7/8/24 6:40PM Guardians @ Tigers

[Tigermojo]

  On 7/9/2024 at 1:32 AM, casimir said:

Someone in the Tigers’ clubhouse pre first pitch:  “Hey guys, those MTFers want more!”

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Javy Baez loves reading my critiques.

[casimir]

  On 7/9/2024 at 12:41 AM, IdahoBert said:

I have lowered my expectations to five runs. 

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Shrinkflation?

[1776]

Montero just turned 24 years of age two days ago. It would be huge if he could be a reliable starter going forward. I’m not expecting anything from Manning from here on out. 

[MeanJim]

I'm pretty sure the Indians didn't get a guy to 2nd base tonight. Nice.

I thought Hinch was completely nuts for putting Miller in. Kudos to Miller for getting the job done.

Hinch hates Ibanez. 

Great job Montero!

 

[Tigeraholic1]

  On 7/8/2024 at 1:37 PM, chasfh said:

Don't look now, but Isaac Paredes was also named to the All-Star team.

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Such a Tigers beat reporter thing to say.

[Shinzaki]

Isaac (along with Suarez and Adames)  is why I don't want to see us get rid of Wenceel

[Tenacious D]

  On 7/9/2024 at 2:54 AM, Shinzaki said:

Isaac (along with Suarez and Adames)  is why I don't want to see us get rid of Wenceel

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Add Willi to that mix

[casimir]

  On 7/9/2024 at 3:15 AM, Tenacious D said:

Add Willi to that mix

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Imagine a few years ago someone saying CastroW might be an all star one day.

[RandyMarsh]

After how he hit in the COVID year I thought Willi had All Star potential....atleast with the bat. His seemingly lack of position/defense was something that I figured could hold him back but offensively I thought he was capable of doing what he is this year. 

 

[casimir]

  On 7/9/2024 at 11:47 AM, RandyMarsh said:

After how he hit in the COVID year I thought Willi had All Star potential....atleast with the bat. His seemingly lack of position/defense was something that I figured could hold him back but offensively I thought he was capable of doing what he is this year. 

 

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Tony Phillips type of player?

[RatkoVarda]

multi-position switch hitters with speed are easy to roster, even if they don't get better, like Willi has

[kdog]

I'm not doing the revisionist history on Willi. The last two years in Detroit he had a 73 and 86 OPS+. He also wasn't good defensively at any position.

I'll credit him and the Twins for improving his contact rate and power.

[chasfh]

  On 7/9/2024 at 11:39 AM, casimir said:

Imagine a few years ago someone saying CastroW might be an all star one day.

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I didn't imagine Willi being an All-Star, but I defended keeping him before he was let go last year. I'm thinking there was something more than just his evaluated potential or even his numbers at play in the decision. Same with Jeimer.

[kdog]

  On 7/9/2024 at 2:58 PM, chasfh said:

I didn't imagine Willi being an All-Star, but I defended keeping him before he was let go last year. I'm thinking there was something more than just his evaluated potential or even his numbers at play in the decision. Same with Jeimer.

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I won't even blame Harris for it. He looked at the '21 and '22 numbers and figured the guy wasn't ever going to find consistency. His non-tender was probably a transition cost of changing regimes.

[chasfh]

  On 7/9/2024 at 2:56 PM, kdog said:

I'm not doing the revisionist history on Willi. The last two years in Detroit he had a 73 and 86 OPS+. He also wasn't good defensively at any position.

I'll credit him and the Twins for improving his contact rate and power.

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I don't think that's true defensively. He was at least a slightly plus defender at more than one position. But he did obviously have the potential to be unlocked offensively, and the Twins figured that out, mostly by getting him to be patient at the plate. I know people hate everything about the Tigers' hitting coaches here, but they do practice patience at the plate, so I think Willi could have done that here, too. And of course, with the bigger bases, the Twins let Willi loose and now he's a 20-30 steals guy.

[casimir]

  On 7/9/2024 at 3:03 PM, kdog said:

I won't even blame Harris for it. He looked at the '21 and '22 numbers and figured the guy wasn't ever going to find consistency. His non-tender was probably a transition cost of changing regimes.

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I'm not sure Harris should escape blame.  That does fall under his radar of transactions.

[chasfh]

  On 7/9/2024 at 3:03 PM, kdog said:

I won't even blame Harris for it. He looked at the '21 and '22 numbers and figured the guy wasn't ever going to find consistency. His non-tender was probably a transition cost of changing regimes.

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I don't know, I'm having trouble imagining that I saw something in Willi (and Jeimer) going forward that Scott Harris didn't. That's whhy I'm thinking it must be more than a pure performance evaluation that doomed him here. I wonder whether what factored into the decision was some combination of the press relentlessly hammering the Tigers on Willi and Jeimer and ownership wanting it to stop; and that maybe Willi and Jeimer were not the right kind of clubhouse guys, since this is an characteristic Harris is explicitly seeking, for better or worse.

[chasfh]

  On 7/9/2024 at 3:04 PM, casimir said:

I'm not sure Harris should escape blame.  That does fall under his radar of transactions.

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Or maybe Harris just ****ed up on both of them. That's a possibility, too. Maybe I should be PBO instead! 🤪

Edited July 9, 2024 by chasfh

[kdog]

  On 7/9/2024 at 3:04 PM, casimir said:

I'm not sure Harris should escape blame.  That does fall under his radar of transactions.

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Willi's projected arbitration salary was $1.7 million for 2023. It's also possible that Harris was given the indication from Hinch and staff that Willi was never going to get it.

Additionally, the Tigers hitting staff might not have unlocked what the Twins did. Harris saw the projected salary for tendering Willi and decided to go with someone else. This is a small move IMO and I'm not going to kill Harris for it.

[kdog]

  On 7/9/2024 at 3:08 PM, chasfh said:

I don't know, I'm having trouble imagining that I saw something in Willi (and Jeimer) going forward that Scott Harris didn't. That's whhy I'm thinking it must be more than a pure performance evaluation that doomed him here. I wonder whether what factored into the decision was some combination of the press relentlessly hammering the Tigers on Willi and Jeimer and ownership wanting it to stop; and that maybe Willi and Jeimer were not the right kind of clubhouse guys, since this is an characteristic Harris is explicitly seeking, for better or worse.

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Hinch and his 2022 hitting staff was likely the primary information source on Willi. If they didn't want him, Harris saw it as an easy non-tender.

[chasfh]

  On 7/9/2024 at 3:13 PM, kdog said:

Hinch and his 2022 hitting staff was likely the primary information source on Willi. If they didn't want him, Harris saw it as an easy non-tender.

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You may be right, although given his embrace of data science, it would frankly shock me to learn that Harris let Willi go because a hitting coach said words.

Another possibly explanation I've yet to contemplate is that the data science Harris relied on at the time was flawed.

[chasfh]

  On 7/9/2024 at 12:23 AM, Tigermojo said:

Go away Javy Baez 

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So, DFA him and back to Krediler and McKinstry?

[Tigermojo]

  On 7/9/2024 at 4:35 PM, chasfh said:

So, DFA him and back to Krediler and McKinstry?

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I praised him for his double so I had to comment on his double play too.

[oblong]

Javy made some plays last night early on that I'm not sure another person we'd have put out there would have made.  In a 1-0 game that matters.

Javy giveth and taketh.

 

[SeattleMike]

  On 7/9/2024 at 3:12 PM, kdog said:

Willi's projected arbitration salary was $1.7 million for 2023. It's also possible that Harris was given the indication from Hinch and staff that Willi was never going to get it.

Additionally, the Tigers hitting staff might not have unlocked what the Twins did. Harris saw the projected salary for tendering Willi and decided to go with someone else. This is a small move IMO and I'm not going to kill Harris for it.

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The Twins signed him to a minor league deal. That shows you what the league thought of him. The Twins have been living right lately. The Correa free agent deal (with SF?) falling through and WC suddenly turning into an All-Star? Fans don't appreciate the luck factor enough.