RatkoVarda

is he even competent to sign the contracts? I'm sure the current owners will be happy to take pennies on the dollar to get out, but hard to see how someone so clearly mentally ill can enter into a binding agreement.

many assume the Giants are about to abandon their more cautious approach to FAs this winter when they offer Judge $300M if they want to keep up with LA and SD, finding LaMonte Wades and Mike Yazes, though nice, is not enough

the 2023-24 FA options are not as good or numerous Correa still makes sense on a lot of levels its not my money if Baez and Rodriguez opt out (they won’t) the Tigers have zero dollars committed for 2024

churn

FWIW, Athletic predicts Candy will not be back; same analysis pro/con that is seen here

I wanted to just say that Dombrowski has his 4th team in the playoffs; not sure the Phillies can club their way to WS, but possible; dude knows what he is doing better than most

Salt River, the AFL team the Tigers feed, is 0-8, scoring the fewest runs and giving up the most. Wentz, Mattison, Anderson are doing OK, and Walker only pitched 2 innings (SSS alert for all) Keith and Dingler are fine; Meadows has done little since homering to open play; Workman is 0/14 with 8 Ks

JV down 4-0; giving me 2012 flashbacks; need a drink

a one-year bridge to Keith can be anyone, including Candy (yuck). Longoria is a fine choice too, but I think the Giants want him back in a part time role, so that would be $4M or so. Not sure what the draw would be for him to come to Det for 1 year. Not a lot of good options. Joey Wendle is my choice. Maybe Harris could pry Gorman from the Cardinals?

lots of fat to cut https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/10/mlb-projected-arbitration-salaries-2023.html Drew Hutchison (5.097): $1.8MM Joe Jimenez (5.061): $2.6MM Jeimer Candelario (5.038): $7MM Jose Cisnero (5.020): $2.2MM Victor Reyes (4.075): $2.2MM Austin Meadows (4.074): $4MM Harold Castro (3.141): $2.6MM Gregory Soto (3.102): $3.1MM Tyler Alexander (3.058): $1.6MM Willi Castro (3.017): $1.7MM Rony Garcia (2.138): $1MM Kyle Funkhouser (2.133): $800K

I would much prefer they take the $40M hit immediately, even if it is used as a BS excuse to limit spending in 2023 My fear is that spreading it out over multiple years will be used as a BS excuse to limit spending over a longer period But, sounds like there is no movement to getting rid of Miggy this winter

I thought Haase was a drag on pitchers, but that is a truly shocking split (at least for 1 pitcher) we will see what Harris wants from catchers Astros have gotten by with elite defensive catchers who are almost incompetent with the bat. but Arizona wants more offense from C than Carson Kelly, but he has strong splits vs their other catchers. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/10/hazen-d-backs-to-pursue-bullpen-help-open-to-adding-at-catcher.html

if would really odd for AJ to deny repeatedly that he wants a FO at this time, and then have him accept one, just to keep Lombard around but if they think Lombard is some genius in waiting, then maybe

Except for Lange, whole post might be correct. Lange is to me penciled in as 2023 closer. Unless they trade him, he will be one of the most important BP pieces, if not the most important

from MLBTR chat: Houzer 2:33 Who says no ... Tigers trade Gregory Soto to the Rangers for prospect Justin Foscue Steve Adams 2:33 Foscue alone isn't getting Soto 2:34 Foscue as one of several prospects? Sure -- though probably not with him as the headliner.

Minor league system is still not good Yes, they have really figured something out with pitching development; lots of success stories from Jobe to Chance Kirby; need to work on health. But system is embarrassingly bad at OF; really weak at C and 1B. IF looks solid though. Toledo – Dingler, Meadows only relevant position players; interesting guys in WPerez, Lipcius Erie – Keith, Jung only position players who matter; Couch interesting Right now, who besides Keith can reasonably project as a solid ML starter? yikes!

as an AJ fan, I cannot defend this. 100% baffling why he stuck with Soto.

i am not sure what "controlling the strike zone" really means, but Wenceel and Lipcius both have consistently high BB rates and low K rates. not sure if that means Harris will be more likely to add them to 40 before rule 5 draft.

if Harris decides Alexander does not fit what he wants, no objections to him moving on from Tyler. one horrible thing bad franchises do is hold on to marginal, homegrown talent too tightly for far too long (an extension of the overvaluing problem) but, I also doubt in one off season the Tigers are going to be in a position to jettison all their marginal talent (they sure have a lot of it), and they will need innings over 6 months. so, if all it costs is a 40-man roster spot then Alexander, Brieske, Faedo, HIll and Soto to me are keepers for now, with the caveat that none appear to more than middle relievers and/or 6-7 starters types (which every team needs)

TL/DR: Sign a FA SS. Trade for Renfroe, Wendle. Add significant starting pitching. C – Haase/Rogers/Navarez? No idea if Rogers will come back with average arm, let alone plus arm. Need to add someone besides Ali Sanchez as alternative. DH – Miggy is a sometimes available DH vs LHP. Will see Meadows vs RHP. 1b – Tork 2b – Baez SS – Sign one of the FA SS. Bogaerts/Turner/Correa easily fit into the budget 3b – Trade for Joey Wendle until Keith arrives for a September look. Marlins don’t want to pay him for last arbitration year. IF – Kreidler/Harold in the mix. Schoop/Candy? Prefer to move on, but no good 3b FA. Schoop for LaStella? LF – Meadows (DH) CF – Greene RF – Trade for Hunter Renfroe. Need RH power. Brewers don’t want to pay him for last arbitration year. OF – Carpenter, Baddoo, Reyes in the mix. Short, Willi, Daz, Clemens – hope they just move on from all 4 Rotation - Harris was part of a SF team that found a lot of good starting pitching. Will need to add 2. Rodriguez, Manning?, Turnbull?, ?, ? - Faedo, Wentz, Garcia; with a huge amount of pitching lurking at Toledo (Madden, Olsen, Flores, Bergner, Elvin, Long, Kirby). Hutchinson or BGarcia on MiLB deal. Skubal returns 2nd half? Mize in 2024. BP – would be nice to trade Soto just for our sanity, regardless of minimal return. Maybe Lange has value. Harris should move Joe if he does not sign extension. Soto, Chafin, Alexander, Joe, Lange, Vest, Foley, Cisnero, Hill, Brieske, Funk – nice core I expect a lot of transactions from Harris.

Ms just concede game to Tigers, and Soto politely says, no you can have it

if every pitcher threw 85 mph meatballs to Tork, he would be OK

clobbering Oz once again

Christian Walker does not come across as a reliable narrator. Would not be surprised at all if he did a 180 (multiple 180s) over the next few weeks in order to just get more attention - from anyone. But he certainly sums up what I think of Hershel.

maybe Harris hires Avila as GM?