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https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/06/media/alex-jones-assets-sandy-hook/index.html Alex Jones agrees to liquidate his assets to pay Sandy Hook families, in move that would end his ownership of Infowars

What am I listening to? Dave Mason!! And his band. At a small venue in Newton NJ - farm country…. His audience’s age probably averaged out to mid-70’s, I’d think. 😁 Lots of gray mullets on the men, too-high espadrilles on a smattering of women, the rest in sneakers, crocs, sandals. Dave looks and sounds great, and can definitely still rock out. Fun night. Definitely raised my spirits and made me feel like a 20-something for a few hours.

Chris McCosky, your flight is boarding.

Generally speaking, it's not in the interest of any GM or POBO in this sport to broadcast their innermost thoughts on past deliberations to the rest of the league. Scott Harris isn't unique in that regard.... I don't see any of them doing it, not just him. I have no idea what players the Tigers were or weren't in on last offseason, but often what the fans ask for in transparency would, in practice, would have negative knock-on effects in practice

Canha was a short fuse. Milwaukee was going to decline his option, so you either had to acquire him for a minor league reliever and pick up his option or fight with 28 other teams for his services. There was no option to wait around and see if you won the Teoscar sweepstakes.

got to pay for the new seats some how 😉

Yes, this belongs here because the Ur-"cleanup in aisle lunatic" was the Second World War.

Don't sleep on social media & youtube algorithms

as "mid" as the tigers are, take a moment and laugh at how historically bad the chicago white sox are right now. theyre down 13-1 and about to lose their 14th straight game.

I’m still haven’t been convinced by anyone the last year or so who exactly Harris should have signed or traded for (and with that?). There isn’t a GM store with items you need. You can’t trade a lot of crap for something mediocre.

The WSJ's credibility when down the tubes when it became a Murdoch property. It's Fox news for the Lexus crowd.

All IMHO, I have been saying for some time SHarris (and the current regime) have to start adding the right pieces yesterday. This 'core group' thing is just kicking the can down the road. All GMs have the job to not only identify what the team will look like now, but two years from now and further. Current Team: they have to be able to tell what players fit. They have been evaluating now for 1 1/2 yrs. It does not have to be conclusive, but a good idea should be there and if not - the wrong people are in charge. The other players then can be potentially dealt if better value can come back (in their eyes). Trades: Here is where some things can be done 'now'. They do not have to wait. Identify a player(s) they like and get one or two. You do not have to trade your top 4-5 prospects per say to get a player on a team that is young but his position is blocked (see LAD, Balt., etc.) and/or another MLB decent player who a team may wish to rid ex expiring contract, etc. IF we do not think Mize, Manning, Tork, Baddoo, etc. are not 'core' players then I bet there are teams out there willing to take some of these under their wing. I would like to see a value for value trade. Perhaps we see someone who we feel can help us out, who is in the same boat on another team - then we can use that phrase 'come here and get better' . Prove it. A good GM can identify and make trades. We need to find a Carlos Guillen, JD Martinez, Doug Fister, GSheffield, etc. type. Sure not all will work out, but some players have to be obtained this route... So far? Maybe Vierling, Lee, JHM. Yet, (a lot more versatile INF types who seemingly 'work the count': Kennedy, Maton, Rizzo, Skolak, Nevin, etc. have not worked). No it is not easy but a good GM can do this. Free agents: I do not think you can just say, 'OK we are pretty good right now and we need to add a player' then all of a sudden a particular player becomes a free agent. FAs are random. Just because we need 'X' does not mean 2-3 are ready for the taking - or that position is even strong in FA at that time. Besides other teams have interest AND Comerica is not a great sell for offensive type FAs (pay or not - the good ones can often choose). That is why trades are so important. Identify and go after. To me it does not seem this team is really interested any FA players to long term deals (maybe not even their own-yikes) - and I actually agree here probably 90% especially SPs. SHarris has a track record of short term deals. Incentive type deals. Ps that are the rebound (did this at SF as well). Sometimes this may work ex Rodon & Cobb ('22), Lorenzen ('23) and so far Flaherty ('24) and sometimes not Junis & Boyd ('22), Boyd ('23) and so far Maeda ('24 & '25). Its a crap shot and 50% is not bad really. Here the front office needs to identify and then have ownership's backing. AA got this far, then FA failures and injuries prevailed. IMHO, AA did not have anywhere close to the right development people for most of his GM tenure, then what little he did later was too late (ex AJ and Garko). SHarris seems to understand the FA aspect part of this. Drafting and development: This needs to take place and is number one with putting together a mid to small market team. I/we hope this has and is getting better... My point is once again, acquiring good players needs to take place. Not all will be through drafting and development and certainly SHarris is not a big FA type GM (and maybe for good reason). Good players can be added through trades. Some of it is luck and the most under rated aspect is injuries. They are always there, hence depth, especially with pitching, is a must. My Humble Conclusion: I would like to see SHarris (JGreenberg and this group) find some 'gold nuggets' with a couple of trades. My biggest point is there is no need to wait here. This can happen at any time. Find the players. If he cannot do this - then he/his group is only going to be 'holding up the bridge' for the next regime - who will want 'time' to rebuild and give us their rendition of 'the plan'. ; ) Go Tigs!

Kristen Stewart will play Sally Ride in Amazon's limited series about The Challenger. Spoiler alert: she dies in the end.

I think Harris has already made a couple good trades. But when push comes to shove... and we need that "one guy" and he's not in our system, we'll see if Harris can come up with the right answer, by trade or by FA signing. I'm not really worried about that part yet... because we are certainly not yet in that position. That's for the future. For now it's just sift through all these kids and try to find out who is part of a "foundation" and who isn't. And from there... what holes remain...? Can this team get better and start pushing for the playoffs with our "foundation"? Or not? Again... we're not there yet. .500 is a good step forward... need a few more steps.

I think this is a good question and starting point and I suspect they have been working through this for the last year.

And all that consternation about Harris’ willingness to make a trade. Don’t you all feel silly now?

I think the best question to ask, regarding any sports regime, is are they moving in the right direction? In this case, I believe the answer is yes. Good trades are generally made when you trade your surplus for a weakness, anything else is just rearranging furniture.

I agree, enjoy the games. Baseball is a way to 'somewhat' relax, take your mind off other things. It can get you thinking in another way. We are fans. We would like to win the game - yet, objectively one team wins each game and one loses. All will no doubt lose 60 games each year no matter how good they are. That is a lot of loses - but not when taken into perspective of an entire season. If you enjoy baseball - you are ahead of the game. I am simply making an observation based on what I have seen so far with this current FO group. I am hoping the have a 'knack' and can help improve the team by means of a deal here and there. History shows this needs be done, here and there, to help 'sustainability' for a good organization. If not, often steps back are taken. Enjoy the boys of summer!

Staffing. Worked for one of the bigger ones that is based in Michigan. The current CEO is gutting the company, and most of its US operations are being outsourced, department by department. My sister and girlfriend also worked there and were outsourced in December. Spent the last two months training my replacement in the Philippines, and it was going pretty poorly and they fired him a week before my last day. There’s going to be a lot of clients leaving due to this, and they are really going to regret doing this by saving money in the short term in the sake of service. I do have a severance that will get me through most of summer.

Bo Bichette would likely cost Jobe, Clark, and maybe Jung.

real life is not a video game. When has he or anyone suggested that trades and FA signings won't happen. Just because they don't happen on your timeline doesn't mean the process is flawed. It's ****ing June 7 and the team is over .500 and everybody here acts like it's the 2003 Tigers.

It doesn't pass the smell test that someone would take a POBO and be gunshy or afraid to fail. Fans just have to see a conspiracy somewhere. Maybe the possible trades are ones he didn't think improved the org.

The parts in bold relate to each other.... Tampa got Paredes from us because Avila wasn't good at trades.

when the loan on his "humble" $300,000 RV was paid off, he did not report that as income, so that's tax evasion if anyone cares, and i guess no one does

That may well be true, but regardless of what they really are, anybody owned by Murdoch has a credibility problem because we know that the Murdochs are willing to force coverage to conform to what they want at any time.

Godspeed Buddy. I hope you find your dad.

When I say anytime it does not mean you think of a trade and make it in an instant. You know this of course. You look at players over time (scouting, project-ability, etc.). Not every team evaluates the exact same the way with their priorities ex 'control the zone' may have priority over 'raw talent' for the Tigers, etc. I refer back to the one trade I mentioned (there have been many). Tampa did not just look at Paredes one day and say 'get him'. They looked over time, saw something, we may not have evaluated him the same way. When Greene went down, we asked about AMeadows and - wholla a deal was done. They evaluated Paredes, had a different view than what we did. I am not saying for better or worse, the point is - it was different. Then you throw in teams looking to shed some payroll (as tenacious D mentions below) as Tampa was. The deal itself may have taken time as far as Tampa was concerned. To us the fans it came out of nowhere. This is what I mean. Anytime a deal can get done. The Tigers can do the same thing at anytime. They may be doing so right now. They should be identifying, being realistic and taking 'some' actions ( a priority list, project-ability, finding out how coachable, etc.). SHarris has been with Detroit 1 1/2 years now. He was with SF and the Cubs before that. My question still is 'does this FO, SHarris, JGreenberg, etc. have the ability to acquire via Trades talented players? Do they have the ability to negotiate deals? It does not take an extensive amount of time to do this. Either you have this savy (ex ability to negotiate, bluff, be up front, play poker, etc.) or you do not. If you have some inclination for it you might be able to develop it to an extent. IMHO, AA did not have this, yet DD before him did. Does this group (in particular SHarris) have it? They are not rookies here. If they do not have the ability to work deals, then just drafting and developing (the most important aspect of course) can only go so far. Yes, ownership can back the FO (and it did with AA and DD) - but they still may have to negotiate against other teams for good FAs and more importantly negotiate/work trades. IF this FO cannot we may be in for another rebuild during another FO changeover. I am hoping this regime has 'some' ability here. Yes, we need to be able to trade some of our prospects (I once again and am not saying the top 5 or so). Some teams may value some of our prospects higher than we do (see above). We as fans do not have the same 'reference' material as a good FO does. Yes, all FO have data - but the point is they may not all have the same valuation profiles. We can make deals and acquire players. We are getting to the point, if our players stay healthy - and with P that is a big 'if' - that we will soon start to see whom we may acquire either as 'sellers or buyers' (or even both). The time is coming. IMHO, this 'core identification' idea is simply a way to stay 'idle' and buy time on the job. Where are those 'calculated risks' ? Identify a list, go after, take a risk (on a younger appealing player or expiring contract) - and negotiate the deal(s). I remain steadfast. It can happen at anytime - if the FO has this ability. We shall see and it should not take 2 more years to find this out as we wait for another 'core' or 'the core' to develop.

"wow this is something else"

Study: American Educational Research Association: Voter preference for Trump linked to bullying in middle schools I happened across this study online and thought it was interesting enough to share.

For anyone here that pines to see Tyler Alexander pitch again, come on down. He’s starting for the Durham Bulls tonight.

Toledo W 8-4 Meadows 1/5 SB Tork 3/5 2RBI 2 2B Jung 1/4 2RBI BB HR Dingler 2/3 2BB K SB Leonard 1/4 BB 2B Bigbie 2/4 2RBI BB HR 2B Hurter 5IP 5H 3ER BB 4K Lange 1IP 0H 0BB 0K Erie L 4-3 Workman 0/4 K Lee 0/3 BB K Cruz 1/3 RBI BB HR WM W 5-3 Anderson 1/2 2BB Campos 1/4 K Graham 1/4 K Lakeland W 1-0 Clark 0/4 2K Campbell 1/4 Gil 1/2 2BB Bastidas 0/3 K Minton 4IP 5H 0ER 2BB 7K FCL W 11-10 11 Innings Montilla 1/5 RBI 2BB K (GW RBI) SB Fana 1/5 BB K Jimenez 0/4 BB 3K Hernandez 3/6 4RBI GSHR in the bottom of the 9th to tie it up Perez 1/3 RBI 3BB K SB

Maybe making smart financial decisions is a little like being able to do math in your head, but you still can't reason your way out of a wet paper bag.

there are a lot of bad faith polls in the system that are used to generate reaction.

Cults can get to anyone. Even the smart and wealthy/educated.

Awe struck by all the D-Day commemorations. Imagine having to face that for our kids. NATO prevented war during the period 1949 to 1989. Collective security is the only way to prevent future wars and to keep the bad actors from threatening the peace.

feels like a trap...but for whom?

I hope the White Sux let the 1962 Mets off the hook. I mean, they were an expansion team in an era when expansion teams didn't get nearly the breaks they do now. At least they had an excuse.

He might be loaded but that doesn't mean he's either smart or educated.

I do agree. Yet, it is the job of the front office to identify and trade for players that perhaps another team is 'not' valuing as high in regards. There are many examples of this. I could research and come up with a good list. Two years ago Tampa got IParedes as one good example. I am not advocating trading a lot of crap based on players of 'what are you doing for me now' per say judgement. Teams have different ways of judging talent. Some teams may value Ty Madden or Justice Bigbie or Max Anderson, etc. You create a small package and 'get the guy' you feel may be on the cusp. That is good scouting. Having a real eye for talent. Maybe that player is blocked by another good young player or two in that same orginization (agai the LAD and Baltimore come to mind). SHarris wants only players that 'control the zone' so to speak. Maybe other teams are not as much into that idea. Maybe SHarris needs to make an exception to that profile a time or two. It simply cannot work for everyone. Point again being SHarris/the FO can acquire a good young player (or one that will be) at any time. No payroll restriction. No big time FA contract. No need to trade only your best prospects per say to do it. Identify, know the other teams wishes (no do not get fleeced) and do it. This is what I am looking to see - can SHarris, this FO do these type of deals. Do they have this 'moxie'?!? This will determine a lot moving forward. If he does not have the ability to make deals (even with a FA) - well then - the baton will be passed on and that will not bode well for fans as we 'rebuild' again.

Thank you sir 🙏

The worst case scenario is that what he is doing works well enough at Toledo that here is insufficient drive to change. It's going to be up to the coaches in Toledo to impress on him that they don't care what kind of numbers he generates against AAA pitching, he's not going back to Det until they see the approaches they want. And that's going to be hard message to delivery with much credibility.

Real Republicans don't shop at Kohl's anyway... I guess Walmart is still available

He's not that smart. He might know engineering but that isn't the same thing as an education.

Why not both?

youngest player at Erie, younger than Jobe; had injuries after trade; has found more power but without losing BB rate or an increase in K rate; and production appears not to be related to fluke BABIP; very encouraging; solid, at a minimum, Harris move

Is Tork in the top 100 minor prospects?

Everybody is going to call him Cam Cam. No thanks.

When the skeptic guy Carmichael tries to bribe the devil/demon with a check at the end that made me laugh out loud. I also thought the scene where they showed his wife dying in bed and her having been the victim of him selling out to be #1 on the late night talk show circuit was both creepy and provoking.