casimir

Clemens at 3B. AJ Hinch is so desperate that he's here reading our suggestions.

He might be in our conversation, but is he in the Tigers' conversation? I think sometimes its easy on here to confuse what we think the Tigers should do and what the Tigers think they should do. 3B next season is a prime example. My opinion is that the Tigers are more likely to bring Candelario back than the majority of folks here would. As far as Clemens in the 3B mix, he has moved around the Toledo diamond a bit this season after seasons of being a 2B exclusively. I'm fine with trying him there. I think there was some open concern about his arm strength. If he can pick it down there with some sort of range (which I don't think Candelario has much of) maybe at worst its a net change of 0 defensively. I don't know. If a remember correctly, Candelario was never projected to be a traditional offensive threat for the 3B position anyway, but he's obviously well below those nominal expectations this season.

Nope.

For some reason I thought Candelario was only at $4M this season, but, yes, it looks like he's at $5.8M. I don't know how much it will go up, but it doesn't seem it would go up all that much based on lumping in this season. I can't imagine him here in 2 years with how this season is going. On the other hand, Buck Farmer was around for parts of 8 seasons, so, yeah. Cots' list of free agents doesn't seem up to date. Just looking at 3 players (Tim Anderson, Jose Ramirez, and Xander Bogarts), Ramirez and Bogarts have signed extensions and are not free agents this offseason. I guess technically the White Sox have a club option on Anderson. Who knows, maybe they will decide to go with Clemens/Kreidler in some form or fashion at 3B next season. Or they will see Brandon Drury's out of nowhere 2022 and throw 5/$100M at him.

And to think that Candelario was essentially benched just last weekend for poor play.

Minnesota Twins (51-44) at Detroit Tigers (38-57)

How does an arbitrator look at 2022 numbers and rule in favor of the player? Never mind the fact that numbers haven’t been exchanged yet. I understand what you’re saying, though. His price tag might be too much for questionable production. That’s a perfectly fair point.

They may keep Kreidler in Toledo rather than starting his clock. It’ll be interesting to see what they do when rosters expand. I may be wrong, but didn’t they limit September rosters to only 28 or 29 with the current CBA? They’ll probably go with another pitcher, maybe a 3rd catcher, and probably a position player already on the 40. I’m not at all suggesting that Candelario has earned a role next season. I just don’t think they’ll pursue an upgrade. I suppose there’s probably room for both Candelario and Kreidler on the roster. Or maybe they find a way to get another Castro.

That May figure is a little deceiving, too, as he only played 6 games during the month. But the .521 out of the gate in April really set up a deep hole to climb out from.

Well, there’s nobody in the pipeline to take his place. We can talk about Kreidler, but I think he needs to show more. His Toledo numbers last seem a little suspect. He probably needs to show some more on base ability at AAA. I realize that sounds silly when looking at his .370 OBP at AAA, but that’s inflated by his torrid 2021. Then a quick glance at upcoming free agents show that there’s not much to get excited about there. Oh, sure, Correa could opt out. I just don’t think breaking the bank for a guy that’s oft injured makes sense. Factor those aspects, and I think we will see Candelario through next season.

So Candelario and Baddoo combined to give up 2 extra runs in the 7th. Barnhart’s drop at home (pretty obvious he wasn’t anticipating a throw coming his way) allowed that run, plus 2 more scored after that. Simply inexcusable poor defense.

It very well could be a situation that wasn’t his fault, but was his problem/opportunity. The lack of communication that was hinted at by the Tigers is concerning, but we’re on the outside looking in, so what do we know?

Depends upon the reason for “abandonment”.

Some of those things may not be suitable for this family friendly environment.

Any chirps on the twitters about extending Hurlin' Harold to a starter in his bullpen sessions?

Oh, to be a fly on the wall for the welcome back to the clubhouse.....

Looking forward to it.

Any official word on the baseball? Rumor is that it was taken out of the game. In all seriousness, its good to hear that it night not be a major issue, especially if the pitch fortunately hit the helmet first. It wasn't all that long ago that the extension on the helmet off of the ear flap was used almost exclusively by guys that had been hit in the face. They seem to be used much more often now. With as hard as pitchers throw now, I'd be using that myself.

Minnesota Twins (50-44) at Detroit Tigers (38-56)

The pie is interesting. I just figured they would mandate 2 IFs on each side of 2nd base with feet on the dirt. So teams could still shift with a middle infielder at 2B and the other around halfway between 2B and either of 1B/3B. I guess then the only change would be keeping the 2Bdude in the IF rather than playing short RF.

Ohtani Light.

Damnit, now I want key lime pie.

I would think there’s a rule to keep 2 IFs to each side of the pie.

I don’t know. I think hitters might actually pull the ball more now that there’s one fewer fielder on that side of the IF.