Bless You Boys Podcast 123: What happened to the offense?

This week Neil Weinberg joins us to talk Tigers, Rick Porcello, Brad Ausmus, and all things stats and advanced metrics. In the second half of the show, HookSlide and Big Al ponder where the Tigers' offense has gone, why it's disappeared and if it can be fixed.

Bless You Boys Podcast 123 was recorded August 8, 2014, has a running time of 1:23 and features Al Beaton and HookSlide.

Special guest: Neil Weinberg of New English D and Fangraphs.  Neil can be found on Twitter at @neilweinberg44.

Topics:

• What happened to the offense?  Tigers scored just 6 runs during the 4 game series in New York, and just 2 runs in the 3 losses combined.
• How to fix it? Who is to blame and is there a quick fix?
• Austin Jackson: Has the trade of Jackson, who was big part of Detroit's offense, hurt more than anticipated?
• It it far to criticize Miguel Cabrera?
• Alex Avila: Hhas the criticism over his bat gotten to the point where it's beyond over-the-top?
• David Price: Thoughts on his first start? Was Price the pitcher you expected?
• Jim Johnson: Thoughts on the the Tigers taking a flier on the former All-Star closer?
• Royals creeping closer: The second place Royals are hot again and have crept within 3 games of Detroit. Time to PANIC?
• Dave Dombrowski: Out of the running for MLB commissioner. Feel free to breathe a sigh of relief.
• TV Ratings: The team with the highest local TV ratings (with some of the lowest rights fees) is the Detroit Tigers. Their 8.38 household rating is almost a point higher than the second place team, the Cardinals.

All that, plus tangents galore!