Arlington

We could have a 15-way tie of 15 teams winning exactly as many games as lost. I wonder what year came closest to absolute parity.

Someday a sports league is going to figure out that the best way to allure fans is to have periodic eliminations like the reality shows. It's not who is leading but who is surviving that will entice them

Wouldn't it be great to give Verlander a WS ring with the Tigers as champinos. Champinos - A made up word in which a mind recently influenced by Bad Bunny and a dream minted.

Boras is not saying that more than tripling his salary is justified. That's not the nature of arbitration. The "worth" of the player is calculated using precedent and performance and other factors believed to be pertinent to the arbitration board decision. With millions at stake, I am sure they use sophisticated models to predict likelihood of outcomes. The game is to pick the number that will be closer to the player's worth or value or whatever name you want to call the arbitration panels judgment. If Boras believes that $32 is justified, then he is not doing his job. He should give a higher number because the game is who has the most reasonable offer on the table, or in this case it seems the least unreasonable offer on the table.

Harris doesn't build for the short term. I am betting he's gone, soon.

Yes, and obviously both sides see his cost, his value, his worth, at $25.5 give or take.

With Mize and Flaherty being FAs next year, trading Skubal for a contributing starter who is under control for a few years, and some solid prospects makes the most sense now.

I suspect that Skubal will be traded soon.

This will be his third position that it is his to lose.

I don't think the Tigers "low balled" Skubal. Both sides perceive that he is worth about $25.5 million. It's unusual to see a plus/minus 25% in either direction. If the game is how I understand it if Tigers said $15 Skubal would have gone up to $36. The current $13 million gap represent a good position player, or a couple of talented bullpen pitchers. The lower amount would really show up if Skubal is traded afterwards. A $19 million Skubal would be worth a significant addition to any trade over what a $32 million Skubal would bring. A $19 million Skubal would also make it a little easier for the Tigers to extend the contract since they would be in the unique position of being able to throw in more for this year. If Skubal looks to go into free agency, he accepts less money this year. I think that makes an extension more appealing to $19 million Skubal than it would to $32 million Skubal.

Not if he played in Detroit. Just wanted to do the inverse [insert Tiger player] played in New York.

I've been wanting to post about how dang boring this off season has been, but have restrained myself from stating the obvious. I usually love the off season.

Not much of a bowler but when I was 17 I went to an alley by myself to burn some time. For one game it seemed I could lay the ball down where ever I wanted it. Scored a 225. Then I went back to my normal 120.

Wonder if it could be said that conditioning cost the Tigers a WS in the Verlander - Miggy era. If VMart Fields and Miggy were fit and trim, maybe a WS or two in there.

Crap, someone pushed my Miggy button again. Miggy's decline was so long, yet every year there was hope that he would put it together and give some semblence to a good hitter. Sometimes he did for short periods. But overall he simply sucked. They kept running him out in the heart of the order, using up a roster spot and filling the DH. I was so relieved when they started benching him in his last two seasons and moving him down in the order. Truly wished they just parted ways in 3 years into that contract.

Keith Law keeps dropping HOF creds into his McGonigle reviews. Forgot exactly what he said last year but it referenced a reasonable chance to see something like 2500 or 3000 hits. This year he threw in a Rogers Hornsby reference. He's hedging the comments, but I'm sure he's looking forward to a told you if he does get inducted into the HOF class of 2051.

Yet Harmon is reportedly the batter in the MLB logo

Anderson being a hard ass was well known. But no one is saying they got rid of Jason Thompson because of his influence on Trammel.

Agree, for the most part. Pujols was a veteran producer from his first year on. Miggy took a few years of brilliant but no consistently brilliant play to get to Pujols level and I believe he exceed Pujols at their peak. Miggy then was a shell of himself for more than the end of his career. It was more like a third of his career. His accumulated WAR actually decreased over his final 7 seasons. It was -2.5. That should never have been allowed to happen.

The purple dinosaur killed the name Barney for a few generations of human parents.

Did Sparky really move LaFlore because he was a bad role model for Whitaker? I never heard that before. I couldn't find anything that supports that idea. It sounds more like group think grounded on stereotype to me.

What are the objectives here? It's a big world with a lot of variety. Would this be for more equity amongst the major league teams or would this be devised to provide a more beneficial program for the communities. Is it better to integrate into communities as they are or would have a more formal development system be better for the kids? When I was looking into the make-up of this year's playoff teams, there really was not a lot of international players so the vast majority of kids involved are not going to get significant money. To mix metaphors, once the cream of the crop is drawn, what would become of the chaff? Would the system be designed to benefit all the participants or would it focus solely on harvesting the best players. Would it become political? Would Venezuelan kids suddenly be on the out because of oil? More formal programs tend to be centralized. Would pulling 14, 15 and 16 year olds out of their communities be beneficial? Can MLB invest in communities all over or does focusing were talent is identified work better?

It seems like it was settled quite a few years ago, but if Wenceel was over the yips and could field 2nd more than adequately he'd be a valuable asset for some team.

It's hard to find a balance when posting. I think I could be more dynamic.

No. Teams often cozy up to a player when they are very young and help develop them. Having a draft would hinder that type of investment. Also, the bonus allotments already level the playing field for weaker ML teams pretty much the same as a draft would do.