Tiger337

I would say containing costs is #1 (which is always the case with everything owners do) and getting a little more parity is secondary. Of course, parity is also indirectly worth money to the majority of owners, although I think that becomes less important, the more they expand playoffs.

Why does a President need to be married? Are they worried that he is gay?

The main purpose of the draft is to keep signing bonuses down which it does effectively for better or for worse. As for the lottery versus the draft, I agree it doesn't affect team behavior much if at all. It does affect how they are rewarded though. I like how the new process limits how many high picks a team can get in multiple years. I don't see how lotteries dilute anything since the poor teams still tend to get better picks than good teams. I'd rather see a close to the bottom team that's trying to get better get a pick over some garbage franchise like Oakland that doesn't even care.

The first draft lottery worked well. I like the lottery. I don't like to see teams being rewarded for being terrible.

I will say that the probably of him opting out is higher tham the .05% someone suggested. Human decisions always have higher probabilities than that! But it is still low.

I think it will take more years than that.

It might take three years after his 2023 season. If they were able to sign Rodriguez and Lorenzen or the equivalent, add a hitter on a one-year deal, get some improvement from young players and promote more young players, it will be a very entertaining team and possibly competitive in their division.

He'll be more miserable if he has to settle for a one-year contract with incentives. Why would any team offer him more than that?

It's not so much a new thing though. The idea that all teams used to have 8 starters starting evey game is also a myth. There were more regulars 40-50 years ago, but injuries and platooning were common back then as well. I still think teams should TRY to have as many regulars as possible, but be prepared for injuries and be effective with platoons. I don't think it's necessary or beneficial to have a different line-up every day with players playing different positions all the time.

I expect Rodriguez to leave and then I think they'll shoot for an equivalent replacement. I hope they add another starter on top of that (maybe another Lorenzen/Boyd type signing). I want them to try to be competitive in the AL Central next year.

One of Harris' strengths prior to coming to Detroit was getting the most out of pitching acquistions. He did that with Lorenzen, not so much with Boyd but you can't win all the time with broken pitchers. Maybe go a little higher stakes this time.

Next year is going to be a disaster if Rodriguez leaves and they don't acquire any pitchers. I am expecting that they at least add some major league pitchers.

I feel better about the team this year than I did in 2021 when they had a similar pattern and record. In 2021, they had a lot of luck and a strong bullpen, but it never seemed like a real improvement in talent. This year, I feel like they have some pieces in place which they can build on next year.

Every team has peaks and valleys. The timing of these highs and lows could tell you something but it also could just be random variation throughout the season. For three straight seasons, the Tigers have started out slow. What appears to be improvement over the course of the season could be lack of readiness at the beginning of the season. Or it could just be random.

But they are .500 team if we subtract out their worst stretch when someone was injured and the team couldn't focus.

Didn't they kill waiver deals past the deadline in the last CBA?

Vasquez on the IL. Joey Wince and Garrett Hill are back. This shows that the Tigers are still trying to win.

Right, It would probably mean that he'd have his best years with another team.

Pharmaceutical companies know that people will overpay for medication that works or even appears to work. This is a problem.

His first two years have been a lot like Tony Clark, but Clark was a year older. Clark followed up with 5 seasons with an OPS+ of 120 or better. I'd be reasonably happy with that except I would hope it was 7-8 years rather than just 5. Paul Konerko, to which Torkelson is often compared, also started slow and had his best years in his late 20s and 30s.

I'd hate to be sitting next to that guy with that goofy laugh the whole game.

He has the most scoops, but that is probably mostly a function of opportunitiesa given to him by infielders making poor throw. Do we know his scoop percentage?

Lock all the doors except one.

I think they could find a weak hitting shortstop that can field the position well enough for a year until they have a better replacement. If Baez doesn't hit, he is basically an expensive version of what Iglesias gave them previously.

They are preparing for an epic party.