Dan Gilmore

Enjoying the snow?

I have seen a couple of commercials based on A Christmas Carol that seem totally screwed (scrooged?) up. The Mercedes Benz one shows the past and present as dirty and filled with suffering -okay. But the future has “him” getting into a luxurious MB and then the camera takes us out into the bright sunny open road. Leave the Cratchet family behind - no Christmas feast for them, maybe some exhaust fumes lingering in the air instead. Scrooge, or any wealthy person can and should wrap themselves in a hundred grand of leather and steel and floor it. Leave reality behind, no lessons learned, no compassion for others, no awareness. Who wrote and approved of that ad? Assholes. Merry Christmas

While I think giving other posters derisive names is generally poor form, in the case of our recent conspiracy nutjob I am willing to make an exception. His links and posts are full of lies that in our current times are dangerous to our society. Therefore, I dub thee: Wiz Drips I am reminded of a quote from Dame Edith Sitwell that applies to him: ”I am patient with stupidity, but not those who are proud of it”

I wouldn’t expect Garneau to make the team out of (Spring?) Training unless one of the other two is dinged up.

I had hopes for Daz, but so far they haven’t turned out to be much. Hill’s D is so good that I can put up with marginal O, just not sure of his healthiness. So both are flawed. As is Reyes. Moving to Canada? Sounds okay. Based just on stats, Reyes is an okay option among three suboptimal choices.

Lettuce not quibble about spelling.

Borrowed it from Herb

Bill, Sparky or both?

I need to dig up the old Bill James Baseball Abstract (1987? - I should have it somewhere) in which he reviews all the managers. In the reviews he suggested what profession each would have if not for baseball. He had Sparky as a house painter, I think.

I’ll go back to my previous post: Archie, and other people that continue to spout the lies about the validity of the 2020 election have no honor. They are liars, and do not believe in the US constitution or the rule of law. They are anti-American by default. They deserve nothing but contempt.

1/2?

It’s hard for me to figure out how unified the two sides are. As others have mentioned, the players are a large and varied group. The owners are much fewer, but do they all have the same commitment to a siege? Can anything be read into the pre-lockout FA signings? Does Texas ownership want things resolved more quickly than, say, the Yankees? Does a team like the Padres feel they blew it last year and then are content to let 2022 fade away? What about the Tigers, they have to feel excited about an improved team? Or are most owners, Tigers included, willing to write off short term pain to exert their power? Is there a mechanism to start talks or mediation?

Embracing his inner Kirby Puckett.

He doesn’t want to understand. His brain doesn’t function that way. He wants to keep spewing the same stupid irrelevant nonsense.

I don’t advocate signing Rodòn, he was just an example of a high WAR starter in the fantasy related to signing Correa.

Well if you wanted to compare highly rated, very expensive FAs, then something comparing Correa/Baez/?Alexender?maybe Wentz versus Baez/Schoop/Rodòn would make sense to me. Otherwise it’s so apples to oranges that it doesn’t. You might even have enough money left over compared to Correa that you could sign a so-so starter too. 😎

Goalpost move noted. Nobody said anything about a so-so pitcher.

Right, it makes sense to address weaknesses instead of incremental betterment of strengths.

Candelario is not remotely a black hole. I disagree with your three categories (decent/meh/black holes). Baddoo might not do much in 2022, but his 2021 OPS was .766, OPS+ was 113. i see a team with seven regulars that vary from good offense to average, with a few supporting position players that are likely to be a bit below average, but not black holes. You see it differently.

Vrana.

I would also include health in any evaluation. I would rather have 90% production 90% of the time instead of 100%, 60% of the time. Example data only.

Agreed

How long is Vrana expected to be out?

My dad would have enjoyed this game, had he been alive to see it. He went to Michigan and having played OL in high school, he went out for the squad. Some guy named Ford was the obviously better player and my dad was promoted to team fan for life. Over eighty years ago.

Since we all seem to be agreed that the 5 top SS FAs would be a significant improvement to the team, I would shift the focus to dollars and years. I, like many here, am generally okay with the idea that a star will fade at the end of a long contract. But length does matter (😎). I would like them to sign one of these guys to the shortest deal that still makes sense. For some, like Semien, that is partly age related, but the basic idea is to get the best years they have left in the tank. And also to have the money after the contract is over to apply to other areas of need. We have bemoaned to feast or famine nature of the team’s fortunes and want a more sustainable competitive future. i hope AA is getting all the player asks and options figured out, but that the rare glut of top SSs means they can target a shorter length as a priority. The idea of opt-outs is interesting, but complicates things. TL;DR Find out what the shortest contract each SS will take, rank them with other factors and get one.