1984Echoes

I wouldn't say it this way. Because we were moving on from Candy in 2023 no matter what, even if we didn't after 2022. He's a FA this year. He's gone. No need to invest a FA contract on him. It doesn't matter to me that they didn't have a ready-made replacement at 3B... that's just a problem to solve. To me the issues were: 1) 2B is easier to slot guys and/or test guys out at than at 3B. Much easier to flip guys like McKinstry/ Short/ Maton etc. through 2B, and some time at SS and some time at 3B, than to push one of them into a starting 3B job. Much easier to handle 2B. And if they show themselves as good enough to take over 3B... then a move could conceivably be made. Same with Malloy and Keith if they made it to MLB this year. But even if no one showed enough at 3B in 2023, we were STILL moving on from Candy during/ after 2023 so to me, that's moot point. The position still needs to be filled. I'd rather make it easier on guys though (2B), and force one of them to "push" Candy out of the 3B job. I don't consider lack of 3B replacement as a "mistake", per se, but instead, the "mistake" of valuing 2B higher than 3B, and of creating a more difficult transition path for new guys (3B instead of 2B), and also of not retaining a "push him out the door with performance" situation. 2) Schoop was a mistake to me. All winter long I assessed him as "toast". Now... what do I know? But, reiterating one of my points... what kind of performance would be required to push him out of a spot? Because it looks like to me: a guy could be the worst player in MLB this year (not counting Schoop), and that would be good enough to push Schoop out of a job. Because... Schoop is the worst piece of hot garbage in MLB, this year. 3) Opportunity Cost: dropping Candy means we lost a draft pick I believe. Why would we do that? Aside from getting guys back in a deadline trade, which may or may not have more value than the draft pick... why are we tossing easy money (draft pick/ traded-for players) out the door? That's a lost opportunity cost, which I think is a mistake. 4) Candy 2023 > Schoop 2023. Any decision otherwise was a mistake. And this was known in October, 2022. At least by those who have some Nostradamus in their DNA. Like me. And Chas. And I think Lee too IIRC...

This is Motown Sports Forums. I've had 50 years of hand-wringing (I'm older than that but not counting when too young to know to hand-wring over anything...). I consider myself a professional now. Hand-Wringing Engineer. First Class.

Inflation? WHAT INFLATION? We talkin' 'bout inflation? Don't know what you talkin' 'bout. WHAT INFLATION? I think it's just your 'magination... Says the Temptations.

If Trump is on the ballot... It's a high turnout. If Trump is NOT on the ballot... then turnout will be much, much more up-in-the-air, depending on multitudes of factors. But Trump on the ballot = HUGE turnout. Book it.

The Anti-Trump Angst is NOT going to die out quickly. If he's on the ballot, Dems will come out in DROVES to vote against him, as will moderate Independents. So yes... 99%

I think this is Harris's first mistake. Aside from the money... and the payroll is too low (IMO) to quibble over spending some extra cash on Candy... The first decisions was - EASILY IMO - to jettison Schoop and tender Candy. Schoo was done, last season, and 0 chance (again, IMO) of any recovery, whilst Candy had a high degree (IMO) of getting back to a 3 WAR-ish level. Harris could have just as easily cleared 2B for the future as 3B. And it's harder to find a good player at 3B than at 2B (the lowest and easiest to cover position out of 2B-SS-3B) because a player needs the arm for 3B, as well as the cat-like movements to field the position. The EASY choice, IMO, was to dump Schoop and try new guys out there, rather than non-tender Candy. Bad decision. IMO. This, I agree with. He sucked in 2022 which was a key component leading to... Harris's decision.

The flipside to that is: I think Al kept chasing after similar players... Dawel Lugo, Jose King, Sergio Alcantara, Willi Castro, Harold Castro, Javier Betancourt, Jeimer Candelario, Isaac Paredes... And I'm not even speaking to the fact they're all Hispanic... I just think he heavily went after IF'ers, falling in love with them. Or maybe he was more comfortable going after Hispanic IF'ers...? I don't know, and don't think that matters... But I think the key thing, to Avila... was that he fell in love with the guys he was trading for... which ALSO was a component of the JD trade, including that he did it early. Got offered 3 guys he wanted and he said YEAH! That he was a **** evaluator of other teams' prospects factors heavily into his terrible trading track record.

PS: I don't think I ever said 100% "can't win" because I don't believe in absolutes where only gray reigns... But I think the likelihood of a Dem (ANY Dem, Biden or otherwise) beating Donald MF'ing Trump is about 99.9%. But not 100%.

No coffee (don't drink it). But 6 Dr. Peppers will do nicely...

A couple of things: 1) If we had tendered him and kept him... I believe our choice would have been a draft pick or whatever trade value we could get at the deadline... So worst would have been another draft pick. We got... nothing for letting him walk. 2) Who says Harris couldn't have gotten a better return? Maybe he gets worse players... but I'd rather he have that shot then... nothing. 3) Funny, the two prospects the Nationals got from the Cubs were ranked by MLB as the Cubs 14th and 16th best prospects, preseason. Made is a excellent glove/field/arm/ OK bat SS, but maybe the bat develops, most likely profiles as a bench glove... DJ Herz has an excellent FB-changeup mix but terrible control... What is funny as the NEXT two Cubs prospects (pre-season 15 and 17 by MLB) sound more like Harris type prospects: Jefferson Rojas, SS, excellent glove/field/arm/ SS (but not as good as Made) with an advanced hit tool/ plate approach and some (projectable) power. 18 and in low-A ball. And RHP Caleb Killian, big FB/ CB combination with excellent control. But needs a changeup to handle lefties, or he struggles. Now.. nothing earth-shattering... but I would have been pleased with getting a Rojas-Killian combination into the Org if Harris would have pulled that off, and maybe a 3rd lotto-type prospect if he's that kind of good (trader) rather than... nothing. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop? The world may never know. (Or... Three. depends on ones viewpoint...)

I'd rather vote for a dead Joe Biden than a living Republican.

Whoop whoop!!! A MONSTER in the Middle...! Looking forward to seeing what kind of impact Martin can make...

Never let them forget what they said...? Man, I have a LOOOOONG list of contemptible statements by Fascist ****ing Republicans, by any of the Scumbag Trump's (not just one), by Benedict Arnold MAGA, by White Trash Bigots, by 50 years of in-your-face lies by Republicans... This thread would be dominated by a huge series of posts/ reprehensible quotes from right wing scumbags... It would turn into a 1,200 page novel... And that's just the first one out of a series of tomes.

Torture is even better...

I want wind speed, wind direction, humidity, temperature... etc.

Those are simply players that Harris has zero interest in. He's looking for a different "type" of player... both pitchers and position players who dominate the strike zone. That means he would be interested in Marte/ Collier/ Petty/ Stoudt/ Aguiar... And none of the guys you listed. And with both Eduardo and Lorenzen... I think the trade price starts with Collier/ Petty/ Aguiar... Just my 2 cents...

I offer to add to their playlist: Dead Man Walking - Bruce Springsteen Little Electric Chair - Iggy Pop Death by Electric Chair - Corroded Deth Renegade - Styx ("Hangman is coming down from the gallows, And I don't have very long... The _____ who had it made Retrieved for a bounty... And had a high price on my head Lawman said, "Get him dead or alive" Now it's for sure he'll see me dead... Nevermore to go astray This will be the end today of the wanted man...") Send me to the 'Lectric Chair - Bessie Smith (One can dream... right?)

The perfect trade partner to me is the Rangers. The perfect trade (to me... not necessarily anyone else), is sending Eduardo (and let them negotiate an extension with him or a buyout of his opt-out), along with Lange, Lorenzen, Carpenter, some cash if needed, for Evan Carter (another Riley Greene type), Sebastian Walcott (high hit tool big RH'ed SS, or 3B'man), and pitchers Tekoah Roby, Mitch Bratt and Marc Church. The pitchers all control the strike zone. Church the highest upside with closer material. Roby and Bratt (rightie and lefty) end-of-rotation/ long reliever types... IMO.

We also match up really well with the Rangers... But I'm not certain how difficult they are to work with... on trades for example... They've got at least a few guys I'd be dying to add to our team...

Doesn't fit Harris's profile. Hard pass. I wouldn't even have any interest in asking. No thanks.

Detroit could actually use him for a little bit... A Lefty Catcher and 1B'man... I mean, as long as Cooperstown doesn't mind waiting...?

PS: To answer your question: I think Eduardo plus Lange gets you the prospect you want. However, to my point, I would look for something different: I would hunt either Evan Carter or Sebastian Walcott from the Rangers. Either would be a tough ask from the rangers that they will not want to part with. But offer Eduardo, Foley, and Kerry Carpenter or Parker Meadows... and we might be able to swing Evan Carter. Or offer Eduardo, Foley, and Cristian Santana... and we might be able to swing Sebastian Walcott. But I'm just guessing... And they would have to probably add some lower level lotto tickets to even out the trade but too many details there for me to WAG...

All our pitchers iz imploding at the same time...

Would Harris prefer Acuna or Foscue at 2B? Both in the Rangers top 7 prospects (Acuna a 55 high-hit, high-OBP, high-speed but struggles with breaking balls and Foscue a 50 with high-hit, high-OBP hits almost all FB's sa well as breakers but not much speed or arm...). It seems like we already have both of those guys (Wenceel/ Jung) already in the Org. Just asking...

Says Vladimir Putin. Propaganda, happily repeated, verbatim, by DPS. Your "yards" is not correct, not even close. "Elastic defense" is PURE Russian propaganda which you've repeated WORD-FOR-WORD. And Ukraine has not "lost" western made equipment. They've recovered most of it and it's in repair shops as we speak. Oh wait, did you expect ZERO equipment or human lives lost in trying to kick Russian invaders out? This is NOT a video game BTW... there are actual DEAD Ukrainian soldiers trying to save their land from the Russian Nazi's who are murdering their wives and children, or kidnapping them. Expecting ZERO equipment or human lives to be lost in a war is a completely ASININE expectation, IMO. Try finding credible sources... not Vladimir Putin or any of his lying propaganda outlets. Question: why are you so EAGER to repeat Russian propaganda? Are you Russian? Do you LOVE fascism or HATE democracy? I mean.. you are actually EAGER to propagate Russian lies. I'm just asking...