RandyMarsh

I agree, even though both Ohio State and Bama lost I think they are the best 2 teams after Georgia. If Penn State's QB is healthy I think they could give Ohio State a battle but otherwise I think it's going to come down to those 3 teams again like it seemingly always does but alteast there's no Clemson this time.

Under Harbaugh I believe Gary and Bush are the only two defenders picked in the top half of the first round and neither was viewed as highly as Hutchinson(assuming he carries this grade to the rest of the year). While Gary has been a disappointment he's starting to turn it on a bit this year now so if he continues this positive trend he may pan out. As mentioned Bush made the All Rookie team and looked like a future stud before tearing his ACL last year. I just don't think there is enough of a sample size to determine one way or another.

Too late to edit but I was gonna say of course at the time I didn't appreciate it as much because he gave up a hit. At that point in my life I had the Jack Morris mentality that an out is an out and a strike out is just extra pitches, so while I thought it was impressive I didn't think it was any better than a no hitter.

My favorite Cubs game was the famous Kerry Wood game, I was a sophomore in High School and our baseball game got rained out(it was actually more like snow) so I got home in time to watch from like the 3rd inning on. Still the best pitching performance I have ever seen.

I never really paid a whole lot of attention to Harry or SKip even though I watched a ton of Braves and Cubs games as a kid/teen. The one memory I have of Skip and the color guy for Atlanta is when Chipper Jones just got called up every time he did anything they would go crazy, no matter what it was. Or if they were going to a break and showing who was coming up the following inning they would make sure to emphasize that Chipper was coming up. His excitement for Chipper became an inside joke with me, my brother and neighbor/best friend who would all watch the games together. We were all just young teens at the time and got a kick out of it so to this day if were around each other in public and we hear a bunch of people yelling and screaming one of us will say "God damn is Chipper Jones up or something?"

I do remember the Rays being notorious for getting extra picks back in the old compensation system. I remember back in I believe the 2011 draft the Rays had 10 or 11 draft picks before we even got our first. Of course we lost our pick that year for signing Victor but still that is crazy.

My family didn't get PASS sports so before the advent of Fox Sports Detroit I probably watched more Cubs games on WGN than I watched Tigers as a 10-15 year old. I probably only saw a couple Tigers games a week where as virtually every day after school it felt like I was watching the Cubs. Thankfully I never became a fan of them.

I'm sure I watched the Tigers before hand but my earliest memory of watching baseball was a Braves vs. Pirates game. I even remember the pitcher for the Braves, Zane Smith. Just the name Zane left a lasting impression on me. I'm guessing this was 86ish when I was about 5 years old.

Odds are he won't but when you sign a long term deal like that isn't it accepted that the last couple years are going to be a a sunk cost? A few things that Correa has going for him, for starters is that his defense is far superior than Jeter's or Ripken's ever were, he's so good defensively that even when he eventually loses a step he'll still probably be passable at short, he also has a bat that can play anywhere, for his career he's about 30% above league average which is outstanding so even if he does have to move down the spectrum he can still provide value. Finally he is a former number 1 overall pick, that means something to me cause it shows that he has always had the pedigree which means that perhaps he just may be one of those outliers like Ripken or Jeter that stay valuable late in their careers.

Jorge Soler is another potential right handed power bat we could go after. Is bad defensively and can only play the corners but he can hit for a ton of power.

If were willing to pony up the money I really think we could get him. I brought up last week how former Astros Assistant to the GM Kevin Goldstein said that he thinks its between us and the Yankees for him but in the same chat he brought up how George Springer actually wanted to come here this past offseason due to Hinch but the Tigers weren't ready to spend. When somebody asked if AJ could really have that much influence on where a player signs he said yes.

Tork finishes 3-4 with a K, all singles though so he's got to hit the weight room. Kriedler 1-3 with a 2K and a BB.

I don't mind in situations like this, it annoys me when guys do it in regular season games with a half full house, but with the energy in the stadium there and the magnitude of the game I'll forgive guys for being a little overzealous and showing emotion like that. I just turned on the game too so I don't know if there was any backstory between the two.

Future Tiger Carlos Correa with a clutch bomb to put the Astros up 4-3 in the 7th.

Again I totally agree about the Timeout thing, I think I said as much live during the game thread but I don't think the ensuing play call was bad. Sure perhaps going after him would've resulted in the same thing that happened the first 3 downs but on the other hand you could've possibly gotten burnt and gave up a huge play. As it stands it took a blown assignment by a defender, a good throw by Lamar, a missed delay of game penalty on the next play and then a record setting FG that made it by a few inches to win. If any of those things don't happen we win. As buddha said sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the other team.

Another thing to consider IF we do indeed field an 85ish win team is the possible upgrades we can make at the deadline to make the team even better. Every year contenders get good players to bolster their chances, many times at a low cost(as we all know with some of our trades), perhaps we can be on the right side of something like that next year.

Tork at 3b tonight.

I think if they do make the playoffs it will be bc they signed high dollar SS, added another bat and another pitcher. Add that to guys they acquired like Candy, Baddoo, Grossman, Schoop, Soto and Alexander and I think they would be deserving of a spot.

If it gets them to 85 to 90 wins on paper then I consider that a playoff team cause that's where most playoff teams look on paper prior to the season.

After years of misery any a little success is going to bring optimism so that's part of it, another part is every year there are teams that make the playoffs that nobody expects going in and it usually comes from teams around our win total. Finally its just hope that our young players and prospects can make progression or in the case of Tork/ Greene immediate impacts. Skubal posted a 4+ era, you're hoping he can bring that down to 3.5 or lower like he was expected to be. Manning was over 6, you're hoping that goes to 4ish Mize you're hoping gives you 50 more innings. Rookies with the pedigree of Tork and Greene have made immediate impacts before and that's what you're hoping for here, two rookie of the year caliber seasons. And finally you're hoping we get that premium SS to not only fill our biggest hole but make it a strength. Yes there is a lot of hope there but at the same time I think they are all realistic and that's why so many fans think we could contend for the playoffs next year.

The only thing I don't like about this site is the editing feature. I'm not the best at putting my thoughts on to paper so often times after I post something and reread I will realize that I either didnt express the point the way I wanted, forgot something or just made stupid grammatical mistakes. If I catch them right after posting I can edit it but even then you have to deal with it saying it was edited but worse is if I don't catch it till a couple minutes later by which time it is to late to edit. I then find myself having to quote the post with an additional comment. Not the end of the world but something that I wish would be changed.

Duvall isn't alone in this, scouring the box scores throughout the league I noticed quite a few guys playing center that I wouldn't have expected. My hypothesis to this is that teams are realizing that teams are realizing with more HRs and less gappers its not as important to have a good defender out there. Either the ball is hit over the fence, its hit so hard only the elite can get to it or it's popped up. That and with the advanced batted ball data you can position guys where they don't have to cover as much ground.

Good point, its nice to have so many great players you can just call on arguably the greatest pitcher of his generation to come on to close it out.

Terrible call aside I always thought it was asinine to expect somebody standing over a 100ft away to accurate gauge the stopping point of something being swung 60+ mph, the fact that the umps get that right as often as they do is amazing to me.

I personally want a power guy like an Adam Duvall, he played some center this year for the Braves so he's versatile enough to handle all 3 spots. Yeah his obp sucks but you can basically pencil him in for 30 bombs if he plays regularly and I think that's what the Tigers need most, particularly since I expect them to lose Hasse's 25 due to him coming back to Earth.