Tenacious D

Apologies if this has already been shared, but some good vibes from Metallica (Still waiting to hear from Air Supply).

Baty looks like a very nice prospect at a position of need for us.  Same as Tork and Greene are, which gives me pause for trading too much for a potential bust. However, if you believe in your player development, you have to be willing to take on those risks.

Did we forget how to defend the run?  Perhaps we’re extending too much respect to Sam Darnold. but I’d rather let him beat us.

Just now, TP_Fan said:

Same ole lions lol. What an embarrassment.  Not ready to start, blown off the line. 

Love it 

The Twins would be very familiar with his physicals.  Maybe their interest was on a shorter deal, realizing that the leg could present a problem down the line.

4 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

He's a jerk, but if he contributes to winning games he'd be tolerable.  I don't deal with him personally.  All I have to do is watch him pitch and look at his stats. 

I worry more about his ability to play well with others.  I get a kick out of some of his anti-establishment stuff, but apparently his Dodger teammates hated him.  Not sure if it was because of the allegations against him.

13 minutes ago, Clinkeroo said:

Sounds like “We are going to tank, spend as little money as possible, and make a profit off of revenue sharing.”  It’s a familiar formula.

The “improvement” speech might’ve worked eight years ago, but not now. 

Looks like I’ll be making the drive to Toledo. Go Hens!

 

That’s what you took from that?

Harris speaks (apologies if already posted)

https://apple.news/AljmZaoBeR4KN9FUg1jK3LA

19 minutes ago, mtutiger said:

The flip side to that is that a big part of their 66 wins last year was an abnormal about of injuries and guys having bad seasons. And they have three guys coming into the next season (Meadows, Turnbull and Rogers) who were non-entities on the 2022 team and one expects they will contribute more than they did in 2022, which on its own makes them a better ballclub.

Maybe 2022 was almost the inverse of 2021.... just as maybe it wasn't realistic guys to repeat performances from 2021, water can always find its level in 2023 versus a year like 2022 when nothing went right.

I also think of the AB’s that went to Reyes, Candy and the Castro boys as addition through subtraction 

44 minutes ago, ben9753 said:

If I was him I’d retire. You made more money than you can spend, enjoy life. I guess that’s why I’m not a pro ball player. Or one reason among many.  

Why should he?  He’s at his peak.  If no MLB team will take him, I could see him pitch overseas.

This is interesting.  Apparently his teammates dislike him, but wouldn’t he be a free agent now?  I could see him end up in Japan.

8 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

 

The Injuries have probably driven Madrigal's trade value into the crapper, of course that also means if you get him you may never get anything out of him! Docs would have to have a lot of imput on this one.

For his sake, hope he doesn’t get Scott Sizemore’d

2 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Madigal is interesting. He's a limited player but he does have good on-base skill. I think one or two guys like Madrigal who are tough outs, even if they don't do much OPS damage, can have more value to a team like Det that doesn't have enough tough outs, than they may have to their current team or the rest of the league. 

I like him.  And we have a hole at 2B.

16 minutes ago, Toddwert said:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/reds-sign-wil-myers-to-one-year-deal.html

Wil Myers is off the board

Think we need someone like him, but would prefer a LH bat as possible platoon/fill-in for Tork and/or Miggy.  Hosmer and Belt are possibilities.

39 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

couple of names to consider in trades that no one asked for:
Baty - would cost a ton; long term piece hopefully

Madrigal - zero power, but may have bat to ball skills Harris wants

Josh Smith and Ezekiel Duran - blocked in Texas; Smith (LH) is wasted in LF

Victor Robles - just 25, elite RH CF defender w/2 years of control left, would pair nicely with Greene (transitioning to a corner) and Parker Meadows (in 2024)

Nolan Gorman - may K too much for Harris, but miscast as 2b

Oswaldo Cabrera (SH) - miscast as OF

Dominic Canzone - 3rd string LH 1b/OF in Arizona

Eguy Rasario - blocked in SD, but a RH bat

Vidal Brujan - over hyped prospect who has shown zero power/production in small samples; Metzler would have insights

Good list.  Once the Harris’ return from Bora Bora, I suspect he’ll start to focus on making more trades for players who are ready to step in.

59 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

makes sense for Os when you have SH catcher; McCann can start 40-50 times a year when facing LHP (which he has hit very well against some years); allows Adley to DH and not get worn down; would not be surprised if he puts up over 1.0 WAR each year; a bargain for 2.5M

he'll be hitting in a good park for him.

James McCann to the Orioles for PTBNL

56 minutes ago, Toddwert said:

whats to say this isnt the new normal?

I think it will be for many teams.  I just hope we learned the painful lesson with Miggy.

given the number of years being thrown out, I suspect we will be out of the superstar free agency business until things come back down to earth.

16 minutes ago, Jim Cowan said:

I'm not disappointed at all.  I have yet to see a player signed this offseason that I would want, at the price that was paid in AAV and term.

I would have liked Mitch Haniger.  Believe he got a reasonable 3-year deal.  RH hitting OF with some power.  

Quit yer bitchin’

And, if you are frustrated with this offseason, you can blame Al Avila, for leaving this team barren of talent, as well as Scott Harris for not being fast enough to make changes, or not jumping into the fray giving out really bad free agent contracts.

I don't see how Chris Ilitch is to blame--he was the one that initiated the change in the front office.  And he has demonstrated that he will spend.  It's really lazy and uninformed to keep blaming he guy.  And I've met him in person and thought he was a bit of a douche, but I'm trying to be objective about this situation.

Lastly, if you think back to the Dombrowki era, the Tigers were almost never included in rumors, because Dave kept things very close to the vest.  Perhaps Harris is the same?  Just because you don't have Jon Heyman erroneously mentioning us in any speculation, doesn't mean that Harris and co. aren't being active.  They are just being smart.

I realize that Brandon Drury has somehow become a lightning rod, or the straw that broke the camel's back, for this offseason (so far), but everyone does realize he sucks, correct?  He has only hit as a Cincinnati Red, basically playing in a ball park with high school dimensions.  Look at his stats once he was dealt to San Diego last season.  He was abysmal from 2017-2021.

I've attached the link to his Baseball Reference profile.  See for yourself and then tell me that we really missed out:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/drurybr01.shtml

48 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Mike Illitch bought the Tigers for roughtly $85 million.   The team would sell for over a BILLION dollars now.    Just to clarify.......85 million seconds would be about 2 2/3 years, a billion seconds is over 31 years.      That's a hell of a profit.  Sell the fucking team, Chris.   Everyone knows you don't give a shit.  

This franchise is probably worth closer to $3 million.

There was a lot of speculation yesterday on Twitter that Correa’s physical was a smokescreen and that he was getting cold feet and didn’t want to go forward with the contract with SF.

If you’ll recall, Cohen had said earlier in the week that they were late getting to Correa to negotiate so he had put the interest out there.

Another player spurns SF.