papalawrence

I still scratch my head about Harold Baines. His career is mostly about longevity. Highest he ever ranked in mvp voting was 9th

I've long felt Freehan should get more attention. His resume is very impressive. As important and Kaline, Horton, Lolich etc were, Freehan was a consistent rock for those teams

Portland had an independent league team in the 70s. Jim Bouton pitched for them. There is an excellent documentary on the team https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battered_Bastards_of_Baseball

In 2 years Skubal to LAD for 10/800 with 75% deferrals paid out 20 million a year for 40 years. Of course I'm kidding......sort of.

Read that the Dodgers deferrals have topped 1 Billion and there are payments out as far as 2044.

BA on Detroit's big 3. Nothing new, but fun to hear BA gush about them

Lorenzen is a good signing by KC

I live in Minneapolis and am surrounded by Vikings fans. Most of them, even diehards for decades, did not see this Vikings team as a 14-2 team, and most have been waiting for Darnold to get rattled in a pressure game.

That looks cool......but the end of The Shining ruined animal suits for me https://youtu.be/7aLNa1RfkIY?si=9JSNs10o9ZshDzwR

I think Jung is one of the reasons Harris is not going to up offers to Bregman. Jung came up right in the middle of the intensity of do or die games. We really don't know what he can do yet. Toronto or the Mets or Red Sox will ultimately outbid Detroit, which is why I don't see Bregman coming to Motown. 2025 Third base will be a combo of Jung and Vierling, maybe Ibanez at times.

Hyeseong Kim to Dodgers

They have an option left with Tork. Unless a decent trade offer appears (not gonna happen) I don't see him going anywhere (except Toledo). I think it's good to put pressure on him to see how he handles it. I'm not confident that he will. I think his struggles are more mental - he overthinks. This pressure to perform will test that. If he struggles mightily again, I suspect he'll be moved. But as Harris said, perform and you have a spot on the team. I do think this will be Tork's last season in Detroit. I hope I'm wrong and a light flips on and Tork produces

Whenever Detroit played the white Sox I would watch the Chicago broadcast because I liked the Benetti and Stone combo and could barely tolerate Shep, Morris, Gibby and Monroe

The next 10 should be strong for Detroit. Doesn't help when they had 2 #1 overall picks and their overall WAR is probably about zero

A lot of those guys did suck, which is why the team was terrible. I still recall a pop foul that Jack Pierce dropped by first base. I was at the game and couldn't believe he dropped it! That said, as a 7-8 year old those were magical years for me and I cherish that time and that team. And then they added Kemp, Thompson, Leflore and Fidrych.....and the magic exploded in '76! LeFlore was my favorite player until they traded him

I believe the Tigers are currently tied for most money in their international pool. You can trade players to teams for part of their pool, to add on. So right now they can offer as much as any team. His agent is saying a lot, but I have to believe LAD or SD get him. He's a big fan of Yamamoto and Ohtani, and close friends with Darvish and closer distance for Japanese press to travel. And recently he was seen wearing a Dodgers hat

From what I am reading, right now Bregman is linked to Det and Boston. While Detroit's roster seems to be a better fit (Devers at 3rd), the green monster must be appealing to Alex.

Burnes is 29 and has pitched 903 innings. His career era is 3.19, fip is 3.21, whip is 1.06. He signed for 6/210. Unless Skubal continues at his current level or even improves, he isn't getting 400 million. Cole did get 9/324 at age 29. Skubal has had significant injuries. Maybe he gets similar, maybe 9/344? I doubt 400. The Dodgers will offer him 10/600 with half deferred and a lifetime pass to Disney

I'm sure most of you saw this in the news. I'm gonna start a thread because I was 8 when he joined Detroit and even though the Tigers were terrible, I was fully into being fanatical by that time. Guys like Vern Ruhle, Tommy Veryzer, Leon Roberts, Milt May, Aurelio, Freehan, Dan Meyer.......all meant a lot to me. And Gary was a big part of that gang. RIP Mr Sutherland

If a market like Houston is trading off pending FA like Tucker and letting Bregman walk, not sure what chances Det will have for keeping players like Skubal and Greene. MLB is becoming a ~5 team contender and 27 teams emulating the Rays of the past decade.

Speaking of Navin Field, I just bought a postcard of Navin Field from the 1910s on eBay. It's en route

Very cool story - would have been a dream job of mine to work at Tigers stadium in the 70s or 80s

A few times in my life I've been asked what player would I choose from Henderson's era to start a franchise and I've always said Rickey. If it were any player in their prime it would be between Henderson and mid 70s Joe Morgan. Both were so electric and could rattle pitchers with their speed. When they came up everyone took notice. Mike Schmidt would also be up on my list

I have a hunch they will add a versatile right handed bat, someone who will take a shorter deal. They will balance winning now with a larger focus on longer-term success. I think Jung will get a long look at 3rd. Tork will have a shorter leash but still have a chance to prove himself at 1st. Malloy will get more at-bats. And Dingler. Harris will not make a big splash but will trade for or sign a bat similar to Vierling. Several rated infielders are a couple years away. This is why I still think trading Skubal is a real possibility. I do think Flaherty is a real possibility yet this winter. He was texting Detroit players during their run last season. He clearly liked it in Motown. If Det matches other offers I actually think he would choose Detroit.

Santana to Cleveland