1984Echoes

Wentz is pitching really well at Toledo... I think he's due a call-up pretty soon. They really need to push Alexander back into the bullpen...

You're not remembering it wrong. The only year in Detroit Verlander pitched as well as he has in Houston was his Cy year in 2011, with a 0.92 WHIP, 2.40 ERA and 24 wins. He HAD improved his pitching in Detroit in 2017 prior to being traded at the end of August... but wasn't pitching well enough at the trade deadline to get traded. In 6 August games though, 4-1, 2.36 ERA, 0.79 WHIP... Electric! He did do better in Houston though, in 5 games at 1.06 ERA and 0.65 WHIP, phenomenal! The scuttle was that Houston had improved the spin on one or two of his pitches... I don't remember, but it was something like that. But... the small sample sizes in both August & September are just too - small - to really draw any conclusions. However, in his 98 games with Houston, ages 34-39, 2.30 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 2.96 FIP. With Detroit, from ages 22-34, in 380 games, 3.49 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 3.48 FIP. Again, the only year JV had with Detroit that was as good as his pitching in Houston, was his Cy year in 2011. Now... he's pitched a whole lot less in Houston, annual innings-wise... but I'm thinking Houston helped him tweak a pitch or two and he's been a bit more effective there... in his lesser innings that is...

WOOHOO!!! Miggy is BACK!!! A single AND a DOUBLE today!!! Let's sign him to another EXTENSION!!! I mean, he's our BEST hitter...!!! Today...

Good for her...

Plus he's 22 and could use the push...

It seems to me like there are too many players with roster spots in the front 7... At least 1 spot... we need all of Banks, Buggs & Cominsky (weird sounding lawyers group...)?

They like Stenberg and Kraemer, and had to hold onto Brown (C) and Nelson (OT) as the only backups for those spots... Maybe let go of Stenberg but... roster calls gotta be made somewhere so I guess they keep two guards. I also am surprised Justin Jackson was cut... He seemed ahead of Jefferson in all phases (catching/ returns ability/ rushing too...).

I thought the guy was a potential 1st rounder? With a - pardon the expression - strong arm. Not mobile, but a pretty decent pocket passer. He ended up as an undrafted FA that the Eagles picked up for $300K. I agree on the LT project... but if there's actually potential with this guy... then I pick him up as the 3rd QB and coach him up until he can push Blough out the door or, at least to the practice squad. But that's just me. What is the issue that everyone is so down on him? That he fell all the way to undrafted...?

Nice! Now we need the playmakers, and defense, to do their jobs...

eagles waived Carson Strong?

That's a lot of wait and see right there... But I actually believe in quite a few of those guys so I'm willing to wait this out... Also including Keith, Jobe (who I think will move quickly in the next 1-2 years), Flores & Olson & Wentz & Madden, and also the recoveries of Mize, Skubal & Turnbull. And the needed improvements from Tork & Greene. I know others aren't so willing to wait because they've had enough of patience... As impatient as I usually am... this is where I find myself.

Which backup QB do we get to waiver wire pickup...? Inquiring minds want to know... ! (I'm hoping someone like Minshew or Keenum shake loose...).

I mean... seriously... WTF?

Has anyone (US Citizen) outside the Mafia ever flouted US law so... BRAZENLY and incessantly in 1,001 different ways?

Not gonna believe a single word from "Russian sources are saying"... Why does this remind me of Trump incessantly stating that "people are saying"...? In other words. Horse shit.

(Elliott looks like he could be Smith's older (younger?) brother...). Doesn't Daemon have an older brother...? 😉

Not quite close enough: How about Cary Elwes: Or Matt Elliott:

I hated giving up on Ray so fricking quick. Greene was a nice pitcher, but... I just hated dumping Ray that damn fast... Porcello for Cespedes was a good trade for us. I also don't remember much of what I thought about Eugenio at that time... But we got Simon when he was going to be 34 that year. He was a horseshit pitcher with a higher than 1.45 WHIP, until two good years at 32 and 33 with the Reds where he got his WHIP down to 1.07 (as a reliever) and 1.21 (as a starter...). I don't know where BABIP even would come into this discussion... he was old, over the hill, and never very good to begin with. Oh yeah, BABIP maybe because the discussion was that the 33 y.o. 1.21 WHIP was a lucky aberration? Maybe, I don't remember that part. I just remember hating that trade because Simon was horse manure. Regardless of whatever talent Suarez and Crawford turned out to be....

Yeah... Basically, that's my point.

And that would include me. Happy to get Meadows (who hasn't turned out for us) and gotta trade something to get something. This isn't so much about Paredes (I mean, it is...) It's about the Organizations lack of ability to fully realize the potential of their OWN players BEFORE they come to the conclusion that the guy is nothing but trade fodder. If they trade Torkelson this winter to the A's for Adam Oller because... hey, we need another starter... that's not going to go over well. What if Paredes doesn't fall off? What if he does turn into Eugenio Suarez 2.0? Suarez hit a .650 OPS in 277 PA's with Detroit, and then over an .800 OPS over the next 8 years for teams other than the Tigers. Don't we want that player? Paredes had a roughly .600 OPS in 193 PA's with Detroit, and now a .790 OPS in limited PA's with Tampa. Unlike buddha, I think this guy actually does have the talent to be a Suarez 2.0. But again, I am not upset about the trade per se, even though it hasn't worked in our favor to-date, as much as I am upset at the Org's INABILITY to EVALUATE our guys properly. I think Paredes should have been the 2nd Baseman this year, not Schoop. And I thought that last year too, so this is not new. Schoop should have been traded at the deadline last year because he was a productive veteran. That's it (IMO). The winning was great, so I get why they didn't do that.... But we're still in a rebuild... why aren't we acting like it?

On Reyes - he plays more than he should as a utility OF'er but, that's a reflection on the team's health and underperformances in the OF. I don't hate him either. He's a decent enough player. But I would rather get some health and some better performances by other OF'ers and cut back on his PA's. On Willi - he's had so much fielding woes that there is a general down-look at him, on the whole... he needed more time in AAA. But he does have a bat & some offensive skills, that have flashed more than Reyes as Randy pointed out... the issue was always where does he play? But it seems he's improved enough in the OF to not be a liability, I'm not certain if he still looks rough in the IF... but the 1.1 WAR is nice, and says he's at least a useful player... although if he's still really not that good in the IF I think he will eventually get squeezed out by better players. They just aren't all here yet... which is a reflection on the team as a whole.

Ukrainian offensive operations commenced this AM in multiple attacks across the southern front lines... some gains already made? https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-launches-military-push-south-possible-counteroffensive-russia-war-2022-8

To me it's embarrassing that a team can't evaluate its OWN players correctly and end up giving away a player that they should have held onto.

This tells me there are too many problems to fix. So I go internal first to see how many can fixed, internally, and evaluate after 2023 season how many/ how much money must be used on external players on positions that can't be fixed internally. That's my recommendation.

Put another way: Here's a list of problem positions for the Tigers in 2023... which positions do we find internal answers for and which ones external? At the end of the exercise, how many positions do you want external solutions for, what level of talent, and how much money for each external position solution? 2023 problem positions, and the current player/ problem in 2022: Starting catcher (2022 Tucker Barnhart, problem) Starting 1st Baseman (Tork is in AAA) Starting 2nd Baseman (Jon Schoop, not a long term answer) Starting SS (Baez having problems with throwing at SS) Starting 3rd Baseman (Candy should be a 1 year stopgap at best) Starting LF'er (Baddoo is still struggling badly) Starting RF'er (Reyes should be a 4th OF'er) DH: (Miggy is done for) Starting Rotation Pitchers, after Eduardo & Manning: 3rd Rotation Starter (???) 4th Rotation Starter (???) 5th Rotation Starter (???)