RedRamage

Not sure if this is supposed to be sarcasm or not...

He can throw fine to first, the problem is that he sees the guy running down the line and figures the firstbaseman is covered, so he checks down and throws to the second baseman instead.

I fully expect this to be a calm, logical, rational place for discussion.

Here's where progress needs to be made imho, but it's a very complicated issue. For players it's probably a little more clear cut, but I don't think it's black and white from a owner, front office, or fans perspective.' I'm sure the players would like to see a set minimum to sure that teams aren't just pocketing "tax money" from other major market teams but instead investing that into players. But as a fan I don't want my team to just pay player #26 enough to ensure that they cross the minimum payroll line. That's a waste of money to me that could be spent improving facilities, hiring better staff, adding to the scouting team, or even saving up to spend next year. The obvious comeback to that is: But are the owners doing that? I dunno... Maybe create a salary floor: If a team isn't at that floor they don't get tax money (or maybe reduced tax money depending on how far under the floor they are?), instead that money goes into (read in Al Gore's voice) "a lockbox" that teams can apply to get money from. Like: "We want to improve parking for our fans, so we're requesting $X dollars from the tax fund to help with that." Or: "We want to hire a new scout for this region and would like a grant for that this year."

My understanding is that they didn't walk away, but instead stonewalled. If they refuse to budge on any issue and just layout the demands it's kinda the equivalent of walking away. I do totally agree that the owners are trying to make an appearance of more urgency via the lockout, but at least from what little I've read it seems like the owners have agreed to negotiate on some things while the players have said "Here's what we want, we'll sign when and only when you agree to all of it. We're not willing to negotiate."

It took me way to long to figure out that this was just one person and not a couple of siblings.

I would be shocked if they were still in on Correa now... I'd also be shocked if they were still in on Story, but a bit less so. Just for the fun of it though, what do you think Story will end up signing for? Would you want him at that rate? If, in this odd parallel universe the Tigers did sign Story too, who plays where? Does Schoop move to 1st? Yeah I know this isn't going to happen... just an interesting through experiment.

So I'm looking at baseballl reference and Baez has apparently played quite a bit of 2nd base in the past... Maybe the Tigers can pull a Rangers? (No, I'm not really being serious... or am I?)

No one? Okay then... I'll just give you the answer. 7 8 9 because 7 heard that you're supposed to eat three square meals a day.

Very good... but now... do you know WHY 7 8 9?

Do you know why 6 is afraid of 7?

Could be... MLBTR is saying that it's reported to be $140M... over six seasons that $23.3 per... over 7 it would be an even $20M of course. Compare this to a likely $30-35M per year that Correa will command that's a pretty huge bargin.

Torkelson: 22 years old Greene: 21 years old Baez: 29 years old (tomorrow) I'm not saying that Baez is a bad signing (if it happens), but I am saying that this is NOT a a strong, young, trio.

The difference, dear Henning, is that Cabrera was older when he signed his big extension and was already a middle of the road (at best) defender at perhaps the least demanding defensive position. Correra is young, and very good defensively at perhaps the most demanding defensive position. So let's say that five years from now Correra (now around the age when Miggy signed his big extension) starts to slip defensively... Well, move him to third where he's then be an above average defender, or to first where he's be an elite defender. Furthermore, I think it's questionable how much Miggy's contract prevented other deals from happening. The Tiger payroll has been very low lately and they could have easily added to it if necessary. Now... having said ALL that... there is some logic in not putting all your eggs in one basket. If you can get an A- player for a decent amount cheaper than the A player AND you are then willing to use that saved money on upgrading other positions as well, it may be a better over all move.

Scherzer's agent got sneaky on the Mets. He asked for $20M per year per eye color and the Mets just didn't bother to check Max's profile picture.

Campbell is the new Brandon Inge. It, apparently, is impossible to have anything other than an extreme opinion on about him. If you aren't 100% against him that apparently means you are 100% for him.

Someone else said it before but I'll echo it: I hope that Campbell gives play calling back to Lynn. It seems at times that Campbell got convinced during the Steelers game that the Lions can have success just repeatedly pounding the ball down the throats of the opposition 70% of the time.

Personally I'm treating Campbell as a rookie. I know that technically he's had interim HC experience, but this is his first full "rookie" season as a HC. I'm expecting to see mistakes along the way. I'm expecting there to be a learning curve. If it happens during a season where the whole team pretty much is gonna suck anyway then that's the best time to learn I guess. I'm not giving Campbell a pass in the sense of just not caring about his mistakes. Rather, like a rookie player I'm expecting to see problems and I'm hoping for growth. I'm not going to write off Sewell as a bust because of some poor play during various games or too many penalties or whatever. In the same way I'm not going to consider Campbell a bust because of mistakes like seriously poor clock management this game. This team is gonna suck this year and probably won't be considerably better next year. My question is this: Will Campbell grow and improve with more experience? Will 2022 see improvements in Campbell's HC skills? If we see improvement in 2022 than good. If we don't, then we can start the bust talk. I'm not saying that Campbell hasn't made mistakes... he absolutely has. Have these mistakes cost them games? Hard to say. Perhaps. But the play on the field has been the much bigger problem, imho. And that's a severe lack of a talent showing through more than anything.

Can judge Campbell. It is too early. It is his fault.

The maybe difference here (vs other leagues) is that it's owned by Fox Sports. I think we all know that a big huge part of how professional sports are funded are the media deals. The fact that the media is the league might make a difference. Now, obviously the league will ultimately stand or fall based on fan interest, but the fact that the media is directly involved eliminates part of the process. The league doesn't have to worry about promoting itself enough to attract a media outlet... the league is the media outlet. This doesn't eliminate all the obstacles, obviously, but there's a least a bit more of a stream lined process. Fox will do with the league what makes the most sense from a media perspective which will hopefully make it more successful in a media format, which will bring in the dollars to keep it going... hopefully. All that said I'm not optimistic that it'll catch on, but we'll see.

I'd honestly love I'd honestly love to see them play over here on the west side of the state... I just don't think it's likely. In some ways Lubbers stadium would be perfect... ~10K capacity... big enough to fit a lot of fans, not too big that it seems empty if you don't have huge numbers. The field is also a pretty nice field. But in other ways it would be really bad... 15 minute drive from the major population area. Getting on and off campus during busy times is horrendous and not huge amounts of parking. Very little stadium improvements in terms of concessions and probably would need to work out something to serve alcohol. My guess would be Keyworth Stadium. I suspect it would relatively cheap to get in there vs. Ford Field and it's right in Detroit area vs. Rynearson. If the USFL ends up being wildly successful, then maybe it'll move to EMU... and if it become even more successful than that... Ford Field?? Which of course brings up another interesting speculation question. According to Wikipedia, the stadium is owned by Detroit/Wayne County Stadium Authority, but is operated by the Lions. If you were the Lions and, let's say 5 years down the line the USFL is pretty successful and the Panthers in particular are doing well... do you allow them to play in Ford Field (assuming the contract that Lions have allows them to refuse various things)?

Hmm... well, I guess we know they won't be playing in GR at least the first year: https://www.foxsports.com/stories/other/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-united-states-football-league-spring-2022

I would be surprised to see if in Grand Rapids. There really aren't any good football stadiums around here that I can think of... The best option would probably be GVSU but that's in Allendale, a 15 minute drive west of GR.

Woot! Finally, a professional football team in the state! 🙂