gehringer_2

SE Mi is not a particularly rich area by national standards anymore and as good as Tiger TV and radio ratings are, as has been noted the ballpark is already too expensive for most local fans and they average 10k empty seats per date. Now granted, Aces pitching drive sellouts. But even if an ACE is worth 15K extra seats and even at $100 profit per seat sold, on 15 home starts that still only $22.5M/yr. From a purely economic standpoint, there is no sense paying someone $40M for that. 🤷‍♂️ Long story short, fan enthusiasm is nice, but it may not pay the bills.

yeah - exactly. I'm sure there is a trade out there that would work to the Tigers advantage, but it's just a fact that few GMs ever make a trade like that. And I think it would have to be at least a three way deal - it has to be a more complex set of swaps to get enough pieces to fit. And since we have never seen Harris swing any kind of complex deal (cf, DD), there is no precedent to expect one.

The conventional wisdom is that owners, particularly big market owners, don't care about operating loses because teams have been appreciating in value exponentially. Of course, that can't go on forever - anything that must come to an end will. But with no intent to be political here, but just to state an economic fact - it's tied to the oligarchy. As long as the rich continue to get richer exponentially, the price they are willing to pay for their toys will continue to follow suit. Now, that said, it doesn't mean the owners still won't try as hard as they can to remake a system to give them capital appreciation AND operating profits.

Wilson was a very good hitter, he probably should have been used a lot more. But he came up in the 50's. Not only was he a black player expected to shut up and be happy, it was also the era of the grey flannel suit when things were done the way they were done, and that was that. And to be honest , that last part didn't change much in baseball until Ohtani.

Certainly possible. No-one has much insight into what kind of animal spirits might become ascendant among the owners.

Not sure who is outraged, but that public perception is going to be different for layoff announcements into an expanding labor market vs one that everyone fears is, or is about to be contracting. The shoe has now dropped at MS and AMA, cuts at META have been smaller so far but will probably get bigger. The big AI investors all find themselves cash poor in the short term.

Jay's batter swung and missed at ball four with the bases loaded in the 17th or 18th (? it's kind of a blur!). The door was open but they couldn't walk through.

IDK if Forbes is to believed, but the teams that are losing the most money are some of the big market spenders, e.g., the Mets and Padres, more than the small market teams -- so that could drive a different kind of dynamic than we've seen in the past. I don't think the current CBA serves the fans well at all and I'd take a long strike if it meant a better system emerged, but I doubt it would.

Maybe this was posted and I missed it, but I just noticed that the Freep did a fan poll about the Skubal and more than 60% of the respondents said to trade him this off-season. Not what I would have guessed.

these kinds of claims are still BS though. In the end, all dollars are fungible. I'm sure there are some donors only interested sports, but there are a lot of donors that might have endowed a 100 scholarships or built a chem lab if they have gotten the same pitch from a different development official.

jays can hope Ohtani is run down tomorrow.

The Empire Strikes Back (tie game)

If you are adding up wasted money, don't forget to add the ~$30M UM has cost itself in fines. Who gets those $ I wonder?

Funny number: They bested Cle on treys by one attempt 11/34 vs 11/35. Go figure.

I can see one guy from that core being moved, but otherwise for good or bad, that's it. If I'm going to play armchair GM, and I feel I have to move a core player for some pitching, the guy I'd like to move would be Carpenter. I'd have to buy out most of Javy's deal to move him, besides he's my safety net in CF. If you get a catcher who can receive and throw, and even hit some, you hold onto that for dear life, so I'm not even answering the phone about Dingler. Torkelson might bring back something of value but I'd just have to turn around and shop for a RH bat to replace his production. That leaves Greene and Carp and I think Greene crimped his value last season. I'd rather risk that he gets back on track than sell low. That last part is the gamble. I'd rather know all that the coaching staff knows about Greene's season from the inside before making that call.

It's such a huge hole still in his game with three full seasons under his belt. Just too many points given away.

Trailing after the 1st Q. Piston's have 'em right where they want 'em. 🙄

to be replaced by?

McGonigle's OPS is 1000, but 19 players have OPS >900 and 9 have more walks than K (like McG). Not a trough league for hitters.

It would be nice if more on-ball time for Ausar translates into fewer TO's for Cade, but not so far. 🫤

The frogs are in the pot and the water is getting warmer.

Ha! 🤷‍♀️

Tigers strike out so much any opposition announcer probably has to a lot of phrases for it researched and ready....

I don't know if I'm happier that Rodgers is losing or that any team that would wear a uniform as ugly as whatever the Steelers are wearing is.

Thereby hangs a tale though. In the pre-NIL days, it was at places like LSU where it was both easier and more necessary to use money under the table. With everyone having money out in the open now, those are the places that will be hurt.