't work out this year either. Ohtani is a generational talent, but this isn't the NBA... having a couple of stars without a decent enough supporting cast doesn't really work.

Bringing Lange in in the 7th up 3? I think AJ wants this one bad.

looks more like marvin maples

Decided not to give them the attention they desire, but still took the time to snap a pic and post on Twitter because engagement...

If you are expecting Keith to come up to MLB before a cup of coffee in September, don't get your hopes up.

I would bet you dollars to dimes that Harris was upfront and candid with Chris Ilitch about our not being able to contend this year with the players we both have and could reasonably obtain, and my clue is that Chris Ilitch spent in 2022 when Al Avila told him and everybody else that we would contend, and Ilitch didn’t spend in 2023 after Harris took over with essentially the same players on board. To your implied point, this does not mean Ilitch could never, ever possibly end up firing both Harris and Hinch after setting them up to fail by starving them of resources. This could happen, because anything could happen. But for as much as I’ve railed on Baby Doc through the years, I am going to believe that he and Harris have settled on a long-term plan they intend to see through to either its success or its resulting failure, and that Ilitch will not be pulling the plug early because I believe Harris has completely prepared him for the investment in resources and time it is going to take. I am setting aside the deep cynicism about the Tigers organization that the Avila regime has inculcated in me and am choosing to believe Ilitch/Harris are going to make an actual, honest, concerted effort to build a winner over the long haul. And if that makes me the Tigers’ huckleberry, well, then, oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling Clementine.

I know you are joking, but still, Ohtani currently has Trout on the same team and has missed the playoffs with regularity since joining MLB.

Yes, I agree with this, which is consistent with how I feel about it. It’s the appearance of throwing in the towel on this regime literally one-third of the way through the first season that I have so much trouble fathoming. Was there a serious expectation of a major transformation into contender status by now? I guess I don’t understand that serious a level of impatience, again, 2-1/2 months into a regime, particularly considering how devastated the prior regime left the entire organization top to bottom. It’s getting razed and rebuilt, and that’s going to take years, with an “s”. So I’m just going to settle in for the ride and not take the losses too hard, because almost no one on the roster today will be on the next Tigers playoff team, and very few players on the next Tigers playoff team are even in the system today, mainly because this is still Al’s system.

They are really just 3 players away from being one of the top teams in the AL. Those players are Ohtani, Judge, and Cole

That is... TODAY. That is NOT... Tomorrow. And it's WAAAAY too early to be making final judgement calls on "Avila's kids". And you know that, don't you?

you said avila assembled a collection of talent that was going to be the equivalent of morris/parrish/trammell/whitaker/gibson. that's blind faith. every time they get any journeyman minor leaguer you say they have talent. youre always saying how great the tigers minor leaguers are. you just say that because its your favorite team. there's no basis for your opinion other than the tigers are the team you follow. that's why its blind faith. i wish i could have that kind of belief, but my experience in observing al avila tells me otherwise. and so far, i am right and you are wrong.

What’s he suppose to do

Not loading zones. A track from Jason's new album. Also a new Son Volt song from their Doug Sahm tribute album. Show's leaning a bit Americana this week.

I would note that at his last start, Dirks said Wentz needed more speed differential and to throw his Curve. Today the change is a mph or so slower and he's throwing the curve. Maybe we need Dirks in the dugout!

Zach McKinstry is becoming more flippable.

It's not blind faith... I actually DO believe in many of these prospects. And they ARE... VERY talented. But with injuries and actual performances against MLB pitching... progress is not linear. I still think the talent level of "Avila's kids" is at a very high level, much higher than we've had in a very long time. Since the 70's. I don't think we've had this level of overall farm system talent since... yes, the 70's. (Counting the already graduated Greene, Tork, Mize, Manning, Skubal, etc...). It's just that... realization of that talent is... obviously... tricky.

True but losing this year would be year 2 selecting top six and give Harris two years of low drafts which may play in to keeping players in the minors and unloading at the trade deadline. This is Harris mulligan year and he will use it as such.

If I had to guess, to the extent that he has evaluated, Harris views this org overall as not being where it needs to be to make that kind of investment. And it makes sense... I have seen a lot of complaints on this board, including from people who decry the lack of free agent signings, about how long it will take for this team to compete. I've seen 2026/2027 suggested at times (that's a bit pessimistic, at least in terms of the division they play in imo). And then same people will turn around and question why they didn't go out and sign Carlos Correa, who likely will regress to being a worse player by the time the org is actually positioned to compete in their view, particularly in light of the injury concerns Like, at a macro level, it just doesn't compute to me.

I don’t know if Harris is trying the same methodology sort of in a different bit of timing. Do the Tigers feel that they have the young core close enough to add free agents this upcoming offseason and they’re just sorting through some pieces right now? I don’t know if that’s the case. The upcoming free agent class certainly doesn’t have the cache that the 2021-2022 off-season did. My guess is he’s just trying to figure what the Tigers have going forward. Add in some other players just to make a roster without having to prematurely call up prospects, and maybe they uncover an overlooked ball player along the way. Finding themselves with a few games of “first” as late as May (wow, what an unimpressive sentence that actually is if you think about it) was fun for a week or two. As far as the young core is concerned, Greene is leading the pack, sure. I wonder whether Torkleson needs to go back down to Toledo. I wonder how confidence in being in a MLB roster vs confidence in results (which should happen in AAA) vs he’s mechanically/skillfully/technically where he should be and just not that far off works. I think that’s where Hinch and his psychology background comes in, so we’ve got to trust him being there everyday and dealing with Torkleson as opposed to us schlubs on the outside watching games and reading box scores. The pitching is impossible to read because of how the should be rotation has been decimated. Good times.

This is THE game where Javy explodes and puts the team on his back for a 7 game winning streak! Ooops, I mean this the game where Harvy explodes and....well, he just explodes

don't forget trump is a 16 flusher too

The most apt statement I made this past offseason was that the Tigers mission statement for the 2023 season was to fix all their broken players. That statement is still 100% correct and hasn't changed one iota.

I wouldn't mind leaving both of them where they are for the full year.

Keep Keith down so he can maintain his rookie eligibility next year and be eligible to net a PPI pick if he really takes off in the bigs. He'll be a consensus Top 100 prospect. Also, I haven't looked ahead yet and don't really anticipate any 40 man crunch, but if you foresee one over the offseason, adding Malloy and Keith now could have some implications. This is likely only an issue if you add a bunch of prospects close to the Majors at the deadline. Malloy and Keith don't need to be added until after the 2024 season. Anyways, all we see are the box scores. For all we know he's working on something specific in Erie and will be moved up once that box is checked. There's no rush.

On another note, how bout dem Mets and Padres?

oh https://twitter.com/patriottakes/status/1667596386383314944?s=46&t=76Y1aNflZsD8yrwQrvLC2g

Is the outrage all the Bankers Boxes of classified documents or the interior design choices? That carpet is hideous

Yeah, Twitter can be a pretty funny place when you take away all the hate and right wing conspiracies.

Lots of good tweets with the unedited version of that photo.

I would add that this doesn't absolve Harris from trying different things to effect a different outcome. But aside from the fact that mediocre free agents aren't exactly guarantees (see Wil Myers, Jordan Lyles), he also didn't have a ton of tradable assets going into this past offseason either. One hopes that the players he acquired, particularly Malloy, turn into some value. After seven years of losing, it's understandable why people are angry about the state of the franchise and wish it could be turned around overnight. Just wish there was a little more recognition that, by any objective measure, the Tigers weren't exactly positioned for a big offseason after 2022... and that has as much to do with the players not playing or playing to their potential as it does the owner or team president

Let's go back to the way back machine, all the way back to 2021 when a lot of this alleged activity took place. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/05/us/politics/cia-informants-killed-captured.html

No.. that’s not a PSA, …. that is a threat.

There are 4.3 million NRA members.

This week's Under The Radar Radio will focus on the new album from Jenny Lewis "Joy'all" We'll play 4 tracks from that album, along with new music from Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Andy Frasco & The U.N., Son Volt, Geese (not Goose), Margaret Glaspy, and the new project from ex-Replacement Tommy Stinson. Older faves from Jayhawks, Plains, Kurt vile, Rhett Miller and the Lone Justice song that's been stuck in my head for 2 weeks. Sunday - 7 on annarbors107one.com and thisisqmusic.com

Opposing pitchers know that it's easy to get ahead in the count against Torkelson. Just throw a center cut fastball first pitch and he won't swing, strike one. Second pitch, throw at the bill of his cap and he swings at it, strike two. Third pitch is a ball outside. Fourth pitch, low and outside, Tork makes contact, pops out to first base. Rinse and repeat!!😡

"not just for me"

I don't think their approach is the problem. It's lack of talent.

That's true. However, If Anderson opts out, I wouldn't be interested in the Tigers signing him to a long deal (even if they didn't have Baez)

I don’t get the Baez hate. I agree the bat has been terrible and frustrating but his defense has been solid and he posts every day. Seriously if he opts out how does that help us ? Who plays shortstop? With so many holes and plenty of payroll space forthcoming why add another problem?