RandyMarsh

This past draft some of the perceived top 5 or top 10 picks slid to about where we are drafting. Guys like Rocker, House, Mclain and Watson, hopefully it plays out similar this year and we can snag a top 5ish talent with our first pick.

My only reason for being hesitant to root for the Rays is as a long suffering Detroit sports fan I get jealous and envious when one city gets a bunch of success and currently Tampa is that city. They've won the last 2 Stanley Cups, the Bucs are defending Super Bowl Champs and the Rays defending AL champs. But aside from the Brewers who ironically play in the same city as the NBA champs I don't even remotely like any of the teams so they get chosen by default.

The Brewers, A'(this was the late 80s Bash Brothers teams so it was a good time to "play for them", I remember being upset when they got swept by the Reds) and Royals were my little league teams. I seem to remember the Dodgers at one point too but the Brewers and As were the only time I actually rooted for the respective big league team.

Looking at the FA starting pitchers there aren't a whole lot of guys out there that would be realistic, atleast in terms of potential aces. There's Scherzer, Ray and Gausman and that's about it. A name I like and who I think could be a potential sleeper is Jon Gray from the Rockies. Looking at his splits he actually pitches better at home than on the road so I cant blame Coors Field on his pedestrian numbers but I just think his stuff is good enough that he is capable of being a number 2 or really good 3 with the right coaching. The hope would be that Hinch and Fetter can work their magic and unlock his true potential. Of course he's not perfect by any means and he could end up being a bust but if we go the FA route and don't pony up for a Scherzer he could be our best chance of getting a really good pitcher.

I want that pass rusher from Oregon or perhaps even Hutchinson. I think both are gonna be studs. I agree with Bombers about going WR with the Rams pick, that's where Id go. Unless things drastically change and one of the QBs really breaks out from the pack Id steer clear of drafting one. I think we have way too many holes to risk whiffing on a 1st round QB. He has to be as sure of thing as you can get if you're gonna take one.

Even though he hasn't pitched a pro inning I think a sleeper pick to be in the rotation some time next year is Ty Madden. He of course won't make it out of Spring Training but I could see a scenario where he works his way through the minors quickly and ends up here by the All Star break if he is needed.

I have absolutely zero expectations for Hasse going forward, he was a great 2 month story where he regularly destroy mistake pitches but once he started getting fewer and fewer of those abs his HR/fb ratio started to normalize his true colors came out and they arent good. That's one of the reasons that Im pining for another power bat cause I know his 20 some HRs he hit this year is likely not going to repeat itself so we're gonna have to find a way to make up for that loss of production next season.

If they decide to go the 2020 route and top 2 teams in each division get in then the playoffs should definitely be obtainable next year especially if they do make a splash in FA.

Once the preseason starts to get rolling i think the Pistons board will pickup, atleast Ill be posting there more. We're just at that point now where rosters are basically set but no games are being played so it's a bit of a lull period with not much to talk about.

Not sure where to put this but this is the first time since 2013 where league strikeout totals went down so perhaps the sticky stuff ban had its desired effect. Of course the time of games didn't go down though which is the biggest issue.

Brewers always had a special place in my heart since my tee ball and first couple little league teams were the Brewers. As a 5 or 6 year old I felt it was my duty to root for the Major League Brewers team since I was part of the little league Brewers.lol so stupid.

It seems like most of the names have found there way over here, unless they're using new names I haven't seen Yoda or Del though, anybody know there whereabouts?

Michigan up to 9th, MSU 11th in latest AP Poll. That would be sweet if both teams were in the top 10 for their matchup, even if neither is truly a top 10 team.

I'll never understand why they make such a big deal about blow to heads with hands and arms when guys wear helmets.

I want to get excited about the team but it's hard to overlook just how bad the teams they have played have been, particularly offensively so its really hard to tell if the defense is legit or not. Nebraska's offense and team as a whole will definitely be the best we have faced thus far, if we handle them in a likely hostile environment I will start to think that maybe we do have something here. In terms of college football as a whole, Georgia and Alabama just look like they are on a whole different level than everybody else, its hard to see a scenario where any team competes with them.

If it ends up being the Yanks and Red Sox it looks like its going to be the Rays or bust for me in terms of who to pull for in the AL. Don't want the Yanks, Red Sox or Astros and sure as hell don't want the White Sox. The NL I'm more open to, basically anybody but the Dodgers I would be OK with.

Not that its saying much but Cade looks like the best QB we've had since perhaps Rudock. He's not perfect by any means but I think he's good enough to win with.

I think what people mean is not that Miggy is going to just retire but that the Tigers will cut him and just eat the remaining of his contract like the Angels did with Pujols. My question there is that since Cabrera's contract has provisions where it gets extended if he finishes in the top 10 in MVP is that even possible or does that not matter at all?

Oh definitely, I believe like us they have 2 top 10 prospects in all of baseball plus they have Kelenic who has looked alot better his 2nd time up. A full season of his progression will help them greatly. The bad news though is their run differential isn't a whole lot different than ours so perhaps they have been a bit lucky in terms of wins and losses. They may currently be closer to an upper 70s win team than the 90 wins there probably going to finish with.

It's nice to see T Mobile park finally host a game with a playoff atmosphere. Probably the most important games it has hosted in like 20 years.

The year is 2040 and Im on the 10th incarnation of this board and I'm still pining for the big slugging bat that never came.

Shakespearean!

Buddha nailed it with his Fulmer finishing as the closer pick(don't know if he's the true designated closer but he has closed out alot of our games) and Stanley nailed it with the Mize pick and Tork struggling in A ball to start and everybody panics. That was so on the mark he should get a prize for it.

Yeah its a double edged sword, one things for sure though and that's that we need more bats that can hit consistently and unfortunately those usually come at an expense of defense which we also suck at. You got to pick your poison and to me our best hope is to load up on bats at the expense of defense. After all when our pitchers give up hard hit balls they tend to end up over the fence anyway.

Tork and the SS replace the Castros(or goodrum) Greene replaces Reyes and if we get anther OF he replaces one of Baddoo or Hill. You keep Goodrum or one of the Castrai on as a utility/ backup. Baddoo or Hill would be the first called back when somebody inevitably struggles or gets injured.