RatkoVarda

this is the Garland memo, references the Barr memo and further policy; the effing 12/6 GA run off better not delay arresting Trump Garland's very simple explanation should be: the American people have waited long enough for justice, they cannot wait any longer https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22089098-attorney-general-memorandum-election-year-sensitivities

it is probably not realistic, but what about Moreno instead? Jays need to make some trades and sign some free agents to keep pace in AL East. They are weighed down by $40M in contracts to Ryu (out for much of 2023 after TJ) and Kikuchi (awful). Not sure if Harris was with SF when they did this NBA style trade, flipping PTBNL for prospect WIll Wilson from the LAA for taking Cozart's bad contract So Lange and Soto for Moreno and Kikuchi.

Oz won't step foot in his PA house ever again, if he ever did

god damn was Avila bad at his job

lots of guys are going to be available for little or nothing Pavin Smith (AZ) and Dominic Smith (NYM) are both LHH and are going to be DFA'ed perhaps Hunter Renfro is looking at 11M in arbitration and Mil just picked up Wong's 2023 option Wil Myers and Joey Gallo should not cost too much as a FA Joey Wendle might get DFA'ed Tex could move Josh Smith and Ezequiel Duran

this is a great point; there is a big ripple effect from a good candidate running a great, even losing, campaign

lots of small pictures Dem losses. Marco and Vance winning? Good Lord. to me the big picture is how the GQP blew it. Kemp demolished Abrams, and he should have been able to carry any sane candidate not named Walker to victory. Fetterman barely beat Oz, but with a normal GOP governor candidate on the ballot, probably would have lost to Oz. I hated the Dems supporting the wackos in the GOP primaries, but it looks like all of those wackos lost in the general. Dems hopefully have stopped ignoring state races; do nto stop at governorships. Lots of other wackos lost; if Boebert is gone and Palin has actually lost, that a huge win for just normalcy. If Lake loses, even better. GOP will control house though and that sucks - 2 years of insanity

it is a small hurdle, but I am seeing most GOP losers conceding. Mastriano is big exception. Is there really anyone else not conceding?

GQP will have the votes (218) to select their speaker, but MTG wants it and her Team Crazy will not vote for McCarthy unless he agrees to investigate Hunter Biden, Fauci, Gmail, Benghazi and litter boxes. one plan was to make Trump the Speaker, impeach and remove Biden and Harris, and then Trump is president. that only fails because they don't have the votes to remove, but I am sure they will impeach them for WHATEVER

one last doomsday post; apologies for posting this nitwit, who gets its wrong so often, but not here

if there is some stupid memo written decades ago that says presidential candidates cannot be charged with a crime to protect them from politicized DOJ, Garland should literally burn that memo on TV, and proclaim the American people deserve to be protected from criminals

Seager signed for 10/325 starting his age 28 season; had a career 131 OPS+ at the time Lindor signed for 10/341 ($50M deferred) starting his age 28 season; had a career 118 OPS+ at the time Correa (career 129 OPS+) with be 28 next year; this is the year to get the big contract; he has been healthy; no QO unlike other 3 guys; still youngest player of the 4; 10/300 actually seems to be a little low, but he could not get what he wanted last year for whatever reason; after Judge and Sosa and Ohtani sign, 10/300 won't seem crazy.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2023-top-50-free-agents/ if you want someone besides a SS or a starting pitcher, not much to choose from Correa at 10/300 seems rational

what has he screwed up? Correa's signing set a record for largest AAV for a free agent position player. Now free of the QO, he is again aiming at the Lindor contract, as the youngest (still) FA option.

Neto (next pick to LAA underslot) was doing well at AA (SSS alert); Jung has to hit as he offers little else wonder if they will start him at WMI or Erie?

2021 SFG - everything went right; total opposite of 2022 Tigers; lots of guys in their 30s had huge production 2022 SFG - same team minus Posey, Gausman and Bryant finished .500 after injuries and regression; - basically baseball

Harris was a common name for openings and he did not have to take this job; if the Tigers did not hire him, he would have gotten other opportunities, this winter or next; one of the questions he had to have for Ilitch should have been, what level of payroll can you consistently support in this market? that question needed to be asked in some form; hopefully it was and was answered to Harris' satisfaction. a $180M payroll in 2024 will be 76% of the first luxury tax tier (or $56M below limit in total dollars)

good thread here about how the right effortlessly creates its own reality (Gertz works for Media Matters)

Pipeline has the Tigers getting #32 (C-Ven), #44 (SS-Ven) and #48 (OF-DR) for 2023 international signings. They are using "interested" now, rather than "expected to sign" https://www.mlb.com/prospects/2023/international/cristian-perez-807008

Lawler injured again. You can imagine the negativity if Avila had picked him over Jobe.

SR has 9 infielders (had 10 but Jordan Lawler left); someone is sitting every day; Keith is getting 2b and 3b starts; maybe the Tigers asked for that; and asked for caution regarding workload.

both. they took a guy with a high floor who could play SS in the majors and had some power. then worked on his hit tool. It seems more often than not, prospects who play shortstop in college have to move to another position when they begin their pro careers. Pena is an exception to that rule as an infielder who definitely can stick at the premium position. How much a team believes he'll hit will ultimately determine his Draft status. A product of the Providence, Rhode Island high school ranks who went on to the University of Maine, Pena profiles as a solid to plus defender who can play shortstop at any level. He has good speed that leads to excellent range and possesses the strong arm and footwork necessary to excel at the demanding position. At the plate, Pena does have some strength and raw power, enough where some see 15 homers annually as a reasonable projection. But that's only if he makes enough consistent contact to reach that power. There's length to his right-handed swing, which leads to some swing and miss issues that can result in an overly aggressive approach. Some of the mechanics issues can be corrected once he gets to pro ball, and shortening him up will likely be a primary objective for whatever team drafts him. With his defensive profile, being able to unlock a more consistent bat could produce an everyday big league shortstop.

Metzler took over the draft in 2016 and first 2 years are blah. Rays have so much churn of both major and minor leaguers, hard to follow the threads of player acquisition. 2016 Tigers take Manning (1) and Funk (4); no 2 or 3; B Garcia (6); Schreiber (15) breaks out with Bos Rays take Josh Lowe 4 picks after Manning; Frailey (2) traded to Seattle (Zunio); Nate Lowe (13) breaks out after trade to Tex; draft but do not sign Z Thompson (11) 2017 Tigers take Faedo (1); failures! abound; Vest (12); D Carlton (34) Rays – 4th overall McKay (1) always injured; Rasmussen (1) does not sign; Walls (3) 2018 Tigers take Mize (1/1) and Skubal (9); Meadows (2), Clemens (3) and Hill (26) Rays - Liberatore (1) traded for Randy A; McClanahan (1); Ryan (7) traded to Twins for 2 months of N Cruz, breaks out with MN; Bradley (5) is their #1 prospect 2019 Tigers take Greene (1); Kreidler (4); Carpenter (19); Brieske (27); and Hess (7), Bergner (9) and White (26) all could get a shot in 2023. Rays take G Jones (1), Goss (1), and Johnson (1). Doxakis (2), White (6), Wisely (15) Murray (23) are popping up on top prospects lists. 2020, 21, 22 – too early (Rays took Ryan Cermak @ 71 in 2022 with traded pick) So the Rays have fared better, but the huge difference is that the draft (and J2) provides the fuel for all their incredible trades.

Rays don't appear to have drafted significantly better than the Tigers over the last 7 years, but they make trades and win a lot of trades