CMU97

I may be optimistic, but I see his ceiling as Pete Rose, with maybe a little more power. He has the hit tool, I expected him to be a .300 hitter or better most of his career. And like Rose, I think he has the ability to move around to different positions as needed and be more than adequate. I don't know if he can become a gold glove at multiple positions, but be better than replacement. I think the bottom would be a Greg Gagne type. Not a gold glover, but incredibly consistant and durable. Hit .250-.280 with 10-20 homers for 10 years. Rose would be great, but I would take Gagne.

He has to be 65 years old now or so. I bet he has lost a few miles off his fastball. So he probably only throws about 105 mph now. I dont recall if he had any secondary pitches, or if he ever found his other boot. He might be a good opener.

My wife works at a major retailer and one of her many jobs is to source the toilet paper. 98% comes from the US or Canada, and the TP does come from China is currently tariffed at 35%. Also, the China TP is way below the standards Americans are use too. Many things may be affected, TP is not one of them.

Bobby has done a tremendous job improving the last half of this season. If Dirks is going to be on TV most of the time now, I prefer Bobby over everyone else. AA does a fine job too, but I don't think he wants the gig full time.

And I would swap Meadows and Sweeny. But, AJ does everything with a purpose, and it.may be a 6th inning matchup he is eying. In Hinch I trust.

Deuce asked for his "release ". He was in Chicago long enough to set things up the way he wanted, and things are running smoothly. He already has Detroit under his thumb, so no need to come back. His eye is on a bigger prize, most likely New York. After that, Las Vegas. Yes, the A's (or someone else) will get there. In NY, Deuce will have Manford under his watch full time, and Jim will make sure Vegas happens.

Rose was one of the best players ever to put on a uniform, there is no question about that. Like many of the greatest of the greats, he had a drive to win at all costs. He played in nearly every single game for 22 of his 24 years, and was very productive productive into his 40's. He could not stand to lose. He also came up in an era where star athletes were treated like God's, and their misdeeds were not reported. Thus, giving them a God like ego. I think this was definitely Pete, thinking that whatever he did off the field was his own business. I don't think he ever really had any remorse for anything he did, because he gave 110% on the field and that was enough. Off the field, he acted like the rules didn't apply to him, and anyone saying different was picking on him. The gambling, hanging out with convicted felons in the clubhouse, tax evasion, he never owned up to it in a clear way. Always more sorry he got caught then sorry for his actions. I don't think we should forget that if he played today, he would never have gotten to 3,000 hits; only won one WS; and would have never managed. In 1976 when he was 35, he had an affair with a 16 year old. He would have been out of baseball after that, just like Wander Franco, and we would not be having this discussion. And rightfully so. Great ballplayer, not a great human.

Aye Aye Aye...

And my personal favorite, Onix Conception. He always seemed to hit against the Tigers.

I would guess because very few people outside of die hards like us would ever know he was in the Tigers system 10 years ago. The Tigers were still good then, and we got a good piece back as part of that package. He wasn't a high draft pick, wasn't part of the rebuild, and never played for the Tigers. So I think McCoskys audience would go who? And it seems to me the beat writers wand people to go, "oh yeah, I remember him, we should have kept him".

Brookens wasn't that good, but wasn't that bad either. Good enough to accrue 11 years service time and a full pension. 2 favorite brookens moments: I don't re.ember who they were playing, but Morris was pitching, Parrish behind the plate and Brookens at third. There was a bunt down the third base line and all 3 converged on the ball at the same time. Lance absolutely ran Tom over and crushed him to make the play. And the time he was the emergency catcher and came out in Parrish's gear. Very funny sight. I was upset when he was traded because it was solely because he was about to become a 10-5 guy and the Tigers did not want that to happen.

I love Andy, but I miss Jim.

Better than OE% ? That is a very high bar. This thread has a long way to go, but might have the potential.

The best thing to happen during the Randy Smith era was Juan Gonzalez turning down his 8 year/ $140 million offer at the start of the 2000 season. Terrible decision by Juan, great for the Tigers. 2nd best move was trading Greg Gohr for Damion Easley. But then he gave Easley a big contract extension and we ended up eating most of that. None of his other moves really came out to the Tigers' advantage. Terrible GM.

Hands down it would be Bonds. To me, the "greatest" could do everything at the highest level. Bonds was an exceptional fielder for most of his career, many gold gloves. He could steal bases, and was a good base runner. And of course, the hitting. Last, I think you have to be able to do all that for a period of 15 years plus. Arod would probably be 2nd on my list. Ichro would also be up there. If he can produce like he has for another 10 years, Ohtoni might blow them all away.

Something already stinks. It was too pretty of a bow to put on day when the translater pleads guilty, Ohtoni is cleared and his case closed, AND 5 AAAA guys were caught betting on baseball. I think MLB is telling other more high profile guys "we know". I don't think the sports book notified MLB on of the kindness of their heart that these 5 guys were betting. I think it was probably a condition baseball put on ALL the sports books in order to climb in bed together. "We'll take your money and promote you, but you will let us know if any player places a bet". I'm sure there are a lot of cousin Eddie's and uncle Dueces out there placing bets for players as well. Someone will get caught eventually.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/40275531/tucupita-marcano-gets-life-mlb-ban-betting-baseball Along with Marcano, 4 other current players with MLB experience were given 1 year suspensions. All 4 are detailed in the above article, did not bet on their current teams, and placed low wagers. It should also be pointed out all lost badly. I think this will become just as big of a headache for MLB as PEDs were 20 years ago. Not many people are going to Blink an eye at the above 5 players, not many have heard of them. But the mud will hit the fan when the first star is caught. I'm sure many players are having cousin eddy place bets on their behalf, and that could be be a bigger mess. It would not surprise me to see Duece behind all of this.

Reese with the W

Back in the mid to late 90's, Gibson and Josh Lewin were among the best teams in baseball. Gibson was humbled by then, and had great insights into the game. Lewin was as good and professional as they come. Gibson went into coaching/managing, Lewin moved onto Texas I believe, and we had garbage for the next 15 years. I have no problem with Gibson now, as he is battling his disease in the only way he probably knows how, to hit it head on and keep working. Yes, parkenins and the medicines have left him with a higher pitched voice and much slower cadence. But, he still has the insight.

Your post must have made its way down to Carp. Good job!

Whatever it is I hope he is back by the 4th inning so I get Dan back on the radio.

You know all this talk about Spencer reminds me of another 1st round draft pick by the Tigers who was much heralded as the greatest thing since sliced bread coming out of college. He too made his debut at age 22, and struggled mightily his first 3 years in the majors. More so than Spencer, and it can be argued he was a worse defender than Tork. That player went on to a 17-year career, 2 WS championships, and an MVP award. That of course was Kirk Gibson. I think everyone one of us would be thrilled if Spencer had that career. Or even the career of Bob Horner. Point is that not everyone, and maybe only a couple of people a generation come up and play like gangbusters and keep it up for their entire career. He is still figuring things out, and there will good and bad days. Way too early to write him off.

Using that theory, the Pirates last denied Cobb the World Series in 1909. Do you hold a grudge against them as well?