mtutiger

The MLBTradeRumors site included the Tigers in with other teams as possible landing sites for Gio Urshela if the Twins choose to move on from him as has been rumored. Although I doubt that's happening for a variety of reasons.

It isn't even so much Colt Keith more than the fact that I dont know if Candy plays a future role regardless. Unless Harris pulls off a trade of some kind at the position that brings in someone of promise, unless one believes Candy is a multiple year option going forward, it's really a question of how to cover 2023 and move the ball down the field until next offseason. On that score, if you don't believe in Candy (and if the Tigers don't), maybe they find it worth the risk to move on and try to find something else. Not trying to stifle debate, the discussion has been interesting from my end. But it's one of the more interesting decisions Harris will have to make this offseason and can see arguments on both sides.

The unknown of how Scott Harris will operate actually makes this offseason way more fun and interesting than it would have been if Al were still in charge

Is Candy a building block for the future of this team? That's a fair question after 2022.

His OPS was almost 30 points higher than Candy's last year... and I dont have a ton of faith that 2021 Candy is coming back. That's an example of a calculated risk.l, a one year rental until they can fill the position on a more permanent basis. Particularly if Harris/Co dont believe Candy can be fixed.

I'd take a year of Evan Longoria over Candy in a heartbeat, fwiw. The more we discuss, the more I believe Candy probably ends up coming back. Just don't see it as a guarantee though, especially with a new PBO who is gonna want to make his mark on the roster.

I dont know that it's an either/or option between keeping Candy and starting Ryan Kreidler, first off. Second off, I don't know what Harris will do. Especially given his repeated statement that he's willing to take calculated risks... I take that as he's not going to always make the moves that are safe or look obvious to fans

I do agree with this. And if they are concerned that he cannot be fixed, they shouldn't be afraid to walk away because of what is or isn't out there or within the org.

This is probably true. But OTOH, other teams having interest in Candelario isn't necessarily a good argument for bringing back Candelario through arbitration. It really comes down to performance and whether they can get better in 2023, and that is an open question at this point.

I suspect one way or another they would bring somebody in regardless in that scenario (even if it's a one of the lower rung options), but as you suggest, there's enough red flags to make an argument that Candy shouldn't be a slam dunk to be brought back

Internally, not really. But it's a question of whether you risk the 3B market (which is thin) or try to upgrade through trade (which, outside of a few of the pitching prospects, there doesn't seem to be much by way of tradable assets, at least on paper). (EDIT: Or roll with what you have regardless, as sabretooth suggests) Harris talked both in his press conference and in an interview with Dan Dickerson about "calculated risks." The decision to bring Jeimer back or not seems like one of those... and the question is whether the upside is worth it. As an aside, I do appreciate that emphasis as well... it's a big departure from Al, who seemed way too cautious and overvalued prospects way too often.

I'm in the same boat, but his defense tilts against bringing him back for me. Certainly for $7 mil. But I dont know what Harris will do... his BB/K numbers would suggest he could fit he model, but if he can't be counted on to hit or field well, that's an issue.

The comments about veterans on short term deals largely fits where I would expect them to go this offseason. In general, philosophically it lines up with what the Giants would have done and his mantra about wanting Detroit to be a place where players come to get better (although coaching / analytics need to be upgraded to ever make that a selling point)

Of course, Trader Jerry could always come off his red line of signing a shortstop to play second base as well...

The rumors appear to be that he plans on throwing his hat in the ring... Problem there is that the Conservative Party needs a leader who can rebuild trust... he seems like the worst option on that front.

Sounds like another contestant in the Correa sweepstakes

This report really drives it home.... after 45 or so days of Liz Truss, the Conservative Party will get another crack at an unelected leader getting the car keys. And unless Charles wants to break some serious precedent and put the Crown at risk, not much anyone can do about it.

He does get the benefit of the doubt of course, but at the end of the day, the only thing that really separates him from his offspring at this point is that he managed to hire the right person at one point during his tenure as owner. That's was really his only special talent - hiring the right guy. And of course he let that guy go as well - a decision that looks worse and worse with each passing year. I don't have any special love for Pizza Jr, he certainly doesn't get a pass for letting history repeat itself, but it got tiring toward the end of the Avila reign hearing about how "unprecedented" the situation with Avila was when we literally lived through something that was just as bad, if not worse, in the Randy Smith era. My hope is that Scott Harris can be the Dombrowski moment in the tenure of this ownership, but we shall see.

Yep... he was no better than Pizza Jr in the early years. Even here with Chris I, there's a historical parallel with Daddy, who was pretty well snowed under by John McHale and Randy Smith for the first eight years lol. Best case scenario is that history repeats itself and Harris, while fundamentally different than DD in how he views building an org, manages to build the next winner

The general MO from a couple of these stories I have read has been to blame the doctors for not acting. Never mind that when you have a license in anything, be it a medical license, engineering, law, accounting, etc., it would be insane to risk it by going against the letter of the law, inviting professional sanction, lawsuits or even jail time. I guess it's just easier for Texas Rs to pretend that the laws they wrote have exceptions that they do not, in fact, have written into them than it is to admit they wrote a bad law.

I have some Yankee fans within my orbit and was hearing all about it when they were down 2-1.... which wouldn't have mattered because the exact same two teams would have been playing under last year's format lol

Girardi, Ausmus and Matheny... all proof that being a catcher doesn't guarantee managerial genius

I get a little weary of being generally told to "throw it into the average" (which is fine, polling averages are pretty useful), yet whenever a poll comes out that is more surprising or is from certain media sources, people dive into the crosstabs and try to create narratives around it. The NYT Siena poll from yesterday is an excellent example; pundits have been talking about a massive swing from September of Ind. Women (from something like +15 to -15 for Ds) and extrapolating narratives on it, yet in both cases we are talking n= values of under 150. The poll (which has R+4) may be correct, but despite the headlines and pundit discussions, demographic groups rarely shift 30 points in one month. Which suggests that people need to bear in mind the MOE for crosstabs (which are higher than the topline numbers) or just admit that one or both polls may not be representative of that particular group.