Tiger Geist

Oh man I’m excited.  Some Tiger Bloggers were almost able to pull the trigger on getting a round table podcast going this weekend, but those pesky Spartans intervened.  Oh well, hopefully next week.  Sounds like Mike & the boys did a pre-opening day round table at the detroit tigers podcast.  Glad to see Big Al is able to divert a little attention away from his beloved Lions to talk some Tigers.  Very interested to see the daily podcast updates (seems like a lot of work!!)

While I did some preparation to talk about the season, its hard not to get fired up.  This could be a great year.  It could be a bad year.  But, as a fan, its again OUR year.  We buy the tickets, we buy the merchandise, we call radio stations / write blogs / talk to our friends.  Spring is over, now its time to hand the games back to the fans.  Opening day!

I emailed a few of the Tiger Bloggers two questions that I wanted others to discuss, and I should be posting their responses this week.  Here is what I asked:

1) What was your biggest surprise of spring training?

2) Detroit opens with 10 straight games before their first off-day.  Is there anything you’re looking for during this opening stretch?

I was vague on the second question; I couldn’t get the wording correct as I was chatting with Joe at motorcitybengals.com about it, and then i realized i liked it to vague.  If you’re looking forward to seeing Paws, go get you some Paws… no reason to try to stear the question.

First, I’ll answer the questions:

1) My biggest surprise was Eddie Bonine making the team.  What’s more, he’s poised to be an asset to the bullpen.  Could not have conceived this notion in January. Welcomed surprise for sure, though we’ll see how welcome it is in May.

2) I’m looking to see how Jimmy Leyland manages this team.  You don’t have a lot of off days, and you have 4 major team contributors who played a lot of meaningful WBC games.  I have never felt that Leyland was a great in-game manager, and this is a team that needs a great manager.  I will be very interested in how many times Jeff Larish pinch-hits for Adam Everett late in a close game; how Leyland tries to utilize Josh Anderson’s speed, and how many guys get thrown out at home by a crappy decision by Gene Lamont.  The 2009 Tigers have more role players then in the past, and they can help the team if utilized correctly.  10 straight games should be enough to see how Leyland wants to play out the year strategically.

Predictions on the year?  I have no clue.  I feel this is a .500 team that can move up a few wins with proper managing, but can easily sit in the low 70’s win range.  I’m still not quite sure where all of these pitching innings will come from yet — I have not got my head around the starting rotation.  It was completely unfathomable that Detroit enters the season without Robertson, Willis or Bonderman as starting pitchers.  I finally got my head around the position players so it’ll take me a few days to understand the pitching situation.

<geek alert>

MLB.tv looks awesome.  Not cheap at $20 / month or $110 / year, you can watch all games with DVR like functions and re-watch games later.  For a guy on the west coast who has a day job, this is huge.  Last year’s service was clunky though not awful, but only offered a live feed.  MLB dropped silverlight for adobe in a not surprising move (the surprising move was that they tried to use silverlight in the first place) and i’m excited to try it out.  I just purchased the $10 iphone app — also very very cool.

</geek alert>

Plenty of discussion on the release of Gary Sheffield, and congrats to him signing on with the Mets.  Detroit management stated the reason for the release was more flexibility.  Totally agree.  But what else?

Detroit management have no idea what to expect out of Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen.

In terms of losing a step, in terms of hitting, in terms of general health.  The big cloud over the steroid era (which may go back to the early 1990’s) is that no team has any actual data on how a baseball player ages anymore.  None.  While its pretty well chronicled the size of Barry Bonds body (and, in Game of Shadows, his testicles) and the muscular effects steroids had on Bonds, the biggest deal was that he averaged 143 games per season from 2000 until 2004 on chornically bad knees.  Thats years 36 – 40 of Barry Lamar Bonds’ life.  Recovery time and the ability to play every day was huge.

What do Detroit officials know, or at least are pretty sure of right now?  Steroids aren’t a part of the game in 2009.  You’ve got a 35 year old outfielder who has had major knee surgery, requiring new procedures to fix it.  You have a 33 year old left fielder who has battled all sorts of injuries (legs, back) throughout his career, including his stint in Detroit.  “Roster flexibility” is a must.

Detroit has NO CHANCE of a decent 2009 if they can’t protect Miguel Cabrera in the lineup.  Guillen and Ordonez must have a good year for the team to be successful.  I feel the Matt Joyce / Edwin Jackson trade was made because Detroit wasn’t sure about the health and availability to contribute of Bonderman, Robertson and Willis… the Sheffield release indicates they are really unsure of how their elder statesmen will perform.  And its absolutely a league-wide problem that GMs will have to deal with, both with existing players and new contracts.

Interesting line note — to trigger Ordonez’s monster 2010 and 2011 contracts, here are the stipulations (via cot’s contracts):

• 2010 option guaranteed at $18M if Ordonez has:
  • 135 starts or 540 PAs in 2009, or
  • 270 starts or 1,080 PAs in 2008-09
• 2011 option guaranteed at $15M if Ordonez has:
  • 135 starts or 540 PAs in 2010, or
  • 270 starts or 1,080 PAs in 2009-10

If 2010 is not guaranteed, there is a $3million buy out.  When the contract was signed, I was pretty sure Magglio would hit the stipulations.  However, with his stint on the DL (June – July 2008), Magglio had 146 games played (not sure on the starts) and 623 play appearances for 2008.  So.. if there is an injury to Magglio, and a few ‘rests’ here or there early in the season to get Thames, Anderson or Larish more playing time… Ordonez’s 2010 contract is no longer a sure thing.  If Detroit isn’t contending, could they try to shelve Magglio in September?  I’m sure the players union would have something to say about that, and it would make for an unhappy clubhouse.  While 2010 is still likely to get triggered — probably only needs 115 starts this year — 2011 is definately up in the air.

Detroit is already taking heat for the unusual diagnosis for Dontrelle Willis; you’d hate to see Magglio’s agent arguing with team doctors about a trip to the disabled list.