1984Echoes

Jason Cabinda... I want to keeeeeeeeeell you.

and Seider is trying to break out of his slow start with 3 assists tonight...

Yeah, I'm not afraid of tree limbs... So I'm going for broke on this one... 😉

Just to put a nail in the coffin... Musk is going to announce a merger with (Not-)Truth Social on Monday... (just guessing...)

Too bad Derek Hill and Daz Cameron both flopped miserably... (ducks after mentioning 2 former Tigers unmentionables...)

Yeah I got that part... Hard to just put "37" in sarcasm brackets though...

I don't think it's the Ukrainians... I think it's Russian Revolutionaries...

PS: I want Wembanyama.

I guess the silver lining here would be that the ball should be in Ivey's hands.. a lot. I think the pressure for wins just went to about zero... so all Ivey needs to do is learn and improve. On that note... I'm ready to remove Bey and Stewart from the starting lineup as all they'll do is take the ball out of Ivey's hands and do very little on offense in the process. They'll end up with starters' minutes anyways at 30-35 per game, even if they aren't starting. surround Ivey with shooters (Burks, Livers and Bojan) and a rim-attacking big (Duren)... This will be a "learning year" anyways so it doesn't matter who's in the starting lineup... even a bunch of kids... Put Bey & Stewart together with Killian, add whatever shooting guard is still healthy, and either match-up driven Bagley (offense) or Noel (defense), and the second unit should be good enough... with Bey and Stewart supporting the starters with minutes as needed...

That's a guy I could take a chance on... Even if he just ends up as a placeholder or backup for those spots...

It wouldn't bother me if the Tigers sign him back at a lower contract, say $4-ish (+/-) mill... I don't consider that a problem with spending money on him (the tender versus non-tender) but rather management putting a dollar value on a player and sticking to it. I'm probably a little more Chicken Little on that and would be more afraid of leaving a hole there than overpaying Candy for 1 year... I would have tendered him. But I'm not going to squawk pending: Getting Candy back at a lower cost, OR finding a better solution some way, somehow.... I'll wait to see what Harris comes up with...

I think that's exactly why he declared... so soon.

I believe this is still a straight up intelligence failure. You can add all the nuances that you want to... And I don't disagree with anything you said. I would even boil it down to a very simple point: The Afghan military lacked the courage to fight for their country. Now, you could list the underlying causes as a lack of air support, lack of fallback safety zone (I disagree with that, if you want your country, you don't drop your weapons and retreat, you stand your ground. And most of Northeast Afghanistan is ethnic Tadjik... they shouldn't back down in their own territory...), it could be an overwhelming sense of fear of the Taliban, or of inevitability... But as for the intelligence point: It can NOT just be technical capabilities analysis. It HAS to include fighting spirit or heart or whatever you want to call it. If US Intelligence never takes the temperature of the population... then how the F can they make any judgement calls on the success or failure of any military opponent or ally? There's something wrong with them if they are overlooking that. And I think they did that with Ukraine as well. Before the war even started I said Ukraine would fight tooth and nail against the Russians. They weren't going to give up damn anything without throwing everything they had to stop them. I have a small inkling of the Ukrainian mindset due to... well, a few factors... I may have exaggerated stating that every man, woman, and child hated Russia and would fight against them but... not by a whole lot. But US Intelligence believes they would lose within a week? They need to start evaluating mindsets and emotional and intellectual competencies and national "spirit", if you will... Just my 2 cents...

Right. Miggy is legacy and a HOF player. I don't believe we have any other albatross contracts. Certainly not any 1 year arbitration deals. I mean, unless Eduardo or Baez implodes... But... if we got a better player than Candy he'd be dumped (trade or whatever) post haste with no second thoughts. As Lee said, our payroll is too low to care about saving any money. I firmly believe that cost has no bearing on the 2023 Tigers. Unless Ilitch says no to a Correa contract because $50 mill per year is just too much... Otherwise... 2023 is not about the money, it's all about finding better players for each 40-man spot that we are able to...

A) Noone cared about the Taliban violating the agreement. We knew they were going to do that anyways. So... moot point. Trump wanted to pull out in December, before the agreed upon February pull-out date and even knowing the Taliban were violating the agreement, he didn't care. We were coming out of Afghanistan regardless because... no. one. cared. B) Again, don't care. We spent 20 years, 2.3 trillion, and 2,456 American lives on propping up a dysfunctional Afghani government that FAILED. No one CARES what the military wanted, and I hate the thought of 30-40% of Afghani's being forced into a Taliban government, but we GAVE THEM 20 Years of chances. What is YOUR solution? Another 20 years, 2.3 trillion, and 2,456 American lives. What is you POINT here, exactly? C) It was ALWAYS an intelligence failure. What don't you get about the Taliban sweeping through the country in less than 30 days versus intelligence's estimate of between 1 to 2 years? Of COURSE Biden made the decision to get out, at the time he did, I've never said otherwise. And why would I want anything OTHER than Biden to get us out of Afghanistan? I've said multiple times and in multiple ways, it was well past time to get out. But since I only deal in facts: It was Trump's deal. Biden's generals specifically asked for a delay from the February deadline because they needed more time to pull everything out (American equipment, etc...) AND the pandemic was complicating things I believe. I absolutely wanted Biden to get us out of Afghanistan, it was well past time to do so; 95% of America wanted us out because we ALL were fatigued. Intelligence said we'd have 1 to 2 years to make the final move, that didn't happen. Biden said we're getting out when the country fell apart on a Taliban sweep of Afghani forces. Those are all facts. So what's your problem? Or are you criticizing simply because you're looking for ANY reason to criticize Biden...? Oh, THAT's it!!! You have a fetish for Biden. Using any illegitimate means possible. Disingenuous.

I think our payroll is too low for cost to matter at all. Cost factors in at ZERO. Use the extra money wherever you want... we aren't going to have a $195MM payroll. Where do you want to use... what savings? The issue is not money, it's 40-man spots. Find a better player for the Tigers, put him on the 40. Money doesn't matter. Find an upgrade by waiver, rule 5, trade? Great. And whoever loses their spot on the 40 because we found an upgrade loses their spot. Money don't matter.

Biden was absolutely going to pull out, I don't think there was any other possibility aside from that. I don't think anyone disagreed with that. Of course he was going to make the call to remove troops. It was a shit-show because his generals (not being able to move fast enough in February) and intelligence (total failure on Taliban-takeover timeline) failed the country, and Biden... leaving him with Vietnam-situation that forced his hand. If his generals could have moved faster and we pulled out in February, or March or April... the messy part could have been avoided...

I agree with Livers over Bey. I think I made a Bey = Corliss Williamson post somewhere (or maybe I was just thinking that in my head...). I think Bey has a huge advantage on a second unit but on the first unit just bogs down the offense and is not what is needed. Same as you. I guess what I am asking more about is "trust factor"... Is Livers ready to make that jump yet, or does he still need to earn some trust factor due to his play on-court? Just your guess on that. As for Stew, I think he also should be on the second unit. And that Duren should start. But I think having Livers/ Bojan in front creates a rebounding/ defensive weakness and Bagley/ plus one of Livers/ Bojan is the same. Livers/Bojan I'd prefer to keep at SF and Bagley, well, he doesn't D. So maybe Stew at PF? I'd like to find one more guy more talented... One more 3 & D big should do the trick (either PF or Center... I think Duren could play either spot as a rim runner/ defender and it wouldn't matter which...).

Which is exactly where I am at with him...

I would look at them differently though. Candy is a FA after 2023 I believe so he's a 1-year stopgap to see where Keith will be by the middle/ end of next year. He's also a comeback candidate that was good in 2021, and may have some trade value at the deadline if he can get back on track. He does have a proven history, even if that history is spotty. Also it's a weak market for his position so maybe the short-term solution is to gamble on all of the above as there's no really apparent "better option". Willi I'd have to look at as a potential development "project". If the team believes his glove and/ or bat can "develop" then hold onto him. If they believe he is easily replaceable, or for whatever reason he just doesn't get it or won't be able to improve, then move on. I think this is simply a player evaluation/ decision rather than all the raft of issues surrounding 3B. Alexander has proven himself a useful lefty with weak peripherals. If I find someone better, I move him out. Otherwise, if a 40-man spot is not needed, I hold on just until...

Ukrainians are white? That's your reasoning? I find that offensive in the extreme. We spent nearly 20 years in Afghanistan. And I was completely for rebuilding that country and giving them a decent chance to build a real nation that protects its citizens and offers the right to vote and self-determination. We spent $2.3 trillion and 2,456 American lives, and 20 years trying to give Afghanistan a chance. I have never made one issue in the attempt to build a real government, not in years, lives, or cost... and was hoping that it would be a success story. Always. Go ahead and find any post that contradicts that because you won't. They don't exist. But I didn't bitch when we pulled out of Afghanistan because they aren't white enough. GFY. BTW: We pulled out of Afghanistan because their corruption forever polluted our attempts to hand them a viable government. Because the country could not break it's population from the sway of the Taliban or the heroine industry. So President Trump signed an agreement with the Taliban to leave Afghanistan (get your facts straight). I didn't make an issue of leaving Afghanistan when Trump signed that agreement because it was time. Enough years, wealth, and American lives spent on a futile effort to provide a different form of government than what the Taliban would offer. I didn't complain in February 2021 (when we were suppose to leave under Trump's agreement ) when Biden delayed the departure because his generals specifically requested more time to prepare. I didn't complain when Biden said we were leaving NOW in August of that year since our "Intelligence" had failed and it wasn't going to take a year or two for the Taliban to overrun US-trained Afghani forces, the Taliban were just sweeping them aside (or they were just dropping their weapons and running home...). It was an emergency evacuation due to an Intelligence-error. And I didn't bitch about the chaotic departure because that's what happens when intelligence fails. See Saigon, Vietnam. But Biden & his administration kept in contact with the Taliban throughout the chaos, and was able to remove US citizens with a minimum amount of issues in the face of the complete and total failure of Afghani troops and the complete takeover by the Taliban. I'm sure their may be some additional Afghani's, who may have even had US citizenship, that we were unable to free from the Taliban as they refused to allow them to leave. I have no details on that. Aside from that, those are the facts.

Personally, I would look at 2023 as an evaluation/ recovery (both health and better coaching) year and 2024 (2023 offseason) as the "make lots of moves" year.

So in other words, Ukraine is a small and insignificant country and therefore has no right to self-determination. Therefore, it is perfectly acceptable to be subjugated and exterminated by Russia if it so wishes, per you and Screwball. Gotcha. I believe in the truth that all men are created equal and have inalienable rights to self-determination, freedom, and the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. And GDP/ level of corruption do not countermand that truth. Interesting to know that you two believe the opposite. Funny thing is, you quoted your own demise: "Rising global food prices brought on by Russia's invasion of Ukraine... are threatening to destabilize economies around the world." In other words: Ukraine's grain sales to the world prevent hunger. They actually matter. Russia's war of genocide matters in the rise of global food prices and destabilized economies. Which is the opposite of your contention that Ukraine does not matter. I find the politics of you two to be despicable. Contemptible. IMO.

Can you compare him to Livers? Livers looks spotty at this point (IMO), at least with regards to shot consistency and floor-IQ (which could be just a lack of playing time/ games)... but, what do you think?

PS: One more thing on Candy... If Tork starts to struggle again and they decide to send him to AAA for a month or whatever... the best guy to play 1B is... Not Schoop. Not Harold. Not Miggy. It's Candy. He can play a serviceable 1B and keep Schoop at 2B, Harold on the bench, and Miggy at DH. Kreidler can cover 3B if need be... Just my 2 cents...