mtutiger

Just an incredible game... incredible game

Oh my goodness

You wouldn't have known it from the media coverage leading up to the election lol

Part of the hate is just that when things go south in a Soto outing, they really go south. I can think of at least 2-3 games last year where the meltdowns were pretty epic and you were kinda left wanting to shoot the guy into the sun. The game against Minnesota (after Javy hit the go ahead homer) and the Tampa Bay game late in the year come to mind. My thing is that I don't think he's "lucky" or not without talent. He really does have an electric arm. And the year that he managed last year (overall an up and down year with successful top-line stats), he managed to do largely as a one pitch pitcher as well. That doesn't happen if he's a scrub, and there are other teams who will value that more than the average Tiger fan imo. IIRC, it was reported last year that the Astros had even made an offer for the guy at the deadline, which suggests that at least one team not named the Detroit Tigers values what he provides.

This seems kinda arbitrary to me, but ymmv. To be clear, I really don't care for him either, he's too big of a risk for me. But it's less about actual talent with Soto and more about the fact that he cannot harness it or control it. He walks too many guys; not uncommon for a guy with his profile, but it's hard to stomach 5 walks/9. But the Tigers are not going to simply DFA a guy like that (nor should they imo), and we should be open to the possibility that there are teams out there that would be open to trading for a guy like that with the idea that they can get more out of him than what we have gotten so far.

I dont think Soto is "DFA" level bad and doubt the league thinks he is as well. But with the bullpen largely a position of strength for last year's club, I don't know how you can't consider trading any of them. As far as the closer discussion, trading Soto just means you roll the dice on someone like Alex Lange (often thought to be the next guy up in most discussions) or Will Vest. I can think of worse outcomes for this club.

And with that, all big names SS candidates switched teams this offseason

I do think, on the board, we probably do slightly underrate the possibility of a bounce back or much better offensive production than 2022. Austin Meadows is a great example... he was a complete non-entity last year and if he does come back and be productive, it's almost serves as a free agent signing of its own and would provide something the team didn't have at all last year. Other individual players could play better than in 2022 as well, such as Schoop or Baddoo or others. Rogers could come in and produce as well. They could make a few signings, etc. Really, what will make or break this team offensively (ie, whether they can hang around league average or end up much worse) will be Greene and Tork, and whether both of them really take that next step forward. I feel decent about Greene, Tork is harder to feel confident in.

It's kinda hard to determine how well it has worked under this new regime considering it has only been in place for a couple of months. Hate to be sparky, but maybe we should give them a chance to draft and evaluate talent before suggest that it isnt working.

It is? Carlos Correa, great as he is, is maybe worth 4-5 additional wins. On a 66 win team, that doesn't get you there, does it?

Cannot be emphasized enough. They can't free agent their way out of the hole they are in... improvement from players, particularly the young ones,, currently on this roster is a necessary condition for improvement.

In a lot of ways, setting aside the rookies, 2022 may just be inverse of 2021 (a year where a bunch of guys had career years that would be hard to replicate). And it stands to reason that last year's poor play might not necessarily replicate as well. Either way, I understand the desire to make big splashes in free agency, to get big name free agents. But with where they are at, the thing that will advance them toward .500 more than anything else are the guys that are still on the roster... if the young kids play to their expectations and some of the vets perform to their track record, they potentially can overperform the low expectations. Signing Dansby Swanson isn't gonna cut it, isn't gonna make up all that ground on its own

But really, it is true that it's Elon's company and he's free to do what he wants. But despite the complaints of his cult, the rest of us are free to criticize. Advertisers are free to reevaluate their relationship. And "content creators" are free to head off to other platforms. That's capitalism, baby. You make decisions and have to reap the wind

Never thought the leopards would eat my face lol

I'd be good with Kerry C. or Akil B. at that contract. Benintendi is a good player, but I dont know that he made sense here at all.

The scenarios are all fun to talk about it, but to paraphrase AJ Hinch, they need to focus on winning this week's game from here until the end. I know it isn't 100%, but with something like 97% odds by going 4-0, they basically control their own destiny at this point.

I doubt he's a starter in the league, but Lipcius' plate discipline likely reflects favorably on his chances with the new front office.

lol

Woodward Tigers Podcast....

That's all the evidence I need to conclude that a big trade is imminent lol

Speculation over on Twitter dot hellscape this morning is over catching and signing Gary Sanchez. Insane.

lol

He also doesn't hit for power. Doesn't mean he wouldn't be useful, but they ideally need to look for guys who occasionally hit home runs

That's a lot of years, damn

This one is pretty bad... Herman is about as straight a newsman as you will find on that hellsite