Tiger Geist

When Clete Thomas was recalled this week, Jim Leyland announced the new right field platoon between Thomas and Ordonez.  Magglio and Clete’s hitting will probably be similar (or close to a wash), but the defense will be much better with Thomas in the field. In last night’s game against the Royals, Thomas made an immediate impact with an RBI single in the first inning. However, he was only 1-4 for the night. After Magglio hasn’t been an everyday player in June, suddenly his 2010 option is in jeopardy (Rob Neyer quotes Tom Gage here).  I’ve stayed out the “time to cut Magglio” discussion for a while, for one reason: I don’t think its possible to cut him. Actually, its quite easy to cut him; I feel the “time to cut Magglio because he’s hurting the team” is not the same conversation as “time to cut Magglio so his 2010 option doesn’t vest”. I feel that Magglio and Scott Boras would have a legitimate grievance due to the wording of the current CBA, and if cut, Magglio would still get his money.

However, Detroit might have found the perfect loop-hole; i’ll call it the grizzly bear theory. Namely, in a group of 5 people walking in the woods who happen to stumble upon a hungry grizzly bear, you DO NOT have to be the fastest person to live. You just can’t be the slowest. That is where Detroit currently sits with Magglio; they no longer have to ‘bench’ Magglio. They just have to assemble a team that deserves more at-bats then Magglio, namely in the corner outfield and DH positions. When asked about the platoon, Magglio said as much, “I have to produce first“.  If they can make such a move, it could be a huge boost to team morale (they won’t see it as Detroit refusing to pay Magglio, but as a way of the other 24 players getting a shot at a world series ring) and it would give Detroit a strong stance against any grievance filing from the player’s union.

Quickly, Detroit realized that they won’t win that argument with Ryan Raburn, Don Kelly, and Josh Anderson.  Down goes Kelly, up comes Thomas (who absolutely shined defensively early in the season, though not that Kelly was bad).  Raburn is starting to heat up, and he’ll be their backup infielder as well.  Marcus Thames has the DH spot locked up; Guillen will push for some playing time (hopefully) upon his return.  Still, that lineup doesn’t give a huge (what i’ll call) ‘legal’ advantage to Detroit in terms of limiting Ordonez’s at-bats.  What would give them leverage?  An All-star.  If necessary, an expensive all-star.  Here, mlbtraderumors.com outlines guys who are probably available.  Pick a player, and nearly any amount of minor league talent to make the trade.  Its crazy to think about, but would you rather keep Wilkin Ramirez and owe Magglio possibly $30million over two years, or do you move Ramirez and Jeff Larish to put, maybe not a great team on the field, but a team “good enough” to keep Magglio on the bench?  And in the process, take advantage of a relatively weak AL Central and ride it to the post-season?  Mike Illitch said he’d do what he could do to get the team into the post season THIS YEAR;  he did not mention making sure the team was competitive in 2010 or beyond.

After reading about how many teams are unable to take on salary this summer, I was positive that Detroit couldn’t afford to make any moves, let alone one that involved a high salary.  Now, I feel they HAVE TO take on some salary now to avoid a massive payroll in 2010; its basic investment spending.  And the truth is the 2010 payroll is already steep, and team sponsorships and season ticket sales will almost definitely decline in the near future.

So, feel free, think about who Detroit could target for a playoff run in 2009.  Sky’s the limit, assuming the player is in the last year of their contract, otherwise more minor league talent will have to be involved.  As I (briefly) mentioned in the “This Week in Detroit Tigers Baseball” podcast last week, bringing in another Scott Boras client in Matt Holliday would put Boras in quite the pickle.  The good news is, the way things are shaking up, its possible they won’t have to give up much if they’re willing to eat some salary.