Motor City Sonics

I don't think this lineup is going to undergo a whole lot of change this coming offseason. They might add another catcher for a year and they could add a SS, but I expect most of those guys to be back. I don't expect them to make those moves because they've got Tork, Greene and Kreidler in their back pocket, so that might prevent them from throwing a lot of money at the lineup. I do think we'll see some significant changes with the pitching staff.

One of my friends said that if they made Many Saints into a limited series of 5 or 6 episodes it would have been better since they seem to rush a lot into the film. One of the things that made The Sopranos great was the character development which is tough to do in 2 hours. Also, they shoot in New Jersey. Doing a period piece outside of a sound stage is very very expensive because you have to make sure nothing from after that time period is visisble, it would be very difficult to do it as a series financially. It's one of the reasons that Mad Men had very few outdoor scenes or even outdoor shots and the ones that did were not really in cities or suburbs, but out in the middle of nowhere like the desert flats in Utah or the coast in California. They'd show the occasional house, but never would really pan around to show the neighborhood. Did you know that Mad Men showrunner Matt Weiner (who worked on the Sopranos) would not allow a single item on the set that would not have existed in the year it was set. Every item, including things like eyeglasses, watches, product packaging, had to have existed in that time period So, no plastic water bottles visible like Game of Thrones.

Well the Urban Meyer experience sure is going well.

Funny, the Facebook whistleblower is on 60 Minutes last night..............news spreads, stock starts going down and suddenly today facebook is gone, down, zero, zilch, nada. Quite a coincidence, eh?

Or maybe this is Cory's theme song

Did Guster write this about Cory ? They are all from the Boston area..............

We've always known Urban was dirty, but in a different way. He is a disaster. Should have stayed retired from coaching. He'll probably be the USC coach next year after all.

It's almost like a right of passage with MLB pitchers now, isn't it?

Remember when we wanted Rich Aurilia and he signed with Seattle. We swooped in and got Carlos Guillen and won that move. Maybe we can do something like that again if we don't want to spend $25 or $30 million for a shortstop. There are better options than Niko/Short that might not cost a fortune. Still need pitching and plenty of it. One of our youngsters will end up getting TJ surgery............it's just the law of averages.

But his freedom................

Yeah, that really fell apart. Then the tragedy with the lady and her baby. Manager fired today (George Lombard will likely be interviewed for this) I am sure they'll give Bruce Bochy a call to see if he misses the game. He lives in Poway anyway, so he's already there. The Angels finish with the same record as the Tigers with some big money stars. Goes to my argument that maybe throwing a very large amount of money on one guy is not the way. I think Correa is going to be way too expensive. I want no part of Trevor Story (check his career splits home vs. away, he's a Coors Field hitter). Marcus Semien might be possible but now he's a big home run guy which means a big salary guy. I am interested to see what the Dodgers are going to do with Corey Seager and Trea Turner. Turner is the guy I'd want, but they may never get the shot at him. If we want Corey Seagar, we're going to have to overpay like with Ivan Rodriguez. He'd want more to play here. He also may want to play with his brother, the two of them may sign with the same team. Plus the Mariners are so very close. Both are Free Agents now, this could be interesting. Back to the Padres. Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. hate each other, the dugout thing was not the only incident, from what I've read and it might be a big part of the Padres problems. I don't think the Tigers could get Machado without trading Mize or Skubal and Green or Tork as part of the deal, but it seems like Manny might have to go, because it's not going to be Tatis. Bruce Bochy has the respect to solve that. Spend on 3 or 4 good players instead of 1 great one who could get hurt or go flaky.

Saturday at Iowa with Penn State is the biggest game of the week.

The ranking should be this 1. Georgia 2. Alabama 3. Everyone Else. But Iowa does look good and they have the advantage of playing in a sh*t division. Maybe Maryland is actually good and they are that much better. I don't know, it just impossible to tell. I can tell you this, however, the college football mafia is not going to be happy to see Cincinnati undefeated before they join the Big 12 because they want absolutely no part of putting a non-power five team in the 4 team playoff. Watch that committee find ways to smack them down. Watch for "Strength Of Schedule" to be brought more and more, the longer they go unbeaten. They're gonna screw them any way they can.

The overrated/underrated argument can easily be settled 8 team playoffs. - One rep from the Power 5, however they decide their champion and 3 more based on overall rankings. The Group of Five schools should have their own playoffs since they'll never really be allowed to the party. If a Group of 5 team gets in the major playoff (like that would ever be allowed), they can't have a shot at those playoffs. The Group of Five could certainly make as much or more money doing this. Just call the playoff game bowl games and make everyone happy.

Don't know that yet. They all have to play 2 or 3 good opponents and most of them have had 1 tough game so far. You can usually start to really tell about Week 8

Overrated/Underrated - doesn't matter, they are both 5-0 and that's the best they can be.

Well you obviously didn't go with Cory.

If Victor Reyes can put it all together for a full season, and what I mean by that is hit .280 or more, he could be a really, really important player on this team. We all know that to be on AJ Hinch's roster, unless you are a star, you need to be able to play more than one position and he is good in all OF spots. He does need to walk more often, but that will improve with work. I think he will bulk up a bit, especially if he wants to stay around. The Tigers may have a group of 5 outfielders who all play multiple positions, there is going to be a good competition there between Hill-Cameron-Baddoo-Reyes-Greene. Don't know if they need to sign an OF. Shopping list 2 starting pitchers (better than Urena) 1 catcher 1 shortstop, as long as they don't want 30 mil for 8 years or something ridiculous.

A.J. Hinch gets his grade

A couple of my friends did not like Many Saints at all.

Pitchers (over 30 IP) Tyler Alexander B He always seems to find his way into the rotation and he's a valuable and versatile piece to have Matthew Boyd B-. He was fairly effective when he was healthy Jose Cisnero B - Solid overall but when he had a bad inning it was a BAD inning Buck Farmer F - We endured this for 8 seasons. How in the world did that happen? Michael Fulmer A- Has embraced his new role as a late bullpen arm and the velocity has returned. Adding a wicked curveball too Kyle Funkhouser B+ The proof what what a great pitching coach can do. They fixed the flaws Bryan Garcia F Mr. Meltdown. Relievers who can't or won't throw strikes don't belong in MLB Derek Holland C- Brutal Start, but settled in and ate up innings when we needed them Joe Jimenez F - He's got a good arm, but he has never put it together when it counts Alex Lange C - Hard to do much with this grade but maybe I should have bumped him up for plunking Abreu Casey Mize A- After adjustments were made in late April he had a 3.47 ERA. Really consistent Daniel Norris F - After all-too-rare flashes it was time to go. Wily Peralta B- A very pleasant surprise. Worth re-signing. Matt Manning B- His numbers don't blow you away but he had some very good starts. Hopefully he develops like Casey & Tarik in year 2 Tairk Skubal B+ Had a very solid season. Tends to give up a lot of home runs, but he also strikes out a ton. Bright future Gregory Soto A- Became an effective closer which is a role he should have for years with this team (no more catching a ball with pitching hand) Spencer Turnbull A Tough year with COVID and injuries but he gave us the highlight of the season when we desperately needed something. Jose Urena D He is what he is - Destined to be a journeyman. We seem to sign one every year Catchers Grayson Greiner C-. He's a #3 or #4 catcher, what do you want from him? Dustin Darneau C Gave us a little pop and stabilized the position when there were injuries. Team could upgrade next year Eric Haase B+ A very pleasant surprise and hje helped spark the team. Too many stretches of hit vacancies. I doubt he repeats this year Wilson Ramos D He had the league lead in home runs for a weak. Terrible defensive catcher and the team vastly improved when he left Jake Rogers B He actually showed some hitting ability, more than we need from him. Is great with the pitchers and will be missed in 2022 Infielders Miguel Cabrera C We are enjoying watching the milestones topple but he wasn't very good for much of this season. No fountain of youth steroids anymore in baseball. Jeimer Candelario B Has become a very steady player on this team. A doubles machine who may start hitting HRs soon. Great defensive player too. Sign him. Harold Castro B Okay, he won't walk, but he also won't strikeout a ton. He can play almost everywhere, which AJ Hinch loves Willi Castro D After last year's impressive hitting he fell flat on his face this year and he didn't really grab an opportunity to stay in the lineup Niko Goodrum D A guy who was easy to forget. Like Willi, a man without a position and doesn't hit enough to force you to play him daily Isaac Paredes C He's got a promising bat, but we haven't seen enough to say he's an everyday guy. He'll be in a battle with 4 or 5 guys to stay around Jonathan Schoop B+ Can't discount that horrible first month but became a steady bat day after day. Glad he's re signed Zack Short D We like guys who play hard, but we've got plenty of those around. He just can't hit enough. Outfielders Akil Baddo B- The numbers on their own don't floor you but he's an exciting player who seems to be very coachable. Hope it continues Daz Cameron D+ Daz had a couple clutch hits late, but with a glut of young OFs in this organization he's going to prove himself with his next shot, might be his last here. Robbie Grossman B+ Ignore the batting average, his OBP remains over .350, he plays great in the field and has a knack for big moments. A team leader Derek Hill C - Fun guy to watch. As far as injury-prone, he gets hurt playing hard and you can't fault that. Will be given an opportunity next year to state his case JaCoby Jones F Speed, power, defense, and could never put it all together. It's over. Nomar Mazara F Why does it feel like he's an old guy, he's only 26? He was blocking the kids, no need for him to have stayed. Wish him luck. Victor Reyes C+ Was electric in the last 2 months but you have to do it all season, at least a little. We've already had Ryan Raburn, we don't need another. Still a high ceiling and could be a major wild card in the OF mix next year Managers & Coaches A+. They got the most out of an unimpressive-looking lineup. They find little things that guys need to fix and they fix them and make the whole team better. Kevin Cash will get AL Manager of the Year and you can't argue with that, but AJ Hinch should get some votes (being part of the Astros scandal will lose him votes). Getting 77 wins out of a season that started 9-24 is extremely impressive and you only wonder what they might be able to do with more talent. The future is bright with these coaches. Best in my lifetime. I think there is a good chance we lose George Lombard, who should be in the mix for a few managers jobs. Overall Grade B- 77-85 should not get you over a C, but the way this team fought back from that horrible start and gave good teams headaches was something to smile about. They lost a lot of 1-run games and lost a lot of games due to our old friend the bullpen implosion. They somehow made this a fun and interesting season. They'll have some expectations next year and I hope we get a full season, but I am not optimistic about the labor issue in baseball.

Onward and Upward in 2022. Gotta play the bad teams as well as the good teams next year. I expect our GM and Owner to keep their word and invest in this roster. AIN'T NO STOPPIN US NOW, WE'RE ON THE MOVE !

You gotta give me a little credit here.

No it isn't. It's a desperate move to try anything.

He didnt get both feet in