casimir

As for the SP, using MLB trade rumors as a gauge, the prediction for Stroman is 5/$110M. They had Gausman at 6/$138M and he got 5/$110M. They had Ray at 5/$130M and he got 5/$115M with an opt out. They had Scherzer at 3/$120M and he got 3/$130M with an opt out from a jilted drunken sailor at closing time. Kick the tires on Stroman.

Same could be said about USC, although ND allows him the comfort of staying in the Midwest which is supposedly a priority for him.

I suppose. It'll be interesting to see what ND would put into the contract as a buy out from Fickell's side.

There is the 2 year opt out possibility, but the swiftness with which he signed with the Tigers is encouraging.

If you're Fickell, assuming his eyes are ultimately on OSU, what do you do? Do you grab ND while you can move up and stay in the Midwest or do you hold out hope that Day moves on sooner rather than later?

Apparently he has two dogs, named Boomer and Sooner. What happens here?

I hope its for fewer than 6. I wouldn't have wanted to sign him for more than 4, but the Rangers grabbing 2 of the SS options kind of screwed up the SS market (either via trade or free agency). I'm curious what Story would have wanted (if he were interested in Detroit at all). I wasn't interested in him at all in the beginning because of his home/road splits, but I've softened on that. I think we'll all enjoy Baez' glove and baseball acumen. It seems like he's an amped up version of Iglesias, plus power & baserunning on top of that. The free swinging is going to be annoying, but if he can settle into the 6th/7th spot of the lineup and isn't needed as a focal point of the offense, it'll be fine. They still need to find another SP, and BPs always seem to need some tinkering. Marcus Stroman?

I opted for beauty sleep. It didn't work.

Detroit Pistons (4-16) vs Portland Trail Blazers (10-11)

Meyer is a man of faith. He might see it as a calling and accept a little less than expected. And/or he’ll create another fuss in Jacksonville, get bough out, and land on his feet in South Bend. Oh good grief, how I hate Notre Fame and Urban Meyer. They are so made for each other.

Is it possible that the warp speed with some of the current top tier signings isn’t the way to go?

I guess the coaching carousel is an immediate fix of chaos.

Urban Meyer is probably already on the line with ND.

F Notre Dame and F Brian Kelly. Google the name Declan Sullivan.

Does he have the defense needed?

It sounds like Riley is taking the coaching staff with him. Probably going to take some recruits as well. Bob Stoops as interim coach for the bowl game. Just heard he has been removed from FOX' college football broadcasting. Temporary or does he have the itch back?

This could be an exciting half week of free agent signings.

I'd like to know what short term (say a season or two) and longer term (prospects) are available to be had.

Hey, they have to be agile. For all we know the remaining SSs might be asking for too much (either dollars or years), uninterested, and/or looking to return to their previous clubs. And it could be that they are just playing the negotiation game. I'm not sure about pursuing Ray. He's had two fantastic seasons and a bunch of meh. That worries me more than too many lefties in the rotation.

Right. Wrong.

Billy Napier to Florida (which is not nearly as fun as Riley to USC).

Well, since I ain’t got a dog in the fight, I want absolute chaos now. I don’t know what that is, whether a slew of upsets is the way to it, or a one loss ND outside of the top 4, or how we get to it. To me, this season has reminded me of 2 loss LSU beating 1 loss OSU in the BcS championship. The final few weeks was sacked out with OSU losing late (Purdue ?) and lots of controversy about whether they really were #1 after that, but ultimately being bumped up to it because they were the last power 5 with only 1 blemish (at least per the calculations). And it was presumed LSU was just a fill in opponent for that game. Ted Ginn Jr ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, was hurt on the play, and that was the lone bright spot for OSU that day. Right, wrong, or indifferent, the powers that be won’t be happy with a playoff if it includes a combo of Oklahoma State and Cincinnati. It doesn’t bother me, I’d rather the top 4 teams be in there. But, again, the power$ that be won’t be happy.

I kind of suspect the Rangers will be in on Correa until the end. I’m not sure that means the next couple of days. I’m not really sure how the upcoming CBA affects him or the other top few FAs. I suspect they will still get theirs and it’s the other FAs that might be looking to lock up whatever offers they might have. But that’s just an uneducated guess.

Detroit Pistons (4-15) vs Los Angeles Lakers (10-11)

I’m not so sure about that.