mtutiger

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.

I still look at 538, but over the past few years he's really veered off of data and into commentary, which probably hasn't helped.

Are those Ukrainian lands as pro-Russian now as they were when the war began? Personally, I think it's an open question given the response in the East toward the invasion.... Either way, I think it's a privileged position for Glenn Greenwald and Elon Musk to screech about "death and destruction" while ignoring or not caring about the reasons that this conflict is happening in the first place or the fact that the country who was invaded wants the help of the world community in pushing back. As usual, it's the standard fare western chauvinism from the far left and right that treats erases actual Ukrainians from the picture and treats them as if they don't have agency in the conflict that they are currently fighting and dying in.

What if the Dodgers prefer Carlos Correa over Trea Turner? Heck, what if the Red Sox and Braves prefer Correa over their incumbents? The reality is that none of these guys are necessarily married to these clubs, and vice versa. Would at least want to get past the World Series and into the offseason before assuming guys are completely off the board

Yep. I dont understand the assumption that they all end up resigning... not all the tea leaves point in that direction. Even if they did, it seems very unlikely they land Correa if he's the only big name commodity on the SS market.

I was interested in your response, I just don't agree with it. Happens all the time on a message board.

I reject the premise of your second point, outside of possibly Swanson. As stated in the quoted opinion above. And I also would suggest regardless of whether the Yanks or Cubs or whoever, the Tigers will not be the only team interested in a free agent short stop. Even if point #2 is reality, if Correa is the only big name left, that would only serve to drive up his price even further.

I dont really understand your comment in the sense that there will be competition for Correa. Which in turn will drive up his price (both in money and years), probably beyond anything this franchise would realistically spend going into 2023. Also, outside of maybe Swanson, I just don't buy the premise that it's a forgone conclusion that the other big name shortstops are guaranteed to stay put.

Of the two, Rodriguez seems like the most likely to opt out. But for him to do so likely means he pitches very well next year and makes an opt out a less desirable outcome than it currently seems at the moment

Man, political journalists are some of the most oblivious people...

That's basically his former employer's MO as well. The Giants have tended more toward value in free agency, often buying low and building up free agents versus handing out big long term deals with high AAVs. The degree to which he was involved in that (versus just executing Farhan's vision) isn't clear, but its at least a clue as to how he may view building a roster.

Are they numerous this year? The premise of shortstop free agent discussion since the offseason has begun on this site basically treats Correa as the only option. I like Correa and wouldn't mind if he came here. But I dont see it happening for a variety of reasons. Not the least of which I dont buy that Harris, based off of his past history, is going to be interested in handing out long term deals the likes of which Correa is pursuing.