gehringer_2

26 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

But the ball getting trapped in a uniform has been ruled to be a deadball

right - that sort of has to be the case for the rule to work, but you can ask why that should be true when a ball that hits but bounces off a uni is not a dead ball - in that case the uni is considered completely in play. I suppose you can get to the rule by making the logical distinction that the outside surface of uni is in play and the inside surface is not!  🤔

1 hour ago, RedRamage said:

Because I feel personally attacked by this post, I'm gonna defend myself (even though I know this was mostly just meant as humor).

The reality is that ALL GMs have ALWAYS mixed need and BPA. It's never a question of all NEED or all BPA, but rather how much does one vs. the other impact the decision. And even that's way to simple of a question. How big is the need? Like does a team literally have no one on the staff who could be expected to be an adequate starter or do they have someone who would be okay, but they'd really prefer to upgrade?

Saying Holmes is a BPA guy isn't saying that he only drafts the BPA and never the need, just that the slider between NEED and BPA is well past half-way towards the BPA side. I consider BPA to be more important in Holmes determination than it likely is for most NFL GMs.

 

 

If you look at what Holmes does in FA, he tries to patch at least enough so his needs don't totally dictate his draft. He tries to keep open the option for taking a player that is really high on his board if he falls to them even if it's not his *number one* need, because he tries not to have a desperate *number one* need by the time FA signings are done. That doesn't mean he's not going to draft for need, just that if there is a BPA head and shoulders above a higher need position, he wants to give himself the option of taking a great talent. That's what signing Borom was - it gave him the option of not taking an OT if it meant passing a player way higher on his board than the best remaining OT. In this case, he didn't need/want to use the option.

43 minutes ago, romad1 said:

Oh look DOJ is dropping their investigation of Powell.  I guess our markets are free of government influence now.  

good for Tom Tillis

The other question is how long does Ausar's extreme athleticism last? Rodman's did for a long time, but it's never a given that a player won't grow or be injured out that athleticism sooner rather than later, and if there is no corresponding increase in skill level to compensate, you have a declining asset. No choices are risk free.

3 hours ago, romad1 said:

I saw the Live Draft thread in the Lions forum and wondered for a second if it meant they had to start the AI draft to fill the military for the invasion of Iran. 

Also, 

 

So he had to fire one of his idiots because he couldn't do something even more idiotic. Perfect symmetry.

20 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

According to rule 5.09(a):

"A catch is the act of a fielder in getting secure possession in his hand or glove of a ball in flight and firmly holding it in his possession; providing he does not use his cap, protector, pocket or any part of his uniform in getting possesion."

It doesn't say he gets a single, but it is not an out.

A related rule:

"When a pitched ball becomes stuck in a catcher’s mask or gear, it is an immediate dead ball. According to MLB Rule 5.06(c)(7), runners are awarded one base, and the batter is awarded first base if it was ball four or strike three. It is not considered a catch if the ball lodges in the mask on a foul tip."

The catcher is not the pitcher, but seems to be very similar to what happened with Gilbert.  

 

I would assume that rule assumes  the catcher is out of play when the ball gets stuck in his apparatus? 

There had to be rule of course, but that doesn't mean I have to think it's a good one. It's a much simpler rule book if the batter is just out if the ball hasn't touched the ground. The problem with that is you know it would get abused and pretty soon guys would show up in the field with big bags of fabric around their arms or the like.

1 hour ago, Shinzaki said:

Duren is an elite rebounder and scorer in the paint and has shown a decent jumper from the line, be great if he shot it more...but he doesn't need to particularly often.   I'm intrigued by the ability to pass out of the high post that he displayed when Cade was injured, I think he averaged around 4 assists in the last half dozen games or so and picked up 4 the other night.

Ausar is a great defender and is fun to watch...but I'm not paying him max. He lacks discipline and control and has no real offensive game

Duren is 22 which is still young for a big -  has improved his defensive and offensive stats every season he has played so far. Have we seen peak Duren yet? You can make the same argument for Thompson based on his age with the caveat that Thompson's problem is shooting and the odds of a guy who can't even make a decent % of FT improving his shooting much don't excite me. OTOH, Duren can still become better by becoming a better defender. Which do you want to project?

15 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Torkelson's got to be better, .....

ask and ye shall receive!

2 hours ago, CMRivdogs said:

I agree, reform is needed from the Constitution on down. We're not in the 18th century anymore. Jefferson said something close to the Constitution needed to be rewritten every generation. I don't think we need to go that far, but we need something that returns us back to the values set up by Madison and Company then go from there.

But humans being human.....

 

This. We've gone way overboard with a kind of theological reverence that seems to taken even the idea of amendment off the table. The amendment process was a pretty regular thing right up through the middle of the 20th century. Our refusal to keep up with the times legally/consitutionally is big part of our gridlock. 

5 minutes ago, UCFKNIGHT said:

The Tigers are just not a good ball club. They need hitters to replace Verling and Torkelson. I know replacing Verling and Torkelson is easier said than done.

Torkelson's got to be better, the BP needs to be better, Flaherty needs to be better. 2 out of 3 might be enough.

17 minutes ago, UCFKNIGHT said:

Should we question Skubal's off-season conditioning? That guy wants $450 million and can't go more than six innings. The Brewers also use bunt plays to perfection. I wish AJ Hinch would work on fundamentals with this Tigers club.

Skubal's average start ends somewhere in the 6th - past that with Tarik is bonus - he's a guy with 1 CG in 139 career starts. The difference is the BP isn't shutting anything down.

Quote

Well, the BP was pretty heavily used last night.

You won't win anything in today's game without the BP depth to deal with that.

This team has no hope if it can't win Skubal starts. 

Hinch in the classic dilemma of a manager with a bullpen he doesn't trust. Left his starter in longer than the might have and then had the BP fail to perform when he did bring it in.

15 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

The best hitter on a team is the one who contributes the most to team runs scored.  It could be wOBA or OPS+ or something similar.  If you wanted a cumulative stat for the entire season, maybe wRC.  If someone is an average fan who doesn't care about analyzing, that is fine.  But if someone tells me that the best hitter should bat third, or primarily uses batting average to judge a hitter, then they will get an argument.  

Really it all comes down to not making outs. If enough guys don't make outs, or you get an XBH,  a run is going to score before 3 outs are made. You can add a lot of complexity getting to the second decimal point effects but the basic logic isn't that complicated - High on base, high XBH up front is what gets you there. And also obvious that if more your productive players get more AB, you get more production, so you start with them.

Have had to listen to this week's game on radio - have to say I'm pretty much completely off Bobby Scales by now.

1 hour ago, Sports_Freak said:

The ball never touched the ground. I don't understand/agree with that rule.

Yup - The pitcher's uni is not the ground and it's out of play, the batter should be out.

I'm not real big on the 'challenge guys to play better' strategy. Maybe you have a player here or there that needs to change approach, e.g. Raymond shooting more, but in general guys are how they play. You're dreaming if you think they are going to turn into what they haven't been.

WTF

1 hour ago, Tiger337 said:

I am pretty sure I've never seen a Tigers rookie who was so good as a hitter at such a young age.  

also did not see young Kaline, but to lay out the comparison: McGonigle is 21. Kaline had a monster season at age 20, 8.2 WAR, Batting title, 967 OPS,  MVP runner up. but it was not his rookie season, it was his *second* full season. In his rookie yr Kaline had a nice season, was 3rd in ROY voting, but 650 OPS and 1.2 WAR. McGonigle on a pace to top easily if he stays on it.

Piece by Ben Rhodes (Obama admim alum) about Platner in the Times today. FWIW, he does not think Platner is a Nazi candidate - he thinks he's an anti-war, anti-military-industrial complex candidate.

38 minutes ago, romad1 said:

what goober is going to change their mind about supporting Trump to the bitter end?  Maybe nobody in that category.  But, if the will of American allies is taunted by these sorts of propaganda and they see more of their people laughing at Americans its all to the Iranian's good. 

The counterpoint is that having Trump bored and frustrated with the whole thing is more likely to end up with him more or less waking away from it all and Iran getting more of what they want,  than giving him more reason to see the conflict in the personal vendetta terms that is more likely to make him more dangerous and instransigent

1 hour ago, Motown Bombers said:

 

no denying they know US culture well enough to be good at this and the opposite in not true. But that said, they aren't doing anyone, including themselves, any good with ti.

On 4/20/2026 at 2:58 PM, Motown Bombers said:

His numbers are lower than they were in 2018 but exceptionally lower on the economy which turns out voters. 

this most recent poll that has him down ~33% - if it is to be believed, is a solid increment down from the 38-42 where he he seemed to hold in the past. I don't want to give the idea I'm resistent to evidence - I just want to see it!

a little more than 1/2 way to Sparky’s 40 game marker we’ve got a 500 team, and that’s what they are going to be if run prevention doesn’t ratchet up a notch or two. 

Remember when our farm system had given us two stars in him and Garcia? Good times….

i couldn’t watch this one, but looks like Kieder recovered after a bad innings and kept them in it. But 7 h 2 bb, for DeJesus to get 4 outs? What does a guy have to do get pulled around here?