mtutiger

He did at least speak with Jeffries, so it's possible that neither side is ready to talk at this point and that it may take actual votes for them to talk turkey... from McCarthy's perspective, it makes sense to find out for certain whether Gaetz has the votes or whether this is all bluster before doing any negotiations. Having said that, I don't think people really understand the picture well here.... I think people (media and even here in this thread) are looking at it mostly from the Democratic perspective, but it's important to understand the landscape from McCarthy's vantagepoint as well. McCarthy likely believes (and is probably correct in this belief) that ANY deal with Democrats will be the end of his leadership career past this Congress given the makeup of his caucus and the types of voters who engage in GOP Primaries. Maybe there comes a point in this process where relying on Dem votes for his confidence/supply becomes the best of a lot of terrible options, but we are a VERY long way away from that at this point. And maybe the best leverage he has to maintain the job isn't through Dem votes, but through the fact that there very well maybe no other people who can get the requisite votes from the GOP Caucus, and to the extent that there is anyone who could get the votes, they may not want the job because this GOP Caucus / 4-vote House Majority is basically ungovernable.

I mean, they are pretty explicitly saying they aren't on board, at least as of now. Hence why I said: The point I'm trying to make is that, because of the lack of trust that Democrats have in McCarthy, which McCarthy has himself to blame for really, they should absolutely have a high price for any sort of deal and be willing to take risks in the process. And even setting aside negotiations, I'm not even clear that the bridge can be built because McCarthy, relying on the confidence and supply of Dems for his Speakership, is likely a dead man walking past this Congress. (And he knows it - he knows there isn't some sort of Sorkin-esque happy ending to be had here)

McCarthy reneged on the debt ceiling deal he cut with Biden, so not sure he can be trusted to follow through. That's gonna be the issue here... and why I suspect a lot of folks are underestimating the possibility that Dems aren't gonna vote for McCarthy or "take a walk" during Speaker votes to let him off the hook. Here's a couple of Tweets, both from more vulnerable / conservative members of the Dem caucus on this issue... if members like Golden or Perez aren't on board, he's got a lot of work to do.

Trump wouldn't have the votes to get Speaker IMO

Agreed. But the additions ought to be strategic (ie. adding in areas where the market has actual talent, where players aren't ending up blocked), not just giving Joc Pederson $20 million because he's been around the league a while.

The other side of the coin is that if the Rangers young core doesn't come up and perform, they are finishing in third place, dreaming about one day being relevant. To be clear, the fact that the Tigers young core actually showed promise this year is an argument toward doing more IMO. But I don't think people really understand what the Rangers did when they analyze them. And they also tend to overlook the Mets and Padres, who finished as bad or worse than the Tigers did this year.

Granted free agent SPs will likely still make a lot of money this offseason and all, but this market has a LOT of depth to it.... him walking may just be a risk they are willing to take if they feel they can make other moves on this market.

This is kinda where I'm at.... there's a few players outfield wise that make some sense on a short term deal (maybe someone like Mark Canha, who bats RH and can also back up 1B), but I'd take my chances on the status quo before giving ABs to Joc Pederson lol

So, if Colt Keith comes up and manages to rake at 3B, you think Jeimer Candelario would be better than that? That's kinda what I'm getting at.... I don't want them signing guys for the sake of signing guys or to the detriment of giving their up and coming talent chances to perform at the MLB level. Starting pitching is a different story, especially with ERod likely gone, those acquisitions make sense. But when you look at the position player offerings, there's a lot of thin gruel out there.... to the degree that I'd rather they just take a chance on their core versus bringing in overpriced vets.

I'm more focused on whether the acquisitions work for what this ballclubs needs are (including the need to give young talent innings or ABs). Not with whether $60 million gets spent this year or next year or the year after that.

And the starting pitching class this year is relatively deep as well... I'm not sure they will land any of the top flight names, but if they are hanging their hat on reclamation projects and feel they have the secret sauce on that front, they will have a number of options to sort through.

Same as it ever was, really... this org can be interested in adding via free agency all it wants, but ultimately the best free agents, or even the ones that might be optimal to the Detroit Tigers, have options and, whether it's money or other considerations, may not sign with this org even if they make a solid offer. I think this is why Harris emphasizes what he does and about not blocking the young core.... you can tinker around the edges and make plays for some free agents, and maybe even bring a few in (by all means, I think they should be more active on this front than they likely were in 2022).... but ultimately for this team to get to where it needs to be in the long run (ie. legit WS contenders), it needs production from it's young core. There's not a shortcut around that.

Clearly this means he will exercise the non-existent opt-out in his contract

Assessing the division, even if some of the others improve (I could see it from the Royals/Guards, not so much for the White Sox), it's still reasonable to think that .500 is attainable or that they could even be "AL Central" competitive with the right strategic investments from the outside of the division. Ultimately, they can only control what they can do.... can't worry about what the other teams do or how they may play in 2024.

It also doesn't hurt that Bernie, who still holds sway over A LOT of these voters, has been pretty outspoken in his support for Joe Biden since after the 2020 primary. Still think one of the more underdiscussed things about 2022 and special elections since has been the fact that there's been clear evidence that persuasion has made an impact.... Republicans won the popular vote at the national level in 2022 yet still only won a slim majority and managed to lose a lot of winnable races in the Midwest / PA / etc. In some of the special elections since 2022, GOP turnout has been decent relative to Dem turnout, yet the Dem candidates are outperforming 2020 Biden in their districts, etc. And that speaks a bit to your latter suggestion.... whether it's Trump being Trump or Roe V Wade or both, there exists at least some evidence that the number of anti-Trump Republicans out there is being underestimated both in the polls and in the discourse. We'll have to see in due time.

Regarding this, I think a lot of folks are going beyond the false alarm charge and saying that he meant to obstruct an official proceeding. The former seems easy enough to prosecute, the latter would be pretty difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt IMO. Overall, regarding the "whaddabout January 6th people" talking points, I would suggest that, like the January 6th people, I'm perfectly fine for Jamaal Bowman being investigated and prosecuted for whatever crime or crimes he may have committed.

The Tigers showed a lot of growth this year, particularly the younger players, and finished strong. Perhaps additional young talent will provide more WAR to get them from the 70s to the 80s in the win column, but growth is uneven and can't be relied on if they at least want to push the envelope a bit in 2024. So yeah, they should be trying to add some free agents this offseason IMO if they feel they can help push this team further along.

I think there is something to be said about using the first year to transition while building out your team / org. Greenberg, at least to me, is a sign that he wasn't completely finished building his front office team... the fact that he has been brought on suggests to me we are entering a new phase IMO. The other part, and I know I sound like a broken record here, is that we really don't know the degree to which the org did or didn't try to pursue free agents last offseason - knowing how little this front office, we only know what Evan Woodbery or McCosky or Stavenhagen infer about what they did or didn't do. And none of that is certain enough to hang your hat on IMO

This is probably the more artful way to articulate what I was saying.

My guess is that he approached this year as an assessment year and probably wanted to get a feel for this org before making really big moves.

The fact that they even brought Greenberg in suggests that they will be more active this offseason IMO

I'm pretty skeptical that RFK Jr. is gonna make much of a difference in this election in the same way that Kanye 2020 was a non-factor

FTFY

My response doesn't suggest anyone is wrong, is suggests that the GOP is long on complaints and short on solutions. Which is in keeping with how the GOP handles most things these days, I'm afraid. I've been pretty consistent on this, I think that in order to actually solve the issue of migrants coming to this country, it extends beyond the border. You have to deter people from the place of origin. Can you explain to me what today's GOP has proposed to help ameliorate economies in Central American countries to help persuade people to stay? Ultimately, the crisis isn't solved until the above question is resolved.

Correct, you don't hear a lot of solutions. Which, to be honest, is in keeping with MAGA.... long on complaints, short on actual, concrete solutions. I will be the first to say that I have issues with how the southern border is being handled.... but the other party is currently talking about bombing Mexico in their debates, so not sure if there's a better alternative if I'm being honest.