Tiger Geist

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).