casimir

Or maybe it’s move Duren in a sign and trade if some team (hopefully with lots of assets) offers him max?

It’s too bad Stewart couldn’t become more of a 3 point threat and/or Duren didn’t have to be in the paint on offense. Finding Reed minutes at C wouldn’t be so difficult. That’s probably got to be top of the to do list this offseason? Thompon’s offense overall and maybe back to the drawing board for Stewart on the arc?

Bah, damnit!! Didn’t think they would sweep them, but they got close to 3-0.

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.

Grumpfart.

You can’t stop him. You can only hope to contain him.

At halftime all I wanted was a single digit deficit after the 3rd. Now I want to completely steal this game.

I don’t disagree. But they seem hell bent on keeping him around despite the slim skill set he has. Actually, I wonder if there’s too much pride in keeping players of his ilk around too long. He was successful in his role as DH vs LHP last season. Great. In the grand scheme of roster build, how valuable is that given other concerns with the roster? What are the odds of a duplicate season?

No, they don’t have to hide Harden’s bad defense. 😆 I do wonder if he’s just at the point in his career where he is going to show wear and tear on both sides of the ball in the playoffs. Give him some credit, he’s played 70+ games the last three regular seasons and playoffs on top of that. But if it’s going to lead to him being ineffective on the offensive side, then there’s nothing for Cleveland to do with him but run the offense through other guys and use him as an alternative option. Probably not what they were hoping for when they traded for him. Hopefully the Piston defense travels. It’s just so damn glorious to watch it when it’s clicking. I’m a defense first fan, I find it more fascinating to watch. And seeing Thompson flying all over the place in this playoffs has been an absolute joy. Seeing that translate to other Pistons at times has been fun to see, too. And Holland and his bit of havoc off of the bench. Sure, this team is going to be heavily dependent upon Cunningham. But grind the opponent down along the way. Make them struggle to score, force them to use energy on both sides of the court.

I just wonder how Tiger pitching health is compared with other teams over the past several seasons. This is at the major league level and minor league levels. It’s probably difficult to get an accurate read if what the Tigers do throughout the system is more or less impactful on arm health vs the rest of baseball.

Might as well get back to winning a game.

His contract doesn’t suggest that he’s someone to build around. It’s potentially longer term, but it’s at a nominal salary. While @gehringer_2 brings up a valid point (and I’m paraphrasing loosely) about offering the contract but then not playing him, it’s not an onerous deal on the money side. But they’ve got a roster spot wrapped up with someone they appear to only want to platoon. I think they’ve gotten a little too platoon happy. They’ve got some versatile players. But now we see that versatility is robbed when those players are missing. And then you realize that the players with no versatility really need to be everyday players. A guy like Jones doesn’t help when he can only play a nominal amount of OF. And he’s tied somewhat directly to Carpenter. And then strictish platoons of Keith/Lee at 3B forces the Tigers to carry a guy like Short to cover middle IF. And this doesn’t even get into potentially playing Dingler a bit much because they need his bat in the lineup. Sure, he’s young. But the innings behind the plate are going to add up quickly. They should figure out a way to DH him a bit more, but that cuts into Jones’ time at DH.

But the plays Baez makes above and beyond the current in house replacements far outweigh the boneheaded errors he makes. So, yes, this team misses him.

Might as well right the ship.

10 teams with winning records, 2 at even, and 18 with losing records.

A really disappointing week on and off of the field this week. Swept at home, the Skubal injury, the Valdez clownfoolery, AAA manager dumped immediately. Goodness, they even DFAed Shawty.

Yes, I kind of wonder how much Allen’s early foul trouble led into the early lead that was ultimately erased at one point.

I missed this game due in part to my daughter's college acapella choir throwing an informal concert.

I don't know. Up and in after two HRs. He had 45 strikes to 15 balls thrown, so it's not like he was wild. I think the Story reaction is what did it. Had he just gone to 1B, I bet Valdez remains to throw more batting practice. I'm not blaming Story, I might have reacted the same way.

Or maybe Flaherty starts pitching rather than throwing?

Not that Bickerstaff would do it, but would starting Stewart in place of Robinson and having a taller more defensive starting lineup be the better way to go against Cleveland's offense?

Madden understood. Nice outing from him.