OT: MIchigan Sports Thread: UM wins Natty Championship

[JediOrderPizza]

Fug.

 

[jaster]

Devastating.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

Story of the series Tigers left 5000 RISP

 

[ricky0034]

something about losing an elimination game because Skubal gave up 5 runs feels oddly comforting, it makes the what-ifs feel a lot more faint when the main culprit was your best player looking human for once

Tigers need some actual offensive help in the offseason though

 

[Reality Check]

I knew this was coming after they couldn't hold the lead in game 4.

Oh well...I was hoping they wouldn't be swept after game one of this series. They pushed it all the way before running out of steam. They overachieved and have given fans a reason to have hope again.

Realistically speaking, Detroit nor Cleveland has a great shot against New York. Much less whoever wins the NL. Cleveland frankly just has more talent and experience at the moment.

 

[RabidBadger]

Making the post season was nothing short of a miracle. Everything beyond that was playing with house money. Beating the Astros AND taking Cleveland down to the wire went well beyond our expectations. It still sucked watching them go down.

That said, the bar is set higher and there needs to be some meaningful investments in the off-season. Fans, let alone Hinch, shouldn't tolerate trying to get by on "Moneyball" rosters. You have a manager that squeezes out the most from players. Get him some effin' talent!

 

[BSHH]

Thankfully, the Lions did something to distract me from the Tigers' elimination, which feels bad now, but I will enjoy the run very soon. I just hope they get one good starting pitcher (like Flaherty) and one good hitter (like Santander) to bolster this young and talented roster.

The Lions seem to have sustained success, but I don't like their contract extensions. St. Brown deserved good money and the OTs as well. But Goff got a very expensive contract rather early. Now Montgomery - who is a very good RB - simply got a contract which is much too expensive, too. I fear that the Lions will feel the missing $ 15m cap space wasting on the Montgomery and Goff extensions rather soon.

Gruß,
BSHH

 

[jkutswings]

The Lions seem to have sustained success, but I don't like their contract extensions. St. Brown deserved good money and the OTs as well. But Goff got a very expensive contract rather early. Now Montgomery - who is a very good RB - simply got a contract which is much too expensive, too. I fear that the Lions will feel the missing $ 15m cap space wasting on the Montgomery and Goff extensions rather soon.

Gruß,
BSHH

You're entitled to your opinion and it's not an uncommon one, but I don't understand it.

The Detroit Lions have one job: win a Super Bowl ASAP. Screw the future and go all in right now, because their best window of opportunity is this year and maybe next year.

Frankly, I hope they find the right player (for both talent and culture) and have a massive add at the deadline (or sooner). Load up and do everything you can to get it done while your stars are playing like stars.

 

[raymond23]

I hate sports

 

[JediOrderPizza]

Ah f*** that didn't look good.

 

[Axel Sandy Pelikan]

something about losing an elimination game because Skubal gave up 5 runs feels oddly comforting, it makes the what-ifs feel a lot more faint when the main culprit was your best player looking human for once

Tigers need some actual offensive help in the offseason though

The main culprit was the Tigers striking out 17 times. Skubal wouldn’t have been in that position if he didn’t know he had to be perfect to have any chance to win

 

[Konnan511]

Huge win against Dallas. Also huge losing Hutch for the season.

Maybe now is the time to try and get Crosby?

 

[Hen Kolland]

The main culprit was the Tigers striking out 17 times. Skubal wouldn’t have been in that position if he didn’t know he had to be perfect to have any chance to win

The series in totality was a disaster at the plate for the team, despite Carpenter's heroics, and some modest success from Greene, Malloy and Meadows.

5-46. Batting 0.109 with RISP as a team in the ALDS.

ALDS Stats:
2-20 with 10 Ks for Vierling
2-15 with 7 Ks for Keith
1-15 with 9 Ks for Sweeney
3-15 with 6 Ks for Perez
0-6 with 2 Ks for Ibanez

Clearly the fatigue and heightened intensity crushed them when the stakes were highest, which is fine, it's experience that they can only get one way. That said, you need to have some stability added for next year that isn't playing pretend with Mark Canha and Gio Urshela.

 

[Ricelund]

The Hutchinson injury is devastating.

 

[ricky0034]

The series in totality was a disaster at the plate for the team, despite Carpenter's heroics, and some modest success from Greene, Malloy and Meadows.

5-46. Batting 0.109 with RISP as a team in the ALDS.

ALDS Stats:
2-20 with 10 Ks for Vierling
2-15 with 7 Ks for Keith
1-15 with 9 Ks for Sweeney
3-15 with 6 Ks for Perez
0-6 with 2 Ks for Ibanez

Clearly the fatigue and heightened intensity crushed them when the stakes were highest, which is fine, it's experience that they can only get one way. That said, you need to have some stability added for next year that isn't playing pretend with Mark Canha and Gio Urshela.

kinda crazy how bad Vierlings stats for the series ended up when he had 2 hits and 2 walks in game 2

turns out he got literally all his hits AND all his walks for the series in that game

The Hutchinson injury is devastating.

I was busy doing other things yesterday and looked at the score when the game was almost over

the emotional swing between seeing the score and then finding out about that injury was pretty crazy

 

[jkutswings]

Huge win against Dallas. Also huge losing Hutch for the season.

Maybe now is the time to try and get Crosby?

I'm fine with the front office and staff being picky about who they think is the right fit. But that doesn't change how necessary it is to add SOMEBODY impactful.

Winning a Super Bowl is incredibly hard. And it's entirely possible that this year might be the best chance this rebuild will ever get, let alone how long it might take to build the next version back up. So I really hope they turn over every last rock until they land their guy, and however this season ends, they can say they did absolutely everything they could to get it done.

 

[19 for president]

I'm fine with the front office and staff being picky about who they think is the right fit. But that doesn't change how necessary it is to add SOMEBODY impactful.

Winning a Super Bowl is incredibly hard. And it's entirely possible that this year might be the best chance this rebuild will ever get, let alone how long it might take to build the next version back up. So I really hope they turn over every last rock until they land their guy, and however this season ends, they can say they did absolutely everything they could to get it done.

Crosby really feels like sort of a destined fit for this team if they make the cap work. I don't fully understand the NFL cap, so I'm not sure if they could do this without gutting the team elsewhere.

I do feel like they need to go all in. They have maybe a 3 year window to get this done. And if you can return a D with a Crosby and Hutch next year that has the potential to be a dominant lineup, especially if our rookie CBs can continue to develop that secondary.

 

[jaster]

Holmes has made comments in the past about building a team that has staying power and can compete for years. As much as the Hutchinson injury hurts, I'm not sure the cost of acquiring Crosby (in terms of assets and cap space) is within Holmes' budget, given his stated M.O.

 

[Hen Kolland]

Crosby really feels like sort of a destined fit for this team if they make the cap work. I don't fully understand the NFL cap, so I'm not sure if they could do this without gutting the team elsewhere.

I do feel like they need to go all in. They have maybe a 3 year window to get this done. And if you can return a D with a Crosby and Hutch next year that has the potential to be a dominant lineup, especially if our rookie CBs can continue to develop that secondary.

Well they have $28.5 million in cap space, but that doesn't include a potential new contract for Hutchinson or McNeill. Or accounts for the jumps in cap for Goff or Sewell or St. Brown or Decker.

Basically, if you make the move for Crosby, you can probably bank on quite a few players that have been effective role players moving on, and you will have to replace them (McNeill).

Edit: and this all doesn't consider the multiple pieces of draft compensation you have to pay to get Crosby, meaning you are pricing yourself out on current roster players and giving away the assets to replace them.

 

[Reality Check]

Any trade for Crosby kisses McNeill goodbye. Probably along with another guy or two.

I mean, if he's available I would do it and worry later. But I don't believe either he or Hendrickson will be. More of a hope and a prayer from fans right now.

Hutchinson can't be replaced. But they'll have to add someone.

 

[19 for president]

Holmes has made comments in the past about building a team that has staying power and can compete for years. As much as the Hutchinson injury hurts, I'm not sure the cost of acquiring Crosby (in terms of assets and cap space) is within Holmes' budget, given his stated M.O.

That is legit in terms of contract/ assets for Crosby. With that said what teams have managed to have those longer windows without an elite QB (legit question)? Lewis lead Ravens?

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate Goff but I wouldn't count him as an elite QB. Not to say Holmes couldn't do it, as I think he's an excellent drafting GM, but there doesn't seem to be a ton of precedent for an extended window on a team built like the Lions.

 

[jaster]

That is legit in terms of contract/ assets for Crosby. With that said what teams have managed to have those longer windows without an elite QB (legit question)? Lewis lead Ravens?

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate Goff but I wouldn't count him as an elite QB. Not to say Holmes couldn't do it, as I think he's an excellent drafting GM, but there doesn't seem to be a ton of precedent for an extended window on a team built like the Lions.

Yeah that seems fair. And like you, I don't totally understand the NFL salary cap, so I'm not claiming any expertise. I don't know the best strategy here, and maybe the Hutchinson injury will be considered dire enough that a more extreme move will indeed be made by Holmes.

 

[jkutswings]

Holmes has made comments in the past about building a team that has staying power and can compete for years. As much as the Hutchinson injury hurts, I'm not sure the cost of acquiring Crosby (in terms of assets and cap space) is within Holmes' budget, given his stated M.O.

And since Holmes has a track record of being a fairly transparent communicator, I tend to take him at his word.

Which leaves me completely baffled as to why he would still have that approach.

When your roster is awful, you manage accordingly, hoarding draft picks and building long term. When your roster is capable of winning a championship, you act for today, not tomorrow.

Specifically, the stars have aligned such that San Francisco, Kansas City, and Baltimore have all taken a step back for one reason or another. Detroit might NEVER get a path like this again to not only have a chance, but potentially be the outright favorite when the playoffs begin. So why would Holmes think that a better chance of still making the playoffs five years from now is more important than pouncing on what's right in front of him? Whether he gets aggressive or not, this roster has too many good players to keep the whole band together for more than another 2-3 years anyway.

It feels like they really do have a bird in the hand, but would rather keep their options open for the two in the bush, and I don't get it.

 

[StreetHawk]

Crosby really feels like sort of a destined fit for this team if they make the cap work. I don't fully understand the NFL cap, so I'm not sure if they could do this without gutting the team elsewhere.

I do feel like they need to go all in. They have maybe a 3 year window to get this done. And if you can return a D with a Crosby and Hutch next year that has the potential to be a dominant lineup, especially if our rookie CBs can continue to develop that secondary.

Salary cap for Crosby is as follows:
$1.36 mill per week against the cap. He has close to $900k of bonuses so that’s another $50k per week.

So call it $1.4 mill per week for now upwards of 12 weeks.

Crosby is done with his guaranteed money in 2024. He’s basically got $60 mill over 3 years on his current contract.

He is due $22 mill in base salary for 2025. But with his contract no longer having any guaranteed money this is the time when elite players (Zach Martin And Trent Williams) got their deals redone. And Maxx is still playing at a high level and younger than both.

So you should expect to have to guarantee basically $90 mill or more over the next 3 seasons from 2025-2027 for him. Can be fully guaranteed upon signing or have 2027 guarantee at the start of 2026 year.

Do not expect Maxx to pay on his current deal in 2025.

 

[Konnan511]

Alim McNeill with a huge contract extension. I guess I never knew how good he is/was?