chasfh

You've seemed open to liquidating prospects, which by definition are unproven, for established major leaguers, so I was throwing an admittedly ridiculous trade idea out there to take your temperature on the issue. You didn't bite, and I agree with your non-bite. This year's is a weak deadline class, which means the price will probably be higher than normal due to buyer-seller imbalance, so something like Jace Jung + Jaden Hamm for Eugenio Suarez just ain't gonna get it done. It's gonna take at least one numbered Pipeline guy. That being the case, I think we will be out on Suarez. I'm with you, we're getting a swing-and-miss bullpen guy at minimum, and probably a starter if we can swing that for a decent price. But I don't think it will be for high-profile guys with big baseball card numbers. I think it's gonna be more for under-the-radar guys.

This could escalate into a very nasty electoral war that would knock a couple more bricks out of the creaking edifice that remains of cooperattive democracy.

I don't think we're in the market for a full-time DH. We use the slot to keep guys in the batting order while giving them a break from the field. A full-time DH would have those guys totally benched instead. We've used seven different guys at DH just this month. As it is, the Tigers are 11th in WAR at DH, so it's not as though it's a black hole we need to fill.

Entirely possible, although Willi was quite serviceable in 2022—in fact, better than in 2021, and WAR-positive, even. I wonder whether one of the problems was that he hit .349 during the short season and anything after that was never going to be good enough for the media or the fans here.

Itching for a move? Clark, Briceno, Hamm, and Sweeney in exchange for Suarez and maybe a low-A lottery ticket will probably get it done. Proven home run hitter and a warm body in exchange for four guys who ain't done **** in the majors. Who says no.

Non comforting exculpatory stats today, just ... just win, damn it.

I think this is right on. It's a weak deadline class so overpays will be the order of the day. Too bad we ourselves couldn't have sold into markets like this.

Platoon Tork in that scenario?

I spilled a bunch more words about it with what I thought was more nuance than that, but apparently not.

Look in the pudding.

Jesus, guys, come on, work with me on this …

Angus wanted to share the blame.

You don't want to see him when he's not nice!

Someone else will pick him up.

I had thought was one of the guys Harris was going to keep, but I think the noise around him and his final level of performance here was too much, same as with Jeimer.

Wellll, I might not say that exactly, unless you meant this as a sort of sarcastic rebuke to me. Actual superstars do generally help teams by dint of their elevated performance, which by itself makes teams better. But the idea that the performance of the rest of the team can be elevated with the infusion of a superstar is at best not proven, and perhaps not even provable. I could actually see a case where a superstar would be the exact wrong thing to add to certain teams, depending on how they are put together and led. Are we a team like that? Don't know for sure, but wouldn't doubt it. (Yes, I know Skubal is a superstar, but the difference is he did not swoop onto the team as a superstar.)

Not a genocide.

Appreciate the detailed response. If Tyler Freeman might be a .300 hitter, but if he is having a career year with his 0.4 fWAR (or, worse, a -0.1 bWAR), then I wouldn't want him here regressing on my dime. I simply don't think Freeman gives us anything more in RF than we have gotten so far from Wenceel, Herry, Zach, and company. I don't see him as a clear upgrade and I would not be willing to spend even mid-level prospect capital for him. Besides, I just don't see the outfield as being a clear problem for us going forward, with the possible exception of a still-injured Parker, who could be replaced in center by Javy at the moment of truth. I doubt Max starts in Detroit next year, and I really doubt we go all in and spend half a billion on a stick over the winter, especially in the outfield where there are still plans. I take your point about Tucker, but I'm not sure Harris thinks he'll be a fit, nor do I necessarily think we are on Tucker's radar.

During this 1-9 stretch that started July 9, team ranks (per FanGraphs): Runs scored: 30th since July 9 (through July 8: 6th) wRC+: 30th (7th) ISO: 30th (6th) BABIP: 22nd (6th) Batter K%: 27th (23%) Batter BB%: 11th (16th) Baserunning: 5th (6th) Defense: 15th (15th) Runs against: t-29th (4th) Pitcher K/9: 1st (13th) Pitcher BB/9: 22nd (5th) Pitcher HR/9: 25th (9th) HR/FB: 28th (13th) ERA: 30th (3rd) FIP: 22nd (6th) xFIP: 4th (5th) As bad as things have been, there are some underlying bright spots in that we are still doing some key things as well during that stretch as before it. We're still taking walks and running the bases. The defense is holding up. Our pitchers are all of a sudden striking out guys at a league-leading clip. and not just Tarik Skubal. The home runs we're giving up may be due at least as much to bad luck as bad pitching. Putting it all together, this looks less like a massive soul-crushing correction than it does a stretch of some really bad luck. Seeing this before/after comparison actually made me feel a little better. We may not exactly be a legit 100-win team, but I think we're going to be OK, and remember, we are not in a ring-or-bust situation. We have an bright immediate future as well.

lol, no, really, serious question for ATF. Who of those five get squeezed out if we commit to Freeman in right for three years? I want to understand the thinking.

FWIW, Freeman has the wing for right, but his range is crap. If we're going to commit to Tyler Freeman in the outfield for the next three years, who out of Riley, Parker, Wenceel, Carpenter, and Max get the other two slots and who gets squeezed out?

I'm with some other poster who suggested as much earlier: I think that nerve issue might still be affecting him.

Insiders really respect the ethereal and presumably transitive qualities of superstardom.

Throw in Max and McGonigle and you got a deal! 🥴