mtutiger

I dont know that it actually is budget... it comes down to the value of the player. And they didn't want to pay Candelario more than they thought he was worth. If they thought he was actually worth $7 million, they probably would have paid him that. The market kinda validated that, given the deal he ended up signing. As fans, who have all probably been through the process of buying a car and/or house, we should all be able to relate.

I would be right there with you. Moving on from Jeimer Candelario because he didn't play well enough in 2022 to justify that rich of a contract is a little different from your hypothetical though

Believe it or not, I actually agree. But running a baseball team and being a fan come with much different responsibilities.

On one level, I get the sentiment that, as fans, we should want them to go out and retain, or even overpay, players. Or even that there's some "hindsight is better than 20/20" involved here. Certainly, theoretically, I would love for the Tigers to spend infinity billion dollars on every big name free agent in every free agent cycle. But realistically, there is a business side to this.... the game exists for the fans, but acting as a fiduciary to an organization comes with responsibilities to understand the whole scope of an organization, beyond what we know looking at it from the outside as fans. And part of that responsibility is, to the best extent possible, not paying more for players than what they are worth on the open market. Sure, we can look at it as just Candy getting a slight overpay, but if you make a habit of it, it adds up. What I keep coming back to is that, realistically, the only chance the Tigers had to retain him was to overpay him. I understand why they shouldn't have felt obliged to do that... I'm happy that he's an "old friend" having success elsewhere, good for him. But he wasn't worth $7 million, so it's hard for me to feel much sympathy or regret for the decision that the Tigers made. And I'm guessing most other GMs and Presidents in that same situation would have done the same thing.

I haven't been around here as much lately as I've been in the process of setting up a cross country move (from TX to IL).... but one real pet peeve of mine became apparent recently. After ending up under contract and through inspection on the house we plan on buying, we ended up having to choose among a couple of different lenders to provide financing. Among the couple that we turned down, I sent courtesy emails letting them know "thanks but no thanks".... one of the lenders, after sending said email, responded back frantically saying they could get the interest rate lower, then called about a minute later and proceeded to harangue me over how I needed to send additional info from the other lenders so she could have the chance to provide a lower rate. And in the process was equal parts rude and inconsiderate. I certainly understand how the real estate business, whether it's RE agents, mortgage lenders, attorneys have to be sort of salespeople for their services, but boy, desperation is not a good look.... don't they realize that it's easy for me to turn around and not recommend their services to friends going forward?

Yes, they could have signed him after declining arbitration.

I'll grant that he's maybe worth 1-2 wins.... but as far as the attitude and confidence of this team, I don't buy that at all. Candy wasn't the linchpin of this operation, and that was certainly evident during the 2022 season. Of which he played a significant part in their lackluster results.

In order to have kept Candelario, the Tigers would have had to offer a dollar amount that 29 other teams in baseball would not have offered on the open market. I dont think it hubris, they simply looked at his value, saw that the only way to guarantee to keep him was to overpay, and said that they would take their chances elsewhere. It was a fine decision at the time, I'm guessing one that most front offices in the sport would have made. Glad to see Candy is making a go of it as a Nat, but unlike Isaac Paredes, its not a franchise killer either

Even setting that aside, because of how the division has played out (ie. Tigers still only 4 games back at the beginning of July), it's not even clear that the Tigers would be seeing any benefit from Candy as a trade piece anyway. So, again, we're ruminating on a one-and-done player when the future (ie. Colt Keith), who projects to be a much better hitter, is sitting in AAA right now.

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't care what Jeimer Candelario is doing in someone else's uniform?

Nice to see someone (other than Jace Jung or Danny Serretti) flash a little promise from the last draft class...

Exactly... nevermind the fact that, for a lot of us, we are fine staying here and dry ground and not going way down underwater to check out the Titanic. And don't need that for any sort of "bucket list" item. Like, space or sub, I'll freely admit to not being interested no matter how much personal wealth I generate Overall I think it ties into his political commentary where he acts like he has a better finger on the pulse of the public than the people who read his website, when in reality he himself is a coastal elite and probably out of touch with people in the middle of the country. He can be right a decent amount of times and the aggregating work he has done is still better than the competition. But he's hard to take seriously when he breaks out his opinions on things.

Incredibly out of touch

These are all bad guys - no good guys to be found. I do imagine that some of the resentment that Prigozhin is tapping into has to do with the aimless nature of how Putin and MOD have continually fed Russians into this unwinnable meat grinder of a war. Seems like there is a best case scenario that involves a reassessment of that conflict. But I wouldn't trust any of these guys lol

IDK, this feels more like Kabul 2021 where the insurgents just kept outkicking their coverage and the fall happened much sooner than expected. It really all depends on the will of Russian forces closer to Moscow...

Not that foreign policy matters much to voters, but increasingly looking like the two leading GOP contenders have bet on the wrong horse vis a vis Russia/Ukraine conflict

I have no idea whether or not Wagner has the muscle to actually stare down the Russian military in some sort of civil war, I'll leave that to the experts. But I do think, from a leadership standpoint, this really demonstrates what a fatal flaw it is to have to rely so heavily on a paramilitary force to carry out state actions. Eventually, maybe they can turn on you, especially if they aren't appreciative of the direction you are giving

Let me guess - they're busy on day 10 of subgate?

In about five hours Wagner rolled up on Rostov, a city with a significant military presence, and took over? That's seems... suboptimal for Vladdie P

Just waiting on Pig Smuggler to show up to discuss how, actually, this is all well and good for Vladdie P

Pittsburgh Associates... Sounds like organized crime lol

Wow, maybe "Haircut" sometimes knows what he's doing?

I know that he's entertaining to some and, by extension, provides some value to his listeners by adding enjoyment to their day. Even if I find a lot of his positioning objectionable, I get it. But he's not the one with a license in anything, or who has spent years becoming educated in sciences in order to become an expert in their field. Unlike Hotez or other actual professionals, whether it be medicine or engineering or whatever, Rogan has a very small and limited liability for any of the things that he or his guests say on his podcast. His only real job is to drive podcast downloads and make money off ads. That's literally it. It's really not unlike cable news; Rogan makes an incredible amount of money for how little value he adds to society. I dont understand why we care about him or his opinions, or why anyone should feel obligated to be on his show for any reason.

Hmm... maybe the young hotshot with the business degree knows what he's doing???

The "Call 'Em Up" crowd is crowing extra hard today....