RatkoVarda

sweet 6 innings from Jobe then Flores, but 2 BBs? Unacceptable!

no one wants to sign a FA who doesn't work out. but how about Cory Seager, Marcus Simien, Nathan Eovaldi and Jon Gray? if the Rangers don't sign those guys, they are finishing in 3rd place, dreaming about one day being relevant

3 of those are coming off injury, 1 has 100 solid innings, and 1 will be in bullpen

Harris came out and said he is not negotiating with ERod pre-opt out. He's gone; and they won't lift a finger to dissuade him.

Bader, JH Lee, Bellinger, Hader, Montgomery, Snell, Yamamoto, Nola, Merrifield, Ursula - all could help in various degrees

same. he's gone. Harris is not going to show him love or money. Tigers, perhaps correctly, think they can attract similar talents for less $$$ based on what Fetter and CO have been able to do. with ERod gone, they almost certainly will have a payroll well under 100M so Ilitch will be happy

and did they ask him about his non-existent opt-out clause?

it is a close call, but I'll guess yes; he will mostly play CF I think

it would be shocking if the Tigers are able to finish at .500 - let alone contend for the playoffs - while starting 3, and later 4, rookies. I am looking forward to seeing what Meadows, Keith and Malloy can do, but I also know that it is entirely possible, if not likely, that they all see some time in Toledo next year, as well. I think people should be more realistic about Jung for 2024; he has only 200 PA above A ball; if he gets a September 2024 call-up, that would aggressive considering Harris' usual approach.

you're gonna want to plug "Urias" into your google machine

Padres are facing a very difficult situation this Winter. they need to pare about 40 to 50M off payroll to meet MLB's debt ratio guidelines. Snell, Hader and Lugo will move on. but they MUST move Soto (or another huge equivalent salary) AND try to move Cronenworth and possibly more like Carpenter. Preller needs to make lots of moves or maybe one big one - all while keeping his 200M team in contention. there is an opportunity for a team that can absorb a lot of payroll

that's fair. but Hader got screwed in 2020 arbitration hearing because the Brewers used him smart - that is, not as a one-inning, 9th-inning closer. "He did not have enough saves" they argued, so he got 4M rather than 6M. that baseline effected his 21 through 23 salaries, so he missed out on maybe 6-8M or more because he lost that one case. he is trying to protect himself, both by getting the stupid counting stats, and not getting hurt. he is shooting for Diaz money, 5/100M, and - to him - there was no need to work a 4 out save for a team that had less than a 1% chance of making the playoffs. as they say, it is a business. not a great look, but I see his point.

Skubal and Lange to STL for Dylan Carlson and Jordan Walker, move him back to 3rd Carpenter to NYY for Oswald Peraza, he's your eventual Baez replacement sign FA pitchers

ok, so this is what it is like when the NFL thinks you are one of the good teams? sounds good to me

the MAGA cult is gone in a sea of anger, stupidity and conspiracy theories; unreachable, and many would gladly die for him But I hope that for those on the margins of MAGA, stuff like this helps wake them up maybe I am an idiot, but I think every little bit helps

how to you check to see when the last time a ROAD team held the HOME team to 21 yards in the first half?

At the half, its Lions 27, Packers 21 27 points for the Lions 21 yards for the Packers

ESPN knows something we don't?

a Jake Rogers clone seems to be Dingler's ceiling (which is not bad at all, but obviously he may not reach it) Kelly has the skills Harris wants, but zero real world production FG and Law both were weirdly high on Sands, who was seconds away from returning to the majors, before ERod nixed trade

C Rogers; Kelly. To show how smart he is, Harris might give Kelly a shot to rebound. They won’t carry 4 catchers, so maybe Sands DFA, Dingler added despite K rate, but no surprise if Harris trades Rogers again. 1b and SS: Tork and Baez 2b and 3b: The sheer number of guys, regardless of talent (Keith (L); McKinstry (L); Maton (L); Vierling; Ibanez; Lipcius; Short; Kreidler; plus Perez (S); Leonard; Jung (L) at Tol) makes it unlikely Harris adds a veteran (like Merrifield, Urshela) to the mix, even though he absolutely should. Nevin DFA and Malloy to LF/DH. LF/DH: Greene (L); Malloy; Baddoo (L); plus Bigbie at Tol CF: Meadows (L); Add RH OF RF: Carpenter (L); some Vierling Get a RH OF (like Margot, Carlson, Bader) who can play some defense. Baddoo obvious trade candidate regardless.

Current payroll commitment is very Oakland A's-like, at about 34.5M, or up to 56M In: Baez 25; Skubal ~4.5; Rogers ~3; Mize ~2; maybe ERod 18; maybe Kelly 3.5 Gone (over 65M): Miggy 32; Boyd 10; Schoop 7.5; Lorenzen 5.8; Meadows 4.3; Cisnero 2.3; Turnbull 2.1; Schreve 1.5

The division is winnable now and that should be reflected in trades and FA signings. I suspect that Harris will – again – not sign any FA position players, but will spend on pitching. They should add an IF and a RH OF, and a C if they can. I don’t buy the binary strawman arguments, that they either they “go for it” or they “sit tight”. They need to be moving forward, and that does NOT mean patiently waiting for a lot of Al Avila’s guys to turn into major league starters by 2025. Even with 3-5 real moves, payroll will be just $100-110M. They need to add to Tork-Greene-Carp core. Maybe that’s Keith early and/or Jung later. If they cannot retain ERod, must sign an impactful SP (up to and including Snell, Yamamoto); also add a Lorenzen type fixer upper SP (like Montas). Prefer to pass on Rule 5 draft as they are overloaded with solid bench players and RH relievers. I am preparing myself to be disappointed by a boring Winter as Scott “Calculated Risk” Harris assesses the situation further, focusing primarily on not making any mistakes that might lead to criticism.