1984Echoes

A-Hah! Now we're talking about Trump's Tax Cuts. Created annual $1 TRILLION deficits. Not billion. TRILLION. Did nothing or close to nothing for the middle class. The top 1% in this country? LINED their ****ing POCKETS with those tax cuts. Middle Class MAGA clamoring for more of the same? Too ****ing stupid to realize that REAL Republicans (those in the top 1% and trying to protect their top 1% from the proletariat rabble) are going to **** them in the ass again. Republicans: Cancel Biden's Infrastructure = **** the middle class (construction jobs/ engineers/ etc..) in the ass. Republicans: MESS with Social Security and Medicare = middle class gets ****ed in the ass again. Republicans: Make permanent the "middle class" tax cuts that are due to expire = these don't do **** for the middle class but they sure do help the top 1% line their pockets = middle class gets ****ed in the ass again. Republicans: The DEFICIT and the national debt is a PROBLEM so... They will find a way to TAX the MIDDLE CLASS. Middle class? ****ed again. Guaranteed. I'm sorry... but to me... the abject STUPIDITY LEVEL of MAGA is so ****ing far off the charts I just cannot ****ing believe that this is where we are.

100% And not just the pent up demand. The supply chains were not ready to go from 15% to 115% capacity when the pent up demand unleashed. That caused lots of logistical/ labor cost/ inflationary problems too. Not to mention, roughly 6 mill pre-Covid workers decided to retire post-Covid. Talk about putting pressure on labor costs. Good for workers' wages. Until the expected inflationary reaction to that, ate away at those wage gains... The short answer is: 100%

That works GREAT for fantasy if you can get him on the cheap.

Again, that was YOUR word, NOT mine. So yes... I used YOUR word to throw back a challenge. So forget YOUR word, genius. My word has ALWAYS and ONLY been CREDIT. Does Avila get credit for ANYTHING in your mind? Or NOTHING?

He started things. That needed starting. Full stop. He drafted quite a few MLB-quality prospects, and made some minor trades for same, and signed a couple internationals, same. Full stop. He hired Ryan Garko and AJ Hinch. Full stop. I don't see how you can give him a ZERO and not stoop to the barest of bottoms to say yeah, OK, he did that. That does NOT NEGATE the rest of your post.

Fine. Your refusal to answer any question I ask and your demand that I must answer your questions to your specific satisfaction says to me that you prefer to just blow me off. I've answered every single question you've ever asked of me. Maybe I didn't give you the answer you wanted... but I answered. I'm never answering another question you pose. Sorry.

I NEVER said Avila was a genius. That is YOUR word, not mine. Awesome mischaracterization.

Also... I have NOT stated he did a good job. In fact, I made a list of problems I had with him and stated these were why he should be fired. I think chas even helped out with a few. But I AM saying he should get credit where credit is due, instead of being **** on by people in here all the time. In fact... I think I accused chas of calling it an Avila "stench", but buddha, I think it was actually you who said the "stink of Avila"... correct me if I'm wrong. He gets credit for starting up analytics for the Tigers. Both the data system and the hiring of analytical minds. But he gets FAULT for being too slow, for being in over his head, for not knowing how to apply the analytics, and for slow-bringing in new hires that would fix this problem. He gets credit for finding talent internationally, or in the draft, even if he was not the guy who pulled the trigger. And for hiring the right guys that found or recommended or signed these players. He gets FAULT, again, for not hiring the right guys for multiple years in which most of the improvements in player acquisition were in the last couple years of his regime. Again, too late, too slow. He gets FAULT for NOT scouring the waiver wires trying to improve the bottom of the roster. Laziness? He gets FAULT for falling in love with his own players and not moving on after they've proved themselves inadequate. He gets FAULT for the crappy product on the field for the entirety of his regime. He gets fault for, simply put, just being NOT GOOD ENOUGH. He gets credit for smaller deals in which he brought in guys who at least have a chance to contribute, including Olson, Wentz, Candelario & Paredes. He gets FAULT for MUCKING up the bigger trades. He gets FAULT for (IMO) being GUN-SHY about any further big trades because he mucked up the first ones so badly. There's probably more but... I'm running out of gas and most of the additional listing would all be faults. As you can see... there's not a whole lot of credit in there. But our next contender, once Harris fixes everything Avila mucked up... will be about HALF Avila guys. On a WAG... Will Avila get credit for that. Or will people just continue to **** all over him and just deny the obvious. Asking for a friend.

I did NOT say they would return us to 1984 glory. I said we had a crapload of prospects coming up that reminded me of the 1970's. I made no promises to what these guys would do in MLB. They are obviously different guys. But they are NOT named Trammell, Whitaker, Parrish, Gibson, Morris, Petry, etc... Their names are, obviously, different. And everything I said was absolutely correct. Homegrown on the Tigers: Greene, Tork, Carpenter, Mize, Manning, Skubal, Perez, Keith, Brieske, Foley, Lange, Promising, obtained in trade (at the time I was stating this farm looked like the 70's to me): Olson Banging on MLB's door (or at least somewhat close): Dingler, Jung, Jobe, Campos, Madden, possibly a few others but more sketchy. And to finish this off: Avila was NOT GOOD ENOUGH. I came around to that a year-ish before he was fired. Call me late. And so now it's on Harris to turn this group of guys into a playoff-competitive team. I have ALSO said EXACTLY THAT. I didn't PROMISE playoffs, or guarantee them; I said work would still need to be done to whip these guys into a playoff type team. And there would be guys who didn't make the cut, or would be traded to find they right guy because they weren't. Just to state the whole picture. Laid out correctly.

I've already answered this. Why won't you answer my question on the other prospects? I've asked you several times and you are avoiding the question. Are you unwilling to answer Colt Keith 5th, Kerry Carpenter 19th, Beau Brieske 27th? Or you just don't have the courage? You're dodging. I'm calling you out for dodging. Why are you dodging my questions? You're losing credibility with me by continuously prevaricating.

I already said why. He's coming back from Tommy John, had only a few starts between that and the draft, and was selected in the 9th round. Your turn.

And this I agree with. 100%

PS: And you're avoiding the question. Or unwilling to answer. Colt Keith, 5th round? Kerry Carpenter, 19th round? Beau Brieske, 27th round? Reese Olson, for Daniel Norris?

I'll go find where you specifically stated "the stench of Avila"... It was in at least one of the game threads. But aside from that; and speaking to player obtainment specifically... you seem unwilling to give any credit whatsoever for player procurement. Why? Or, again, what exactly does it take to impress you enough to give someone credit?

Yes. I think your characterization of Avila as a "stench" is offensive. To me.

Is that similar to how can Kerry Carpenter be spun as a genius draft move when he was selected in the 19th round? Let me ask this question: What qualifies as a genius draft move according to your definition? Or worthy of a minimum of credit...? Kerry Carpenter in the 19th round? No? Tarik Skubal in the 9th round? No? Jason Foley? Signed as an undrafted free agent? No. Colt Keith in the 5th round? No? Beau Brieske in the 27th round? No? Reese Olson, obtained in trade for Daniel Norris? No? Wenceel Perez, signed as a 16 y.o. free agent in 2016 for $550K? No? What exactly does it take for you to even offer a MINIMUM of credit? Just wondering...

He was passed on 254 times because he had Tommy John surgery in 2016 when he was still in college. What else ya' got?

The general populace would definitely balk at that. I think their weak-willed response is encouraging Putin. It's what he expected. Stand up to him more forcefully... and he'd back down. The rest of your post... Absolutely.

The flipside is, if Hamas decided to attack again, Israel could formally declare War on Palestine as an enemy nation bent on Israel's destruction and therefore take even stronger measures then they've taken in this war on Hamas.

I'm telling Ukraine to go ahead and target any Russian military target that they want to... Inside or outside of Russia, makes no difference to me. Putin has declared war against the United States of America, Democracy, and Europe. Fine. We should respond in kind. A formal declaration of "Cold" War against Russia, and if it comes to a military confrontation (not just proxy wars, or cyberwars, etc...) then do it. I'm tired of Russia engaging in war on Democracy, the U.S. and Europe, and us pussyfooting around the subject. He is a lethal threat. Declare it so, and act upon it as necessary. Put 80,000 NATO troops in western Ukraine (west of the Dnieper); put in all the air defense weapons as is necessary, start building walls and trench lines and all other defenses as necessary starting from the Ukraine-Byelorussia border and working eastward. The Great Wall of Not Russia. IMO.

That seems to be the general consensus... 😉

I agree with all of this. The Org is loaded with Avila players: Mize, Manning, Skubal, Olson, Faedo, Lange, Foley, Brieske, Tork, Keith, Meadows, Greene, Wenceel, Carpenter, Rogers, (even Wentz), Jace Jung, Ty Madden, Jackson Jobe, Luke Gold, Tyler Mattison, Dingler, Workman, Trei Cruz, Campos... Which doesn't say ANYTHING. Half or more than half of these guys won't be on our next championship team, and that includes Tork. (Errr, yeah... here's to hoping we can get said championship within this decade... no guarantees despite my generally optimistic persona... 😉 ). It is up to Harris to add his own players, make trades, and develop what he has in the system or on Detroit's field. Although that's not on him directly (Detroit's MLB field) as that's on Hinch and Fetters and his other coaches to develop their MLB skills to the level of playoffs competitive. But as for minors development, and constructing an actual competitive TEAM... It is up to Harris to make the right evaluations, trades, and other player movements to build the roster up to that level. That's what I will judge him on: constructing the right roster out of his own, and Avila's, players. (PS: AND on minor leaguers development...). This I don't agree with. If Tork fails... it could be simply on... Tork. Or on Hinch's hitting coaches. A Tork failure means pretty close to zero to me with regards to Harris. What DOES matter to me with regards to Harris and Tork: Is that Harris recognizes Tork as the right player, or NOT the correct player, to be a part of this playoff competitive team. If Harris decides to dump Tork because he feels this team can perform better with a different 1B'man.... so be it. I don't put a Tork failure on Harris. In fact, I think I would put it on Tork. What I WANT from Harris is the ability to put the right guy at 1B, whether that's Tork or not. And his ability to GET the right guy at 1B, one way or another. Just my 2 cents.

Jackson Jobe could, possibly, make both Manning and Maeda moot point. We're talking maybe end of this season or starting next season... What then? Try Manning in relief? Maeda becomes a multi-inning middle guy next year? Maeda only becomes a part of this if (A) Harris talks Flaherty into signing a 2-3 year extension before the trade deadline. and (B) Jobe rises into MLB on this timeline. That's actually my preference: 1) Sign Flaherty for 2-3 more years. 2) Jobe kicks everyone's ass and hits MLB by the end of this season. 3) Turn Manning & Maeda into relievers.

January 2023 to the Arizona Cardinals as Assistant GM.

To the Commanders as Assistant GM on Feb 14th, 2024.