mtutiger

Insanity

I doubt Trump being unbanned would have much of an impact... to the extent that it does, it probably gets him in the news more, which I'm guessing runs counter to what the GOP would like, particularly in suburban areas with populations of voters who didn't vote for him in 2020. But the impact would be marginal to none regardless imo.

I would be a fan lol

Here?

Yep, really the battleground is the suburbs around Philadelphia, Lehigh Valley and Pittsburgh in the Senate race, all of which aren't places that are suited for Mastriano and where the gap between Fetterman and Oz in terms of ideal candidate is much smaller. Not to mention that Shapiro is from Montgomery County, so Philly burbs is kinda his home turf. Also cannot be understated how little actual campaigning / spending that Mastriano has done in the state. People hate TV ads, but there's a reason that campaigns go up with them: to become part of the consciousness and to define yourself / others before your opponent can do it to you. Particularly in a close state like PA. Shapiro has done that and Mastriano hasn't, hence the massive lead. Much different story in the Senate race, where both candidates are visible and spending money. I suspect that he will run independent on Fetterman as a result.

He's only brought in Metzler so far, but I kinda like how he didn't necessarily have a prior relationship with Metzler before bringing him on. It's better to surround yourself with people with different experiences who may be willing to speak up or challenge when you are in an executive role like that.

I'm not even sure they are the best comparison point for this race.... Mark Kirk, who had a massive stroke while serving in the Senate just within the past decade before losing in 2016 to Tammy Duckworth, is probably the closest allegory. I recall him making a few verbal flubs during the race as well that may have been attributable to auditory issues, but I never recall the media making as big of a deal out of it as they are in this particular race. And the same with Duckworth's campaign, who generally would go after him when making mistakes without taking aim specifically at the fact that he had a stroke. And just as Mark Kirk was fine to serve in the Senate, Fetterman is as well. We will have to see if the voters of PA agree.

This is probably right... it was kind of a damned if you do situation. My own read from reading recaps and watching a few clips this AM is that coverage on Oz' performance by the media seems somewhat muted and the focus is more on Fetterman. It's not entirely without reason, of course, Fetterman was bad. But the muted coverage on Oz seems to overlook or ignore that, being the candidate with very high unfavorable ratings in the polls and the one who is currently trailing, he had things he needed to accomplish last night. And from what I can tell, he really didn't accomplish those goals; he committed a pretty high profile gaffe and based on some other statements (ie. "let me repeat that back since you didn't understand me") came across like a jack*** at times. The polls may come back differently, of course, but I suspect Oz stepping on a few landmines of his own will probably hinder his gains coming out of the debate.

There has been a bit of hyperbole about the Avila drafts in the sense that it often overstates the success that other teams have with respect to their own drafts; even the good teams draft plenty of players that don't pan out. Where the criticism is valid imo comes down to where they have drafted; for all the high draft picks, they haven't had much to show for it thus far. Maybe that changes as Tork/Greene get more experience, Manning progresses, Mize gets healthy, but they have been abjectly disappointing in this regard.

I didn't watch the debate, but gathered that while Fetterman did not have a good debate performance at all, Oz also had issues as well both in terms of that gaffe and in terms of general smarminess/unlikableness (which he kinda needs to improve on based on polling). I'm guessing it didn't move the needle much

It stands to reason that one consideration when comparing the two in terms of WAR is that Tampa has been generally been drafting much lower in the first round versus the Tigers, who have spent the last 5 years at the top of the draft.

Cody has made some comments in the past on his podcast that seem to put him leaning toward the "non-tender" category, iirc.

Sounds good to me... after last year, outside a few of the younger players and most of the bullpen, a lot of the roster is expendable imo. Including Candy.

Today is apparently like the "Layla" scene at the corner of Woodward and Montcalm lol

Seems like a big "if" given that Candy missed badly on his ZIPS projection this year.

There seems to be a lot of shock in Yankee-land after the sweep, but it seemed pretty evident coming in that Houston was a cut above. Sleep on Houston at one's own peril.... I'll believe they aren't the elite in the AL when I see it at this point.

As much as people like to make fun of him (particularly for his ample shape), it's always possible that he's not the problem and that the problems stem more from the top

I wonder what saved Teter...

Good post. Overall, I would just say that if they do end up bringing him back (which wouldn't surprise me), I just hope they do it because they really think he can fix him and help him be more like the guy from 2021, not simply out of settling for him out of fear that they can't land someone on the free agent market or execute a trade to improve on the position. The latter being what Avila would do if he still has the job

Without a doubt one of the more compelling reasons to keep Jeimer around. But it is a calculated risk, they have to believe he can be a 120+ OPS+ player again and not the sub-90 he was last year (which was worse than the corpse of Longoria).

Yes... more or less was stated in my first post on this discussion. And that his defense being bad last year in particular makes it hard to countenance keeping him around. Either way, what I'm trying to drive at is that while keeping Candy around is the safe move, if the Tigers do not feel that he can be fixed or they think the risk of trying to find something better (either through free agency or trade or other means), they should have no concerns with moving on and trying something different. Even if that means they end up with a less ideal situation at the end of the offseason... After all, that is what Harris himself said, he is someone who is willing to take calculated risks. And in order for this org to improve (and do so on a faster timeline than expected), they may be required to do so at times.

Has this org rolled the dice a lot? My view of Avila was that he tended to overvalue what we had (both in terms of prospects and on the 26 man roster) and was unwilling to take risks or be aggressive in making moves. The trade deadline the past couple of years being a great example.... Even with the Baez signing, there's a perception that he settled with the guy who would sign pre-lockout so as not to risk walking away empty handed when the music stopped playing post-lockout.

"It's up to the team to figure out whether he can be fixed" is as legitimate view to take in a discussion about whether he should be brought back or not as it is to give a black and white, yes or no answer. I dont see how holding any particular view one way or another on whether Candy should come back or not and speculating on how the team or the new POB may handle it "stifles" discussion, maybe it's just a different angle to look at the situation.