Tiger Geist

Blah.  I watched a good portion of the games this weekend (including every pitch Sunday) and I think the results basically speak for themselves.  Its hard to discuss too much, but I did feel like the team looked tired Sunday.  On the first batter in the 5th, 6th, and 6th innings, Dontrelle looked exhausted, even though he battled back each inning to pitch decently.

Thoughts over the weekend series:

• Detroit had a chance to win each game, even going into the late innings.  That’s a good thing.
• Colorado really had no business winning that series, however.
• Dontrelle didn’t throw a lot of first-pitch strikes.  Its (probably) important that Detroit have a left handed starter against some of the Central division left handed studs, but they’ll eat him alive if he can’t get ahead in the count.
• Gerald Laird has looked awful.  I wonder if the Tigers are going to have to make a move for a better hitting backup catcher; that seems like a weak-spot on the team that could be upgraded on the cheap.
• When Jeff Larish walks up to the plate to pinch hit, stands there to watch the opposing manager change pitchers, and has Leyland call him back… what’s next for him?  Cigarette break?  Do the players high five him and go “nice job man, in it to win it!”?  Such an odd way to be included in the box score.  With the way Laird is hitting, I’d have stuck with Larish there anyway.
• Speaking of Larish, does he look more like a Ray Liotta of “field of dreams” or the Ray Liotta of “Godfellas”?  I think its more the Henry Hill.
• Zach Miner hasn’t pitched in a week.  Even with some off-time after his long stint against Oakland… seems odd.  Or maybe it seems odd if Jim Leyland liked him.
• Detroit’s batting average leaders, with at least 4 plate appearances:  Miguel Cabrera, Ramon Santiago, Adam Everett.  When they’re slumping a little, its nice to do that when you’re in the division lead.
• Its a long way off, but it will be interesting to see how the Tigers round out their playoff roster in August, and again how they use their expanded bench in September.  Based on the speed and defense of guys in Toledo (some of which are currently filling out the active roster in Detroit), you could see a lot more pinch-runners and defensive substitutions then in previous years.
• You ever see that South Park, where Cartman gets sent away, and the boys start making fun of Clyde because, though he’s not fat, he’s the fattest of whose left of the boys?  Then, when Cartman returns, Clyde hugs Cartman in relief, since he is now relieved of his ‘local fat kid’ persona?  Do you wonder if, during warm-ups on Friday night, Jason Grilli walked over to Brandon Lyon and gave him a huge hug?

Overall thoughts:

• The Giants are looking for a bat, but don’t really want to trade prospects.  Detroit has some players they can have as long as you take their salary, but I doubt that SF is interested in another outfielder (Thames or Guillen).  Their issues with Pablo Sandoval’s elbow might escalate his move to first base, however.
• Actually, if Fred Lewis wasn’t left handed, a Lewis for Thames deal seems like a nice fit.
• It frustrates me that Detroit has NO ONE to send a team that is as anemic on offense as San Francisco is.  That might be indicitive of how the rest of the league sees the Detroit lineup (and contracts surrounding that lineup) not named Cabrera or Granderson… maybe even Inge.
• I’m starting to eat my words on Inge as well;  I bet SF would take him and maybe even give you Jonathan Sanchez and Detroit wouldn’t do it.  Would you make that move?
• Its a tough sell for Tiger games during the Red Wings playoffs.  Based on the extra home game revenue, I wonder if Mike Illitch txt’d Mike Babcock on Friday night, saying “you know, I’m ok with you guys going five”…

Sweeps month.  Fourth in a row for Detroit (three more productive then the fourth).  After the game, Wilkin Ramirez was sent back down to Toledo, going 1-3 in his three game stint with the big club.

Couple of thoughts:

• Really, 130+ pitches for Jackson?  Is Leyland unhappy that the starting rotation is getting healthy?  Is he aware that its actually a GOOD THING to not have players on the DL?
• Slight fear:  the longer this contract thing lingers, the more chances Leyland takes to win at all costs.  He was in ‘ride the horse’ mode today — no Zumaya (wanted to rest him), no Brandon Lyon (didn’t want to chance it), no Ryan Perry (no idea), no Nate Robertson (see Lyon).  Let Jackson throw until his arm falls off.
• Kurt mentioned the rotation going into the Colorado series, possibly requiring some bullpen rest today;  worse, Detroit doesn’t have another off-day until June 1.  Following that day off, Detroit plays 14 games in 13 days.  Still scratching my head over this though.
• Clete Thomas homers and saves a run (and ends a tough inning) with a rocket throw home.  This from a guy who wasn’t allowed to play in the field or throw until mid March?  Pretty solid.

Other baseball thoughts:

• No Peavy in Chicago.  Not sure it would have been a great move for the White Sox, but Peavy is a great pitcher.  I think Chicago is an aging team and I don’t know if giving up prospects would be a great idea.
• Bud Selig talked about the state of the league.  Detroit’s attendance is down 30%.  Going into the year, Detroit trimmed their payroll by about 10%; uh… Go Wings.
• Jayson Stark talks how the interleague schedule isn’t fair, and the players don’t like it anyway.  I agree, unless Detroit can play at AT&T park every year.  The way these guys are pitching right now, I’d LOVE to watch a matchup between Verlander and Lincecum, followed by Edwin Jackson vs Matt Cain.

Lynn Henning talks about the difficult decisions looming for Detroit and their outfielders; he speculates that a contract or two might be eaten.

I think he’s right in one respect — Marcus Thames won’t be around long.  I’m interested to see what ‘could have been’ with Marcus this year, but Detroit needs more D and speed and not another guy hitting .250.  Again, hopefully Thames can go somewhere that lets him hit.  Historically, Leyland has enjoyed veterans on the team (one reason that the Sheffield cut and the Porcello promotion were kind of surprising), and you have to wonder how much that will impact his decision on the club.  While Granderson’s amazing catch to preserve the win in Cleveland is remembered fondly, I wonder if Clete Thomas’ home run saving catch in Minnesota last week could have been made by either Thames, Guillen, or Ordonez.  That has to be looming in Leyland’s mind.

Looks like Wilkin Ramirez doesn’t get to start today, so he comes up to the big club and gets only 3 at-bats.  Not a bad debut; I really like how, even when he strikes out, he sees a lot of pitches.  I noticed this during spring training, so hopefully he can continue to improve.  Since Wilkin isn’t a demon in the field (though he is on the basepaths), he probably could use more innings as much as the constant at-bats.

I’ve been doing research on Ordonez’s contract and running numbers, and its pretty much a given that, barring major injuries, it will be guaranteed next year.  And since Rick Porcello shares an agent with Ordonez, its not like they can just cut him to save the cash.  But it will interesting to see if Detroit starts to think about limiting Magglio’s starts to protect against the 2011 clause (which includes a 2009 and 2010 combination).

So the team has to be aware of their payroll for 2010 already.  If they are in the division lead in late June/July, you wonder if they make a move to continue to improve the team.  Normally, thats a time that teams out of contention look to shed payroll and dump players.  However, can Detroit afford to take on more payroll this year?

I love the day games;  Detroit goes for their third straight series sweep today (that is, if you pretend the Minnesota series didn’t happen).

The Tigers just started sending me their game notes (I believe The Daily Fungo once reported how to download them daily).  I’ll try to post them as time allows.  In the “tidbits” section is something that is near and dear to my heart:  Dale Clark of Rochester High School is throwing out the first pitch tonight!

Unless there are more then one Dale Clarks from RHS, this is my old high school football and baseball coach.  I played both sports and went to school with his son Jason as well, going back to middle school.  Wish I could attend the game but flights would be expensive.  Coach Clark’s most famous quote to us was, in a JV football game against Southfield Lathrop, “When you have the other team down… you have to kick them in the balls!”.  I’ll never forget that.

So if anyone is at the game, give an extra special cheer for the first pitch.  Unless its a different Dale Clark.  Then just clap politely.

Tigers Tonight 5-20-09

I don’t know what to think about Dontrelle Willis’ start tonight.  I was excited before the game, though I was ready for a total implosion.  Here’s what we do know:  right now, Detroit has found its left handed starting pitcher.

Congrats to the D-train.  It was exciting to watch; it seemed like the entire team was pulling for him.  As Detroit tries to pull away from the division, maybe this the type of motivation they need.

Personally? If I were Dontrelle I’d retire tomorrow.  He’s got 25 years of motivational speaking and a Disney Movie sitting ahead of him.  That’s assuming he’s 1-0 for 2009;  at 3-10 its not much of a story.

Full disclosure:  I watched the last 45 innings of Wednesday’s late inning debacle with the Twins (what?  it was only 13 innings?  It felt like 45) after I went to the Giants game and watch a debacle against the Nationals… and I’ve been off the grid in Yosemite since early Friday morning.

What did I see and what did I miss?  Sounds like I skipped the wrong series to get away.  Minnesota was so depressing, and Oakland appears to be just what the team needed (minus Galarraga).  It might also help drive game prices down in Oakland when the Tigers come into town at the end of June.

Minnesota

So what happened Wednesday?  I liked Leyland’s fire, backing up Magglio to the ump.  I think it was justified (though a little overblown) but I think the message was clear — Leyland wanted to show Magglio that he was still fighting for him.  I don’t think Lloyd McClendon did a wonderful job managing the bullpen, but as someone wrote, you can’t manage thinking they you’re going 13 innings.  I do wonder when they found out about Nate Robertson’s availability.  Thursday’s loss I blame squarely on the front office.

Front Office Gives Minny a Win

It started with the DFA of Juan Rincon for Dontrelle Willis.  Knowing that Ryan Perry was unavailable for a few days, and trying to get some wins against a very tough division opponent, they should have entertained the idea of demoting Perry for another arm.  He’d have to stay off the roster for a brief stint (10 days?) but could get some spot work in Toledo to work on some control.  You couldn’t exactly predict how well Dontrelle would do in his first start, but honestly what possibly has he done in two years to make you think he was going seven innings?  So now Detroit goes into four games with two starters that won’t go deep into the game (Willis on Wednesday for the above explanation, Porcello on Saturday due to pitch counts) already down a relief pitcher.  Not smart.

Ok, I can get over that.  Then the extra-inning issue Wednesday night leaves the bullpen fully depleted for Thursday’s game.  Now Leyland is down to an overworked left-hander (Seay), a guy he doesn’t like (Miner), a closer, and some new guy brought up for Robertson (French).  Seriously… French.  By allowing Verlander’s pitch count to creep up on Thursday and not pulling him to start the seventh (This would have been the ideal place to move to Miner, French, or Seay), the bullpen issue was clearly on his mind and he tried to sneak a few extra outs out of JV.

So now I feel management basically threw Thursday’s game by not calling up some bullpen help.  Maybe Detroit made up for it with a quick sweep over Oakland, but I’d like them to try to win some games in the division.

The Oakland Series

Detroit scored a lot of runs.  Oakland did not.  Porcello and Jackson looked very good, Galarraga did not.  Three more wins, Detroit still in the division lead.  I was nearly attacked by a rattle snake.  Let’s move on.

The Miner Issue

I’m a big Zach Miner fan, but he’s a starting pitcher.  He doesn’t strand runners well.  He doesn’t seem to have a bullpen mentality.  But he is effective as a starting pitcher.  Why hurt the team by having a few guys who don’t seem to do well in the bullpen (Robertson, Miner, and even Lyon)?  This doesn’t make sense.  Maybe they’re just waiting for an injury or two to drum up trade interest.

The Magglio Personal Situation

Looks like Magglio is taking a few days off to deal with a family issue.  I feel for him.  I also hate the fact that he has probably been playing recently just because of his 2010 contract kicker.  Its an unfortunate financial situation that I just wish didn’t have to exist;  I wish he could just be with his family when he needs to.

The Magglio Contract Situation

Detroit will not cut Magglio or hold him out of games just to hold back his 2010 contract.  They are not the Royals.  It would be unprecidented and Illitch doesn’t play that way — though the Uwe Krupp situation keeps coming to mind.

The whole “detroit tigers pitching situation” is probably at defcon 2 in most fan’s minds; going into the spring it was closer to defcon 4.  But with Dontrelle set to join the rotation, and Bonderman hopefully getting healthy as well, let’s look at a couple of areas.

Rick Porcello:

The way the entire staff is throwing, I want this kid as close to Rick Knapp as possible.  The issue I see is his workload — if they really do contend for a playoff spot, or even better, win one, what do you do with him — how can he be used when he’s on a pitch limit in October?  I guess you’ll probably shorten your staff during the playoffs anyway, or you can use the september call-ups to give him some additional days off.  In that scenario, you could use those September roster spots as ways to give everyone an extra few days off, and position your rotation for certain games — and the way Verlander is pitching right now, maybe thats the way to go.

Justin Verlander:

He’s been amazing.  Can he keep it up?  It seems like any mechanical / arm slot issues have been addressed, and he has the results to show for it.  Now the bad part:  He’s going to get very very expensive for 2010 (arbitration).  While it sounds like he and Leyland don’t get along (I get that impression because Leyland basically said “we don’t get along”), you’d hate to make JV angry by stringing him along in his arbitration years.  But I’m not sure they can afford to sign him long term right now — they might have to string it out another year or two while they figure out the Guillen / Ordonez / Robertson / Willis contracts.

Dontrelle Willis:

I have no faith that Wednesday’s start is going to work out.  Why?  It sounds like Dontrelle has already checked out.  Jason Beck writes that he’s at “peace” with the situation;  I think it sounds more like Dontrelle’s agent finally told him that he gets paid no matter what.  I think he’s going to be a distraction to the team if things don’t go well (and that is probably more of a media issue then Dontrelle actually being a distraction) and Detroit will have to make a move — they can’t hide him in the bullpen.  I’m hoping for the best, but I feel that Dontrelle is upset about the DL stint and no longer wants to be apart of a team that thinks he needs medication.  For his first start, he’s going against a super fast team, and Dontrelle is guaranteed to walk at least three.  Godspeed Mr Willis.

Jeremy Bonderman:

Not sure what to do with him either, when he returns to health.  I wish he was healthier during spring training for more work with Knapp, but we still have is a 2-pitch starting pitcher that has a history of problems in the first inning.  Will he be bullpen bound upon his return, and then return to the rotation in 2010?  Maybe thats not a bad road for either him or the team.

Left handed starting pitcher:

Its May 12th and we still don’t have a left handed starting pitcher (caveat:  if Dontrelle does well, maybe this will change).  How long can this continue?  Will they make an attempt to move Robertson to the starting lineup?  What about a roster move / trade?

I’m slightly concerned about the current attendance figures (averageing 27k / game).  Hopefully this will go up with the next homestand, and then even more into the summer.  But what if a team can offer a decent (and cheap) left-handed pitcher for, say, a good player with a large contract?  (Staying local for me) San Francisco has Jonathan Sanchez to dangle, and, oh, by the way, need a third baseman.  Could the team pull a salary dump and declare it a ‘need for a starting pitcher’ by moving Brandon Inge?  I don’t see Miguel Cabrera going anywhere, but there are some other salaries that are moveable that might make the potential 2010 salary dump class more palatable for the Illitch family.

My buddy sent me this awesome NPR interview of Bruce Weber, author of “As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires“.

The interview is fascinating;  I really enjoyed Ron Luciano’s “The Umpire Strikes Back”, and, as we revel in the glory of a Tigers’ series sweep against the Indians, its always fun to get a different perspective of the game.

The Manny Ramirez situation leads me to a quote I’ve heard before but hate to hear:  Things are going to get worse before they get better.  I don’t care about Manny;  I’m happy that my new hometown Giants don’t have to face him for a few months, and most of San Francisco is relieved that the team didn’t make a greater attempt to sign him this offseason (while the media screamed for it).  Here’s the most interesting tidbit to me:  Bill Simmons’ article on Manny.

The article is typical Simmons (who I do enjoy reading), but one thing struck me:  He had a very well thought out, well written article in what seemed to be minutes after the story broke.  More info has come out on the situation, but Bill’s piece was a little too well timed.  Yes, he works for ESPN, so for all we know he got the story last night.  But what do I really think?  The written story has been going on in Simmons’ mind since 2004.  He either wrote this piece months ago, or he’s been playing it in his head for the last four years without writing it down.  The only change he had to make was which Red Sox player was the one who got caught.

The media has blamed themselves for not blowing up the steroid story years ago;  talk radio (which I generally dislike) has blowhards screaming all the time about who is and who isn’t on steroids.  As a fan, you want to sound educated and preferribly not a blowhard that makes outlandish comments.  So the steroid issue becomes the issue that shall not be named.  And the players that have bizarre performances become those who shall not be questioned.  And we go about making excuses for our favorite players as to why there is no way that those who shall not be accused did not do what shall not be named.  I moved to SF in the spring of 2000, so I’ve witnessed (and taken part in) an entire metro area living in denial for 5 – 6  years over Barry Bonds.  I’ve heard it all — Bonds stopped trying to steal bases so he worked out more.  Bonds wouldn’t disrespect the game because his father and god-father (Hank Aaron) played it.  Rinse.  Repeat.

But in the back of your mind… you know.  And that is what Bill Simmons outlines… he knew something was up.  He’s spent years thinking about it.  His article is too well thought out and too well voiced for him to have written it in one sitting.  And what’s my point?  We’ve all done the same thing, with <insert name of favorite team here> instead of the Red Sox.

Its something no one wants to talk about, and I feel I can’t talk about it.  Yes I think it, but for some reason no one wants to talk about it.  So I’m always stuck trying not to sound like a talk radio douchebag trying to get ratings.  But I can take the issue that shall not be named and compare it to a favorite team that shall not be named in a productive season that shall not be named and it bothers me.  And unless you’re a Royals fan, you’re probably running the same thing through your head.

So no, i don’t have the solution here.  My only thought is… the media wants to talk about it, but can’t accuse anyone.  Simmons had 1500 words (guessing) lined up for this instance, and he probably could have used it for any other member of the ’04 world series team.  I don’t want to talk about it, but feel like its slowly propping its head into this season and we all have to deal with it in silence.  That that shall not be named is affecting things that cannot be talked about and its still having a negative impact on the 2009 season, and probably 2010 season.  And it bothers me.  And I hope it bothers you.  And I hate Harry Potter.

That pretty much sums it up.  The team was really pissing me off, Detroit makes some roster moves and some serious lineup changes and suddenly they are score nine runs, and their 20 year old pitcher is awesome.  Even Nate Robertson and Juan Rincon don’t give up any runs.  What else can you ask for?

You don’t want to get too excited about one game, but when the youngsters do well, you get excited.  Maybe it won’t last, so I will try to control my emotions.

• Not sure how long Jeff Larish will stay up, but I imagine that Brandon Inge and Miguel Cabrera will get a a day off in the next few weeks.
• Unless Marcus Thames is the backup first basemen, his days might be limited.  He makes less then Guillen and Ordonez and might have some trade value.
• Ditto for Ryan Raburn — I imagine he’ll go down before Clete Thomas.
• Tuesday night’s lineup felt much more like a “minnesota” lineup then a “cleveland” or “chicago” lineup.  I like that.
• I feel Clete is here to stay;  it allows Josh Anderson to be a defensive replacement and pinch-runner for the slower Guillen and Ordonez.  Ideally they run a Thomas / Granderson / Old dude who currently isn’t hitting well (Guillen/Ordonez) outfield every night, with the extra guy DH’ing.
• The Red Wings aren’t handling the neutral zone well right now (early 2nd period)
• Nice to hear Dave Strader’s voice again.

Finally… its early.  I won’t go crazy.  However, it might be an expensive year at the Illitch household if they truly want to field the best Tiger team in 2009 and 2010.