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On the one hand, this makes total sense. This is the front office’s bailiwick, not the manager’s. On the other hand, this is a really terse, icy reply Hinch was asked Monday if the Tigers have heard from Rodriguez. "I have no comment on that," Hinch said, "and I won't have any comment on the Eduardo Rodriguez situation. That's for the organization to handle." https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/11/detroit-tigers-austin-meadows-setback-rehab-assignment-achilles/10029937002/

BREAKING: stop and start over

Sure, he could return to what’s he has been in the past. But nothing has been normal for him in this already very abnormal year, so I’m just not penciling him in for anything. I’ll think about him when he’s actually back with the team. I’m with you on tempering hopes for him this year even if he does come back. I’d be thrilled if he merely came back and didn’t miss any more time injured again.

Joe Biden accomplished the one thing I care the most about: he wrested the presidency away from that loud-mouthed criminal fascist.

Nice take on that third-inning ball four to Javy. He’s struck out on that pitch before.

I'm not arguing anything. I was replying to another poster about whether the Tigers might sue.

I don't have any hope left for Meadows, so this does not disappoint me. As far as I'm concerned, at this point, anything we get from him again, whether it's this year, next year, or 2024, I will consider a bonus. I don't know whether something else is going on, but really, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that there is.

Another reason I would bet against Rodriguez coming back to pitch either this season or next. Given the Tigers did not confirm that Rodriguez is gone on marital issues as reported by Jon Hackman, coupled with a public claim by Avila that both Rodriguez and his agent have gone dark on the team, I would be surprised to learn that it was all about marital issues, that Rodriguez comes back and pitches, and everything gets back on track with the contract. That seems like a very, very long shot at this point.

Is your computer booting up now in Russian or Chinese? That would help pinpoint the problem ...

Fangraphs as of last month has Waters at #10 and Hoffman at #16, which makes sense since Waters's last three seasons at AAA saw wRC+ of 84 in 2019, 94 last year, and 84 this year across almost 800 plate trips. That is a significant difference in opinion, and I'm thinking that based on the trade, the Royals and Braves agree more with FG than MLB here.

This is true to a point, but I also think that players do take other factors into account, like winning, team culture, location, etc. Other factors might not be enough for them to take an 8/240 over a 10/300, but it might be enough for them to take an 8/240 over an 8/256.

I’ve come around to the idea that it’s unlikely that the Tigers will sue, not only because it will make the team look bad in general in the media, but it would also make it more difficult to attract free agent talent here. Why go play for a team that sues its players? I also don’t think the Tigers will try to trade him because, since they’re already not paying the guy and they’re game-planning around him anyway, there’s no urgency to do so. But also, it would be hard to find a partner because who wants to trade for a guy who might one day just up and bail on the team. And what else would the Tigers have to give up along with Rodriguez to unload his contract onto someone else? We would have to help pay for a lot of the remaining contract, like we did with Verlander, or worse, throw in an actual serviceable player to sweeten the pot. At this point, I think the most likely possibilities are either Tigers and Rodriguez quietly settle to end the contract for an undisclosed amount, or all parties involved continue the silent approach for the next four-and-a-half years until time on the contract simply runs out. I think the latter is fairly unlikely as well because it keeps the story alive through 2026. At least if they settle, the story dies pretty quickly, which is probably the most important goal of this whole affair for the team. The long shot bet to make is that Eduardo Rodriguez simply shows up in spring training and starts up with the team again with everyone pretending like nothing happened and everyone ignoring questions about it. I don’t think that would happen this year because the media would be all over his rehab starts and his return to the team, a lot of questions would be flying around about it every day, and I don’t think the team wants that circus atmosphere, especially during the season. I’ve got my money on quietly settle to end the contract.

Cool … now do all all the Republicans who are embarrassed about their support of Trump and who “feel manipulated by media”.

I’m starting to wonder whether Elon Musk is trying to use the power of the publicity he naturally generates to destroy, or at least seriously hobble, Twitter, without spending a penny to do it.

A tax cut would also make future tax collection amounts uncertain to plan around. I think the idea of continuing at current tax rates and then issuing a rebate/dividend/whatever they call it check is a defensible idea. One positive thing it will do is give taxpayers the feeling of a windfall, same way people feel when they get a refund of their own tax money they paid in.

My god this is effing brilliant.

I understand what the projections say. Meadows has put up 108 OPS+ over his last 900 or so plate trips over the past 2-1/2 years, and he has gotten over 120 OPS+ only once in his five seasons. I also believe the "healthy" part may be the key: he's coming off a bunch of owies on top of equilibrial weirdness, so I would not be necessarily disappointed if he came back for 200 or so plate trips and still ended up ±5 points around 100 OPS+. It's been a rough year for the guy. He's our guy, and we got him for two more years after this, so I would be thrilled to be wrong and see him light it up when he comes back.

Looks potentially like another good one who got away.

120 OPS+ sounds ambitious. We might have to be ready to see 100, maybe 110.

Even if Congress passes a national abortion law, what’s to keep this court from overturning it as an unconstitutional infringement of states’ rights?

I missed the days when this was all considered Alarmist Non-sense.

Agreed. I’ve learned my lesson from Trump 2016. I thought people would be sprinting to the polls to vote against the guy then. We saw some of that in 2020 and probably will in 2024, but now that Trumpist conspiracy story-telling has infected the entire elections integrity process, even if voters in certain precincts do sprint to the polls, they may never get in now. I also feel the same way when I see people crowing about big leads in polls months before elections takes place.

Well, that was a wasted afternoon.

Yeah, these are the old Tigers today.