Tiger337

I have already said I am giving Harris time and am not ready to criticize him. I just think the volume of mostly useless players being churned is humorous. What else are we going to talk about?

Why needs Andy Ibanez when you have Tyler Nevin?

It's different and it's a positive thing, but it's kind of low risk low reward. Better than nothing, I guess.

So, the roster is at 38 now. More exciting waiver selections on the horizon!

I think the people at the top are terrible and always will be. Having worked as a consultant within government for a long time in the past, I know that there are some good people at lower levels who work to get things done despite the corruption and BS at the top. So, despite my cynicism of high level politics, I don't dislike government as a whole.

Some are worse than others, but none of them care. I believe that the system is such that someone who does care can not succeed as a politician.

The attached chart showed leagues over time with different profiles which gives you an idea of how much on base and slugging are worth in different environments. I believe that will give you somewhat of an answer to your question. I don't think you'd have two teams today with more different profiles than the ones for let's say today versus the deadball era.

The wOBA stat gives weights to BB, 1B, 2B, 3B, HR based on the statistical probability that each event contributes to a run. The weights do change over time, but they remain relatively stable. For example, Walks had about 3% less value from 2018-2022 than they did from 1998-2002. The value of singles changed even less. If you go back to the 1930s, you will see some more meaningful differences. https://www.fangraphs.com/guts.aspx?type=cn

I am also ambivalent. I like it because it's strategic. I don't like it because it's still disconcerting to see balls that have been hits my whole life as a fan become easy outs. I never really got used to it. I don't really think they can ban it though. I think we are going to see teams find ways to get around it. I also agree with you that more hitters should have been able to get around it. I don't buy the excuse that it's too difficult for the best hitters in the world to alter their swing to beat the shift. I do kind of buy the theory that players don't try to beat the shift because constantly slugging for homers pays off in the long run. I don't think that works for everyone though.

I don't know if it will go a lot farther, but I think it's going to help a lot for two reasons: (1) It will speed up the pace of play (2) It will allow less time for pitchers to rest between pitches which I think will affect them significantly and might even cut down on the strikeouts a bit. Unrelated, but I don't think banning the shift really addresses any real problems.

I agree it's hard for him to do much especially with so many foundation pitchers having health problems. That is part of the reason I am giving him time. It's just that I remember when Randy Smith was the whiz kid that was going to change everything.

I am still going to give Harris time, but any hope I have is based on faith at this time. We can hope that Boyd and Lorenzon have big seasons like some of the pitchers he acquired for the Giants, but if Avila made the same signings. fans would have laughed at him. The Jimenez trade looks good, but Avila made some good relief pitcher for prospect deals too. I like the constant waiver wire additions as a way to build depth, but it's not likely to produce any meaningful improvement.

I wasn't referring to you in particular in my post. I have also suggested that deadening the ball would solve some of the problems people talk about. I also agree that baseball wants home runs more than they want to solve problems with the game.

Wake me up from my Knapp when the Tigers do something that matters.

I had that fear from about 8-11 too. What I remember most about the Hostage crisis was some asshole on the wrestling team nicknaming me "The Irainian". Every time he saw me, he would yell, here comes "The Iranian" and his friends, of course, thought it was hilarious.

My father used to show me WWII movies to explain his experience in the war. Although he tried to present it as a positive experience, it terrified me. I remember my mother looking up my birthdate in one of the draft lotteries, seeing that my birthday was near the top and being thankful I was too young. However, the draft ended well before I was of draft age. There was still a little fear that it would get re-instated, but being drafted was never a reality.

I was born in 1962 but I don't really identify with boomers because I was too young to really experience the 60s revolution which supposedly defines the boomers. I have vague memories of the 60s, but I grew up in the cynical post-revolution 70s.

How about playoff contraction? Or a new deadball era.

Yes, I am technically a boomer - right on the border of the next generation.

I think this is true at every level of education all the way up to graduate school. I think the most important quality of a teacher is to genuinely care about students. If they know that you care about them, they will most likely respond a lot better and learn more. It's important to know your stuff and to come prepared with good material and present it well, but if you don't care, they won't either.

Beck is maybe the most conservative baseball writer ever, so I usually take him seriously. He doesn't indicate that Malloy has a chance to take over 3B soon though. He said he could be in their long-term plans.

Yes, Anderson would be OK, kind a lateral move from Candelario.

I wish I knew more about 401k's when I was young. I was good at saving and not going into any kind of debt, but was late at getting into investing. Young people are not stupid, but they need instruction. Some things they need to learn for themselves, but I don't think finances and investing are among those things.

I was thinking they might have a shot at Segura. He would have been OK, but it's not worth getting upset about missing out. I can imagine the response from Tigers fans if they sign Josh Harrison. They had him four years ago and he seemed washed up then. Now, he's going to be 35.