Tiger Geist

Big news today… Jason Grilli out… San Francisco Cruceta in.  Surprising since Zach Miner had options, but I think a lot of fans just let out a big sigh of relief.

Bigger news… Dave Dombrowski found some team dumb enough to trade what appears to be a prospect (22 year old Zach Simons) for someone who was probably hitting the waiver wire anyway.  Dombrowski is a magic man.

Lynn Henning talks about a proposed move of putting Inge back at third, Guillen to DH, and Gary Sheffield to left field.  Boy howdy lets talk about this one.

Defensively, is Detroit a better team with Brandon Inge at third base?  Absolutely.  Offensively?  No.

Offensively, is Detroit a better team with Gary Sheffield in the lineup?  Absolutely.  Defensively at left?  No.

Where is the trade off?  Do you take some lumps with an infield of Guillen, Renteria, Polanco and Cabrera?  Or do you take the lumps of an outfield featuring Sheffield, Granderson, and Ordonez?  I’m not even sure Ordonez is actually a better outfielder then Sheffield, but I do know that a few games in the field last year was enough to put Sheffield’s season on ice.  This argument is lost on me when you figure the size of Comerica Park’s outfield.

It appears we can’t have it both ways.  And the media has gone back and forth as to the defensive value vs offensive value of a player… and a third baseman at that.  Which is it?  Is defense so important that maybe we should dump Renteria and move Ramon Santiago as a full time short stop?  Would that be a better infield — Guillen, Santiago, Polanco, Cabrera?  Defensively, probably.  Defensively and offensively, moving Jacque Jones to “left out” would improve the team with either Raburn or a return of Clete Thomas.

What is this all trying to solve?  The weak starting pitching.  And… no matter how many switches you make, no matter how many defensive replacements you make.. you will only go as far as your starting pitching will take you.  And right now, in a playoff series, the person playing third base is Mr. Irrelevant if the starting pitching doesn’t start safely getting into the seventh inning.

I do agree, however, that Sheffield should be doing his rehab in Toledo, not Detroit.

One of my high school football and baseball coaches, Coach Clark, had a saying:

“When you’ve got the other team down… you kick them in the balls”

Well, this is what is expected against a Yankees team without A-rod and Posada.  Both have a combined 287 home runs and 1509 RBIs against Kenny Rogers, but they couldn’t be in the lineup tonight.  I’m not shedding any tears.  Detroit jumped on mediocre Phil Hughes early and often.  Polanco gets four hits — hopefully he’s coming out of his funk (and feeling better).

Gary Sheffield homers, but who knows if thats good news or not.  Curtis Granderson also homered;  just as important, he walked twice and didn’t strike out.  Curtis has three home runs in just six games… Gary has two homers in 19.  I’m still not convinced Sheffield’s healthy, but maybe if he has to play he should stay in the #3 spot.

Jacque Jones:  0-4 with two strikeouts.  Pulled again for Ryan Raburn as a defensive replacement.

Yeah… this is really getting weird.  Would anything else surprise you?  Bizarre.

Back from a bachelor party in Memphis… I may never eat ribs again.  At least not until i’m done with detox.  Personal opinion:  Neely’s BBQ (from “down home with the neely’s” on the food network) wins.  Highly recommended.  However, I feel slightly out of it in terms of Tiger Baseball.

Two weeks ago, the Tigers ended the week with a 4-3 record.  Last week, they went 5-2.  Improvements?  Absolutely.  But they really had a chance to turn it on with a series victory over the Angels;  losing the series 2-1 wasn’t exactly a step backwards, but it really could have been a step forward going into an important (psychologically) series with the Yankees.  They have lost the chance to be .500 at the end of April, but they are only one game out of a tie for second place in the division.  I think expectations are of a better team, but you could easily say that about Cleveland, currently at 12-14 on the season.

Current thoughts:

• Does Sheffield currently give them the best chance to win?  Leyland says he does.  Maybe its crazy, but sometimes the Neifi Perez situation makes me think maybe Leyland isn’t always correct.  I still think a left handed Jeff Larish gives you more flexibility as you give Sheff a stint on the DL.  He continues to hit in AAA, as does the right handed Mike Hessman.
• Justin Verlander was solid last night.  I agree with the ESPN announcers though:  his stuff was way too good to give up six runs.  Maybe he’s still putting it together, maybe Pudge isn’t calling the best game.  My biggest issue was his last inning;  he gave up two game-changing hits on an 0-2 pitch.  Great pitchers don’t make that mistake.
• Jacque Jones had some good games last week.  He’s still under .200 (currently .197)
• Polanco is under .180.  At least he’s playing better defense.
• Sheffield:  .159
• For historical reference, the mendoza line is considered .200.
• Best part of Granderson’s return:  5:3 walk / strikeout ratio (up from 1:3 walk / strikeout ratio in 2007).  Even with the injury he seems to be improving every aspect of his game.
• Speaking of Granderson’s return, I haven’t read anything about his throwing arm (its game readiness seemed a concern).  Sunday’s game, however, didn’t look good to me (not very strong throws on two plays he tried to make).  No one has written about it so I have little reference to go on.
• Trying to catch up on other blogs — I really can’t stand the Detroit News Tiger blogs.  I’m cool with Lynn Henning and Tom Gage (not as good at blogging as Chris McClosky or my fav Mike O’Hara), but Dana Wakiji has to go.  Maybe they can split her blog out to a different area.  But when you’re trying to get some news or opinion on the Tigers, I could really do without her.  Ditto on her in-game Piston blogs.

Today started off normal.  Then I got an email about an Oakland Athletic specials on suites;  before I knew it (and definitely before my wife knew it) I had purchased a luxury box suite and 18 tickets for the June 2nd Oakland / Tiger game.  Hope my friends like baseball.

Later in the day, I tried to find out more information about the Tigers.  It seemed the beat writers didn’t have anything new to report:  Polanco and Sheffield are both hurt but not TOO hurt.  Dontrelle Willis is feeling better but his hyper-extended knee wasn’t the reason he can’t throw strikes.  Curtis Granderson is making his come-back and showing some speed in his rehab assignment.  Then I heard something I couldn’t believe:  Danny Knobler talked on WDFN how we shouldn’t be excited about Galarraga’s 2-0 start, since it they weren’t against top talent.  I guess we should be excited about the two losses against the same Toronto team without much talent over the weekend.  I don’t think Galarraga’s a savior, but I’m much more frightened about Dontrelle’s return to the rotation.

Then, the Tigers (minus Polanco and Sheffield) smoke the Rangers, including back to back home runs by Ordonez and Cabrera, and a surprising shot by Ramon Santiago.  Verlander has a decent outing (though I won’t get excited because Danny Knobler wouldn’t want me to), and hopefully he can turn this into better things.  Renteria continues to impress with four hits, and Jacque Jones must have gotten the memo that Clete Thomas wants his job as has his best game this year.  The Detroit Tigers easily beating the Texas Rangers.. this should not be news.  And it wasn’t.  What WAS news, was the bomb layed by Jimmy Leyland after the game.

First, San Francisco Cruceta had a solid (if not extremely impressive) outing in Toledo.  Sounds like he was tipping pitches, (though it should get worked out), but it puts further heat on Zach Miner and Jason Grilli.  Second, reported news that Joel Zumaya is alive and is no longer playing guitar hero, rock band, or lifting boxes around his parent’s house.  Sure, he’s only playing catch.  But do you really care that Jordan Tata is ready to start throwing?  Nope.  How about this:  When is the last time we’ve heard about Vance Wilson?  Zumaya is good news.  But that still isn’t the big news.

Reported here, here, here, here, and here, probably countless blogs and every major radio station… Miguel Cabrera is your new first baseman, with Carlos Guillen your new third baseman.  Is it me, or did EVERYONE miss this one?  It makes total sense, and it was intriguing why there were so many late-inning defensive changes by inserting Inge at third and moving Cabrera to first.  Yeah, this is big news.  All year beat writers stated that there was NO way Cabrera was moving to the outfield, that he had been signed as the starting third baseman.  Well, they were half right.  Is it the right move?  Yeah, I think it is.  Are the players involved happy?  Sounds like they’re indifferent, but happy enough.

So what do we know now?  It sounds like Cabrera is done at third for a while, if not for good.  His hands and his arm both seemed solid, but there were many times he couldn’t put them together on the same play.  Guillen?  He was an average shortstop that should be a solid third basemen;  his footwork at first concerned many for his own safety.

Additionally, I think this means some more moves are coming.  Cabrera’s playing every day, 150+ games if he can get them.  Thames’ playing time is going to diminish as a right handed backup — Guillen was more attractive as a switch hitting DH, but we are stacked with right handed DHs (Sheff, Cabrera, Ordonez, Thames).  At the same time, you no longer have the defensive liability at third, possibly diminishing Brandon Inge’s playing time.  Granderson will play as often as possible as soon as he gets back, possibly as early as Wednesday.  Detroit also has to realize that Gary Sheffield isn’t going to play more then 125 games this year.

What an exciting night.  And right before I head to Memphis for a bachelor party.

Texas comes to D-town tonight, fresh off being swept in a four game series in Boston.  Both teams share similar records, both teams are bottom dwellers in their division, and (unfortunately for the tigers) both teams have a better road record.  Detroit’s beaten up, but its time their ace takes the ball and starts another winning streak.

Not much word on Sheffield’s status (though Danny Knobler hints it might be in his head);  Polanco is available but its unknown how much he’ll play in the series.  This should be a great test — honestly Texas isn’t a very good and good teams beat up on bad teams, especially at home.  The weather doesn’t look exactly pleasant, which won’t help some of the aching joints.

One last note:  8 games left in April;  Detroit needs to go 7-1 to even their record going into May.  Ending strong could be a strong boost going into the warm summer months.

Its amazing that they can play a day game in Toronto and be finished before I go to lunch.  A big win today, which means a split for the Toronto series.  Over the last week + 1 game, they are 5 - 3 (kudos to the detroit tiger podcast crew for picking 4-3 last week).  More importantly, they won one series and split two others — baby steps.  And with an injured team.

The Good:

• Finally got some big hits today;  Raburn singles with the bases loaded, followed by a Brandon “Dexter’s favorite Tiger” Inge sacrificing in another run.  Hits with runners in scoring position has been their death Saturday / Sunday.
• Pitching, as a whole, hasn’t been too bad over the last few days.  Bonderman was wild, yet only gives up three runs.  Robertson is another story, but still only gives up five runs.  Bullpen has been very solid.
• Todd Jones gives up a lead-off home run.  This is good, since Jones is at his best when he’s completely unpredictable.  Too many 1-2-3 innings makes you worry.
• Zach Miner — 2 innings of one hit ball on Sunday.  Not to look too much into one outing, but what’s most impressive is how he did it — 6 ground outs.  Zach is a ground ball pitcher, yet was getting a lot of strikeouts to begin the year.  I’m hoping returning to the groundout / sinkerball mentality will help over the long run.  Its nice to be able to induce double-plays when you inevitably have to relieve Robertson in the fifth with two men on.
• Ryan Raburn getting some playing time.  Sucks that it has to come at the expense of Polanco’s back, but he continues to prove he’s a player.
• Minus 4 walks today, there is a lot to like about Galarraga.  Mostly I like the whole “not allowing the other team to cross the plate” part of his game.  I also like the way ‘Galarraga’ rolls off the tongue.

The Bad:

• Along with other reports earlier (including watching him struggle on Saturday), Sheffield is having shoulder problems.
• Polanco’s back is affecting his play, probably both offensively and defensively.
• These two injuries, plus Guillen having leg problems (which you’d like to rest at some point), are becoming a lineup issue.  None of the injuries are bad enough for a DL stint, but they have no roster flexibility at the moment.
• Its unclear to me Jacque Jones’ current role with this team.  Clete Thomas might have a spot after all — at least his stats show he deserves to play over Jones (and he’s a better fielder).

The Ugly:

• The Tiger’s best pitcher is a no-name acquired from a minor-league trade last winter.  I’m not sure, at this point in the season, its even close.
• Anyone else scared that Dontrelle Willis will inevitably have to be put back into the rotation?
• Nate Robertson — you can’t let a David Eckstein homer cost your team the game.

Take that Blue Jays.  Of course, we were going against a rookie pitcher, but we knocked around their bullpen as well (a bullpen probably still tired from Wednesday’s 14 inning game).  Always a good sign when the team can jump on the bullpen early in the series.

Thoughts:

• Sheffield is either hurt or just not seeing the ball very well.  He looked very very bad in his three strikeouts;  in his double it appeared he timed the ball perfectly but had to throw his entire body into the swing.  Where are his historically quick wrists that can turn on any pitch he wants?  
• Cabrera is probably at his best when he’s hitting doubles.  Two more last night;  he’s heating up (and cleaned up some movement during his swing).  He also seems more comfortable in the field now.
• Curtis Granderson goes 2-4 in a rehab game, with an infield single and a triple.  I was worried about his conditioning, since he couldn’t do any running during the early part of his injury.  Apparently this won’t be an issue.
• mlb.tv picked up Toronto’s feed for the game, and i really enjoyed it.  Both announcers were great, and they did something “crazy” — the screen wasn’t constantly filled with the score, strike count, graphics, ads, etc.  Very noticeable and very pleasant.  

I finally have some time to discuss an article I came across yesterday on digg:

How to snag a souvenir baseball

The whole premise of this discussion revolves around bringing a baseball glove to the park. I have a problem with this — and i agree with Bill Simmons on this one, but men over 14 years of age are not allowed to bring gloves to the game. How do you eat a hot dog with a glove on? How do you drink a beer? How do you take the cap off of the flask of whiskey you smuggled into the stadium? Exactly. Tough it out, bare-hand that baseball. If you’re really worried about it, wear a hat. Everyone loves the videos of random guys saving their beer and using a hat to snag a ball.

Biggest offense of this article? It is from a website called “artofmanliness.com”. Art of manliness recommending bringing a glove to the game? You’ve GOT to be joking.

Am I crazy? No, you’re not allowed to bring a glove to the game. Thats for your kids. Is it impossible? Nope.  Evidence:

Here is the foul ball I caught in July, 2005 off of the bat of Jim Edmunds. It was 104 degrees out and there may have been some alcohol involved, so I look a little ragged. Nonetheless, bare-handed line drive catch — no glove required.