Detroit Tigers Baseball

The Detroit Tigers will likely be shopping for bargains in free agency

admin — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:59:22 +0000

The Detroit Tigers will likely need infield and bullpen help for the 2010 season but they will be shopping in the bargain bin. To replace Placido Polanco at 2B the Tigers will likely contact Felipe Lopez, Ronnie Belliard and Adam Kennedy. None of those names jump off the page but Lopez has the highest upside of that bunch. At shortstop Juan Uribe and Alex Gonzalez might be of some interest to the Tigers. The Tigers could be in the market for a new closer with Fernando Rodney likely moving on so Billy Wagner, Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez and Kevin Gregg will likely be considered. If they choose Gregg for some reason then they will have to make sure the set-up crew is pretty good. Set up relievers who might be in the Tigers’ price range include guys like Danys Baez, Kiko Calero, Brendan Donnelly, Bobby Howry, Russ Springer or David Weathers. None of those guys are anything to write home about though.

The Detroit Tigers have a bunch of key free agents that they need to make decisions on

admin — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:52:26 +0000

The Tigers have a lot of work to do this winter. They don’t really have the cash to spend like the big market teams so it will be interesting what they do with their own free agents. Placido Polanco, Adam Everett, Aubrey Huff, Jarrod Washburn, Brandon Lyon and Fernando Rodney are all set for new contracts. The Tigers would love to bring back Polanco but he will likely get a good offer from another team. The Tigers will let both Adam Everett and Aubrey Huff walk away as they will try to find improvements on them. Now in the bullpen Fernando Rodney likely priced him out of Detroit with the year he had as some team might be willing to give him 8-10 million bucks a year. Brandon Lyon would likely return to Detroit if they promised him the closer’s job but is that something the Tigers really want to commit to? Jarrod Washburn was awful with the Tigers after coming over from the Mariners. In a perfect world the Tigers would get to keep Polanco, Lyon and Rodney but that is not realistic with the payroll the Tigers will likely operate with next season.

Carlos Guillen will be everyday LF in 2010

admin — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:23:49 +0000

It looked like a big rift between Carlos Guillen and manager Jim Leyland was developing, as Guillen publicly complained about his lack of playing time this year. He also complained about not having a set position. Guillen played first base, third base, shortstop, left field and DH this year in 81 games. He was limited due to a shoulder injury and batted .242 with 11 homers and 41 RBIs. Guillen expressed his concern about not being an everyday player, but it looks like Leyland has already solved this problem early by announcing Guillen will be the starting LF for the 2010 season.
I think Leyland should probably be out of a job after blowing a 7 game lead in the AL Central with two weeks to play, but this was a good move by the veteran manager. You never want any controversy going into spring training and its better to handle the situation right away, rather than let Guillen wonder the whole offseason and possibly vent more frustration through the media. If Guillen can’t handle the position or struggles, then Leyland can always make a change early in the season.

Tigers Sign Jarrod Washburn at the Deadline

admin — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 03:02:35 +0000

Well, the trading deadline has come and gone and now we see what Dombrowski hopes will bring us a championship – Pitching. With the 2nd best rotation in the league, many would argue (including yours truly), that what we needed was more pop in this lineup. As of this writing, the only hitter on The Tigers batting above .265 is Cabrera, and he hits like a little school girl with the game on the line and runners in scoring position.

We only gave up Luke French, and A-Baller Mauricio Robles to get him, but he’s a free agent after this year, so if he doesn’t help us win now, we just wasted two more pitching prospects because Washburn is gone come October.

Washburn is having an amazing year, and will no doubt help improve the Tigers rotation down the stretch this year. But how many more games do we want to lose 2-1? Verlander, Jackson and Porcello already got that covered. With the Sox adding Peavy, this trade is essentially nullified.

Clete Thomas Grand Slam Beats Angels

admin — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:21:50 +0000

Rick Porcello got tagged early and has shown some signs of his age and immaturity. He’ll be fine, but the Tigers needed a grand slam from Clete Thomas in the 8th inning to pull out a win.

Porcello’s shakiness has not been bad enough to knock him from the 3-spot, but with Bonderman coming back tomorrow, it’s a possibility. This is a good problem to have. Willis will never be right, and will probably have to be moved to the bullpen, with Gallarraga being the 5th starter. If we can go with Verlander, Jackson, Bonderman, Porcello and Gallarraga as our rotation, we should be fine.

Edwin Jackson Pitches a Masterpiece

admin — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:52:19 +0000

Edwin Jackson just keeps getting better and better. He’s easily proved to be the most valuable off season pick-up for Detroit, and according to Baltimore’s Aubrey Huff after the game – Jackson and Verlander are the toughest 1-2 punch he’s ever seen in baseball.

Jackson pitched 8 innings of scoreless ball, with seven strikeouts allowing only 2 hits and one walk.

Detroit scattered 3 runs with a Granderson homer and RBI doubles by Larish and Clete Thomas.

Verlander Gets Hammered – Tigers Drop Opener

admin — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 05:27:08 +0000

Here we go again. Just when it looked like Verlander had gotten it together and was ready to return to form, he gets shelled by our neighbors to the north.

We were hoping that new pitching coach Rick Knapp would make a difference with all of these talented arms, but starting out with a 12-5 loss in which the ace of the staff gives up 8 runs in 3 2/3 innings doesn’t seem to bode well.

It’s early. There are 161 more games, but once again we start off the season on the wrong foot after high hopes. We;ll have to see how this plays out over the first few weeks, but our biggest concern is that this ball club doesn’t get off to too slow of a start. With the economy as bad as it is, particularly in Michigan, putting butts in the seats is going to be difficult enough as it is. With an inferior product we may end up looking at a fire-sale…

Sheffield Released!

admin — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:28:25 +0000

Well it’s about damn time! I know it must be hard to flush $14 Million down the toilet by releasing a guy that has guaranteed money like that, but in all honesty – that money has long been gone.

More importantly, Sheffield’s release opens up a roster spot for someone more productive (looks to be Jeff Larish) and more importantly, will get Guillen out of the outfield and back to DH. This is the classic “addition by subtraction” result. That means the newly acquired Josh Anderson will probably move to LF and share time with whichever extra outfielders the Tigers keep. I would still expect Detroit to trade either Rayburn, Clevlen or Thames for an arm in the next few days.

Tigers Pick Up Josh Anderson From Atlanta

admin — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:38:37 +0000

Well, normally we don’t do well with trades involving Atlanta. The last time we traded a pitcher for a position player, they got Jair Jurrjens (who we could desperately use right now), and we got an old, decrepit Edgar Renteria. Hopefully, this will work out better for us.

We gave up 25 year old minor-league sidearmer Rudy Darrow to get him. Anderson is a leftie, which is good. Last year he played in 40 games and batted .294. He has very limited power, hitting only 3 homers in 136 AB’s. Basically, he’s not a show stopper, but should do better defensively than Sheff or Guillen.

If nothing else, at least Detroit is getting younger.

Bonderman Hurt Again

admin — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:16:06 +0000

Here we go again. Let the Tigers pitching woes begin. I’ve already given up hope on ever seeing Dontrelle Willis pitch effectively again, but I had high hopes for Bonderman. He has shown that he can be a very effective pitcher when healthy (and in innings 2-9).

Hopefully it’s not serious, but we’ll have to wait and see. Right now, the status is day to day. He was sent back to Detroit to have Doctors look at his shoulder. Preliminary word is that it’s just stiffness and inflammation. Hopefully there isn’t anything structurally wrong.