chasfh

2 minutes ago, Edman85 said:

Did JaCoby Jones declaring free agency on Wednesday make this thread?

He did.

That should clear the way for him to sign a deal with the Yakult Swallows.

18 hours ago, RandyMarsh said:

It sucks but unfortunately in this day and age pitchers feel they have to throw max effort on every pitch.

Gone are the days of throwing 75-80% most of the game and just letting the hitters get themselves out. You do that now and you're going to be putting a bunch of balls in the seats. 

Rolling back the ball will certainly help but I think in general with players now working out all year round with the top trainers, equipment, nutrition and workout plans available they all just gotten stronger with quicker bats so there are fewer and fewer "punch and judy" hitters that you can relax and not go full effort with. 

No matter how much hitters jack up to hit jacks, they could always deaden the ball enough to overcome it. If they could cut homer rate by a third or so—basically, 2014 level—and maintain that, pitchers would eventually get more comfortable laying up on the down-the-order hitters who wouldn't be able to put the ball out of the park if they tried. Then we would get the benefits of fewer strikeouts, more balls in play, shorter at bats, faster games, longer starting pitcher outings, all of it.

They will never do this because the home run music video is Baseball's #1 marketing tool (with the strikeout/punchout music video running well behind in second). But high pitcher attrition rate will continue to be the cost, at least until someone can figure out a heretofore-unconsidered innovation to solve that.

1 hour ago, RatkoVarda said:

1 year contract, with option, 20M guaranteed

2022 - 10M

2023-24 - 10M buyout, or 30M each year

JV gets the same $$$ as QO from Houston; if Tigers pick up option, it is 3/70M

this costs the Tigers a draft pick

(Max is going to get as much as 3/120 from the Dodgers)

Sure, this works fine for us, but I'm pretty sure JV can do better than $20MM guaranteed over two years.

10 hours ago, RandyMarsh said:

I'm probably thinking with my heart and not my head but I truly believe in Verlander and think he could be one of those special players that are productive into their 40s. I know he is coming off of TJ so I would definitely temper my expectations that first year but even if he isn't a frontline ace that doesn't mean he still can't be of value.   

Enough to throw 4/80 at him on faith and goodwill?

On 10/7/2021 at 7:00 AM, casimir said:

Is there a way to trade Peralta to Dombrowski in Philly for the next Eugenio Suarez?

Maybe. Has Perlata shot a guy to death yet?

It’s gonna be the navy blue, because people like colored jerseys, and then only the Yankees and Dodgers will left to stand against it.

It’s a shame, but what’re you gonna do.

The thing the most concerns me whenever this kind of thing comes up, a thing that’s supposed to finally bring TFG down, is that what will happen is what always ends up happening: Republicans dismiss it as a partisan political hit job, they gum up the works to prevent real action, and Democrats have no effective answer for any of that. Hit reset button and repeat.

Meanwhile, we’re running out of time. We’ve got basically a year to fix this, because if this strain of Republican takes over in Congress, as they have in many states, then democracy will actually be on the clock, as it is in those states. And once they remake the judiciary, that’s when democracy will be over.

9 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

We delude our selves with our language. No one anywhere is "free" except the guy in hovel at the top of the mountain. We've been telling ourselves we live in "free country" for 200 yrs and it's rot. What we have is a system of "ordered liberty", or what the SCOTUS is describing in the quoted decision. The idea of representative government has never been that anyone gets to be free of restraint. The "Freedom" in a "free country" exists for the individual in circumscribed areas - such as those in the Bill of Rights, but more generally does NOT apply to lack of restraint on individuals but to the freedom of the public to make its laws for itself. There is nothing in the theory of the democratic republic that limits the ability of the public will to constrain and coerce individual action through legislative and executive power, beyond those specific limitations established by Constitutions, traditions, and legislation. 

Now all we gotta do is get Fox News to tell their viewers this, and everything will be all right. 😏

12 hours ago, Tigerbomb13 said:

 

Christ on a cracker, if this guy is not stopped and ends up running in 2024, and actually wins, then this country is truly fucked, and it won’t come back for any of us in any of our lifetimes.

tl;dr: stop this guy already.

On 10/6/2021 at 7:55 PM, pfife said:

 

That’s it? Forty-four percent?

Progress!

It’s worth noting that the Supreme Court upheld right of the states to require vaccines in times of pandemic in Jacobson v Massachusetts in 1905: 

The liberty secured by the Constitution of the United States does not import an absolute right in each person to be at all times, and in all circumstances, wholly freed from restraint, nor is it an element in such liberty that one person, or a minority of persons residing in any community and enjoying the benefits of its local government, should have power to dominate the majority when supported in their action by the authority of the State.

It is within the police power of a State to enact a compulsory vaccination law, and it is for the legislature, and not for the courts, to determine in the first instance whether vaccination is or is not the best mode for the prevention of smallpox and the protection of the public health.

There being obvious reasons for such exception, the fact that children, under certain circumstances, are excepted from the operation of the law does not deny the equal protection of the laws to adults if the statute is applicable equally to all adults in like condition.

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/197/11/

11 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

And they weren't that great before which was surprising.  Maybe it's positioning or maybe he's a player who make great plays, but is not consistent on routine plays.   

If you believe Statcast's Outs Above Average stat, he's at zero for shortstop in 2021, although +2 for all positions, since he has played a few innings at 2B for the "Sawx", which is probably what accounts for the 73rd percentile OAA ranking for 2021.

Although, that 73rd is down from 89th and 98th the past couple of years, so he appears to be trending in the wrong direction, which you can understand since he is in his age 31 season. And it's not terribly likely he gets better from here.

54 minutes ago, oblong said:

I've read his metrics on defense have fallen....

 

So have I.

I was kidding about picking him up, anyway.

Here's another possibility for shortstop, and hey, he's a Devil We Know! 😉😆

1 hour ago, oblong said:

was it though? Maybe Chris Ilitch understands more than any of us since it affects their personal wealth what the free spending his dad took part in did to their bottom line the last 7 years.    Its possibly an indictment of Dombrowski and Mike Ilitch. Dombrowski was fired and Mike Ilitch is dead and the only ones who care about talking about that part of his legacy are the family.  They might agree with Al in that regard.

 

 

Mike Ilitch did spend money like a drunken sailor, though.

Perhaps the most horrifying part of this wholly horrifying article is that “64% of all extremist group joins are due to [Facebook’s own] recommendation tools” … predominantly thanks to the models behind the ‘Groups You Should Join’ and ‘Discover’ features.”

11 hours ago, mtutiger said:

I guess I dont get why his comment was bad PR.

As fans, we have talked over and over about the impact past contracts have had on payroll and how it impacts being able to make additions to the ballclub. I dont mind the fact that he's acknowledging that. And that a goal of his going forward is to avoid being put into a similar situation in the future. If anything, I appreciate his candor on that. 

Not making excuses for any bad decisions he has made as GM, but I understand where he is coming from with his comments and didn't have a negative view of them. 

The “drunken sailor” comment was unfortunate in light of the prior owner’s penchant to way overpay on years and dollars all the way to the end. It’s part of the pattern Avila has shown his entire time in the job. He fumbles through public appearances in a way that draws questions about his decision-making, and coming into this year, his decision-making wasn’t exonerating him. Thanks to AJ, I believe, that’s different starting this year.

9 minutes ago, mtutiger said:

The question I have is "why now?"... is this a long term five year plan or just some sort of philosophical change for Avila that he wasn't practicing earlier on? And while some changes were made pre-AJ, how much influence has AJ had?

Not like I have any inside knowledge, but adding everything up, I think it’s all AJ.

I also don’t think Avila’s comment was a deliberate shot at Mike or DD, and I basically said that. I think he’s just in over his head. His strength was scouting talent, not maintaining public relations.

5 hours ago, oblong said:

I don't see it as a negative thing except for people in the business.  Most fans won't even know he said it.  

Al isn't polished but if he's building a good team in the offices, which it seems now that he's doing.... then so be it.  A good leader listens to his people.  A good leader knows what he's good at and what he's not good at.  From reading things about Dombrowksi it sounds like he was a lone wolf.  Maybe Avila is content to share the spotlight and not get too big for his breeches.  He doesn't need the President/CEO title.  He's content to be the old fashioned general manager that rode the train with the newspaper boys.

It’s true that Al Avila is building a good team around him, although he didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to do so until this year. At least I’m living to see that, so better now than never.

I don’t think he ever really grew into the job. I would really like to see him get kicked upstairs.

3 hours ago, IdahoBert said:

All joking aside, framing the Mike Ilitch era in relation to the deportment of a “drunken sailor” is an extremely disrespectful and impolitic thing to do, regardless of how accurate this description may be in an off the cuff sort of way. Being off the cuff in this manner about Mr. I seems unprofessional. Al Avila should be capable of a less caustic, less derisive way of framing the Mr. I era. The fact that he didn't speaks volumes, presumably, about the way he and Chris Ilitch view that era. We have all been gnashing our teeth about it for years but most of us aren’t managing an asset of the magnitude of the Detroit Tigers and I would expect a more circumspect manner of phrasing things than a low blow about a “drunken sailor” would imply.

This is pretty much how it landed with me, too.

This really does shine a bright spotlight on a clear deficiency of Al Avila: the inability to extemporaneously articulate his thoughts at the level of effectiveness necessary for the top public-facing official of a highly visible organization.

Either Al meant the "drunken sailor" comment as a dig against a beloved icon whom even people not beholden to him still reverentially refer to as "Mister"; or he blurted out the comment cluelessly, not realizing that it could be perceived in that way. Personally, I believe it's the second option, but really, either way, it reflects poorly on Avila as a communicator and leader.

The one thing this is not is surprising, because it reminds us that Avila is an erstwhile scout who basically Peter Principled his way into the Tigers GM job. The Tigers apparently didn't want to go through the time and expense of searching for a replacement for Dombrowski, instead just handing it to the guy who happens to be next in line at the moment. But as pliable as Avila appears to be, an obvious upside for ownership, the deficiency that leads to this kind of faux pas is just as obvious a downside.

20 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Yeah, I remember playing right field out. Just enough kids to play. Then we would flip for ups, to see which team hit first....lol

And since right field was out, you had to throw ground balls to the pitcher to get the batter out at first.

You also had to supply the catcher.

We had exactly zero left-handed hitters among the two groups of kids I’d play sandlot with, so closing off RF was not an issue for anyone.

2 hours ago, mtutiger said:

This is going to be an interesting question.... it's sort of Tucker Barnhart or bust in free agency. So trades may have to be an option.

Hard no on Tucker Barnhart. One of the worst-hitting catchers in baseball, and his pitch-framing isn’t good enough to make up for it. 

4 hours ago, RandyMarsh said:

I think Charlotte should be considered. I know one of the White Sox affiliates play in a beautiful park there and my understanding is it routinely is one of the most attended parks in the minors so I think an MLB team could draw well there. 

I used to think Charlotte could never support a big league team because the population of the DMA is so spread out, they would never draw 40,000+ fans 81 dates a year. But now I’m coming around to the idea that attendance doesn’t matter all that much, given all the extraneous revenue streams teams enjoy, so they could probably put in a 27,500-seat stadium that will look more full on TV, which helps with optics, plus they could sell out more which would lead to higher ticket prices, which is always a nice nice-to-have.

On 10/2/2021 at 10:33 AM, Motor City Sonics said:

Plus I think people who take a bicycle on a main road these days, with the way people are always looking at their phones, are a bit insane.     

In the city of Chicago, it is illegal to ride your bike on the sidewalk, so you must ride it in the street. So we have no choice.

Of course, the main roads in the city are nothing like the main roads in the suburbs, so, there's that.

7 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I use the bell on my bike. Works fine.

Also, I prefer it to shouting.