Lions News

[froot loops]

The Lions still actually have to do something though. I'm a big fan of what they have done in the off-season and of the Holmes regime in general but getting to respectable in the NFL is the easy part that the Lions have done before. They have to take the next steps before you can spike the ball.

[jaadam4]

I don't disagree with that. Hopefully it'll be a good ride.

[chemiclord]

The Lions still actually have to do something though. I'm a big fan of what they have done in the off-season and of the Holmes regime in general but getting to respectable in the NFL is the easy part that the Lions have done before. They have to take the next steps before you can spike the ball.

Oh to be sure, but the other three D-town teams are still struggling just to get to respectable.

[Whitley]

The Wings seem to have taken a step forward this year. Their margin of error is not much but last year was there a margin?

Pistons have pieces and a lot more talent than when Weaver got here. The question is if they have a centerpiece maybe Cade is that guy. Maybe not. Losing Cade certainly killed the year. Having him next year will certainly be a shot in the arm.

Tigers? They have a couple guys you might be able to have as a centerpiece (Greene and Torkelson) though they are still young. I am excited to see if Baddoo( power/speed), Carpenter(power), Maton (patience and power?), Rogers (power for a C?). Parker Meadows too. If those 2-3 guys can establish themselves in the lineup. Things look a lot better offensively. On the pitching side the biggest thing is health. Turnbull and Skubal to be healthy and pile up some innings. Mize to not have any setbacks in his TJ rehab. Reese Olson to continue his progress in the minors.

We are going know a lot more what they have at the end of the season. I would expect them to spend this offseason once they know where to spend.

[chemiclord]

The Tigers aren't going to spend what they need. That will remain the problem as long as Chris Illitch is running the show. Abandon all hope for the Tigers as long as he's the owner.

There's a reason the Tampa Bay Rays are the only team that's ever succeeded at being the Tampa Bay Rays.

[jaadam4]

I'm a big fan of Stevie Y as a GM and the Wings were in complete shambles when he took over but next season is make or break for me. He's drafted well and the youngsters take time in the NHL but a rebuild can't last forever. The team needs to be in the playoffs next year and be competitive.

I still never understood keeping Blashit around after he was hired. That was always a head scratcher.

[froot loops]

I didn't think the replacement was any different than Blashill. The Wings were little better this year, but they did spend some money in free agency and those players helped limit the games with horrendous starts. Theyy are proving Kenny right when he said that a total rebuild could take 10 years.

[chemiclord]

I didn't think the replacement was any different than Blashill. The Wings were little better this year, but they did spend some money in free agency and those players helped limit the games with horrendous starts. Theyy are proving Kenny right when he said that a total rebuild could take 10 years.

It can take 10 years if you are run by a miser that refuses to spend a cent more than he absolutely has to, yes. And probably even longer than that.

[chemiclord]

At least in the NHL, there is at least a cap floor that Illitch has to spend to... but even then, the Red Wings have the 4th lowest investment in their players this current season.

The Tigers, even with Cabrera's salary (that has apparently been SUCH an albatross around the Tigers' neck) they are 19th among the 30 teams.

Without it? They'll drop to 25th out of 30.

The pitiful amount Chris Illitch is investing in the teams he owns is truly despicable. And yet the rubes eat his lies right up and happily believe him as he cries poverty.

[wcfwtf]

Not sure why anyone would buy into the poverty argument since they bought the team in early 90’s and just the equity alone is in the upper hundreds of million dollar range

[froot loops]

It's because Chris Ilitch doesn't spend,.that's why the argument is valid. Lots of owners are content to collect the revenue sharing checks and real huge profits by not spending much. That's a category that Chris Ilitch belongs to and his father did not belong to. The teams that are miserly make a lot of money! In many cases more than the owners that really want to win.

With the Lions, they have always spent money once they retired Russ Thomas. But they haven't been great at managing the salary cap. A lot of spending a ton on good players that didn't come.close.to the value of the contract. This is the first time since the salary cap has been instituted that I think they have a good grasp on it.

[Whitley]

Chris Illitch always said during the rebuild that the Tigers would spend when it was right. Last offseason they certainly spent the money. Everyone thought last offseason they were going to take that jump so they did spend: Baez (140/6), Erod (75/5), Chafin (6.5). They traded for Barnhart (7) and Meadows (4). Money was certainly spent.

Now, if you want to say they spent it on the wrong guys, that is certainly a valid argument. I would not have spent for Baez--I was on the Correa train all day long. Just as I was on Verlander. The club needed those star players that were the center ofthe wheel allowing other guys to be the spokes and grow into being possible wheel centers.

After last season, which was a complete implosin, they hired the new guy here (Harris). Everyone was so bad it is hard to know where to spend. So you sift through the wreckage to see the talent is, sign some value FAs and next offseason you have much better idea where to spend the money. And money will be spent.

Money doesn't make you better in MLB, all it does is increase the margin of error.

[chemiclord]

They "spent," the rube says. They "spent" the bare minimum they could to convince people like you that they were spending.

Even after all this "spending," they are significantly below even the league average payroll. Once Cabrera comes off the books they'll be right back at the bottom.

Tell me more about how Chris is "spending." He's not, and he never will. He's playing you for a fool, and you're falling for it. He's hoping you're an idiot, and you're proudly declaring, "Yes, I am! I LOVE the taste of boot leather!"

[froot loops]

1. Chris Ilitch has been selling that line for nearly 30 years and for him it's never been time to spend. And for nearly 30 years you have defended him. You were telling us how good the plan was and how they were going to start contending by 2021.
2. Under that rationale, the Tigers never should have spent on Pudge after 2003. That was a much worse implosion, you would have defended another year of not spending.
3. When you spend money, that means you may have some bad contracts and you can't throw your hands up and blame a bad contract for refusal to spend anymore. The albatross of a Javy Baez contract is a blessing for Chris Ilitch, they can't blame the Cabrera contract next year, but they will have 4 years of blame to go on Javy.
4. There is no need to spend anymore, being a miser makes this a cash cow. See the link below and realize not all of the profits are realized in that $31 million. A lot of parking lots are owned by Olympia Entertainment and not the Tigers

[chemiclord]

Yep, that's one of Chris I's tricks; holding out the Tigers "official" ledger in one hand and saying pitifully, "Dear fans, look at how little the team made! Can't you see how we simply can't afford to field a competitive team???" while he happily uses his other hand to stuff all of Olympia Entertainment's revenue into his pockets.