1984Echoes

I hated giving up on Ray so fricking quick. Greene was a nice pitcher, but... I just hated dumping Ray that damn fast... Porcello for Cespedes was a good trade for us. I also don't remember much of what I thought about Eugenio at that time... But we got Simon when he was going to be 34 that year. He was a horseshit pitcher with a higher than 1.45 WHIP, until two good years at 32 and 33 with the Reds where he got his WHIP down to 1.07 (as a reliever) and 1.21 (as a starter...). I don't know where BABIP even would come into this discussion... he was old, over the hill, and never very good to begin with. Oh yeah, BABIP maybe because the discussion was that the 33 y.o. 1.21 WHIP was a lucky aberration? Maybe, I don't remember that part. I just remember hating that trade because Simon was horse manure. Regardless of whatever talent Suarez and Crawford turned out to be....

Yeah... Basically, that's my point.

And that would include me. Happy to get Meadows (who hasn't turned out for us) and gotta trade something to get something. This isn't so much about Paredes (I mean, it is...) It's about the Organizations lack of ability to fully realize the potential of their OWN players BEFORE they come to the conclusion that the guy is nothing but trade fodder. If they trade Torkelson this winter to the A's for Adam Oller because... hey, we need another starter... that's not going to go over well. What if Paredes doesn't fall off? What if he does turn into Eugenio Suarez 2.0? Suarez hit a .650 OPS in 277 PA's with Detroit, and then over an .800 OPS over the next 8 years for teams other than the Tigers. Don't we want that player? Paredes had a roughly .600 OPS in 193 PA's with Detroit, and now a .790 OPS in limited PA's with Tampa. Unlike buddha, I think this guy actually does have the talent to be a Suarez 2.0. But again, I am not upset about the trade per se, even though it hasn't worked in our favor to-date, as much as I am upset at the Org's INABILITY to EVALUATE our guys properly. I think Paredes should have been the 2nd Baseman this year, not Schoop. And I thought that last year too, so this is not new. Schoop should have been traded at the deadline last year because he was a productive veteran. That's it (IMO). The winning was great, so I get why they didn't do that.... But we're still in a rebuild... why aren't we acting like it?

On Reyes - he plays more than he should as a utility OF'er but, that's a reflection on the team's health and underperformances in the OF. I don't hate him either. He's a decent enough player. But I would rather get some health and some better performances by other OF'ers and cut back on his PA's. On Willi - he's had so much fielding woes that there is a general down-look at him, on the whole... he needed more time in AAA. But he does have a bat & some offensive skills, that have flashed more than Reyes as Randy pointed out... the issue was always where does he play? But it seems he's improved enough in the OF to not be a liability, I'm not certain if he still looks rough in the IF... but the 1.1 WAR is nice, and says he's at least a useful player... although if he's still really not that good in the IF I think he will eventually get squeezed out by better players. They just aren't all here yet... which is a reflection on the team as a whole.

Ukrainian offensive operations commenced this AM in multiple attacks across the southern front lines... some gains already made? https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-launches-military-push-south-possible-counteroffensive-russia-war-2022-8

To me it's embarrassing that a team can't evaluate its OWN players correctly and end up giving away a player that they should have held onto.

This tells me there are too many problems to fix. So I go internal first to see how many can fixed, internally, and evaluate after 2023 season how many/ how much money must be used on external players on positions that can't be fixed internally. That's my recommendation.

Put another way: Here's a list of problem positions for the Tigers in 2023... which positions do we find internal answers for and which ones external? At the end of the exercise, how many positions do you want external solutions for, what level of talent, and how much money for each external position solution? 2023 problem positions, and the current player/ problem in 2022: Starting catcher (2022 Tucker Barnhart, problem) Starting 1st Baseman (Tork is in AAA) Starting 2nd Baseman (Jon Schoop, not a long term answer) Starting SS (Baez having problems with throwing at SS) Starting 3rd Baseman (Candy should be a 1 year stopgap at best) Starting LF'er (Baddoo is still struggling badly) Starting RF'er (Reyes should be a 4th OF'er) DH: (Miggy is done for) Starting Rotation Pitchers, after Eduardo & Manning: 3rd Rotation Starter (???) 4th Rotation Starter (???) 5th Rotation Starter (???)

If they non-tender him... they might not be able to negotiate with him for a specified amount of time - I forget the rules - but if they end up giving the best offer in the market to him, whenever they can... then yes, it can be any amount. It's not going to be any technical minimum (vet's minim for example...); or, I just don't believe that. But it would probably be less than this year's salary. $5 mill for 1 year? Unless... there's another team out there that's desperate for a 3B'man? That offers him 3 years $20 mill? I have no idea who would want him and for how much... But... I would rather tender him. He's a stop gap. You get him for 1 year. At an Arb salary. I don't care about the money. And then... hope someone in the system can push him out of a job. If he's doing crappy again, you just move on. If he has a resurgence next year and 2-ish WAR at the deadline, then... you trade him at the deadline for whatever you can get. I don't think Keith will be ready by next deadline. But even if it's Clemens or Kreidler or Lipcius or whoever, it's another stop gap until Keith actually shows that he deserves the position or that he doesn't and we need a more suitable/ expensive option. If I'm the new GM, I don't want to make any knee-jerk decisions. I take 2023 to review the roster, review the minors, etc., etc... And start discarding/ upgrading/ trading guys beginning at next year's deadline. But I keep Jeimer for 1 more year, tender him, and figure it out in 2023... But that's just me.

That Rhaenyra faced down Daemon was pretty impressive. But after Viserys's ill-advised and emotional move... Corlys Velaryon ran straight to Daemon... No blow ups yet but we can see where everything is headed... Martin's mantra is to always expect the unexpected so... it'll be interesting to see what wrenches get tossed into the works as the season develops...

Swap him with Sewell for RT versus LT. I don't know if Sewell is ready for that just yet... but it's gotta be coming...

Daz and Tork went back-to-back with HR's... Tork finished 2-3 with the HR, a BB, and no K's (and also his FIRST SB this year...!) Daz finished 1-4 with just the HR and 3 K's (dropped to 5th spot this game). Kreidler no hits but 2 BB"s and his 15th SB Dingler, Erie, 1-4 with a double. Dylan Smith at WM didn't have a great game: 3 1/3 inn's, 5 K's but 4 hits 3 BB's and 4 ER's Campos at Lakeland with a double & triple 2-4. Dan Serretti with a double, 1-2 with 2 BB's and a 1.253 OPS so far, but he's 22 (6th round pick this year) and needs to be pushed up to High A Adinso Reyes (Int'l bonus baby) is only 20 and raked a .907 OPS at GCL but is struggling at A-ball so far (.606 OPS); although today he did go 2-4 with a HR.

what happened to Baez?

Isn't Jermar Jefferson supposed to be fast as lightning? They're giving him a good look today...

Execute the treasonous MF'er.

Jay's little brother Josh...

Good summary for WM. Erie: Both Dingler & Workman hit doubles today. Dingler 3 for 5 with the double Workman 1 for 4 with the double and a BB... and 2 K's. Parker went 1 for 5... no K's Wilmer Flores had an OK game: 6 inn's 7 hits 1 BB and 5 K's. But he gave up 2 HR's for 4 ER's. Lakeland: Nothing exciting. Toledo: Carlton just closed it out, Hens win 3-0... Daz hit a triple 1 for 4. Kreidler hit a double 2 for 4 and also his 14th SB this year (at Toledo that is...) Tork 0 for 3 (meh) and a HBP Bryan Garcia pitched 6 shutout inn's with 1 hit 1BB and 7 K's...

Keuchel is 34 and has been a disaster the past two years... his career may be running on fumes... Similar to Miggy...

Tigers trying to reclaim some small part of their lost dignity...

Inflation: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/inflation-falls-in-july-for-first-time-in-two-plus-years-key-gauge-shows-due-to-falling-gas-prices-11661517617?siteid=yhoof2

Awesome buying opportunity after this overreaction.

Also... Growth companies that are not cash positive (they may have a high revenues growth rate but if Op expenses remain higher than Net Margin as they try to expand their business) have to borrow money. The higher the interest rates, the harder or more costly it is to borrow. Thus, the businesses growing the most rapidly, and that includes employment, stop growing or run into cash flow problems if they are unable to borrow... or both.

Go Brandon!!!

So Trump was selling out the CIA to Russia and other foreign enemies? Treason! Execute this contemptible Benedict Arnold MF'ing Traitor! You know, like the Rosenbergs... In other words... it's not unprecedented.

That's probably the trick right there... No greater temptation for a young pitcher who might be struggling in-game than to just all-out fire away at full blast...