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Yes, I know. I meant "took the year off" to be literal, not figurative. And yet: still 2/38, including an out.

The years have long been more important than the AAV, because years mean not only job security, but relevance.

That epiphany moment struck me in this scene, too. The officers' consciences folded under Jose Ferrer's drunken moralizing. That doesn't happen in real life. Or at least not with the MAGA crowd.

That struck me as well. Not too fine a point put on that one, was it? Are you suggesting that Trump is Queeg, someone being set up to take the fall but who's sick and has ten times the guts of his underlings, who were the real authors of the democracy mutiny? Not trying to be pointed myself, but rather trying to properly interpret the abstruse point you're making here.

Only if he'll take one year.

Absolutely, playing at the top end of the market was never going to work out for us now, and they may have decided that even the middle of the market is overpriced in years for them. That's really what the crux of the biscuit for the Tigers is: it's more about the years than the money, and we don't want to throw more than a year at anybody because we don't want multi-year marginal players hanging around and screwing up our plans in, say, 2025.

It could be wasting money of marginal players, or it could also be that, incredibly, players have been increasingly underpaid versus rising revenues for several years and the pay is just now beginning to catch up. If the latter is true, then the $64 question will be, will Baby Doc respond competitively when it’s time again to do so, or will he fight against a shifted market and repeatedly get outbid for players we can actually use to help put us over the top? That’s a question we probably won’t know the answer to until at least next offseason, and perhaps not for two.

Yes, he had had his worst season in five years in 2021, and take the year off last year. Still gets 2/38 with an out in year two.

I immediately became a big fan of the song Over and Over because of his SNL appearance.

Conforto just had his worst season in five years, although he’s young enough to have a decent chance of recovering to his last few years’ level, plus the Giants were desperate to make a move that didn’t end up publicly blowing up in their faces.

I’ve read enough about him to hypothesize that optimizing every ounce of his ability and putting it into practice in a game is his favorite way of enjoying life. Or at least his favorite way that doesn’t get him suspended.

I love their ruthlessness in roster management, too. I can also see why their fans might get frustrated if they can’t feel like they can fall in love with any of the players because they’ll just be gone practically tomorrow.

Yet another contract that would have been for one year any year before this.

You would not make a good red hat.

The later stuff, too ...

What the Beatles were by far the best at was writing a huge volume of songs reflecting elite musicality with irresistible hooks. Regardless of which era you point to, they knew the exact zeitgeist to tap into with the songs they were creating. Especially Lennon and McCartney, who were great from practically day one. They were so good that a motivated George Harrison, who was at best a meh songwriter in 1964, elevated himself to become their equal by 1969 specifically because he spent those five years learning at their feet. They have several dozen songs that even 50+ years later hold up as among the greatest pop songs in history, and I’m not even including their solo work, of which there are perhaps a couple dozen more you could add to their group canon. No other individual or act comes close.

I’m late to the game to White Stripes right now. I’m listening through their catalog of albums for really the first time.

The one I had several years ago was by a doctor who must have been in a hurry. I remember them asking me to count backwards from 100, and I remember going “100 … 99 … 98 … oww …”

I’m in the camp that years are more likely to mark a contract as bad than dollars are. we don’t know yet if this qualifies as bad, of course, but raise your hand if you thought Tucker would get a two-year deal including a player option this winter. Now bring your hand back down, because you’re lying.

How’s this for Exhibit A as to how the market has changed: A guy who was let go after a below-replacement-level year gets two years, the second one being his option.

There will be no promotion and relegation. However—if there could be—the major leagues could be dramatically expanded, to maybe 40 or more teams. There could be four levels of ten, or five levels of eight. With that number of teams, could be tables instead of divisions, with a truly balanced schedule. One downside of this system is that, if done as in Europe, you might never see the best teams in baseball come to town if you are in a lower division. Well, how about this: Adopt a point system, three points for a win against your own division. Play at least one series against every team in every other division. If you beat a team above your division you get an extra point per level for each of those wins added to your season total. Beat a team below your division, you get one fewer point per level. So, say it’s a five-level system of eight teams each. You’re in level three. You get three pints for a win against your level. If you beat a level one (Premier League?) team, you get five points; level two, four; level four, two, and level five, one point. This way, playing a team from another division would not be a “friendly”, sort of like in English football, but there would be a practical concession to the different levels of team ability. I love noodling this kind of stuff.

Another thing about the relegation system is that it creates a whole new degree of interest in bad teams trying to avoid relegation. Some European leagues have (or have had in the past) actual relegation playoffs that draw a low of fans and TV viewership. There are a lot of downsides to the P/R setup, but interest in the fate of bad teams at the end of a season would be a new and intriguing add.

Or until we are in a position to need one or two final pieces to seriously contend for a ring.

I think Drury could have fit pretty well on the Tigers, defense notwithstanding, and I think the Tigers might have liked him for a year. But maybe not for two.

"Nanny socialism for me; dog-eat-dog capitalism for thee ..."