sabretooth

Honestly, whenever me and my friends would act out great plays, someone would always hum the trumpet line to that music. Similarly, if someone was going to demonstrate a feat of strength, you had to do imitate the Six Million Dollar man flexing sound effect.

That was great stuff....GREAT stuff....the Gathering Crowds music was such a thrill to hear at Tiger Stadium, and the highlights on the old black-and-white screen above the CF bleachers. LOVED it.

Well, yes, that too 😎👍👍

I'm sure you're right....I'm guessing that the cable TV companies run the numbers and determine that there isnt enough a la carte revenue from channel-pickers to make their model work. Wireless content providers are starting to eat broadband providers' lunch. Something like 40% of new accounts went from BB to Wireless in 2021. My guess is that neither side can afford to offer a la carte with the margins they are working with. The out-City cable providers are getting squeezed, I would be surprised if they can stay in business. My guess is that folks outside of urban/suburban areas will have to eventually go all wireless. Blackouts aren't going anywhere. You just have to find the provider (like Direct TV) that can find the right model to get you the content you need where you need it.

WTP, you can do what I do which is buy Direct TV online for $60/month, includes Bally Sports and I can watch it on my phone, PC, and so on. No blackouts ever.

4/23

Nice game! Love to see Haase hit that HR and Baez with the GW among other good things.

That, as we know, is purely optional.

Well .500 is the new mark of success, so OK 👍

You spelled Isaac correctly FAIL

Let the great Paredes/Kreidler debate begin...which will exponentially increase the instances of misspellings of their names.

Yeah, I would be surprised to see them strictly platoon him (400 or fewer PAs). Maybe he will be rested against tougher LHP but he wont be platooned. If Haase *and* Reyes are both raking, obviously that will bleed some PAs from Meadows. He probably wont get 600 PAs, but he has had over 500 in both of his last two full seasons, and the Rays had guys to platoon him with. My guess is that the Tigers are invested in trying to get more-or-less full-time production from Meadows. So far he's had 2 good seasons out of 4 against LHP, though last year he was brutal in a typically small sample. He seems just as likely to have a decent or good small sample vs. LHP in 2022 as not, we will see.

With Chafin struggling health-wise and Cisneros gone they really need to upgrade the bullpen.

Ben Clemens doesn't seem to critique or doubt the idea that Meadows is a better fit for the Tigers in the next couple of years than Paredes. His analysis seems to speak primarily to Rays' doubters by assuring them that Paredes is a better fit for the Rays than they might think and better for the Rays than Meadows will probably be from an overall performance/cost/roster construction standpoint. Whatever. Paredes might turn out to be a more productive and more valuable player than Meadows next year. Or even this year. And Nicky Lopez might wind up having a higher WAR this year and next year than Bo Bichette. But I wouldn't trade Bo Bichette for Nicky Lopez if I were the Blue Jays. And there is no doubt that I strongly believe that we need a guy of Meadows' caliber pulling down 600 PAs in a not-otherwise-impressive Tigers OF/DH/LHH-power situation organizationally, even after Riley comes back strong, and especially after Grossman likely departs after this year. Our IF situation is actually fine right now. It would have been nice to have a guy like Paredes around after Schoop's contract runs out after 2023 (or possibly 2022 if he exercises his option)...however, long-term, the minors might produce a decent 2Bman by 2024 from Kriedler, Clemens, or Workman. I think Paredes has a good chance to become a good Rays player, especially if he successfully overcomes his weight issues, finds playing time, develop a consistent power stroke, etc....but I feel more confident about what Meadows will do for us than I did about what Parades would have done for us over the next couple of years.

Meadows' LA has been kinda high, even for a FB hitter (20-24)...seems to me that power hitters maximize their overall output when they launch between 15-17. He could stand to reduce the upper-cut somewhat, might help his splits too.

In his first 190 PAs in the majors his LD, barrels, and hard hit percentages are all extremely miniscule....I would imagine that Parades will start squaring up the ball at some point, and he should look like a fairly complete hitter, just not sure about the power. It seems obvious enough that he also needs to drop some weight.

I hope he keeps hitting flyballs at a strong clip.

This trade takes this "meh" offseason and immediately makes it a very nice offseason. We not only plugged a hole but put a plus hitter into the OF in a place of relative weakness, in his prime, with a career wRC+ of 124 and who can be counted on for a solid 2-4 WAR per year through 2024 under team control.

I really, really like this trade! Very nice job AA.

ding ding ding!

I overlooked him apparently

Interestingly, we seem to have gotten away from this kind of player.

And Bondo is working on his changeup.

He is a huge GB machine, even when he was raking after the ASB in 2021....during that stretch his GB% was over 50%, his LD and FB rates were normal for him (that is, too low), and his BABIP was 60 points high for him. On the plus side, his HR/FB% was 14 instead of his normal 7. If you normalize his BABIP, and if his HR/FB% stays at 14%, he would slash 282/312/437, which is kinda decent. Here's hoping for kinda decent.

These are well-considered thoughts, but it feels too much like we have become Cubs fans of old. The season hasn't even started and we're already chanting "Wait till next year!" Oh well.