Tiger337

I think I'm already there.

So, he's the the pitcher with an ERA over 5.00 every year, but he he always pitches like Cy Young versus the Tigers?

I think pitchers who are not highly regarded as prospects turn out out to be surprises more often than hitters. It maybe because pitchers are so fragile, that they are given every chance to succeed. I have no idea if Long will succeed. One game means nothing, but the fact that he was given the start shows that he is further along than a lot of other prospects.

MTU's got this nice reasonable poster with occasional troll thing going. That used to be my routine.

I don't really remember. There was a lot of anger towards Avila in general at that point. In reality, teams don't generally get top prospects at the deadline unless they are dealing a top starter or stud closer. I'll be happy when the Tigers are no longer in the position of deadline seller.

"we all"

Did we hate that trade? They traded a non-dominant soon to be 30-year old reliever for a minor leaguer with three last names. What is there to hate?

If they have a chance to get a starter worthy of nine figures, I would hope they don't back off because they already have five starters and Olson is one of their starters. Who knows though? I wouldn't be surprised if Harris and Hinch are planning to patch together a staff with bullpen days and swing men.

You don't know how many of this years starting pitchers will be both good and healthy next year. Based on past track record, I'll guess some of them won't be. I think they will need another starter even if Rodriguez stays.

The game has changed in that players are getting more rest days and spending more time on the DL. Thus, depth has become more important. However, I agree that there is nothing virtuous about putting together a roster of guys that play all different positions and havin not set roles. Platoons are great when it's Champ Summers and John Wockenfuss at designated hitter on a consistent basis, not so great when you've got a different second baseman and third baseman every day and none of them are elite fielders or hitting enough to be starters. The Athletics had a revolving door at second base in the 70s because they didn't have anyone who could play every day, not because they wanted it that way. It shouldn't be any different today.

Why don't the Tigers do this for Alex Lange?

Most fans seemed to be disappointed with Tony Clark, but looking back he was probably a little better than your average #1 or #2 pick. If Tork did as well as Clark, I would consider it a win. I would just hope he eventually has better hitters around him than Clark did.

Well, everybody should have a gun, so is that a bad thing?

Everybody has skeletons and if you don't have any your opponent will make some up. Some people are able to get away with stuff more than others.

I definitely agree that this year feels more like real progress than any year in a long time. I am just not sure how much is Harris and how much is natural progression.

That is Pete Alonso this year. The question is whether this a new level for Torkelson that he can maintain or whether it's just the best part of a streaky season. I do think there is little question he'll hit for power every year.

I think it was not unreasonable to think that he had a good chance to be a 3 WAR player based on what he did in 2020-2021. I would have wanted him back even at 2-3 WAR.

Sorry I don't know how I got 4.4 other than being too distracted! , It's 3.4 on B-ref, not 4.4. That's still 5+ more WAR for the year than they got from their third basemen.

I don't ever want to see my favorite team sign players in order to trade them later. That is a loser philosophy. I wanted Candelario on the Tigers because I thought he would make them a better team. Trading players at the deadline is a consolation prize. It should not be the goal. It turns out that he would have made them a much better team. he has 4.4 WAR this year. The Tigers combined WAR is -2.0. That is a 6.4 WAR difference. That has the same value as adding a star to your line-up.

I hadn't heard of Zweiback in about 50 years. Are they still a thing?

He signed with Arizona so he could live near his Ohio farm.

Most likely, pitchers adjusted to them and the Tigers hitters were talented enough to respond.

He is signed through 2030. He'll get to 400 the same way Cabrera got to 500 .

Same reasoning.. and the projection systems agreed with us.

I saw an old poster (not Sportz!) on twitter say that it might be good for him to experience failure because he's so cocky and might benefit from adversity. I am not sure I believe that, but I've heard that theory before in many fields.