Tiger Geist

Dontrelle Willis had another decent / solid outing yesterday.  The way the Atlanta radio announcers called the walk he issued to Jason Heyward, it sounded as if Willis was pitching around Heyward after his monster home run off of Scherzer in the first.

Kurt didn’t have Dontrelle’s previous spring stats to see how 2010 stands… so I spent the morning digging them up.  I remembered attending the March 21, 2008 game, and how unbearable it was sitting through 3 1/3 innings of Dontrelle allowing baserunners, taking his time on the mound, throwing over to first (though he did have at least one pickoff).. game felt like it took six hours.  It does appear Willis started strong in 2008, however, before quickly falling off.

So, here are your Dontrelle Willis spring training stats for 2008 and 2009.  I also included Dontrelle’s magical first start in the regular season in 2008… for the memories.

Dontrelle Willis, Spring 2008

Dontrelle Willis, Spring 2009

I wrote up an extensive review (with an update) on the 2009 MLB at-bat iphone application.  One word:  Awesome.  2010 brings a new season and a new version of the application.  They released this one earlier in the season (early spring training), and I’ve spent the last week evaluating it.  As of now, I can only report on the audio portion of the app.  I imagine I’ll probably drop the $100 for mlb.tv, which will/should provide full game integration into the application.  All of the pros of the application from last year still apply, so I won’t relist all of them.  Also, I didn’t do as much testing between Wifi, 3G, and edge networking;  its the same audio quality as 2009, so the connections shouldn’t be any different from last year’s review.  NOTE:  Tested on an iphone 3G.  Also, if you’re completely new to the app, please read the 2009 review first which goes over the full details of the application.  This review covers what’s new.

The new application cost is $15, up $5 from 2009.  There have been substantial improvements, and they touted this application during Apple’s ipad launch presentation.  I imagine part of what users are paying is an ipad writing and testing tax. As mentioned here, its not official if this will be the same program as the one available on the ipad. 2009 also gave a free yet substantial upgrade mid-season to the application, with more video integration.

Pros:

• Vs 2009, the application is faster.  Improvements have been made all around on efficiency;  app loads faster (note — when it loads), driving down into your game of choice is faster… clicking between the box scores of the teams is faster.  My favorite speedup is the new ‘listen’ button that appears on the main scoreboard — highlight your chosen game and listen right away.  The 2009 version required a few more steps to get to the audio portion; this is a welcome advancement.
• Streaming audio now works correctly!  This… is… big.  As noted here and here, this app isn’t the first to do so, but its a giant step forward for the at-bat application.  By utilizing a quicktime stream through safari, the application can launch your audio broadcast which will run in the background of your phone.  Listening to a game and need to send or reply to a text message?  No problem; audio continues to stream.  Checking your email?  No problem.  Get a phone call?  Phone will automatically silence the audio stream for your call… and the audio will pick right back up when you end the call.  This was my biggest issue with the 2009 version — previously, if you exited the application for any reason, you have to relaunch and find your gamefeed again.  Video isn’t working yet so I’m not sure how that will be affected, but I imagine this was an audio-only (radio broadcast) fix.
• Push notifications for games.  Pick your favorite team, and the application lets you know when the game starts (similar to receiving a txt message), and also sends a notification for when the game is over, with some basic info (final score, winning and losing pitchers).  This can be turned off.
• Little item, but you get the commercials for the feed you’re listening too.  Sometimes its the little things, but when you grew up in the Detroit area, its fun to listen to the local commercials… and I always get a kick out of Ernie Harwell doing his Blue Cross / Blue Shield commercial.

Cons:

• If there are connection issues, the app will ’spin’ during loading and the app will eventually die.  Good news is this doesn’t affect the phone stability.  Sometimes a phone reboot fixes the problem.  This is the only major issue, and I’ll detail more because its frustrating.
• The push notification would be annoying if you left it on but didn’t want to know the score of the game.  I also imagine there will be a few thrown phones due to it.. you turn the game off when you’re team is down 9 runs in the sixth, only to get a notification/reminder that your team lost 15-2 an hour later.

The loading issue bothers me, because it is apparent that it is the development team not spending enough time dealing with the robustness of the network connection.  While its possible that I had limited network coverage during testing (the phone showed full 3G service, but it is AT&T after all), the app should be able to handle it.  While I was in Union Square / downtown San Francisco, I went to do a quick score check.  App kept dying.  As a spot check, I noticed my twitter app also gave connection time-outs.  However, I could still check email and I didn’t have any problems pulling up espn’s mobile site to check the box score at the same location.  So while other apps haven’t quite put enough time into their network robustness / performance, Safari and Mail.app didn’t have any problems.  Sometimes, after a reboot, the problem went away.  I will say that there were a few times that my twitter client could not connect but MLB at-bat 2010 could.

With that note above, who is this application for? Its not for anyone who just wants to get a quick score check;  the app is faster in 2010 but still not as fast as espn.com or other mobile sports site.  Given the caveat on network performance when you’re not on wifi, I probably wouldn’t even load the app if I’m just checking the score — Safari is faster and more robust.  I would also say, if you live in the radio jurisdiction of the team(s) that you want to listen to, I don’t know what value this would add.  I also probably wouldn’t buy this if I was in the same time zone as my favorite team — games start when I’m at work, and continue while I’m commuting home from work.

Great… who would buy it then? I have, and I love it.  I can listen to any game, but mainly the Tigers while I’m at work.  Wifi is great, but if you have 3G you can listen while at work and not get in trouble if you have a heavy-handed firewall in your way.  (When they are available), video highlights are great to catch up on the big plays, and the consolidated games (when available) are fantastic and excellent quality.  The video integration changes (if any) will be interesting to follow up on once the regular season kicks off.  Now that MLB found a way to stream audio in the background of the phone, it fixes the biggest issue/annoyance of the 2009 app.  If you have (or are thinking about) MLB.tv, the 2009 integration was fantastic.  2010 shouldn’t disappoint.

A lot of people are complaining about the cost, and it is justified if you live in your local market of the team you want to listen to.  I live in San Francisco, so I would probably hesitate to pony up money to listen to A’s or Giant’s games.   The real value is out of market games.  As Detroit Tiger fan & blogger, its either satellite radio (no thanks) or $15 for this app, for the entire season.  I think its money well spent.

Detroit blows out the annual Florida Southern game.  I still think its a great tradition for everyone.  Let’s catch up before going into tomorrow’s official first spring training game.

• Couple items on Gerald Laird working on his hitting.  Never underestimate the power of the contract year.
• Brandon Inge is ahead of schedule.  Also sounds like his swing is back.  Both good news.
• Bill Simmons and Dave Dameshek had an interesting podcast this week… Simmons thinks the Damon signing was a great idea (every Yankee fan wanted Damon back).  They also talk baseball stats, and wonder if stats are starting to over-rate defense.  Simmons cites Damon and Manny Ramirez as awful outfielders who helped lead their team to world championships.  Interesting thought… during the 2004 Red Sox championship, with Ramirez and Damon manning left and center field, they had a -7.2 and a -7.6 UZR, respectively.  Doesn’t hurt when they also combined to hit over .300 with 63 home runs.
• Bobby Seay might throw again.  Seay had a down 2008, rebounded in 2009 (probably over-used), shut down at the end of 2009, shut down to start 2010.  Not a huge surprise that Detroit loaded up on left handed relievers this offseason, but if they were truly worried about Seay’s health they might not have signed him to a $2.4 million contract.
• Verlander to start the first game… Porcello to start the home opener.  Maybe I’m the only person who has no idea why this is important on March 1.  Home opener will be sold out if I take the mound, let alone Porcello.
• Lynn Henning is pushing hard for Alex Avila to be with the big league team in 2010.  As a former college first baseman, it feels like Avila needs more work behind the plate.  It would not surprise me if he starts getting reps at first soon.  I don’t see why he’d join the Tigers to only play twice a week, and Leyland won’t DH one of his catchers.

Pseudo-fake game on!

Not a huge surprise with the Johnny Damon signing, Jason Beck reports Ryan Raburn will play multiple positions this spring.  Don Kelly’s left handed bat and multi-position skill set will get a run for its money.  The twist here is Kelly is a solid defender with average (albeit left handed) bat; Raburn appears to be the opposite.  I feel Raburn could be a better outfielder if he were able to focus strictly on it, but that won’t happen in 2010.

Couple thoughts here:

• Raburn is probably best at second base on the infield;  he had a few poor games at third and Leyland didn’t see the point of resting an obviously hurting (with his knees and his bat) Brandon Inge in favor of Raburn late in the season.
• Its quite early, but Jason Beck also talks about Leyland’s love of the young outfield talent.  Is this a hint that Raburn’s long term future with the club is not a permanent outfield slot?
• Would Detroit be truly comfortable with a Tony Phillips style role for Raburn, or is will he be actively shopped before the season begins?
• Where are his at-bats?  He’s not playing center… in fact, he’s only played 126 innings in center over the last three seasons.  Pinch hitting?  The more I hear the San Francisco media complaining that the Giants have no offense, the more I’m talking myself into Raburn not being a Tiger for long.  A very interesting spring battle.
• I’m not sold on Austin Jackson yet, and I wonder what Clete Thomas has in store.  Remember that Thomas wasn’t cleared to throw until midway through last spring due to elbow surgery in 2008; is he better with a full off-season?

On a pseudo-related note:

I always thought moving to first would be super easy… but as fans we saw how hard of a time Carlos Guillen has had in his transition.  Eric Chavez is making that same adjustment this year.  From Oakland coach Mike Gallego:

“The biggest instinct he has to get rid of going from third to first is reacting to the ball first – he can’t. He has to react to the bag. You don’t want to have him standing there, cheering his buddy making a play, and then going, ‘Oh, shoot, the ball is coming to me.’ “

I’m sure Oakland would love Chavez’s first reaction to be towards the field, and not the disabled list this year.

While the opening day starters are pretty much set in stone (assuming Johnny Damon doesn’t have a hang nail), let’s discuss how nervous we might be if a Tiger pulled a hamstring in camp, and was unavailable to play until mid-May.  I’ll group them in three categories.  The idea here is about breaking camp and the comfort level fans have of a replacement player; Wilkin Ramirez could hit .450 this spring and we still don’t know how he’ll play in April.  Bobby Seay’s shoulder soreness brings what was a theoretical discussion closer to reality…

Anxiety Attack division

• Justin Verlander.  There is a lot of pitching depth, but also a lot of #4 starters on the roster.  This works when you have a #1 starter; without a losing streak stopper you’re digging yourself out of a hole by the all-star break.  Also, with his new contract, no one wants Verlander to rush himself back into action with poor mechanics.
• Brandon Inge.  Detroit doesn’t have a third base prospect that can field or hit with power like Inge.  Actually they don’t have a third base prospect.  This might necessitate a trade or scrap-heap signing…. or worse, a shuffle of either Carlos Guillen or Ryan Raburn to third.  Neither is very good defensively here, though I assume we’ll see Guillen as an emergency backup infielder soon.  Its possible that a replacement hits and fields worse then Inge, on a team that may have problems playing defense and scoring runs.
• Zach Miner.  This one surprised me, but the more I thought about it, the more this loss would stress the bullpen.  First out of the bullpen, innings eater… Ryan Perry?  Joel Zumaya?  Left handed pitcher?  Perry might be the most capable, but was up and down in 2009.  You still want to monitor Zumaya’s workload if possible.  Does Jim Leyland go against his gut desire for matchups and let a left hander get four to six outs?  Miner bridges bullpen roles, and can a youngster (Perry) or a displaced starter (Galarraga) get that job done?
• Dontrelle Willis.  Here’s where I have an anxiety attack:  What if Willis pitches lights-out in the spring?  What does Detroit do?  Does anyone think it’ll last?

S^2 == Shakes and Sweats division

• Miguel Cabrera.  I’m conflicted here;  Cabrera is the team’s best player, so losing him for any amount of time is a huge concern.  However, Detroit has a decent short-term backup in Jeff Larish.  Larish bats left-handed (to further balance the offense), will give you quality at-bats with power, and knows first base well enough to lessen the concern of rookie Scott Sizemore at second.  The bigger concern is the lack of a true backup first baseman if Cabrera goes day to day with a leg injury.  Compared with other positions, Detroit does have options at first.  While he sounds like he can hit, Ryan Strieby won’t break camp with the big team, and pairing him with another rookie defensively would be bad.
• Gerald Laird.  I imagine Detroit can find more can’t hit but solid defensive catchers, and they probably have three in camp.  But Laird handles a tough pitching staff and is excellent at throwing out base runners.  I’m not really sure what Alex Avila will do offensively if pressed into full service, but it will probably be an upgrade over the 2009 Gerald Laird.  With a full camp for Avila (and Mike Rabelo and Robinzon Diaz), I could be talked into downgrading this.
• Jose Valverde.  This is a pure management/front office decision;  the Tigers felt they needed to spend a lot of money and forfeit a draft pick for a closer.  If Valverde can’t go, I would assume the Tigers are back to a position where they didn’t want to find themselves.
• Scott Sizemore.  When you’re counting on a rookie to start, there isn’t much hope that a capable minor league backup exists.  Ramon Santiago is the obvious fill-in here, but Detroit loses their utility man.  See Everett, Adam below for managerial concerns.  However, Sizemore is expected to hit, and Santiago can’t replace Sizemore’s bat.
• Left-handed Starter.  This is entirely based on when the injury occurs.  Detroit would love to have at least one left handed starter.  Assuming Dontrelle Willis isn’t ready… if Nate Robertson has the inside track on the fifth starter job but hurts his back lifting luggage on the way back to Detroit, the Tigers won’t have sufficient time to stretch out a Phil Coke.  Even if both Jeremy Bonderman and Armando Galarraga pitch well, five right-handed starters is a bit much.  If Dontrelle and Robertson both break a bone in their feet while we’re in February, this may not be a concern.  Doomsday thought… without injury, no one is confident that any of the potential left-handed starters will have decent years.

Cool as a Cucumber division

• Adam Everett.  If Everett, an above average fielder who bats ninth, doesn’t break camp, Detroit will replace him with a prospect who will be an above average fielder and bats ninth.  In fact, there’s a chance his replacement would outhit Everett.  Two concerns — 1) pairing a rookie double play combo, and 2) the chance that Jim Leyland overuses Ramon Santiago to cover this position.  Its hard to get nervous about a position Detroit has barely paid money for in 2009 and 2010.
• Insert_outfielder_name_here.  With the Damon signing, Detroit has capable backups at the corners with Carlos Guillen (well, as capable as they were as of Valentine’s day) and Ryan Raburn.  Center field is a toss up as is, between Austin Jackson and Clete Thomas.  An injury to Damon screws up the batting order, and an injury to Magglio helps the 2011 payroll.  This doesn’t even cover the young guys; an outfield injury can be absorbed.
• Left-handed-reliever.  Detroit has tons of them, though losing Bobby Seay in the first weekend of camp isn’t a good sign.  It would be hard to imagine Detroit signing ANOTHER left hander to the roster, but one guy with a sore shoulder and another guy who was in Korea last year isn’t awe-inspiring.

Final thoughts:

The answer to a lot of these injuries seems to be “Brent Dlugach” or “Don Kelly”.  Kelly doesn’t excite anyone but is versatile;  I like Dlugach for no other reason then I can finally spell his name without constantly looking it up.  Damon’s signing bolsters the backup outfielders to a respectable level, and the team’s all-star player is blocking some decent talent.  The real concern is Verlander, mentally and physically a unique player.

What I’ll be watching for this spring:

1)  How does Gerald Laird want his career to turn out?  An above average to excellent defender, or as a balanced baseball player?  Laird was so bad offensively in 2009 that Detroit went through three backup catchers trying to improve the position.  As much flak Brandon Inge has received in the past, at least he took giant strides to improving his hitting by adjusting his swing in the winter and spring of 2009.  What will Laird do to improve himself?  Contract year, and he may have a hard time reaching his current salary of $4million without an increase in offensive production.

2) Brandon Inge is in his contract year, coming off a serious injury, and detroit has a serious lack of depth at third.  Will Detroit make a move, or shift a player?  What about shortstop, where Adam Everett signed another one year offer in the off-season.  Does Brent Dlugach switch positions to third, or does Detroit keep him at short in Toledo?  Does Detroit have anyone close to major league ready in case of injuries to the left side of the infield?

3) How long will Detroit play the Dontrelle Willis charade?  As Jason Beck mentions, Phil Coke may not get a shot at starting since there are only so many innings in the spring.  So what is Detroit’s move?  Keep Willis until final cut-down, hoping for an physical injury…. hope for an injury settlement due to his anxiety disorder, or cut him hoping to recoup $400k if another team picks Willis up?  There is no way Willis goes north on the 25 man roster.  When will Detroit man up to that fact?

4) Detroit’s young outfield.  How will guys like Wilkin Ramirez, Casper Wells, Brennan Boesch play this spring?  Will they further push Carlos Guillen?  What kind of battle will Ryan Raburn and Clete Thomas put up, on a team that may only have room for one of them?  I’m still not ready to hand the centerfield job to Austin Jackson.

5) Is there any swagger to the Tigers?  Does anyone step up in the clubhouse?  This one might be hard for a fan to figure out.  Maybe this is a reason the Tigers are so big on Johnny Damon… there is no clubhouse leader.  I had always this pegged this on Carlos Guillen or Gerald Laird, but there isn’t one.  How do we know?  If Detroit had a strong clubhouse leader… Miguel Cabrera would never have played his fateful game late last season.  The front office whiffed on their chance to bench Cabrera… Jim Leyland whiffed on his chance… and the players didn’t do anything about it.  Would Derek Jeter or Paul O’Neill have allowed Cabrera to play?  Not a chance.

Quick shot as I try to solidify my spring training trip in mid-March.

• Johnny Damon… still not a Tiger.  Its hard to believe anyone who is throwing out numbers since there are so many sources.  Buster Olney’s take reminds me of the movie “Thirteen Days“… essentially Scott Boras is asking for a one and two year deal so he can save face by rejecting the two year deal.  Who knows.  A full write-up will take place if and when Damon signs.
• I wonder how Magglio Ordonez feels about his agent adding another corner outfielder to the team.  Magglio has another giant option year for 2011 that vests with a set amount of plate appearances.  From their recent history, Detroit will honor the option if Magglio earns it.  But you can’t see the team allowing Maggs to slump for the first half of 2010 before they limit his at-bats for someone more productive.
• If Damon does sign a one year deal, Detroit will have great trade value to contending teams for both Adam Everett and Damon.  Based on how some of the younger talent further develops in 2010, this could be an interesting year at the trade deadline.
• Furthering that point, the Tigers currently have 7 players looking at unrestricted free agency in 2011:  Gerald Laird, Brandon Inge, Nate Robertson, Jeremy Bonderman, Adam Everett, Bobby Seay, and what remains of Dontrelle Willis.  Based on 2009’s strategic off-season moves of arbitration vs testing free agency, there will be a lot of front office evaluations going on.  Inge and Bonderman, coming off injured seasons (or multiple injured seasons), you wonder if there is enough time for either player to make their case early in the year for an extension.  Both will probably take pay cuts in 2011, and whether they want to continue their careers in Detroit might be based on what they’re willing to sign early in the year.
• While many are pointing to ‘everybody wins’ (or as Ray Ratto put it, nobody wins because there was nothing to win) in the Tim Lincecum / SF Giants deal, the CLEAR winner is the Giants.  They get the best pitcher in the national league for two more years at less then $12million / year.  As much as I love Justin Verlander, he might not be the best pitcher in the AL Central over the next two years (Zack Greinke… and possibly Jake Peavy, Mark Buehrle).  Of course the Giants still have the corpse of Barry Zito on their payroll for another four years, so maybe its a bittersweet victory.

There’s been a lot of talk about whether Justin Verlander should get a bigger contract then Felix Hernandez.  As you probably have heard, Verlander (apparently) has signed a 5 year, $80million deal with detroit, topping Hernandez’s 5 year, $78 million deal.

The arguments are around who is the better pitcher, and mainly the fact that Felix H is three years younger then Justin V.  On paper, yes, Hernandez deserves a better contract.  But in reality, there was no way he was going to get it.

Why?  Hernandez signed his deal, which bought out his arbitration years, and places him on the free agent market when he’s 28.  Verlander, on the other hand, will be 31… which is not the optimal age for another long term contract.  After the completion of his new contract, Felix might get another 4 or 5 year deal for a massive amount of cash.  In fact, Hernandez could get hurt next year, tear both his shoulder AND his knee, and he has enough time to rehab an establish himself as a 28 year old worth a long term contract.  Verlander, on the other hand, will get his payout from Detroit and hope to get a few more two or three year contracts before he retires.  If he has an injury issue, he’s an ‘older’ player with an injured past.  Thats a huge difference.

So that’s why Justin Verlander was going to get more… because he wasn’t going to sign for less.  Knowing what Boston or New York might pay on the open market, Verlander had the power to hold out until the 2012 off-season and sign a MONSTER deal.  Yet there was still risk in that move, which is why he probably chose to sign a very nice deal with Detroit.  But there was no way he was going to take less then Hernandez.  Hernandez is in elite company… there will be few pitchers in the history of baseball who will out-earn him.  His age and major league service time puts him in a class by himself, and best of luck to him.  But this wasn’t about who is better — it was about age and leverage.  Hernandez got what he deserved, and so did Verlander. In fact, I’m surprised that Verlander didn’t hold out for more.

As a fan who is still upset that Jack Morris didn’t retire a Tiger, I’m very happy that Verlander is staying a Detroit Tiger for at least five more years.

As a baseball fan who spent a great deal of time listening to games on the radio, I’ve led a blessed life.  I spent a good number of years listening to a great play by play combo, Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey.  Even though Ernie might be (in a biased point of view) the best ever, I always enjoyed my three innings with Paul.

When I moved to San Francisco in 2000, Jon Miller was (and remains) the Giants play by play announcer, and I always felt he was very good.  But honestly, what did I know?  I knew Ernie and Paul Carey were awesome;  I knew the douchebags that replaced Ernie for a short time were awful (as I stare at a Bo Schembechler bobble head doll on my desk, even Bo knew he probably made a mistake)… all I knew that Miller didn’t repulse me and wasn’t nearly as bad as Rizzs/ Rathbun.  And honestly I really liked Miller, and was adament to Giants fans that they had a good one on their hands.  More recently, Jon Miller has done plenty of national ESPN broadcasts, so the rest of the nation has been able to sample his goods.

Fast forward to this week, where Jon Miller was awarded the Ford C Frick award from the baseball hall of fame.  Its an annual award; the winners aren’t technically ‘in the hall of fame’, but they do have their own wing.  Past winners include guys like Harry Caray… Vin Scully… and one Ernie Harwell.  Well deserved, and I’m glad I’ll be listening to Mr Miller for quite a while.

As a child, I always thought that Ernie was the greatest announcer ever; partly because I was very young, and partly because its all I knew.  The fact that he was a Frick award winner (and therefore always referred to as ‘a member of the baseball hall of fame’, though the more I read up on it, thats probably paraphrasing the award just a little) helped justify my feelings.  I always thought to myself… why did Baltimore ever let Ernie go?  I couldn’t grasp that concept.  Today, I remembered that Jon Miller had also been let go by Baltimore, in 1996.  I’m not sure why Harwell was so available in 1959, and it sounds like Peter Angelos wasn’t a fan of Jon Miller, but its amazing that one team let such great talents walk.

So Congratulations to Jon Miller, who I think is world class. He’s also a giant student and fan of Harwell’s, so in a way, the tradition lives on.

Random Baltimore Announcer stats:  I tried to break down how many Frick award winners worked for which clubs.  The list seems incomplete, because so many of these guys bounced around and worked a year here or there (or for partial years, home games only, etc) that getting a full work schedule from pre-1960 is difficult.  Many guys worked for both Chicago teams at the same time; same for New York (giants / dodgers / yankees /mets).  However, outside of the major markets, Baltimore had a ton of Frick award winners work for them at one point:  Ernie Harwell / Jon Miller / Bob Murphy / Chuck Thompson / Herb Carneal.  Carneal worked with both Harwell and Murphy (who apparently succeeded Harwell for a few years).  Thompson worked with Harwell in Baltimore in 1955, and returned to announce Oriole games from ~1962 – 1987.  Out of this award-winning group, you have a group of men who became famous ‘voices’ for their respective ballclubs:  The voice of the Tigers (Harwell), The voice of the Mets (Murphy), The voice of the Twins (Carneal), the voice of the Orioles (Thompson).  Miller is the hardest one to pigeon hole, since so many famous announcers have called New York and San Francisco Giants games; Lon Simmons (another Frick award winner) was a long time announcer who also did 49er games when the 49ers were the big men on campus in the bay area.  Miller is so good, however, that I feel if he stays dedicated to the Giants — and doesn’t wander out national waters — he can probably write his own legacy here.

Side Note:  Take a look through other award winners, and I do start to wonder about this award.  Sure, people love Harry Caray, but if you had to listen to game 7 of a world series, would you want Caray calling that game?  I’d rather have Will Ferrell’s impression of Caray then Caray himself.  So I found another list of broadcasters to see how Miller stacks up.  The American Sportscasters Association has a top 50 list, and Miller is in good company here, coming in at #19.  Then again, this list has Ernie Harwell at #16, and somehow lists Joe Buck…

Detroit signs former Arizona and Houston closer Jose Valverde to a two year deal, with a third year option.  Numbers are floating around… sounds like 2 years for $14 million, with a $9 million option for a third year.  Detroit forfeits its first round draft pick this summer (#19 overall).

I’m not a fan of the deal personally, but its probably a wash:  Kurt has a nice breakdown on the value of a closer like Valverde vs the value of the draft pick.  So you’re probably for it or against it, and it’ll take a few years to figure out if Detroit made the right move.  I like the idea that, if you’re giving up a draft pick, you get the third year option.  That third year seems quite high for a position Detroit seems poised to replace internally in 10 months, so I don’t understand that one at all.  It probably won’t kill them, unless John Smoltz Jr. is available at #19.

Here’s the interesting part:  The Tigers suddenly aren’t declaring chapter eleven.  Money?  Found some.  Maybe even over-paid a guy that you question if they even needed.  Did someone see Mike Ilitch in Vegas last weekend?  Maybe he bet it all on the Cardinals.

The latest move, along with some discussion that Detroit’s still looking for free agents, brings up these thoughts:

1) As fans, we might now have to come to grips about the possibility that Detroit really didn’t want Curtis Granderson around, or at least that he wasn’t worth his contract.  As of Wednesday this week, you could assume the Granderson move it was a salary dump.  Signing Valverde to a two year deal may signal otherwise.

2) Dombrowski must really have felt like he was selling high on Edwin Jackson.  Or he really likes Max Scherzer.  OR:

3) Detroit is nervous about the starting rotation.  This I can believe;  their system is NOT built around starting pitchers.  Bolstering the backend of the bullpen and the middle-relief corps could free Zach Miner to a starting spot.  I’m not convinced that anyone knows who will have the better year… Jeremy Bonderman or Eddie Bonine.  The rotation is a tossup.  Miner doesn’t do anything exceptionally well, but he does provide depth.  A good argument could be made that there are starting pitchers better then Miner available, for the same price or even cheaper then Detroit spent on Valverde.  Yes… so:

4) Dombrowski isn’t taking chances with “Glass” Joel Zumaya, green Ryan Perry, or some combo of rookies at the back end of the bullpen.  While Detroit seems to have a decent crop of relief pitchers coming up, this provides the Tigers the ability to not rush anyone.  Perry had a decent year in 2009, but you hate to see young players go up and down mid-season.

5) Detroit still has some holes to fill in their infield for 2011;  Brandon Inge’s replacement may not be in their minor league system… the jury is still out at shortstop.  Dombrowski might see some openings to trade pitching talent for some gloves.  I’m not exactly buying this one either, but I’m concerned that Detroit seems pretty well off in 2011 (for both pitching, payroll, and a top-5 talent in Miguel Cabrera) but they have a lot of holes in their farm system elsewhere.

6) I’m just going to say it now:  If Detroit can’t find the money to sign Justin Verlander to a long term deal, I’m going to be pretty pissed about this Valverde contract.  I’m ok with them waiting (long term contracts to pitchers aren’t always a good idea… right Dontrelle?) but if they end up $14 million short on a Verlander deal, there are going to be some pissed off fans.

7) What are Detroit fans going to do without the need to scream at their closer?  Valverde isn’t the best closer ever, but he should be more stable then Todd Jones or Fernando Rodney.  Say what you want about the contract and the draft pick, but as a closer, Valverde isn’t a bad option.  The Tigers have a closer… the Lions have a starting quarterback.  Joe Dumars better watch his step.