HeyAbbott

I am guardedly optimistic. The bullpen looks to be solid. The starting pitching is somewhat suspect. With a little use of the depth that seems to be bubbling up in the system, any shortfall can be plugged when playing in the weak AL Central.

 Third base remains a problem. This lineup, while lengthened with the addition of Canha and some glimmer of hope from Keith, seems a little too light to win 88 to 90 games. 82 to 84 games seems about right.

3 hours ago, oblong said:

I think the lawsuit talk is a joke about the fella that suggested the Tigers sue Rodriguez for… something. 

Who gives a rip about lawsuits anyway? You can sue a ham sandwich.  If the market can truly afford this, LA will laugh all the way to the bank. If it's an organizational threatening overpay, I don't  care so long as I don't have to pony up. If someone were to ask me to bail out the Dodgers. I would vehemently insist they perform a difficult anatomical act with a rolling doughnut.

Like the SP signing.  It makes sense given the state of Tiger pitching. We need one more SP though.

8 minutes ago, kdog said:

 

This looks to be more than I expected with respect to cleaning up the roster. I would expect a possibility of a minor league contract for Garrett Hill.

9 hours ago, chasfh said:

I like Benetti as an announcer as much as the next guy, but I don’t love that the Tigers will be his second priority. That feels to me like he already has a foot out the door coming in, and I had the sense while he was in Big Shoulders that he wants to be 100% national. That said, Tigers could do worse than Dan Dickerson as the backup on TV. For as long as it lasts, this is a complete win for Tiger fans.

Nothing is forever. There is a season for everything, and this appears to be Benetti's in Detroit. He will be better than Shep by far.

19 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

I am going to guess Jordan Montgomery/ Sonny Gray level.  

Sonny Gray sounds about right

18 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

PS: And I still want to sign Yamamoto & Hader which would really solidify our rotation & BP (or at least in theory) leaving only which bats to keep/ move on from and which bats to bet on/ add to the team.

Perfect for offseason 2024, IMO.

I am on board with Yamamoto. My guess is we will get some unknown (relatively speaking) reclamation project or maybe Lorenzen.

Benetti is doing the Utah Washington Football game on Fox right now. He is fun to hear.

I have just had the chance to listen to some Benetti play by play. He has a fine broadcast voice that is very rich and classic-sounding. He will be wonderful to hear in 2024.

8 hours ago, Tenacious D said:

Hard pass.  Nick already made his feelings clear about hitting in Comerica.  Can’t field and his hitting skills will decline.

With respect to Nick C., He whined like hell about Comerica shortly after he left. Let's find someone else.

10 hours ago, RandyMarsh said:

I know this has been going on for awhile now but I really am noticing it this year, probably due to having two smaller franchises in it(I'm talking in terms of main stream relevance not market size) but its crazy how irrelevant and forgotten the WS has been treated by the general public and media. 

 

The mindless idiots that have ran the MLB have made virtually every mistake that one could make in running a pro sports league since before the Curt Flood decision.

The season is too dammed long and is being played in non-baseball weather for much of the country. The entire season should be over by October 15. Once the weather turns cool, most folks will look to the traditional indoor or cool weather sports such as football and basketball.

They have made a marathon season essentially meaningless by having too many teams in the playoffs. The season should start on May 1. The regular season should be done on August 31, and the playoffs should run September 1 October15.

The game faces many problems to stay pertinent, the least of which is that its marketing to younger fans (9-18) is horrible.

Finally, the only thing that Manfred seems to care about is to make sure the gamblers are happy and everything and everyone else be dammed. I can do without the continual display of the Vegas odds during a game. Then, in the same breath, MLB tells its players not to bet on games.

Well, I'd better adjust because its only a matter of time before every team makes the playoffs, and we will see posted odds on whether the first baseman will scratch his balls during the inning.

10 hours ago, chasfh said:

Was it one of the dead ball guys? If so, then no wonder.

One of the other things about the game in those days was how big the ballparks were. It was nothing for a park to be 360 down the lines, 450 to center, and 400 in the alleys. Outfielders had to play deeper to prevent batted balls from getting by them and turning into inside-the-park home runs, which allow softer hit liners and the like that would be caught today to drop in for hits. One reason there were so many qualified .300 hitters back then.

Going way back, with the info I have:

Huntington Park first home of the Boston AL team-- 630 feet to center field.

The Polo grounds in New York-- 533 feet to center. The pictures of it show an enormous amount of foul teritory real estate.

Braves field in Boston-- well over 500 feet to center.

The old Yankee stadium before the monuments-- 461 feet to center, with short foul lines.

Forbes field 1935 dimensions 447 (?) feet to center.

The fair play area of many modern ball parks is much smaller, except when looking at older historic parks such as  Ebbets field( home of the Brooklyn Dodgers) and Baker Bowl, which is where the Phillies played until sharing Shibe Park with the Philadelphia  A's in the 1950's.

There is absolutely no reason to have a 162 game season.Cut the season to 82 games and make a 16 team playoff best of 7 for each series.

Bring in someone one entirely. I am sick on CMo's excitement routine. I hated the verbal manure of the players only broadcast. Go in a new direction. Who knows if BSD is going to be around anyway.

The year that Corey Seager, etc was available is not this year. We have some tradeable assets . I hope that Harris/Greenberg use them wisely.

When I think of HOFers that establish points of reference for me, I think of Warren Spahn, whom I saw pitch live in July of 1963. We will never see his innings or wins per season again, but what I remember most is his his perfect fluid motion, and the fact he was better in the 7th through 9th innings then in the start of the game. His years as a pitching coach with the Mets saw him mentor Tug McGraw and others.

Miggy , in his prime, used the whole field as a hitter better than anyone I remember.

Miggy's influence will hopefully continue in player procurement, particularly in Latin America. I hope he does continue assist the Tigers in time to come.

4 hours ago, chasfh said:

What an emotional final game! After an 0-for-3 start and a BS four-pitch walk in his last trip to the plate, Miggy surprises us all with one final appearance at first base, and two pitches in gets the 3-unassisted, and walks off on top. What a beautiful ending to an inner-circle Hall of Fame career that will culminate in another Olde English D enshrined in Cooperstown.

Tigers finish the season 78-84, and in full possession of second place, capped off by a nice little 18-10 run. I think they did better this season than the vast majority of people thought they might. They certainly beat my own preseason prediction of 75 wins pretty nicely.

I would say that, despite the complaints and objections voiced throughout the season, Scott Harris's first season was a pretty solid success. Let's spend the next six months posting endlessly about what he must, I mean absolutely must, do this offseason to win this division next year and then every year after that for the rest of all of our lives.

I simply must take the time to say that this post absolutely nails the sentiments I have,

As I rise to my feet I  say, as they say in the British Parliament, "To the right honorable chasfh, Hear!! Hear!!"

The free agent crop this year has some interesting pitchers. The available position players don't excite me.

9 hours ago, SeattleMike said:

On who? Few position players available. Hopefully they will add a premier pitcher if Erod opts out and another Lorenzo type. 

Pitcher:Aaron  Nola, Sonny Gray,Luis  Giolitto (pick one)

Bat : Maybe Chapman.

Yamamoto would be very nice

Even if Erod stays , I want another Starting pitcher.

I want one SP for sure,maybe 2. Maybe Mize makes it back. Maybe he doesn't.

We need a longer lineup and a quality bat is indicated.

Chris I , you have Miggy, (32m),Schoop (7m), Boyd (10m), Meadows (4m), probably Erod (15m), and that's 69 million off of payroll. Spend some money wisely.

I think a reasonable approach this off season would be to get one bonfire SP, One solid reliever, and a legitimate infield bat.Assuming ERod walks, add one SP of some caliber.

I am late to the party on this one, but here goes.

I give Harris a guarded B overall.I think he has gotten development portion of the puzzle heading in the right direction.

Player acquisition during the last year is more than likely an ownership issue as I think that the cash commitments of the Illitch empire might be over extended due to the lagging effects of covid. I just don't think that the Illicth empire has as much maneuvering room on the cash front as many think.

There have been some wrong decisions on players such as Schoop. Those are largely the result of someone new to the scene

On the Erod episode, it looks like to me that ERod might have given them a go ahead on the trade, and his agent tried to leverage more bucks after the initial agreement.  I still view it as a Harris failure, as I am a solid proponent of the first rule of management, which states, "It's all your fault." Good management always has an alternate plan and always assumes the worst.

I think the next year will be better, and it will reveal what we really have in Harris.

Break out the Monoply board! It's  Parker time!

Java Baez will fill the role of having an overplayed sub replacement player on the roster for years to come.

My guess would be that Maton will go down.