Useful Idiot

You and I on the same page here. He's just making up alibis to cover his imperative to make changes. Like I said in another post, his reasoning is like the alibis dreamed up by a cheating spouse.

Noticed that, and I was thinking the exact same thing!! I believe that Scott Harris puts as much forethought into his rationale as a cheating spouse put's into their alibi. Write that one down, I might want to take credit for it later.

I'm not sure if they are just feeding a line of BS to Jason Beck, or if he is a complicit part of a propaganda machine, but the rationale they gave for dumping Reyes was they felt the outfield was overly dominated by left handed hitters and they wanted to bring in a righty. WHILE AT THE SAME TIME claiming that a motivator for letting Candy go, was that the infield was overly dominated by righties. So it seems to me they are engineering excuses of convenience.

I think it's mostly a matter of Harris needing to deliver change, and in order to do that he needed to create some holes to fill in the roster. There NEEDED TO BE casualties. What direction he goes in filling these slots will telltale what we might expect from him. I'm pretty worn out on hamburger, time to see a steak on the table.

From the Tiger's website: While the Tigers were cognizant that Candelario could turn it around in what looms as his final season before free agency, they didn’t want to buy into a rebound at arbitration-level prices. https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/jeimer-candelario-non-tendered-by-tigers Considering the off year Candy just had, I can't imagine that he'd have much leverage for raising his price. It's (the braintrust's strategy) obviously about "cheap and controllable" and anyone who thinks otherwise is smoking themselves. If Harris signs any "ready for prime time" players, I'll be shocked.

Doyle Alexander, Daz Cameron, Yoenis Cespedes, and Austin Meadows

Yes, I agree that they'll likely prioritize dumping arbitration-eligible players, regardless of any other merit. When they executed their little salary dump disguised as a "rebuild", the first thing I thought of was that it would be very telling to watch and see if they were willing to make commitments to the newbies once they started to accrue service time. And, I'll give little Itch credit. I never anticipated that he would throw Avila under the bus for an excuse to buy even more time.

You know? At the time I still had hopes we might snag a championship. And as such I would have been outraged if they had let Miggy walk. So, I'm glad that our organization had the will to do what was necessary towards that end. I don't think the current troops have the ballz to make anything like that happen today. Hey, 4 consecutive division championships, 3 consecutive ALCS? I'm just glad that I got to witness the golden age of Tigers baseball. It ain't never coming back. Not like that, anyway.

I'd like to see both Verlander and Correa come to Detroit.....but just being honest I believe that Verlander is happy where he's at......and if he gets both a Cy and a ring this year, it wouldn't shock me to see Justin wear an Astros cap into the hall of fame. I think the boys pulling the levers are still too infatuated with "cheap" to make the type of commitment ($$$) that it would take to get Correa, Verlander, or other top tier talent. Personally I think we are going to be fed a steady diet of BS ad nauseam touting "all the young, exciting prospects" they are nurturing on the farm, punctuated with an explanation that signing any name brand free agent or two would obstruct the development pipeline of the "future of the franchise". Of course I'd be delighted for them to prove me wrong. They could run right out and sign Kershaw and prove to me that winning is suddenly "important"...lol, let's see how far that goes. 😕

The Miggy re-signing, IMO, made sense at the time the deal was signed. The Tigers were still in the hunt for a championship, and I'm happier that one of the most productive hitters of the time was incorporated into that, rather than some "hi potential up side" recycling project signed on the cheap. True, Miggy has been little more than a circus side show as he accumulates milestones....., but this organization has not been serious about contending for some time, so in an odd way I have found solace in the knowledge that the opportunity has not come cheaply to these penny pinchers. Those of you still trying to make sense if the Verlander trade, save yourself the aggravation....it WAS a salary dump.Don't be seduced by the spin doctors...it WAS ALL ABOUT "cheap". They would have traded Miggy too if they could have found a taker. Hope this helps. 😜

So, what I want to know, is Harris seen as sufficiently committed to analyitics to the extent that if he fails, fans will not be able to scapegoat the Tigers' organization for their failure to embrace the new covenant? We've been hearing since the day Jim Leyland departed that the nu-thinking was going to replace the antiquated ways of the past, new equipment, new staff, and new disciplines,....and each time (the plan) fell short ...there was always the ready excuse that the new thinking was not properly implemented. Can we at least say with this current chapter, that particular cop-out is no longer on the table?

I really believe there never was serious interest in moving Soto. With years of control remaining, it would have required a "golden goose" to pry him away. Just no real incentive.

Okay Al Avila qualified our strategy going in to the deadline as only being interested in making the Tigers "better", and we end up sending Fulmer and Grossman away for "cheap and controllable" nobodies in return. And,we DFA OF Derek Hill as well......so I guess the net tangible benefit we get out of all this is opening 3 roster slots? I really didn't expect us to trade Soto with his nice pre-arb salary, and I really didn't expect the rest of major league baseball to have much interest in becoming more like the Tigers......so....in the all-together. I'm not too surprised here. Speculating, but I suspect the main reason Hill got axed is because Victor Reyes did not play well enough to stimulate trade interest......so if the consideration came down to whether to ax Hill or ax Reyes, I think the Tigers made the right decision,...for once

Hopefully I'll get better with practice?

Then why did A.J. not say exactly that? He specifically stated that it was a matter of the amount of time off. If he intended to cite "covid protocols", I'm confident he is capable of making that distinction. Keep in mind we are talking about an organization that insisted "this in not a salary dump" back when it was obviously all about shedding payroll, assured us that their embrace of advanced analytics was the key to our successful future, and that coming out of the gate this spring "every game counts". I suggest that this organization might be self-deluded? (or worse) Maybe the team's failures are due to a chemistry problem, starting at the top? Just a thought

I guess that I am just feeling charitable today, but I'm going to agree with you. I will no longer start new threads every time a thought enters my mind. Henceforth, I will start new threads only when I believe a particular topic is not receiving adequate attention. And If I'm ever in doubt, I'll PM you for guidance. That is, however, my final offer.

The Tigers are 19-32 in games that Reyes did not start

See? That is just it. Your priorities and mine likely differ. Just because you are less interested than I am in specious arguments about roster decisions, is no reason why my interest deserves to get buried in some "dog catcher" thread 18 pages long. I've started 4 new threads since May 5. Learn to love them

Yeah, it probably does feel to you as though I'm rubbing it in a bit. Not that you don't deserve it.

Daz Cameron last played on the field on June 8 against Pittsburgh (one week ago). Jason Beck reported today that AJ Hinch has stated that Since Cameron has been out this long, he certainly will have to go through a rehab assignment. https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/tigers-injuries-and-roster-moves #1 I didn't know that riding the pine for one week was considered noteworthy as a long time? Seems like I've seen several players spend a week+ in the dug out without having to follow a path thru Toledo to get back on the field? #2 Can't imagine AJ placing such a requirement upon Baez or Cabrera Not that it bothers me that Cameron will be off duty for a while longer. I just bring this up for those of you who tried to lampoon my observations about Reyes being manipulated as some sort of FAKE injury conspiracy... to acknowledge that something real is going on. Hey, they can send these guys down as often as they like so long as they still have options, and I won't care. I just think the "packaging" we are being given is a little dressed up, to skirt roster limits.

YES, but just look at the tremendous job big Al has done protecting the team from drunken sailors.

I prefer the word "strategic" vs "fake". Sorry, I just couldn't resist a victory dance through the mandevillas on my way off the lawn. 😚

They did say there was a decision making process involved. So It's not like they hauled him off the field with his arm zip-tied to the stretcher. So much for earlier arguments by some that TJ is not an elective surgery.

Whatever dude. Would you like to shout "GET OFF MY LAWN!" while you are at it?

I agree. But from my observation it appears to be a growing trend. There has always been a value in being able to creatively pad the roster. And I'm thinking the new, expanded I.L. format is inspiring additional creativity.