4hzglory

Yes it does. I would have liked us to be in on him for that - Maybe we were, but he chose Atlanta.

I don't agree with gutting your team for a high pick, but in the Tigers case of the middle of the Avila years, it didn't make sense to spend significant $ to be just mediocre instead of just bad. For one, they weren't going to be able to spend enough to actually be good, and doing so would have meant not giving as many opportunities to other young players to evaluate and see if they would be part of the future. The problem with the Avila years is too few of those young players ended up proving they belonged (Early on, some of that was due to the DD years). I guess what I'm saying is don't agree with intentionally tanking for a draft pick, but I also see no point in forcing teams to spend extra (for a limited time) just to move from bad to mediocre and potentially hinder the development/evaluation of the young players who could actually help them become good.

He was released at his request so he could play for a playoff team. He definitely isn’t Branch or Joseph, but he does have a decent career.

Agreed, but they got blown out in both on the road and their wins were much closer. Either way, Alabama should have dropped just like BYU did (and they never should have moved up in the first place by barely beating 5-7 Auburn) the committee basically guaranteed this outcome the week before, although I wonder if it would have been Miami out if Virginia won and went as the ACC champ. It still would have been wrong IMO as Alabama losing in the fashion they did, didn’t deserve to stay at 9

If they were aligned with the ACC, their strength of schedule would have been significantly worse as they would have played 8 ACC games instead of 6 and the ACC teams were the weakest teams on their schedule (except Miami) They played 2 SEC teams, lost to A&M by 1 on a botched XP and beat Arkansas worse than any other SEC team. If they were fully in the ACC it's doubtful they play either. I honestly have no issue with Miami being ahead of them in the end (even if i don't agree). It's the fact that 5 weeks ago they and Miami both were 6-2 and ND was ranked 8 spots ahead of MIami with the game one on the record. Since then they played 4 games. ND won by an average of 38 pts, Miami by 27.5. 2 were common opponents and ND had greater margin of victory. What in those 5 weeks caused MIami to gain 9 spots on ND? My biggest issue is with Alabama not dropping at all after getting destroyed by Georgia. IMO ND & Miami should have been in and Alabama out as every other team that lost a championship game dropped at least 2 spots if the game wasn't close.

While true, i imagine their premiums went up drastically if they are even still insurable.

They also have an article about how McGonigle is the best overall hitting prospect in baseball over the last number of years.

Valdez does come with the history of throwing at his catcher. He's someone I don't really want with that history and the fact that he's 32 for what he'd command. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets 6 years and at least the same AAV as the 5/140.

If ND gets into the playoffs, it would be interesting to see a rematch of last year. By most standards, this is a better ND team than last year, except for kicker. Once Carr got his feet under him, he is considerably more of a threat than Leonard was, their receivers are better, their running game is just as strong, and their defense got healthy and learned the new system and is back to being on par with anyone besides OSU and maybe Texas Tech.

That’s a bummer. He was someone I was really interested in.

Another intriguing starter option that should be cheaper (3 yr/$30 mil projection) is Cody Ponce. His uptick in velocity and added plus splitter make him an interesting option that I'd hope we would be in on. If they could get him, go after Bregman, and spend $20ish mil on a couple higher caliber, high K pen arms I'd be extremely happy.

Yes, especially when their decision doesn't make sense. Fairbanks should have been easily tradeable on the 1 yr $11 mil contract that he would have had if they picked up the option.

I'm more on board with Bregman also. This year he wouldn't cost a draft pick like he did last year. It obviously would potentially limit some of Keith/Anderson/Lee's chances of improving (at the ML level), but would be worth it IMO and Torres is only signed for 1 year. I'd still be surprised if they are as in as they were last year on him (especially with their publicly stated focus on pitching), but I'd be very happy if they went after him. I don't know if they'd have the $ for him and Imai (long shot to get) or King as well as a competitive offer for Skubal(next year) and $15-20 mil for the pen, but if they do I'm all for it. I think pitching is the bigger need, but Bregman would definitely improve the offense significantly.

I'm hesitant on someone Tampa let go of for a relatively reasonable 1 yr $10 mil (adjusting for the buyout they gave) when his history suggests he's worth more than that. Even if they held onto him for trade value. It makes me concerned they know something.

I do think he will get the 2nd year. Especially since Helsley got what he did, and even Williams getting 3. Finnegan's numbers improved significantly and it was based on real changes, so It gives hope it is sustainable.

And Finnegan's K's went way up when he came here. They adjusted his pitch usage among other things.

Except Diaz would be at least double that per year and at least double the years. Think more like $80 mil over 4 years instead of $20 mil over 2.

I can see Davenport and Mosley as FA signings being major injury risks, and of his draft picks, Williams and Hooker. Like you said, it isn't as much of a trend as his reputation is. Now, we have been hit with numerous injuries to players who didn't have an injury history.

It sounds like Wisconsin committed to significantly upping their recruiting budget for next season - it sounds like they've been way behind and they believe it has strongly hampered Fickell's ability to recruit. In the pre-NIL era, they were ok recruiting wise, but not in the new era.

Maybe, but with the talent they lost to the draft, especially on the DL (where they haven't recruited as well (relatively) and LB , there were definitely questions of whether they would be as good as last year. As skeptical as I was about Patricia, he has drawn nothing but rave reviews from the players for how he has utilized their talents and worked around them compared to Knowles trying to force the players to play in his system. It's shocking to see how flexible Patricia has been and made the defense considerably better than last year, even if last year's was more talented (which I think it was)

Correction, the only portal is Jan 2-15. Still during the playoff which makes no sense to me.

Bichette is terrible at SS. If we are talking at 2nd or 3rd, maybe, but he is not a good SS. He also has really slow batspeed which historically has led to people falling off rapidly shortly after age 30. I don't see him as a super fit long term, nor do I think he would come here if Toronto makes him a competitive offer.

Yeah, I wanted him last year, but it doesn’t make near as much sense now.

The tiebreaker is very unlikely to come up with the Packers. Only way is if we have a tie.

I don’t see where his market is this year. Last year it was us and Boston, and I don’t see us in it for him this year. IIRC we were at 6 and 162-so 26/yr. I think the Boston deferrals actually got his AAV close to that. They gave the opt out after 1, we offered after 2. I personally don’t know if he will top that in present value (including last year) as I think his market has shrunk even more. Houston doesn’t have the $ now that to have Correa back. Maybe NYY? But they usually try and reset the luxury tax.