RedRamage

I go back and forth on it a bit... During June I was very pro-Trade, now I'm less so given we're starting to see production from some of the younger guys. So, explaining how I was feeling in June: It very much looked like it was going to be 3-5 years until the Tigers were close to competing again. Our pitching was reasonably successful and we've been shown that we can develop pitching reasonably well. So while I don't think we could replace Skubal with someone else perfectly, I also didn't feel like we'd be trading like Cabrera in his prime with only Don Kelly to take his place. I also figured it was long shot to sign Skubal long term. He's flirting with best pitcher in baseball and was going to get massive offers from the highest bidders. You think he'd take a home town discount to play with a team that was still trying to build up to a point of maybe sorta being competitive? So, keep Skubal and see him pitch for us 2.5 more years while our offense looks like ****, then see him get a huge pay somewhere else just as we're maybe getting competitive again. Or trade him for a MASSIVE return to bolster our minors and make sure that in 2.5 years we're getting competitive again with some more ammo in the minors.

Sometimes the best move is to make the deal like a month early. That way you're not confused by a bunch of offers at the last minute and only have to deal with one team.

I get the feeling that Flaherty isn't going anywhere until tomorrow. There seems to be a bit of a bidding war so I suspect Harris is holding out for the best offer as teams get more and more desparate.

Any thoughts of if Carson Kelly is moved? We may not get much for him, but with Dingler playing so well in the minors it might be worth it try see what teams might offer.

It's amazing to think that... I mean the starting rotation was supposed to be out major strength with lots of depth! We sent a guy to triple-A who could easily have been a starter in lot of teams rotations. Now we're struggling to field 3 guys.

I know, I know... small sample size and all that... but I didn't read this comment until relatively recently and thought "What do you mean below average? He's been hitting like crazy!" But obviously we need to see if is an anomaly or the new normal for Keith.

He's gonna start charging Colt an Uber fee for all the driving he's doing.

Here's a suggested rule change ('cause I know that MLB executives regularly roll through here looking for ideas): If an umpire needs to leave the game for an injury, each team gets an additional challenge, and this challenge is usable regardless of whether or not teams have used their challenge(s), or been successful or not.

Without trying to sound too cold... how does the NFL handle this if Jackson was signed? Do the Vikings get that salary cap space back? I'd think is a case like this the team should get that space back. I don't think it should count against the cap this year or any future years either.

Sometime I've gotta re-watch some of these super old sitcoms and just laugh at how the changing slang terms make certain phrases have very, very different meanings.

I choose: Milk under the bridge.

How much do we have to pay to have move Tork?

Time for Andrew Navigato? I'm sure he's probably not on the 40-man, but he plays SS and has an 890 OPS in Toledo. There are far worse options right now.

Did you know about Stafford and Kershaw? It's almost as unknown as the other thing.

I suspect the "hot take" logic here is that whatever you paid for Hooker is in the past. That's "money" spent and you're not getting it back. *IF* Hooker is just going to ride the pine for the next 3-4 years that's equivalent (in terms of on the field performance) as drafting a 3rd rounder who had a career ending injury in his first game and retired. The logic would be getting something... anything... for Hooker would be better than him just keeping the bench warm. Of course that logic assumes that Goff stays health and productive for the next 3-4 years AND that the Lions aren't going to extend Hooker if they see him developing into a potential star QB. We very well may look back in 2028 and say: Goff never was out for long (or ever) and Hooker doesn't look like the heir apparent... we should have traded him for whatever we could have gotten. I suspect that it won't play out just like that and I don't think we'll get enough value in return for trading Hooker, but it's certainly possible.

The question isn't whether Rodgers has a track record of great QB play. He OBVIOUSLY does. We were on the wrong end of that way too many times. The only questions for the Jets are if he's jumped the shark or not and if the rest of the team around him is good enough.

I guess this is where I'm most concerned. Can we actually develop that talent? On the pitching side, sure... lots of success there. On the hitting side? We have Riley Greene and .... ??? Now, maybe Keith and Clark and Jung and even JHM will prove me wrong. I certainly hope so!

I'll confess that I haven't looked at this stats lately... I just assumed because the Tigers were stinking he wasn't doing so hot either. If he's really has a 135+ that's not bad at all and I withdraw my condemnation of Greene.

73 games played so far (not including the current game)... 7 times they've been shut out. Looking very much like it might be 8 after today. 12 times they only scored 1 run. A "Quality Start" is the starting pitcher going at least 6 innings and giving up 3 runs or less. Well, in 73 games our boys have scored 3 runs or less in 9 innings 33 times. 45% of the time if the starting pitcher just got through the 6th inning it was an automatic quality start and probably many of the other 55% of games were also "quality start"-worthy with us only edging above 3 runs in the later innings. Any excitement I had for the team in spring is just completely gone at this point. I wasn't expecting a WS contending team, but I was hoping for at least a step forward. This year the offense is as bad as ever and the young hitters that we hoped would mature (Tork and Greene) haven't. I'm not saying "blow it up" yet, but I'm dang close to it. At this point I wouldn't really be opposed to trading Skubal because I don't think we'll be seriously contending again until here's on the down slope of his career.

This just might be stupider than the "you can gamble, just not on team grounds" rule... While the policy permits clubs to engage with and negotiate all aspects of an NFL player contract with the certified agent of any prospective unrestricted free agent during the two-day negotiating period, any direct contact between the player and an employee or representative of the club is prohibited. This includes discussion of travel arrangements or other logistical matters, which the club acknowledges took place with regard to these three players. Am I missing something here? What is the logic behind this rule? Please let me know if you can think of some logical reason that completely negotiating a multi-million dollar deal with a person... excuse me... with the player's agent... and to come to a complete conclusion on absolutely everything and have it all finalized -- except for actually getting the signature on the contact -- is perfectly fine. But calling the dude up and saying: "Listen, there's a flight that leaves at 10 or one that leaves at 2pm... which would you rather take?" Well, dang-nabbit it that's just going too far in the tampering world! We can't have teams doing that!! You can't call up the player! Now, if you talked to the agent and asked the agent to ask the player this same question... well, there's nothing wrong with that, now is there. That's fine... but don't call him yourself! For the record: I'm not excusing the team for breaking the rules. Just like Jamo and the illegal gambling, if you know the rule you need to follow the rule, even if it's a stupid rule. I'm not saying the Falcons shouldn't be punished. I'm saying the rule is stupid and doesn't make any sense.

Pure speculation, but I don't see crowd noise as being an issue for a kicker. Obviously I'm not a kicker so I'm just speaking off the top of my head, but it's not like they have to communicate a player to other players or do an audible to listen for a specific count for the ball to be snapped... Obviously loud noise is mildly distracting, but I don't see it being a huge issue.

Yeah I don't think it's a given that it's Bates job to lose. That amount of guaranteed money is pocket change to an NFL team. I will be very interested to see how he does in camp and in pre-season. He didn't seem to be excitable or emotional in UFL games... he was 'iced' a few times and just went ahead and kicked super long kicks successfully a second time so I don't think we need to worry about nerves or fan noise or anything. But he definitely showed that he's less successful outside and will top-level players trying to get at him when he kicks effect him? Or will the idea that he's looking a multi-million dollars if he doesn't screwup get in his head and cause him to screwup?

Very valid point and just more evidence that it's rarely a black and white situation in the NFL. I mean, real life is always like this too and therefore it's true in all sports, but I think the NFL is more interdependent than many other sports. But... the 10 years prior to Goff and McVay the Rams managed ZERO winning seasons. McVay steps in, gets Goff first over all and immediately makes the playoffs, then one year later makes the Super Bowl... then things start the falter a bit... then they make the playoffs again and suddenly McVay is convinced that Goff isn't good enough. Perhaps I'm jaded as a Lions fan but that amount of success seems pretty good to me and shouldn't mean cutting bait. We've all seen the many cases were a player under performs, goes to a new team that knows how to use/motivate/coach him right and he becomes a star... but Goff wasn't really underperforming, certainly not at first. Something was working... and then it apparently wasn't. I don't think you can just say: "Eh... it happens, nobody's fault..." I also don't think you can say it's 100% this guys fault or 100% that guys fault... but you're just two years removed from playing in the SB and you just made another playoff run... not a deep run, but still a playoff run and McVay decides he needs to heavily mortgage the future for now.