Useful Idiot

I believe we can gauge and project talent based upon commonly recognized standards and benchmarks. Durability, otoh...decidedly less so. That's why I think when you uncover a gem that demonstrates both, such as a Verlander, or a Scherzer.....only a fool allows then to get away. Kiddies in general seem more frail to me these days. Maybe that's just the "grouchy old man" inside me taking the reins, but I don't really think I'm imagining it

Forsaking proven veterans in a quest for cheap and controllable draft picks, is a crap shoot. I remember the sensation surrounding Todd Van Poppel back when the A's organization was billing him as the second coming of Bob Feller. Dreams don't always pay off

And, this is from the heart, okay? I'm not trying to rain on anybody's parade but my own. The way this team is performing, it will be especially interesting to see what happens to attendance now that Miggy's landmark milestones are behind him. Actual butts in seats, not just "paid attendance". My expectation is that it will flatline. And, I believe the criteria that any new potential owner is going to pay attention to, is what will it take to fill up the stadium? I think eventually the owners (entire league) are going to have to acknowledge that the 2014/2015 Royals were an aberration and not the Excalibur they'd hoped it was.....and that spending money is the proven path to dominance. New owners will look at what it took to fill up Comerica park, and be stunned to see that the 2012 level salaries that were required, yielded a net operating loss. I think that will weigh more heavily in their ultimate decisions than tradition, fan sentiment, or legacy. Just my cynic 2 cents

Well, I hope you are right. But then I had hoped the hype being fed to us about a team playing meaningful games had substance, ...as well.

I don't think that little itch really has his heart in owning the Tigers. I suspect that he feels more saddled by the ownership (due to the magnitude of dollars involved...not wanting to take a bath in exiting).....but I suspect he could be motivated, if the offer didn't make him feel like he was giving away the family farm. JMHO

Don't forget, the commissioner works for the league. The owners are the league. If a move promised increased revenues, without seriously impinging upon an existing franchise, league approval would be a slam dunk.

Leverage. The lotus song of 21st century capitalism: the "Public/Private partnership. Never underestimate the ability of talented scoundrels to motivate the masses by just investing a few tens of thousands of dollars in snazzy architectural drawings....and before you know it the local taxpayer base is doing all the heavy lifting for you. AGAIN, don't think that is what I am advocating. I'm just filling in the blanks for what you claim to be unable to see.

i'm not even willing to get into that debate, as to what alternate locations might work. No productive end to that line of thinking. But I do think it would be foolish to assume there are none. I lived in the Oakland market when the Raiders left, and I lived in LA when they left again...So the one thing I am sure of is that fan sentiment means zilch

Payroll relief

Isn't it fundamental to the concept of creating wealth, to effect "improvements"? I think its part of the game....make changes that prior ownership was too ignorant to implement...I think some call it "vision". Mind you that I'm not advocating any move, I just have the concern that any party willing to make such a sizable investment, will likely feel compelled to meddle. Pretty much in the same spirit with the recent warning to Cincy fans to be careful what they wish for.....

Thing of it is, I'm believing that Al is just doing the job asked of him. I mean he's the "face" of the deception, so I vent on him...he was the source of the snarky "drunken sailor" excuse...but I believe that was just made in service to a greater evil. Would any potential buyer likely keep the team in Detroit?

The thing I find most reassuring about Tork right now, is that he has an abysmal BAbip , so at least we can be sure that his other numbers are not artificially "pumped up" by good luck.

AND, we can be glad we built our roster intelligently, without that drunken-sailor largesse lesser teams are so dependent upon.

Cheap and controllable is all the organization really cares about The quality of the pick obtained has just been this organization's alibi for sukking.

And then our "lights out" bullpen comes back down to earth?

HOORAY!! The drought has ended. After 28 innings the Tigers score two runs on a sacrifice fly and a fielder's choice. I can just feel the swagger!! 😇

A. AVILA, is this you? 😋

And Hey, I'm not just a fiend for pouring money down the drain. In fact I'll go as far as to say, with our offense the way it is, A Avila is just wasting money if we are paying anyone in the Bullpen over league minimum

Hey, I can be an optimist...I'M SO GLAD that we don't have an outfielder standing out there wearing a string of pearls.. Although I'll admit it might look fetching today with those pink hose

Well, I'm just crushed.

Hey. it was really good to see Niko playing today, wasn't it?

See? You're just unhappy because I won't "pump sunshine" and pretend everything will be just peachy once we follow the yellowbrick road. All the excelsior pretending that our failures are just due to the cold weather, or the plague of injuries... looks mostly like this to me: Hey, if you guys wanna speculate how things can get better, I'm not here to try and stop you. But since we are speculating,..let me speculate that the injuries to our rook starting pitchers might be the product of expecting kiddies to fill too bigga void? PERHAPS had we splurged a little on top tier pitching, then the kiddies might not have had to try and carry the load that they did? (again, since speculating is allowed)

Just another one of those things put there for your wonderment...like the stars in the sky 😈

I'm really sorry if some of you feel as though supporting failure somehow makes you a "superior" fan to me. I'm just not wired that way. I cheer success, and I loath failure...I am FANatic in both capacities. It's not that I am enjoying these guy's failures. I'd love it if Javy, and E-rod and our outfield platoon raced neck and neck to the MVP award this season. But in honesty, I was like "E-Rod? Really?" And when we signed Javy, the first thing that came to mind was his vulnerability to breaking balls in the dirt.....something my Cubbie fan friends told me to anticipate. I would dearly have loved for those guys to have made me eat an extra helping of humble pie over my concerns, but so far they are exactly who I expected them to be. I steadfastly believe that we are where we are, because we ARE who we are. We ARE the lower priced spread. And for however long we are closer to .333 than we are .500, there's not a lot you are going to be able to say to convince me otherwise. I said earlier this year that I would consider .500 to be success....let Al deliver that, and I'll change my outlook

I pay to see a competitive team on the field, I don't cheer for the financial well being of the ilitch empire. If we had traded off our proven talent for top tier prospects, I'd be more "on board" with the overall strategy. but as the cards fell it's pretty obvious that it was just a salary dump. After A Avilia's boast about his disdain for "drunken sailors", He seems to have succeeded admirably in that one regard. It's a real shame that's not one of my criteria in being a sports fan. After his boast, if he succeeded, then he's a hero. But he didn't, so he's not. Try to refrain from your diminutive personal editorializations please, I can shovel it as well as you can, but would rather not aggravate the moderators. Hope you can at least agree with me on that one point?