casimir

Well, now that they've engaged in dredging the basement for 5 seasons and restarted the farm system with the kick start that they claimed was necessary, its just a matter of maintaining it going forward, right?

Its easy to forget Hayes has lost a lot of time. And it ain't like he's been surrounded by greatness when he has played. I want to see how he looks next season. There will be another top draft pick added. Cunningham, Bay, and Stewart will have another season under their belts as well. Maybe he isn't destined to be more than a bench PG. Maybe he figures enough out to be a starter.

Any news on bringing the outfield walls in?

Philadelphia 76ers (46-29) vs Detroit Pistons (20-54)

I'll 2.4 WAR in 3/8 years for the Diamondbacks. Hey, it was a studly run, it should be noted. Actually, that $9.75M is incorrect. Call it 3 1/2 years, tack on half of the $11.75M from 2017 to the Tigers and half to the Diamondbacks. OK, getting too much into the weeds. I'm warmed up now. Time to look at work.

Its a fine line to walk, opening up camp for 2022-2023 playing time now, yet trying to earn more ping pong balls.

So these won't be on PASS?

Greene & Torkelson are off again?

So, if he is meeting those expectations, that's fine. The byproduct of Hill & Cameron getting regular playing time in Toledo probably isn't bad. Its not perfect, because at some point they need to face MLB competition. But at some point the Tigers are going to need to call up an OF, so it's just a matter of when, not if.

Oddly enough, they both have questions about their bodies. Can Reyes add & deploy muscle to his long levers? Can Hill keep his body healthy?

I can understand Garneau if they are going to be playing Haase around the field. I'm adverse to using backup Cs around the field much, I guess because of the potential for injury and getting stuck with a nonC behind the plate for a game. Maybe its unfounded to worry that way, and it really doesn't affect my day-to-day, but these are some of the dumb things that keep me up at night. On the pitching side, I suppose they look at Hutchison as a multiple innings guy if all pooh breaks loose? And if it doesn't work out, hopefully he is salvageable enough to bridge he gap until Pineda/Peralta are back? With rosters being cut down to 26 at some point, I sure hope his agent talked him into renting.

Detroit Pistons (20-55) vs Brooklyn Nets (39-36)

Hmmmm.... Anyone think this might explain the throwing issues that befell Steve Sax and Chuck Knoblauch?

Maybe send Will Smith over there to slap his head off?

Just got a text from my dad. "I've already had my fill of Morris for the year."

Well, I’m not. I mean, I, too, put weight on over the winter, but it wasn’t 20 pounds of muscle. And that’s where the similarities end.

I miss the days when RP could pitch well for multiple innings at a time.

Yeah, I think we’ve seen what Reyes can offer. I think it’s fine to move on and see what Hill (if he can stay healthy) and Cameron (waiting in Toledo to start the season) can do.

I disagree. We’re talking about a 5th or 6th outfielder here.

A .327 AVG with a .352 OBP based on a .398 BABIP isn’t anything to get excited about.

True. But he could’ve pulled an Inge about being moved from 3B to 1B because of Guillen’s poor feetwork. He could’ve balked about moving back over to 3B to accommodate Fielder at 1B. And he could’ve pushed back about Castellanos getting the 3B job which pushed Cabrera back to 1B. It wasn’t all that long ago that there was some open wondering about how he would deal with eventually being phased out of 3/4 in the lineup. There’s some natural denial that top athletes have to deal with about eroding skills and thinking that they still have some time before that sets in. I’m not saying he should be thrown a parade for going along with what looks like the plan. But we’ve seen other athletes bristle at the notion that they could lose what they assumed was their position in the lineup.

There’s no “e” in Willi. Oh, wait a minute. Now I see what you’re doing.

Cabrera ain’t perfect. But I think in general he’s been a team first kind of ball player. We can question his conditioning. There was the drunken stupor years ago. But he’s also moved positions a couple of times for the benefit of the team. He appears to be a pretty good teammate (although we only see the public side of that). I have to think he realizes he’s at the end of the line. He’s already admitted, maybe indirectly, that he’s no longer the first baseman. I think he genuinely wants team success. There’s the 3,000th hit. There’s his eventual hall of fame enshrinement. Aside from that, the individual accolades are pretty much done. He can move up some leader boards, but he’s already in the neighborhood of prime time names. He’s only got one WS ring, and that was from 2 decades ago. I think he probably realizes that he can’t lead a team there by hitting 4th, but he can be a part of it lower in the lineup and by being a veteran leader. Just my guess.

I think Schoop and the catching tandem will be 8 & 9 before Cabrera drops to 8. I think Cabrera does drop to 6 at some point this season.

New York Knicks (32-42) vs Detroit Pistons (20-54)