casimir

Close to top ten? This is the silliest thing I've read since someone typed in the college forums that U of Minnesota football head coach to U of Wisconsin football head coach was a lateral move.

I can't remember if Paul was brought in before Hinch or not. It'll be interesting to see if Lombard does indeed move on to a manager's role elsewhere and if Hinch moves upstairs (which could mean a promotion with no moving vans for Lombard).

I'd cut them both loose. Cisnero was serviceable, but its time to move on. Soto's wildness is just intolerable.

Its OK to move on from both Schoop and Cameron. This team needs more offense than they can provide.

Garcia is a guy that I'm surprised they had success in stretching out into a starter (very limited) because he seemed to me to be the epitome of a solo inning RP. I still don't have much faith in him going forward because of his meek SO9. That number completely fell off of the table once he was promoted above AA. Maybe its simply a function of his AA & under SO9 being inflated due to small sample size, I don't know. I guess given the number of pitchers that are questionable for protecting vs not protecting on the 40, I would give great emphasis on those that can control the strike zone like the new boss said and hedge to those that can deliver multiple innings per appearance. The former is a filter with the latter being a tiebreaker, so to speak.

Pretty good start to the offseason. Soto hasn't blown anything yet.

He’s thrown only 90 MLB innings, but he also owns a BB9 starting with a 5.

I hope they move the fences back 15 feet just to yank chains.

I think Alexander started more games out of necessity as opposed to anything else. Heck, Bryan Garcia started 4 games after he was DFAd as a reliever. Hutchison ended up with 28 games started, easily leading the ball club.

Dumping Lange but keeping Cameron? Wowza.

I'm worried about the contents, not the packaging.

That's a good point. Of course, those players were acquired and "nurtured" by the Avila administration, so there might not be much to keep.

The new member of the front office might agree with Shepard. S'posed to be some coaching staff announcements tomorrow. Coolbaugh and Hessman are easy to assume as gone. i would imagine Gary Jones might also be gone, or maybe possibly reinstated as manager of the Mud Hens to replace McClendon. I am going to guess some changes will be made around training and strength & conditioning also.

Rumor is Shep walked home from Seattle out of frustration. He has his shortcomings as a play-by-play guy, but damnit, he had the pulse of the fans with his diatribe. While I think his stated goal of the playoffs next season is a bit aggressive, he is spot on that it's time for this franchise to put a competitive product out on the field in 2023. Its time to get away from being the bottom feeder that its been for the past 7 seasons. 7 bleeping seasons of bottom (5) of the barrel, and this farm system isn't bursting with talent ready to make its move to the majors? Absolutely disgusting and indefensible.

One thing is for certain. The unknown of what happens makes this the most intriguing offseason that we've seen them go into in a long time. It doesn't mean that in March it will have been the most intriguing offseason that we'll have seen the Tigers come out of. But the variable of the absolute unknown is fascinating.

A couple of notes: I don't know where to get a list of rule 5 eligible players, but those guys probably have to factor in as well. At least the keepable ones. The 3B free agent market is dreadful. Unless a 3B is acquired via trade, I suspect they grit their teeth and roll the dice with Candelario. He has it in him, at least he's shown it before. Its a matter of getting that out of him. The hitting coaches will be different. There was some lobbying during the TV broadcast last night for Alexander to return in some capacity, maybe long reliever being his best fit. I think he does return as he can swing between starter and reliever. There is going to be a need to pitch 1,400 innings, and Alexander can probably give them over 100 in some sort of hybrid role, hopefully more relief innings than starting innings. And I think the overwhelming variable in all of this is a new front office. Harris brings new eyes to the organization. The new GM will likely be from outside of the organization. So, there will be different input from those seats, plus Hinch who knows the inside of the clubhouse. Despite Hinch being hired by Avila, he seems to be distanced enough from Avila that he is a quasi new/different set of eyes. That 40 could be burnt to the ground for all we know. But Jack Morris, of all people, made a pretty salient point after the game. The goal should be the playoffs, and the team could redirect towards that as more of a short term goal than a long term goal, but the type of turnaround that would be needed is tough to accomplish. They could make the playoffs next season given enough of the right moves, but how many times do we see a 25+ game turnaround? Drunk Uncle Jack dropping a dose of reasonable reality. Imagine that?

No reason to not use that arm. What are they saving him for, the wild card round?

Underpromise and overdeliver. -- Casimir 3:16

Good flipping grief! I’m suspending myself for the rest of the regular season.

I think I managed to get game times and opponents correct every 2 out of 3 games. That's like taking a series. I feel that's a success.

The good thing about Soto blowing the early game on only 11 pitches yesterday is that he should be available for today's game.

Highlighted area. Zoomed out for context of where we were (the "n" in -on-) and where we were looking towards (the shoreline of Toronto). It was a perfectly clear day. Niagara-on-the-Lake is a beautiful little town. Lots of vineyards in the area. We were there on a weekend, so all of the little shops and the main drag were packed with folks. But we took a horse drawn carriage ride around the town, and ended up in front of a wedding procession via carriage towards the end of our ride. Just wandered about the shops and the village square. There's a cemetery there that is actually Polish land for a regiment that died during the War of 1812. It was a whim type of a jaunt up there while we were staying at the Falls, maybe only a 20-30 drive up.

And now....., the rest of the story. We tried to find Niagara-on-the-Lake when we went up the CN Tower, but of course, the reciprocal view wasn't there. A bit too hazy from that height.

You try to trade him.