RandyMarsh

If were willing to pony up the money I really think we could get him. I brought up last week how former Astros Assistant to the GM Kevin Goldstein said that he thinks its between us and the Yankees for him but in the same chat he brought up how George Springer actually wanted to come here this past offseason due to Hinch but the Tigers weren't ready to spend. When somebody asked if AJ could really have that much influence on where a player signs he said yes.

Tork finishes 3-4 with a K, all singles though so he's got to hit the weight room. Kriedler 1-3 with a 2K and a BB.

I don't mind in situations like this, it annoys me when guys do it in regular season games with a half full house, but with the energy in the stadium there and the magnitude of the game I'll forgive guys for being a little overzealous and showing emotion like that. I just turned on the game too so I don't know if there was any backstory between the two.

Future Tiger Carlos Correa with a clutch bomb to put the Astros up 4-3 in the 7th.

Again I totally agree about the Timeout thing, I think I said as much live during the game thread but I don't think the ensuing play call was bad. Sure perhaps going after him would've resulted in the same thing that happened the first 3 downs but on the other hand you could've possibly gotten burnt and gave up a huge play. As it stands it took a blown assignment by a defender, a good throw by Lamar, a missed delay of game penalty on the next play and then a record setting FG that made it by a few inches to win. If any of those things don't happen we win. As buddha said sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the other team.

Another thing to consider IF we do indeed field an 85ish win team is the possible upgrades we can make at the deadline to make the team even better. Every year contenders get good players to bolster their chances, many times at a low cost(as we all know with some of our trades), perhaps we can be on the right side of something like that next year.

Tork at 3b tonight.

I think if they do make the playoffs it will be bc they signed high dollar SS, added another bat and another pitcher. Add that to guys they acquired like Candy, Baddoo, Grossman, Schoop, Soto and Alexander and I think they would be deserving of a spot.

If it gets them to 85 to 90 wins on paper then I consider that a playoff team cause that's where most playoff teams look on paper prior to the season.

After years of misery any a little success is going to bring optimism so that's part of it, another part is every year there are teams that make the playoffs that nobody expects going in and it usually comes from teams around our win total. Finally its just hope that our young players and prospects can make progression or in the case of Tork/ Greene immediate impacts. Skubal posted a 4+ era, you're hoping he can bring that down to 3.5 or lower like he was expected to be. Manning was over 6, you're hoping that goes to 4ish Mize you're hoping gives you 50 more innings. Rookies with the pedigree of Tork and Greene have made immediate impacts before and that's what you're hoping for here, two rookie of the year caliber seasons. And finally you're hoping we get that premium SS to not only fill our biggest hole but make it a strength. Yes there is a lot of hope there but at the same time I think they are all realistic and that's why so many fans think we could contend for the playoffs next year.

The only thing I don't like about this site is the editing feature. I'm not the best at putting my thoughts on to paper so often times after I post something and reread I will realize that I either didnt express the point the way I wanted, forgot something or just made stupid grammatical mistakes. If I catch them right after posting I can edit it but even then you have to deal with it saying it was edited but worse is if I don't catch it till a couple minutes later by which time it is to late to edit. I then find myself having to quote the post with an additional comment. Not the end of the world but something that I wish would be changed.

Duvall isn't alone in this, scouring the box scores throughout the league I noticed quite a few guys playing center that I wouldn't have expected. My hypothesis to this is that teams are realizing that teams are realizing with more HRs and less gappers its not as important to have a good defender out there. Either the ball is hit over the fence, its hit so hard only the elite can get to it or it's popped up. That and with the advanced batted ball data you can position guys where they don't have to cover as much ground.

Good point, its nice to have so many great players you can just call on arguably the greatest pitcher of his generation to come on to close it out.

Terrible call aside I always thought it was asinine to expect somebody standing over a 100ft away to accurate gauge the stopping point of something being swung 60+ mph, the fact that the umps get that right as often as they do is amazing to me.

I personally want a power guy like an Adam Duvall, he played some center this year for the Braves so he's versatile enough to handle all 3 spots. Yeah his obp sucks but you can basically pencil him in for 30 bombs if he plays regularly and I think that's what the Tigers need most, particularly since I expect them to lose Hasse's 25 due to him coming back to Earth.

It might not be their first win but I think the Steelers game looks primed for a Lions W. The Lions like every team usually win 1 or 2 games against teams that they shouldnt beat and I think the Steelers are that team this year. For one I just dont think they're all that good, for another the Lions are coming off a bye week and finally I think Big Ben is toast.

The optimist in me expects us to sign one of the marquee guys but the realist in me thinks that the more likely scenario is the Dejong or somebody like that scenario that you guys are talking about. Id be fine with that so long as we reallocate the money that would've been spent on the SS to other areas of the team. I still think we need an impact bat or two, unless Tork comes out of the gate hitting at an All Star level they won't have a single bat on the entire team that is a truly impact one. Its hard to score runs consistently when your best bat in the entire lineup is Candy who is merely an .800 OPS guy with moderate HR power. Hell most playoff teams have atleast 5 or 6 guys in their lineup better than that and as is he would be our best. Not good.

Ex Tiger reliever starts for the Dodgers and ex Tiger Starter closes it out for them.

If all it took was a blitz and you were guaranteed to take down the qb then teams would do it every play but that's not the case, particularly with a guy like Lamar Jackson. Lamar could've just as easily shook off the blitz and went out of the pocket and found a wide open receiver and then people would bitch about not dropping back guys.

I do agree it was dumb to call that timeout but nobody was asking the dbs to cover that long all they were asked to do is keep everybody in front of you. The one db decided to instead of staying at the sticks and forcing them to throw in front of you where you can just tackle them short, he was gonna wander up 10 yards allowing a receiver to get behind him, that's a blown assignment and a mental mistake you as a coach can't plan for your players to make. If the DB did his job the Lions win plain and simple.

Nice detailed analysis Sabre and I agree with most of your points, I especially am a little concerned about our pitchers regressing due to them outpitching their peripherals. The optimist in me is hoping that it doesnt happen. I do have to disagree about Grossman, while he might regress I don't think its fair to pencil it in. Looking at his career numbers his offense isn't far off from where it was in his career its just that he got more chances this year.

I don't think they are the upper 80s win team that they played like the final 5 months but I also don't think they are a mid 70s win team that their final record indicated. I think its fair to say they are an 80 to 82 win team as it stands now give or take a game. The fact that they actually had a positive run differential during those 5 months and didn't have some unsustainable record in close games or something leads me to think that there is some legitimacy in that record.

I know people will say that you can't just throw out that start and I agree to an extent but I also feel there are some tangible reasons why you shouldnt put too much stock in that start and put more stock in the team they fielded the last 5 months of the year. First and foremost Fetter was away from the team for a couple weeks in April, I think him not being there hurt the young starting pitchers by evidence of their terrible numbers. Then there is just AJ getting accustomed to the whole team and how to use everybody properly to maximize their skills or hide their deficiencies. He is known as one of the best at that so after the short learning curve I think he started to get it down and the team responded accordingly.

God that sound is like Beethoven.

Aaron Glenn deserves a statue for what he has done given the talent, either that or the talent wasn't as bad as we originally thought.