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By definition, top tier free agents have agency. A lot of them didn't haven't wanted to come here, and some may still be prejudiced against the Tigers because of perception issues. Harris offered the most money to Bregman, and the guy still turned us down and went someplace else. When that happens, what're ya gonna do. But, also, if Harris thought we were not yet in the right position to blow our wad on a player asking for 10/500 or whatever top tier players command, or to liquidate the top of our system for proven veterans Dave Dombrowski-style, then I would agree with him on that. And yet, for all of Harris's perceived deficiencies, he has built a roster that has the best record in the American League. Speaking only for myself, I am happy with that.

I think Bobby has improved a lot over the past few years. I think his main problem was low volume and high speed when he first started. He's definitely fixed the volume problem, although he is still a fast talker. But he is definitely informative and a good communicator of his thoughts. He must be from a large family where he had to talk fast to say what he needed to before someone talked over him. That's pretty common. Or so I've heard ... 😏

Maeda had a bunch of decent to good starts all the way into June last year. Once it became clear in July he didn't have it anymore, he was pushed to the bullpen to fill in with garbage time, basically out of harm's way. He got one more month this year to see whether he could turn it around. he couldn't and got let go. That seems pretty reasonable to me. Shelby Miller went from July 1 to the end of last season with a 3.03 ERA, 3.67 FIP, only two blown saves, and a 24/6 K/BB ratio in his last 29+ innings. That doesn't sound ineffective to me. Brebbia started out good this year, first nine appearances with a 1.00 ERA, 9/5 K/BB ratio, 3.67 FIP, no blown saves. He got hurt and then was given his chances to turn it around. After a month when it became apparent he'd lost it, he was released. That seems pretty reasonable. In none of these cases does it seem to me that Harris irrationally kept running pitching out there hoping against hope he could save face on their signings while refusing to acknowledge they were failing. There must be some other guy you're thinking of that did that.

Mental health issues + guns = way more mass shootings than mental health issues - guns.

If Bobby were to become Benetti's main partner for the rest of Jason's tenure here, I would tune in to him a lot more.

No experience is actually a bonus, because they will not be tainted by precedent or qualms.

We are normalizing all this. In six months this kind of thing won't even rate any comment. I'm convinced it's an explicit part of the plan.

I'm not even sure the issue is lack and depth of qualifications. I am starting to wonder whether he is an active agent for a foreign power hostile to American interests. It's not as though he would have to hide that in this regime.

I thought you were talking about the pridefulness of signing veterans to high dollar contracts and forcing them onto the field to save face for themselves, running them out there time after time when it is beyond any doubt they are absolutely done. I don't know of any instances where Harris has done this. The only one I can think of is Miguel Cabrera, which I'm sure you'll agree is a special case. I see the Nick Maton thing as being different because (1) he was young enough to give him a fair number of chances to turn things around, and (2) we were just coming off the Al Avila Reign of Error so we did not have anyone better we could replace him with so readily. Also, we tried Maton at third base for 53 games. That doesn't seem like an inordinate amount of games to try him there to see if they could unlock the potential they saw.

I'm not sure either Players or Baseball would want to have to amp up the travel so much.

Future Hall of Famer based on 3/4 of a rookie season is a big swing. He might make it, since Ted Williams, Albert Pujols, and Frank Robinson all had rookie seasons with similar terrific offensive output at a young age. OTOH, so did Jimmy Williams, Kris Bryant, Alvin Davis, Charlie Hollocher, Ryan Braun, Johnny Pesky, and Jason Heyward.

The xBA on that McKinstry line drive was .790. When you are down 5-0 with two outs in the sixth inning and you can’t get hits even on batted balls like that, you know it’s over.

Also, can I tell you how much I like Benetti and Scales together? They are now my favorite combo on TV. Scales brings his all-business radio veneer to the TV booth and that helps keep Benetti’s worst impulses in check. But also, you can tell Scales and Benetti really like each other, and the volume of joking between them I think is at the appropriate level.

Sorry I made you have to turn your chip in.

Man, Bobby Scales was talking rings around Jason Benetti about defensive metrics. All that time he put in with Dan served him well.

Christ Almighty, so many ****ing ambulance chaser sponsors for Tigers broadcasts.

I promise you A’s fans—however many of them are left—are well aware of this stat.

Shades of the 2006 World Series on that Mize throw to first …

That’s true. I’m merely hypothesizing why Bill Bergen was even able to hold his job. No way a team carries a catcher who hits like that today, even if he is as good a backstop as Bergen was. The guy literally hit like a pitcher.

Any examples where Harris has done this in the past?

And he was a plus behind the plate, which, back then, was truly all that mattered. It’s true that Bill Bergen was a cut below, but even so, basically no catchers could hit back them. That was barely a requirement of them.

Most broadcasters, and also beat writers, took their jobs as journalists far more seriously 40 or more years ago. They have evolved to become part of the team these days, because access is far more precious now than it used to be. We are lucky in that Dan Dickerson is kind of a throwback to the time when broadcasters weren’t total company men. You can hear it in the live reads and drop ins he is obligated to do: he rushes through them to get them out of the way as quickly as possible, unlike Pat Hughes of the Cubs, who practically makes babies with ad copy.

Our guys definitely could use a day off after this, although as warriors, they wish they could get right back to it tomorrow so they can flip the script in as much of a hurry as possible.

Ok for god’s sakes, what are we even doing here?

Even with that triple, Tork has among the fewest triples of any current big leaguer with over 2,000 plate appearances.