Tiger337

If you go to newspapers.com, they've got a bunch of articles from that league. It looks like it was around for a long time - 60s through early 90s? If you want to go down memory lane, you could get a free trial. I had a subscrition for newspapers.com a few years ago when i was writing a little about Tigers history. It's a fun site.

It's always an option!

December 10, 1996. The Houston Astros traded Doug Brocail, Brian Hunter, Todd Jones, Orlando Miller and cash to the Detroit Tigers for Brad Ausmus, José Lima, Trever Miller, C.J. Nitkowski and Daryle Ward.

One of my least favorite Tigers ever.

He also had the highest WAR of any third baseman in Tigers history. That is definitely their weakest position, but he was the best of the lot.

Mark Lewis looked like a steal for the first month and a half. Then he came back to earth.

Why not both?

I disliked the Fryman trade, but hearing that they traded him to clear money unecessarily makes it worse. I didn't know that at the time. Did Randy Smith make any good moves? Those 7-player trades with the Padres and Astros were fun but it was mostly just moving players around with no real impact.

Yes, I would agree with that. I don't think he likes baseball very much. Previous commisioners were also mostly concerned with generating revenue, but they also seemed to have a certain amount of respect for the history, culture and traditions of the game. I don't see that with Manfred at all.

At least he wasn't named Jose.

I like that idea. They should also randomly pick a fan each game to pitch one inning.

Of all the readilly available info, those are all good sources. My only advice would be don't bet money that you need on minor leaguers!

I don't think there is anything MLB can do which will make indivual players as exciting to casual fans as they are in the NBA and NFL without substantially altering the sport. It's just not the nature of baseball and I hope they don't try too hard.

I am curious to know what kind of advanced stats and tracking you've seen which makes you so confident in your ability to project minor league players that you are willing bet $1,000 on it. That sounds like it would be a great contribution to the discussion if you'd give some details.

I am happy to see that Toronto won. I remember when they were both expansion teams and I liked Toronto better and still do. I have never cared for Seattle for no special reason.

I know it's real, but that looks like an AI generated article which is too good to be true!

It's a good thing to an extent, but I think it can be over done defensively. It is good because if provides roster flexibility. I believe most of the benefit is on the offensive side though. I think players can maximize their collective defensive skills playing together as unit. It makes since for somebody like Keith, who doesn't excel any particular position to move around the field in order to keep his bat in the line-up and gve players rests. It might not make sense for everyone though.

The same can be said about locking Keith into a position. They aren't necessarily going to stick him at third and leave him there every day.

Thanks for the breakdown. Small samples, but perhaps the Harris approach could yield more consistency. Also of note is that the overall production results (wOBA, WRC+) are the same, so maybe the Harris approach is more aesthetic but not necessarily more effective.

His underlying numbers say he should do better, but his career has been very up and down, so I am not sure he'll get a 3-year deal. I do agree though that he'll likely decline the QO.

According to AI: "On average, a Major League Baseball team turns over approximately 60–70% of its 26-man roster over two years. The typical annual roster turnover rate is between 30% and 40%, with most of the change happening during the offseason." AI is full of **** sometimes, but I think the Tigers roster will turn over by at least 50% by 2027.

I agree. He got injured last year too. I can see him trying for ten and then taking a Bregman-type deal where gets a chance to build up his value again. Or maybe, he is not so confident in his health and will take 7.

Why would he bat third? Why not second?

Mickey Lolich would have...if Billy Martin was managing

Not a lot, since it was only his second full season. But even beyond that, he had no power and was not a good defensive shortstop. He was moved the outfield at age 27. So, it's not hard to imagine how much he would make. He'd make a good salary as a free agent, but nothing astronomical. Maybe 18-20 million? The salary experts might have a better estimate. Then again, if he was playing today he might have been a different player, maybe a multi-position player who batted .290 with 25 homers and 100 strikeouts. How much is that worth? Maybe about the same. I don't really know.