1984Echoes

It was only for one year. His only value was as a trade deadline asset in 2023... that's it. After the season he's a FA so... bye bye. Actually, bye bye at the deadline. I bet on Candy (mentally... the Tigers didn't... physically) having value at the deadline and Schoop having 0 value at the deadline so I wanted Schoop dropped from the roster. Just my offseason viewpoint. Candy = One Year ONLY = trade deadline asset (I thought he'd get closer to a 3.5 WAR season than the 1-ish WAR season he was being projected at...). Schoop = Negative value = dump him, November, 2022. IMO. But... what do I know...?

Yep. (Forgot it was just 1 year... put up or shut up time....)

But he's also (Lindstrom) going to get squeezed on the Right Side... Both defenseman they signed are Right shots. That's the squeeze from the bottom. Obviously Seider is at the top... but I think Pellikka will also move quickly. Not this year obviously... he'll be in the SHL... But in 2024 I'm guessing Pellika makes it stateside and starts pressuring for a Red Wings roster spot. Even if he has to go to Grand Rapids for most of 2024... he's going to put tremendous pressure on the bottom of the right side D as he and Seider dominate the top (eventually). Who survives at the bottom? Lindstrom? Can he grow? If not, the bottom level signings we just made will squeeze him out. That's what I mean by pressuring from both the top of the roster and the bottom. Agree on the assessments of Veleno, Zadina & Berggren.

I think Kostin takes over as 4th line Center. Bigger, tougher, and has some offense. That's why I'm also OK with Sprong. Adding toughness and scoring on the 4th line actually squeezes the skill players. Either Zadina improves his touch or he'll get squeezed right off the roster. Same with Lindstrom, Berggren, Veleno and multiple other fringe players... Getting squeezed from both the top level players and the bottom 4th line/ 3rd pairing players can't be comfortable. Especially if guys do indeed get squeezed off the roster...

I don't think we need Eduardo to opt out for a cheap payroll. He's paid extremely low for an effective upper echelon starter. The only reason his salary is currently aligned to his performance is due to injuries or related. He's still a huge bargain. Schoop and Miggy leaving the roster will drop our payroll significantly... $50-55-ish Mill? No reason to look for any further savings. Time to figure out where to invest. And to me, that means buying out Eduardo's option if indeed that is an... option. Holding onto him is first choice to me... If we are able to.

Not to steal Chas's thunder... I remember him strongly making the point that even at the very low end of his expected WAR that his expected salary (from arbitration) would actually be an underpay... I certainly agreed with that as projecting him at 1-ish WAR (IMO) was ridiculous... but I get it... because of 2022. But I think it was the 3 of us politely requesting the Tigers to hold onto Candy. Outside of us... I think there was a strong inclination to dump him. If memory serves that is...

We can either buy out his option or... if he is not open to that then make the assumption that he will opt out. Actually, I'm not actually certain we could do that... it just seems logical. I'm not certain what's in the current operating agreement. He may only be keeping his options "open" and might just as well opt in but... if we can't buy out his option then as an Org I would think we have to operate under the assumption that he IS going to opt out and then we would need to put him on the trade market... IMO. I wouldn't mind keeping him either... if we can offer $10 mill (whatever gets him from current annual salary to... happiness...) to buy out his option and he is agreeable to that then... That would be my 1st choice.

Dude... I was so on keeping Candy this offseason... I was right there with you... I was pegging him at 3.5-ish WAR and I think you had run calc's on maybe 2-War? that said he was absolutely worth the resign.

OTOH... When Miggy retires after the season... A beautiful opening at DH blossoms wildly, allowing Hinch to put Malloy or Carpenter at DH, or in LF, or on the bench as a pinch-hitter, as needed.

They'll need to move multiple layers of air defense around the nuclear plant simply because... Who knows what the **** these ****ing Russian Nazi's will do...?

Unstoppable. They're making their case for sooner rather than later... Can we wait until the September callups?

Candy is 2.6 WAR to Lorenzen's 1.1... which is probably going to change after tonight... But it is sometimes hard to trade starting players at the deadline because most teams have their positions filled adequately or better... So there's that. But I'm with Lee. Don't care about the money. My choice would have been to have both Candy & Lorenzen on the roster... and I would have jettisoned Schoop because I had ZERO confidence in him this season and stated as such in the offseason... But that's just my own preference.

You wore Firehouse Red, right? "You coulda been a contendah..."

They still need to dump Bojan however... And then sign a support type guy who can 3 & D... I'm still voting for Jalen McDaniels.

To this point: Maybe they want to let Cade-Ivey-Ausar-Livers-Duren-Stew-Wiseman ferment for another year... If they couldn't swing a Cam Johnson (if they were that interested...) this year... then maybe just punt on this year and let the kids gel into whatever they can get to this year? Punt expensive contracts this year and take another look next year?

I think the Candy decision boils down to, in its most simplest terms, as: "Let's just move on."

I expected a 3-to-3.5-ish WAR season from him in 2023. Where's he at right now...? (don't be lazy, look it up 84...) Oh, 2.6. Exceeding expectations. So he's running at his 2021 level. Not to be unexpected.

Thank you. It ended up a money decision, and a roster changeover decision... Not a bounceback decision... IMO.

This was my point in the offseason. He was the one guy who I felt would have a recovery season that would turn him into a potential trade deadline asset... Not Schoop. Not Baez. (Not counting Eduardo as we're speaking about position players here... Eduardo COULD fit into this category... if he can get back pitching, and healthy, in July...) Candy.

They bought him out for $966K out of the $3 mill contract. Split between two years = cap hit $433K this year and $533K next year. So I guess they do save a chunk this year... But I still say they don't want him on the roster and no one was offering anything for him in trade... So about the roster spot, but also a nice chunk on the cap. I don't know how they're planning out their roster spots but... it seems the Oilers could have done that...

As problematic as Lindstrom is... That doesn't help us on Right-Side D... At least not... today.

They don't save $3 mill in cap because they still have to pay him. Maybe not $3 mill but... I don't think they're saving much by buying him out... And he gets to see if he can sign on with another team so... actually some class by the Wings to let him go shopping for another job early...

What's the roster limit? The only reason to carry him on the roster is if they can trade him for something. Buying him out probably only saves a few pennies so this isn't about potentially adding a ton of salary. It's all about the roster spot and I guess they don't really want him on the roster and no one was interested in trading anything for him. I'm just guessing but... my 2 cents.

Conversely to your prior statement (not this one)... Helping poor black people can also help poor white people, depending on the policy. IE: Eliminate salary caps on SS deductions and that will allow the SS % withdrawn to drop for everyone. Which reduces tax burden for everybody except for those that get above the reduced SS % at the appropriate salary level. Helping the middle class and poor disproportionately to versus the impact on the higher middle & upper classes that still draw salary. Of course, it requires employment to benefit...

Any votes on who will be this year's Mazur/ or Lombardi? I'm throwing my hat out for Kevin Bicker...