Tiger Geist

Rapada down, Guillen to the DL, Thomas and Larish up.  There you have it.

Last year, this move would have taken another week of losing for Leyland or Dombrowski to even think about making a move. In 2008, Guillen could have gotten some innings at shortstop to see if that might ‘jumpstart his offense’.  But now, after looking foolish in left and acknowledging that his shoulder and Achilles are hurting, he’s on the 15-day DL.  Rapada, who I thought pitched well last night, gets sent down as the extra bullpen arm.

On top of that, two guys with some major league hitting ability get the call.  Clete is a very good defender to help with some absolute atrocious corner outfield play lately, and I’d rather take my chances with Jeff Larish against a left handed pitcher then watch Ryan Raburn stand up there.

Its possible that I’m biased and looking for every little reason to get Guillen and Ordonez off the field, but last night’s game looked downright awful for Guillen.  And there have been at least two plays over the last two games that Ordonez has been _this close_ to getting to, and in your gut you think that anyone with some foot speed could have made those plays.  I’ll give Magglio the benefit of the doubt in terms of his slow offensive start, but let’s warm it up from the DH spot.

In terms of tonight’s lineup… I’m not really sure there is anyone who ‘should’ be hitting at any one spot, outside of Miguel Cabrera.  While I’m sure “Granderson hitting fifth” won’t be a permanent slot, if he thinks he deserves to hit higher, he can start inching his batting average towards the .300 mark.  I am surprised that Brandon Inge still sits down at #7.

Looks like another crappy day in SF, so i should be able to watch the game today.  Quick thoughts (I haven’t been posting as much lately):

• Wow… totally missed this.  I knew there was a roster swap with Larish and Rapada, but… Detroit is now carrying 13 pitchers?  And our backup first baseman is….????
• Larish seems to be doing some damage in Toledo.  I guess they might as well create some value for him either in Detroit or on another club.
• Guillen seems to have a lot of nagging injuries, the type of injuries that don’t get better as the season goes on.  Seriously, who hurts their Achilles?  Thats a new one for me.  I’ve heard ‘torn Achilles’, but not a lot of data on ‘sore Achilles’.  You have to pull for the guy with what he went through last year, but how can we get him healthy?
• Interesting how most of the time I read about ‘Achilles’ its capitalized.  We didn’t the previous year reports on Guillen’s Back or Knee injuries.  They were just back and knee injuries.  Thats why I worry.  I would also worry when someone hurts their Groin.
• Last night I posted about dropping Ryan Raburn (and even Marcus Thames).  Then i watched “the wrestler”, an awesome yet depressing movie, and I felt bad about throwing Raburn under the bus.  Today I’m back on the “bring up someone else” bandwagon — if this is the Tigers roster, and Raburn will get some playing time, is he really their best option?  On a team that will float around .500 all year, in a division that might float around .500 all year, you need your best players, regardless of minor league options.
• Iphone enthusiasts have to love the (relatively) new interface for both Mack Avenue Tigers and The Detroit Tigers Weblog.  I played around with some mobile interfaces and never quite finished it in March, and now both of these sites have beautiful sites when viewed on my (your) iphone.  Well done.

Lastly, I’d love to see an outstanding performance today against the Indian’s staff ace.  Leyland has spoken about the need to do better against the AL Central — this would be a great start with a series win.  One of the old football coaches in Rochester used to tell us “when you have the other team down, you have to kick them in the balls”.  That should be the Tigers’ rally cry.  Would have been helpful last night.

Its nice that Detroit is sticking right around .500 to keep everything interesting.  After a little losing streak, they put up a big lead, give it right back, and then stage a come from behind victory on a Curtis Granderson home run in the bottom of the eighth.

From what I’ve read and listened to, if it was my decision, Ryan Raburn would have played his last game as a Tiger on Saturday.  They can send him down, then can ‘designate him for assignment’, they can trade him.  But he’s done as a part time defensive player in my book.

So what to do?  Bring up Brent Clevlen.  No, he’s not tearing up Toledo.  No he may or may not hit better then Raburn, but he seems more consistent at the plate and is definitely a better fielder.  And right now, Detroit doesn’t need any more average fielders.  If Clevlen had options remaining, he would probably have been promoted over Raburn in the first place.

I might go far as to say that Detroit doesn’t need Marcus Thames.  Why?  Gerald Laird and Brandon Inge.  Both have been a pleasant surprise this year (maybe a huge understatement for Inge), and they’re hitting better (esp Inge) power then expected.  So why bring back an average fielder who hits .250 (Thames) to backup average fielders who hit .275 – .300 (Guillen and Ordonez).  The MO of the 2009 Tigers seems to be pitching, defense and speed, and Thames doesn’t bring it.  Its not his fault, he’s just the third outfielder who is a poor fielder, and the other two make $10mil+ more then he does.  You’d think he has value, but if he doesn’t get a trade, let him go.  Someone will give him the at-bats he deserves.

So there you go.  Moving forward, Detroit should drop Raburn, bring up Clevlen (or any other defensive right handed batter), and start looking to move Marcus Thames when he gets healthy.  No, I don’t think Clevlen has ‘deserved’ a promotion, but I think its obvious that if Raburn is viewed as only an outfielder, he is not Detroit’s best option.  I’m not into snap decisions, but how much longer can this be tolerated?