1984Echoes

Dems hold the Ace-in-the-Hole: https://www.yahoo.com/news/top-house-republican-wants-help-194848280.html The ability to actually get a Speaker elected. "Come talk to us, Republicans."

Maxx Crosby is a LB'er, not a DE... that's why I'd be more open to adding him. He's explosive and dominating and a game-changer... I would absolutely consider adding him as long as the cost is not outrageous... But yes, CB is a higher priority due to need. Also... back to the edge... if the right guy is available at the right price, I would NOT say no. I think Montez Sweat is that guy. Other depth guys to think about: a vet WR like DJ Chark. Might be better depth than Jones so that's the thought. A depth O-Lineman if Holmes/ Campbell felt there was a need. Probably not, just sayin'... And always on the lookout for RB depth because health is always precarious there...

Yes... for the following reasons: And I think Shinzaki is correct that Raymond or similar might also need to be included. My overall reasoning is that I am loathe to trade away skillsets that the Org is deficient on. I am certainly willing to trade excess, and the excess can even be a "better" talent... I also noticed you included Kasper, not Danielson. Isn't Danielson going to be the guy the Canucks demand in trade for Elias? Not Kasper? So... my quibbles with this trade are: 1) I expect Raymond to go through a huge upswing. Too young, too early in the NHL to know what his top level could be; which means we'd be selling low. If Shinzaki is correct and it must include Raymond I say no, not because Raymond is better than Elias... but that he could reach a point/ game, or even better, and we would have given him away prematurely. I guess that's the point of the trade from the Canucks point-of-view, the upside. But I'm loathe to give up on guys too early; I just think it's really dumb to do that. It would have to be someone else that we send to the Canucks, not Raymond. Someone that looks maxed out but is still young enough with talent that the Canucks want and Stevie is OK with losing... I'm guessing, but I think Stevie also says a hard NO if it's Raymond. 2) Danielson is showing better than Kasper, but just as importantly, is a RH'd Center that we have zero depth with. If we have 15 LH'ed Centerman in the Org, and 2 RH'ed - I know they're all at different talent levels/ ages, etc... - then I'm not trading Danielson. It has to be Kasper, per your suggestion. 3) Same thing with Pellikka... It's not that we don't have any RH'ed Defenseman in the Org, we do... But no one with the explosive offense/skillset that Pellikka has. That's the rarity that I just can NOT give up. I'm a hard no on Pellikka. I'd rather give them TWO defenseman, their choice of Wallinder, Johansson, Johansson, Tuomisto, Viro, Buium, Gibson, etc... The draft pick I don't care about... but not a 1st... that seems to be a bit too much...

+1 on that. I'm also in the 90 point range just missing the playoffs. But I would love to be pleasantly surprised if they could squeak in... Too many young players I'm interested in to just list one... I'd like to see Veleno take a step up. I also think he has a huge chance even on the 4th line with Kostin & Fischer. But also Raymond in a big way, and especially Seider. I want to see Seider join the Top 5 Norris consideration ranks. I even want to see Larkin step up to well over a point per game just because I believe we have more weapons on the 1st line to get him there. Speaking of which: I want to see DeBrincat get back to 40+ goals. And Edvinsson come up before midseason and play so well that he doesn't get sent back to GR. Instead, forcing a deadline trade, of... Chiarot? (One can dream of dumping albatrosses into the Pacific... yes?) The rest of the young guys, even if they don't play a lot in Detroit, are all in GR and that's a long list of players I'd like to see take big steps forward so they are at least pushing on the doors of a Detroit callup... I'll leave it at that for now.

Thank you for that. It's been so long that I lived under those rules that some of the finer details were a bit rusty for me...

I have no interest whatsoever in living in a Theocratic Dictatorship. Those Christians can go **** themselves. And if they don't like it, deport them to Saudi Arabia or Iran so they can give us a report on what it's like to live under one...

Neither. I am ALL-KNOWING... and... the bar really is pretty freaking low...

Correct. I understand that.

Both. They are a military force in Gaza that holds all the power. But they're a terrorist group that uses vile, unspeakable, terrorist methods to try and wipe out the State of Israel... their stated mission.

At this point it's Scalise. He has the nomination. But obviously that may evolve if they stick to partisan which will show that anyone nominated by the Pubs will NOT be elected as Speaker... if they stick to partisan. The more it devolves... and the longer... the more the pressure will increase on the Pubs to quit F'ing around and resolve the Speakership. I'm not certain it will be Scalise... so I don't have an answer as to the final "whom" might be. It might even be McCarthy...

Probably. It will look different, with naval assets involved. The big question to me is what happens if Iran ends up holding a smoking gun? THEN our involvement may look VERY different.

Which actually makes another argument... All these kids are still improving. It doesn't mean growth is linear or there won't be setbacks or disappointments... But on the whole... a team of youngsters tends to improve, overall. I'm not even going to count Carpenter because he may have been found out by pitchers and will regress in 2024... we'll see how that works out. But I expect the 2024 version to be better than the 2023 version for: Maton, 26 (I think he'll play more in '24 and will play better than in '23... just a guess) Greene, 23 Torkelson, 24 Meadows, 23 (will get a full season to prove what he can do) Skubal, 26 Manning, 25 Mize, 26 Lipcius, 25

Adding crap players doesn't turn them into a contender either.

Oh... You know... I should read entire messages and stop jumping to conclusions halfway through...

Scalise won the Republican nomination over Jordan 113-99. But I don't think it's been brought to a floor vote yet; and Scalise still needs 217 votes to actually get the Speakership. Now: How does he get from 113 to 217? That's the trick.

It's not whom... It's what: what Dem representation is on committees, subpoena power, procedures for bringing bills to the floor, other House rules, etc...

Your version might be changing back to mine if the Russians don't start faring better. Nothing on the immediate horizon... But the economy is nearing discontent level...

Which is a BS narrative. But you are correct.

But I DO know this: Schoop 2023 = .550 OPS and -0.4 WAR Maton 2023 = .593 OPS and -1.5 WAR Haase 2023 = .530 OPS and -0.9 WAR Lipcius 2023 = .742 OPS and -0.3 WAR Cabrera 2023 = .675 OPS and -0.4 WAR Nevin 2023 = .622 OPS and -0.7 WAR Short 2023 = .631 OPS and 0.5 WAR. Kelly 2023 = .540 OPS and 0.1 WEAR You know... The bar is pretty FREAKING LOW. You're right, don't know what those players will turn into... but again, the BAR is LOW. That's 1,386 AB's. I'll bet any amount you want my guys put up better numbers in MLB 2024 than these guys.

It's just a guess.

Malloy, Keith, Jung, Dingler, Bigbie and Wenceel are better players than what we have now. OH, and they'll be playing for Detroit next year. Already making our roster significantly better. Even MATON is a better choice than this year's crop of FA's. And spending money on older players is no guarantee they'll be better than what we have now because those types of players tend to very often fall off a cliff (remember Schoop from last year versus this year) and they also get stupid contracts with stupid money over a stupid amount of years. No. Thank. You.

The Jets might be HUNTING for at least a 1-year (this year) QB: Who's their target/ likeliest add? Cousins I believe has a no-trade.

Every roster in MLB has crap players. No one has a roster of 26 All-Stars. The Tigers are going to add multiple good players this offseason and next year to replace a lot of their current crap players. I still don't get your angst over not spending stupid money on more crap players. Or replacing cheap crap players with expensive crap players. I have no interest whatsoever in your improvement plans. Which won't actually improve the team. I am however interested in my OWN plans to improve the team, which are: spend money intelligently on top-shelf players who make a difference, not on more crappy players. And make a strategic trade or two if the opportunity presents itself. If we're talking offense, FA's suck. The only player on offense worth looking at as a FA is Lee Hung-soo out of Korea. That's it. But the right trade could work nicely. I'm looking at Manning to the Dodgers (reprising the deadline trade if both teams can make that work somehow; and depending on the return...); and I'm looking at Tatis or Soto (I prefer Tatis) if Harris can make a trade like that work. Other than that: another year of patience will be required to see what Malloy, Keith, Jung, Dingler, Bigbie and Wenceel can provide next year. Or not. And make adjustments in the 2024 offseason, as needed. That is 1000 times smarter than spending stupid money on crappy players.

Bibi got caught with his corruption. Putin hasn't.

Those are the reasons that I still hope the moderate wing goes to the Dems to try and bargain. If they can convince the remainders of the "Establishment" wing to bypass the "Fascist" wing... maybe there is still hope. Even if there is a bit of nad-kicking involved...