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We’ll never know, but I think it’s just as likely that they would stay on the track they’re on regardless of whether we win the World Series or miss the playoffs. Scott Harris famously has a plan and I think there’s a good chance he’s sticking to that plan, unless Baby Doc forces his hand, which I doubt would happen since he’s not Papa Doc.

All we need to do is win the next three and we win the division.

Yes, I did some cursory analysis, and this would be by far the biggest—meaning combination of fastest and most precipitous—collapse in baseball history, supplanting even the gold standard of the 1951 Dodgers. But remember: massive collapses are never one-sided. It takes more than the first place team losing a lot—it also takes a second-place team winning a lot. In 1951, the Dodgers went 27-24 after August 11, but the Giants went 38-8. So the Dodgers didn't even suck then like the Tigers do now. They were simply up against an irresistible force. There's always two sides to a massive collapse.

I have done really, really well on AI-fueled stocks in the past two years, although I have not yet locked in the gain. I am about to set some trailing stop limit orders through ToS so I don't experience a repeat of the Sun Microsystems Debacle of 2001 (where I watched $140,000 in paper wealth shrink to $30-something,000 before finally cashing out—still not bad for an initial $7K bet).

All we have to do is sweep Cleveland in Cleveland, and we will win the division.

Ah, I thought you meant scroll down the page whence I got the screenshot or something. Totally missed that because I was replying to your earlier post, the one before you mentioned that.

OK, I'll bite, what am I missing?

Twins surprise the roaring Guardians with a 6-2 defeat, and now our magic number has dropped to:

Much as I don't disagree in principle, we really didn't have much in the way of options, especially since we've already used Hurter, Kahnle, and Holton, and Sewald was probably already a little gassed from Friday:

At least they're giving us a little something to go to Cleveland with at the end here.

This Rainey guy has a lifetime BB9 of 6. For you guys who like percentages better, that's 14.8% of guys faced walk. Big league average is basically in the mid-eights.

Impending loss delayed due to inclement weather.

This, 0%. Smells like existential spiraling.

This, 100%. There is zero chance we trade Skubal unless we simply trade everyone else of any value, blow it all up, and start over.

Well, TBF, given Vest's overall superior ninth inning save performance this year, there was nothing to indicate he would cough up the game, and yet, he did. It happens, but man, what a terrible time for him to turn into a pumpkin.

Every accusation is a confession.

Oh, hey, Benetti out again? What, is there a D3 football game on some RSN’s plus channel that needed a PxP guy today?

This post overrates how much Harris inherited from Avila. Harris basically saved Avila’s draft picks. Mize was an often-injured underachiever. Jobe had just been drafted and hadn’t done anything yet. Riley was a rookie. Olson, Keith, and Dingler were all minor leaguers who hadn’t done anything yet. Meadows was an underachieving minor leaguer perpetually stuck in neutral. Tork was flailing like a fish washed up on the beach. Only Skubal was a finished product, and he basically developed himself outside Avila’s system. Aso, keep in mind that Mize and Tork were consensus 1-1 picks, and Riley was the #5 overall consensus pick. So Avila ended up just taking the same guy everyone else would have taken anyway. I will grant you Jackson Jobe was considered a way out there pick, but his development also belongs to Harris as well. So, to the degree Avila’s draft picks are great contributors to our team, practically none of them were due to Avila’s drafting and development genius. It took Harris and his hires to turn them into as productive as major leaguers as they are. And even though these Avila’s picks are still in the system, Harris had to ****can a lot a lot of other Avila picks and signs.

This post overrates how much Harris inherited from Avila. Harris basically saved Avila’s draft picks. Mize was an often-injured underachiever. Jobe had just been drafted and hadn’t done anything yet. Riley was a rookie. Olson, Keith, and Dingler were all minor leaguers who hadn’t done anything yet. Meadows was an underachieving minor leaguer perpetually stuck in neutral. Tork was flailing like a fish washed up on the beach. Only Skubal was a finished product, and he basically developed himself outside Avila’s system. Aso, keep in mind that Mize and Tork were consensus 1-1 picks, and Riley was the #5 overall consensus pick. So Avila ended up just taking the same guy everyone else would have taken anyway. I will grant you Jackson Jobe was considered a way out there pick, but his development also belongs to Harris as well. So, to the degree Avila’s draft picks are great contributors to our team, practically none of them were due to Avila’s drafting and development genius. It took Harris and his hires to turn them into as productive as major leaguers as they are. And even though these Avila’s picks are still in the system, Harris had to ****can a lot a lot of other Avila picks and signs.

Still got time for 6-1!

So much for the idea that Harris is asleep at the switch and would never DFA one of his guys for fear of losing face.

You’re looking for a point where there isn’t even one. We are not the Orioles.

And really, this is the silver lining in this whole debacle. If this was something like the 2014 team, a team that was at the end of the line, I’d be in despair for this franchise right now. But I’m not. Even if I am disappointed by what happens this season, I am still excited to be a fan of this franchise—that is assuming they don’t do anything stupid like fire Harris and Hinch, blow up the science departments, and start the whole damn thing all over in a new direction. 😉

Harris isn’t going anywhere either, and Dave Dombrowski is still otherwise gainfully employed. Harris has done an amazing job getting this franchise into a position to be a perennial contender, and well beyond just getting a few decent prospects in the farm system now. It’s really that version of the Tigers he has been building towards, and that version is not here yet, so they’re not about to fire everyone, blow up the franchise, and start over now. This version was never meant to be the pennant or bust team. This version, last year and this, was always playing with house money. Many if not most of these guys won’t even be here in three years.

Hinch doesn’t need to go, and he won’t go. And Jim Leyland is out of the game for good.