papalawrence

6

I agree. The team control years is a huge factor. If Skubal had multiple years before FA, they prospect haul would likely be incredible. I do think there is a chance that an owner like Cohen is so eager to win, that the Mets might offer a package that will be hard to pass up. This should be a fun off season

I have a feeling this may become a scenario often repeated for the Dodgers. It's to a point where some veteran free agents will take less or deferred money to play there for a chance to get a ring. I won't be surprised to see JV end up there as a safety-net starter for them. That's where he (his wife) wanted to go a few years ago. If they are healthy, how many position players on Detroit could start for them? Maybe Riley? Maybe Dillon? And Detroit was a playoff team.

Lol, I remember Nick Punto vs Detroit. Punto was the type of player Leyland loved

With Starting pitcher acquisitions he more resembled Stevie Wonder

Fully agree. Hopefully it gets addressed with the next cba

They have so much talent, They can pace their starters through the season to try and keep guys healthy and fresh. Sort of what the Spurs did in basketball. When you have so much elite talent you have that luxury. I hate the Dodgers

In his small sample Jones had an ops .900+ . I know that's not sustainable, but he seemed like a spark plug and good chemistry guy. I hope he sticks around another year

Snell could have closed out game one himself. The Dodgers seemingly wanted to get Sasaki some work and it almost cost them. Starters in that series have pitched 17 innings and given up 4 hits and one run. And next up the Dodgers have Glasnow then Ohtani. They're overloaded with top of the rotation starters

When the Red Sox traded Betts for a big package, it could be argued that not signing him was an impetus for a Red Sox backslide. In fact, I'd argue that more often than not, the team that trades a superstar typically gets far less in return in the long run. Harris knows that. I still don't think it's his preference to have such a heavy contract, but odds are, if a trade is made, Detroit will be a diminished team both next year and into the future. You just don't breed a CY. Detroit has been blessed to have JV, Max and now Skubal......and still they don't have a ring to show for it

Can you imagine a rotation of Skubal, Yamamoto, Ohtani, Glasnow, Sasaki and more?

There was no way Harris would have traded Melton for Suarez. Their farm pitching seems thin as it is.

Snell went 8 innings giving up 1 hit. Yamamoto pitched a complete game, 3 hits, 1 run. When they are healthy, it would take luck to beat them. They are so good. And they still have a top shelf farm. Crazy. Frustrating.

Can you imagine the Dodgers going after Skubal? They have the prospects. With Skubal and if they stay healthy, I don't see any team beating them

I agree. Watching the pitching ninjas overlays you can see how close to impossible hitting can be. Has to involve guessing, even though it will make you chase and look like a fool at times. Players have always relied on some guessing with pitches. Now it's likely most of the pitches. How else to you hit some of the pitches that you see today?

Boston still has some strong prospects. A 1-2 punch of Skubal and Crochet would be a nightmare for every other team. But I hate the Red Sox.

A lot of teams are in the same boat. It is extremely difficult to hit. And every team not called the Dodgers has flaws.. Given everything, the Tigers were a shattered bat grounder to 3B by Javy away from getting to the ALCS. I agree it's not a huge step forward, but with Skubal the Tigers are close. If Harris trades Skubal, that's a step backward.

I heard him say it has improved since Greene and Tork first came up, and still needs to be improved. I took it as, in part a dig at AA and the former regime and the context they left. He also said a lot of positive changes have taken place over the past 3 years, and will continue to improve. He subtly toots his own horn at times. He has changed the culture and it's much more positive. But it's also true that most of the player impact has come from AA's drafts. Harris has been so-so with trades, good with player development, and potentially very good with drafting, but that's ultimately yet to be shown at the big league level. Hinch and Fetter deserve significant credit with the positive outcomes so far.

I admire Freeman. I hate the Dodgers.

With velo and spin so improved it's more difficult to lay off those pitches because they often start in the same spacial slot. I was impressed with how Tork showed more patience this year. Baez did in stretches. The game evolves and adjustments will be made.

In all my years watching I'd never seen anything like that. Also, I hate the Dodgers

Some recent thoughts percolating amidst the cobwebs of my mind (was that a Glen Campbell song?): I heard an interview by Mike Trout a couple years ago where he compared pitching when he entered the league, and pitching now. He said it used to be very difficult, now it's close to impossible to hit. Most every team experienced significant losing streaks this season. Most batters experienced slumps. In the NL Trea Turner won the batting title with a .304 average. I know there are still a lot of home runs. But also continued increased strike outs. It's more difficult to put the bat on the ball. Maybe a batters swing has to he mechanically more precise. Slumps more prevalent. And then it gets in one’s mind and a slump can prolong. Ohtani was 1-19 in the NLDS. Harper and Schwarber both slumped in the NLDS. Players have always slumped, but I don't recall the losing streaks happening to most every team. Per BA, 192 pitchers hit 100 MPH this past season. With most of them being in MiBL. And now batters face most starters 2 at-bats, then different pitchers subsequent at-bats. It just seems much more difficult to hit today. We see the slumps and strikeouts. And the toll this takes on pitchers with the exploding number of TJ. Harris' approach seems in line with this thinking. Control the strike zone. Value bat to ball skills. The game is more difficult. With guys like McGonigle coming up, I remain positive about Detroit's future BA article How Many Professional Pitchers Throw 100 MPH? https://share.google/JWnEniII0WczuqNXX

Off topic, but I lived in Seattle from 1991-2000, and visited Vancouver, BC a couple times a year. My ex wife and I loved Stanley Park. Good memories!

I do wish Harris would say something along the lines of: "Of course we'd love to keep Tarik long term. We'll try. We love him. We can't be sure of what he wants."

Speculation is that AZ wanted Melton in a Suarez deal. If that's true, of course you decline that deal