Tiger Geist

I’ve had a rough weekend.  Its been a tough year thinking about (and sometimes defending) the “blogger vs main stream media” argument.  Its national beat up blogger day when a blogger writes something that doesn’t seem to be very well referenced or thought out.  For some reason the opposite doesn’t always hold true.  Anyway, i’m not amused and its been difficult to think about detroit sports in general.

But the Tigers made some callups for tomorrow, and I figured I should recap what they did vs what they’ve done and what I thought they’d do.  I’ll call it “part I” since there might be another move when Toledo’s season is over.

Detroit calls up Jeremy Bonderman, Wilkin Ramirez, Brent Dlugach, Casey Fien, Dusty Ryan.  Armando Galarraga will be ‘called up’ Saturday (which was really a shorter DL stint).  Galarraga is really Nate Robertson’s call-up spot.

So Detroit has its backup catcher — Ryan was already on the 40 man roster, making the decision easy.  Mike Hollimon goes to the 60 day DL, freeing up the 40 man roster spot for Dlugach.  Fien and Bonderman are bullpen help; it will be interesting what happens between Galarraga and Robertson (though Washburn isn’t exactly lighting the league on fire right now).  Detroit will have some starting pitching options, though it appears Bonderman is ‘pen bound for the rest of the year.

Surprise #1:  Ramirez.  I don’t see how he fits into the plans, unless Detroit wants him to pinch run or suddenly decided to shut Magglio down (not likely).  Seems like an odd time to move away from a defensive mentality.

Surprise #2:  No backup third baseman.  I imagine Don Kelly still gets a call (Jeff Larish to the 60 man DL??).  Detroit still hasn’t addressed its issue in outfield defense, unless Detroit just doesn’t feel it has a need to address it.  If Inge’s knee is still bothering him, they’ll have to have a plan B.  Dlugach has played two games at third this year.  I’m still skittish about playing Huff in the field.

Question #1:  Why was Brent Dlugach called up, for his glove or his bat?  I don’t question the call, just wondering what the plans are.  Leyland wants to give meaningful defensive innings to a rookie with no major league innings under his belt?  Doesn’t sound like Leyland.  But I can see why Detroit would want to spell Everett / Santiago / Polanco before the playoffs.

Dave Dombrowski

– I don’t know Dombrowski’s career ambitions.  I assume he’s fine staying with Detroit for a long time.  But with the insight from Buster Olney that the Mets are looking for a strong front-man, I wonder if Dombrowski has an inkling for a bigger stage.  And I wonder if Detroit could make that move and require DD take some of his bloated contracts with him.  Trying to get out of the Yankees shadows, its a deal that Mets would be willing to pull off.  Not sure its something Detroit (or Dombrowski himself) would even think about.  I think about Al Davis ‘trading’ Jon Gruden to Tampa Bay for draft picks, but that was a different scenario — Davis and Gruden didn’t get along.  I don’t think thats an issue in Detroit.

Nate Robertson

– Excited for his first start, but it comes at a bad time for the roster.  The bullpen is down a man and it seems Detroit is intent on keeping it that way until Sept 1.  I had thought Detroit might be able to get away with a short pen until the Tampa series, but with three games left I’m not as sure they’ll be able to escape the series without making a move for an arm.  No one knows what they’ll get out of Robertson, and they had to use Lyon, Seay and Rodney last night.  They can’t all go four games in a row, and it seems this series might be close the entire way through.  For Robertson, its good to see how much he’s learned from his rough year, how much his injury might have affected him, and how much he might be able to contribute next season.  Good things can come out of this… right?  maybe?  And if Nate looks good in September (I imagine a decent start will give him another if Detroit moves to a 6 man rotation here and there, or just a spot start), it could be an audition for another team / league.

Robertson’ injury

– Looking back on all of the talk about demoting Robertson and his refusal or possible refusal earlier this year, I wonder if Robertson secretly knew he was hurting and he couldn’t start in Toledo.  Maybe he was hoping his elbow would clear up and wanted that to happen in Detroit.  For a while I thought he was being selfish (and, from a career standpoint, stupid) — if he went 8-3 in Toledo, he could have easily been promoted or traded to another team.  but with his recent ’success’ in rehab outings, maybe his injury has been affecting him for longer then we know.  Or maybe I’m simply pretending 2008 didn’t happen and hoping for the best.

Aubrey Huff

– Absolutely killing the team.  Its great that he’s seeing so many pitches, it would be better if he hit one.  I didn’t care what Detroit gave up to get him, but my fears on his inability to field apparently are shared by Jim Leyland.  What kills me isn’t that he isn’t hitting (that might improve), its that it requires Carlos Guillen to play left field.  And Carlos doesn’t look very good out there.  When you read this article about how Carlos’s shoulder wears down DURING THE GAME, its downright scary.  Guillen should be a DH only for the rest of the season; Huff, for some reason, is blocking him.

Rick Porcello

– Outstanding poise for someone his age.  He’s made his mistakes; he’s looked dominant.  He’s battled.  Everything you can ask for a 20 year old.  Actually, its what Detroit should be expecting from Jeremy Bonderman (and to a lesser extent, Nate Robertson).  Its also an interesting contrast to Dombrowski’s moves:  a brilliant draft move, a good contract.  Dombrowski seems to have a better eye for contracts on amateur talent then extending contracts for existing players.

Pitching competition

– Going into next spring (assuming their payroll works out), Detroit is looking at the following players as potential starters:  Verlander, Jackson, Robertson, Bonderman, Porcello, Miner, Galarraga.  In football, they say that increased competition makes for better players.  Going into last spring, even with all of the options, you never knew if the competition ‘truly’ existed — Jackson was ‘dumped’ by Tampa and may not have turned out; Bonderman was coming off injury; Porcello was barely 20 years old and it would be a gutsy call to bring him north; Galarraga spent most of his time getting ready for WBC play.  Now Detroit will have options, and Miner wants out of the bullpen.  And the pitchers now know they have to step up their game.

Didn’t get home to be able to turn the game on until the seventh inning last night.  Watching Zach Miner struggle to throw strikes in the seventh?  Didn’t bother me.  Wow, what a great play by Zach at the plate to tag out the runner!  Eighth inning, Miner walks one with two outs… no problem.  Bobby Seay to the rescue!  Blast off Seay… no problem, #1 in tiger fan’s hearts Clete Thomas tracks it down.

Fernando Rodney in for the save, after a long-er outing on Monday?  No worries.  Single, stolen base, walk, passed ball?  Not a care.  Detroit will take care of this.  Detroit won’t lose.  Fly-out, line-out, ground-out, just as they draw it up before the game.  Tigers win, 5-3.  Fans have a night little Tuesday night.

Oh, right, I have some dental work today and my dentist prescribed me some Valium to take last night.  So while every other Tiger fan was nervous, I wasn’t nearly as ‘on-edge’.  Know what?  I’d recommend it to any fan for the stretch run.

I started this post after I called for Don Kelly to replace Ryan Raburn on the 25 man roster.  The Aubrey Huff trade didn’t make much sense, and I waited for the corresponding move, which came in the form of Detroit going a man short in the bullpen.  So, let’s look at what Detroit might be looking for in September, keeping in mind Jim Leyland already stated he wasn’t going to make any unnecessary call-ups this year.  Generally speaking, I think the Tigers’ main team for 2009 is already on the field, and they’ll only be making subtle changes to shore up the lineup / flaws in the existing team.  That is, flaws that are fixable…

Let’s start with some basic info on who Leyland and Detroit has called up in the past few years.  Its not always as obvious due to late moves made in August based on injuries, but this should cover the basics:

2006:  Ramon Santiago (IF), Jordan Tata (P), Chris Shelton (IF), Brent Clevlen (OF).  Mid Month added Matt Stairs via waivers.

2007:  Mike Hessman (IF), Omar Infante (IF), Yorman Bazardo (P), Jose Capellan (P).  An odd years since some players were already on the DL, to be activated later in September (Kenny Rogers, Gary Sheffield).

2008:  Dontrelle Willis (P), Freddy Dolsi (P), Chris Lambert (P), Clay Rapada (P), Mike Hessman (IF), Dusty Ryan (C).  The year I’d love to forget.

From the looks of it, Detroit is most likely to recall at least one arm for the bullpen, a backup catcher, and an infielder. There’s also a 66% chance of seeing Mike Hessman return.

So who does this leave in 2009?  The catching situation probably lies in a defensive catcher, and that would be Dane Sardinha.  The third catcher won’t be auditioning for a role in 2010 like Ryan was in late 2008.  I see the third catcher as just that, not a potential at off the bench.  This has to be Sardinha, right?  Well, Sardinha is no longer on the 40 man roster.  While a spot could be opened up by removing Mike Hollimon (who doesn’t seem into any long term plans), that spot could go to Scott Sizemore or Brent Dlugach (more on this later).  If Sizemore is not called up, I imagine Leyland would rather have Sardinha as a third backup in September.  If Sizemore is called up, this slot would go to Dusty Ryan.

Another consistent September call-up listed above is infield help.  I’m of the opinion that Leyland is going to be happy with a middle infield of Polanco, Everett and Santiago.  While Brent Dlugach is swinging a hot bat with solid short stop play, I can’t see Leyland making any move to play a rookie in the heart of a pennant race.  Ditto with Scott Sizemore.  Not that either player won’t factor heavily into the 2010 Tiger plans, but something about Jim Leyland’s love for Neifi Perez makes me feel like Dlugach and Sizemore have no shot at playing in September.  Not calling up Sizemore or Dlugach would also give Detroit the option of moving Sardinha back onto the 40 man roster, even if its short lived.  Essentially, I don’t see Leyland using a rookie with zero major league experience in September.

Even with the addition of Aubrey Huff, I’m guessing Detroit isn’t excited about Huff playing in the field.  I’m 100% positive Don Kelly returns to Detroit at 12:01 AM September 1st.  Kelly gives a reliable backup at first, third, and all outfield positions.  Kelly would also improve team speed, and could easily be used as a pinch-runner in addition to a defensive replacement.  I’ll go one further and suggest that Kelly may very well replace one of the fringe players on a playoff roster.  You could see another Mike Hessman sighting (due to his defense between first and third), but I doubt it.  Inge and Cabrera will play nearly every day, and Kelly gives you a backup in multiple spots and speed on the basepaths (24 stolen bases for Toledo).

Pitchers are much harder to predict.  Jay wrote about this recently, suggesting it was time for Zach Simons to make his debut (maybe even before Sept 1).  Going back to my Neifi Perez evidence, I don’t see Leyland letting a rookie pitch, not that he doesn’t deserve it.  Eddie Bonine is probably a lock here (reliever with spot starter potential to pair with Zach Miner), with a possibility of Dolsi, Fien, and Rapada.  Alfredo Figaro would be a longshot, if healthy.  Nate Robertson or Jeremy Bonderman may be recalled based on their experience — whether they’re allowed to pitch would be based on health; i’m of the opinion both should be shut down for the year.  Not a fan of two veterans still searching for their velocity in a pennant race.  The number of pitchers called up is dependent on whether Detroit stays a man short in the bullpen for the rest of August; I’ll call it one pitcher to get back to 12 pitchers, plus two additional arms.

Last, a move I think they Detroit should make but I’m sure they won’t:  Brent Clevlen.  Clevlen is one more solid defensive outfielders on a team lacking them, and he can play center field against left-handed pitching.  It isn’t just that Granderson looks bad against left handers, its that they seem to send him into prolonged slumps.  Clevlen gives a right handed bat with above-average defensive play.  This is a bad thing?

Recap:  Detroit has historically brought up a few infielders, a few pitchers, and Mike Hessman in September.  Leyland already mentioned he would like to bring up a third catcher.

Most likely September callups, to shore up existing team flaws:  Don Kelly, Eddie Bonine, Casey Fien, Freddy Dolsi, Dane Sardina (with a corresponding move dropping Mike Hollimon from the 40 man roster)

Next most likely move:  Clay Rapada

Veterans:  Robertson and/or Bonderman may be recalled even if neither have a chance at pitching, due to their veteran status and possible side work with Rick Knapp.  If Detroit is confident about their health, strike least one other pitcher from the call-up.

Catcher if there is no room on the 40 man roster for Sardinha:  Obviously Dusty Ryan.

Personal opinion for a position of need:  Brent Clevlen

UPDATE:

Billfer posted a nice piece on playoff roster eligibility.  I’m not sure how this fits into the Tigers plans, but there is a chance that a more versatile player is moved onto the 25 man roster before Sept 1.  Or maybe they don’t need to. Interesting question as to whether Detroit will feel the need for an extra bullpen arm, as most teams go with a 4 man rotation in the playoffs.  Know what’s fun?  Speculating playoff rosters in August.  Its a nice contrast to 2008, isn’t it?

Its Sunday night, and it appears I went to all three Tiger / Athletic baseball games this weekend.  For some reason, I felt my hour watching Madmen was time better spent. Saturday’s game was not exciting (until the fireworks later that night in Oakland), and Sunday’s game was not much fun either.  In terms of management, I’m still surprised that Leyland went with Ryan Perry over Brandon Lyon in a one run game Sunday.

I’m just going to throw some numbers out there for the weekend series:

• Tiger runs scored (series):  9
• A’s runs scored Sunday:  9
• Raburn home runs (series):  2
• Detroit left fielder errors in the series:  2 (I still think Raburn deserved a second error on his ‘olay’ play on Friday)
• Number of Jason Giambi bobbleheads stolen:  1
• Number of Oakland fans we witnessed being escorted out of the stadium in handcuffs:  1 (surprisingly, on Sunday)
• Number of Oakland fans tasered by Police:  0
• Attendance:  Friday (16k), Saturday (25k), Sunday (17k)
• Ticket prices paid for three games:  $105 ($35 / ticket)
• Ticket fees paid for three games:  $22.50
• Seriously, read the above.  They wanted an extra $2.50 for my right to print tickets at home today; to interact with a person (which should cost much much more money to the team) dealing with will call was FREE PICKUP.  Anyone not against the Ticketmaster / LiveNation merger should be stoned.
• Number of A’s fans that laughed at my “Do you think Jack Cust will autograph my copy of the Mitchell report?” joke:  0
• Number of A’s fans who know who George Mitchell is:  0
• Sorry, but going to three games in the Oakland Coliseum (including a tailgate and fireworks display) can make you lose all faith in humanity.  Raiders games feel more civilized.  Much more civilized.
• Number of hits by newcomer Aubrey Huff:  1
• Number of times the letter “F” appears in Huff’s name:  2
• Number of phone calls Huff’s agent has made, mentioning that he’s a free agent and might want to pick up his game:  4,782
• Number of churros ordered by the guy in front of us Friday:  6.  Nice Guy.  Loved him some churros.
• Number of countries guessed by the woman behind me Sunday, in reference to Fu-Te Ni’s nationality, until I helped her out:  4
• Clete Thomas strikeouts:  7
• Clete Thomas game winning hits:  1
• Number of Detroit victories:  1

I’m frustrated.  Hopefully we can all take some solace in this tidbit from John Shea of the SF Chronicle:

The Tigers played the Yankees and Red Sox 13 times. They won the first, lost 11 and won the finale. Justin Verlander got both wins. That shouldn’t bother the Tigers if they reach the playoffs: In 1983, the Phillies lost 11 of 12 to the Dodgers and then beat them in the NLCS.

I was lucky to attend the first victory against Oakland (3-2 Friday night);  I went with my friend Scott, the same Scott who held me against my will from attending Jonathon Sanchez’s no hitter earlier this year.  I’ve come around to Scott, and we attended the game, which started with a random tribute to Jason Giambi.

It absolutely should be mentioned that as a fan, you probably get a better view of a game while watching TV over attending the game live.  We had great seats (14 rows behind Detroit’s dugout) but of course, any close plays are not re-shown on the jumbotron.  Here are some of my basic thoughts on the Tigers victory:

• In the first few innings, both Cabrera and Thomas looked foolish in their at-bats.  Downright awful.
• It didn’t feel like Jackson was dominant, but he was extremely effective
• Similar to Gio Gonzales, who apparently had a career high nine strikeouts
• Ryan Raburn is assuming a Marcus Thames role — you give up a few runs defensively which you  get back offensively.  He looked bad in left field, and the A’s fans sitting near me were quite descriptive of his play
• Fans will be fans.  Some Oakland fans are fun to ‘jaw’ with, some are poop.

Watching the game live, we were in a fantastic section that was maybe 70% full (total attendance was in the 15k range).  We were able to talk shop with a couple in front of us, which we usually enjoy.  We discussed the plays as they were happening — I felt the Oakland runner was out at home, and explained that it ‘looked’ like the runner was there first but had a bad slide and while he beat the throw, he didn’t beat the tag.  I also felt that Cabrera was safe at second — the throw was there but the tag was not.  My counterpart in the row in front disagreed at first but then started to see the argument of, say, beating a throw but not getting on base, etc.  In the end, we might have been talking out of our asses since they never show a close play re-play at a stadium.  (Update:  Watched some replays this morning, i was 1 for 2 – Barton was out at home, Cabrera was out by a mile at second, though the tag itself was closer then it needed to be)

Of course, Oakland is Oakland.  This is the place where I had a beer smacked out of my hand during the 2006 playoffs that was so blatant the concession stand poured me a new one for free.  So what happened tonight, when only 15k fans showed up?  Well, it was Jason Giambi bobblehead night.  Of course, Jason Giambi is no longer on the team, having been released a few weeks ago.  At the end of the game, our Oakland fan pseudo-friend said “hey, i think that guy just took your bobblehead…”.  Scott ran over to the exit row where people were filing out to confront the person who took  his Jason Giambi.  The person just said “nope… not  yours” and walked on.  Of course, we had some choice words for him as he continued to walk — it was obvious he stole our bobble head doll.  And his friends that were with him were so embarrassed, they tried to talk him out of it — three times his own friends stopped him to turn around or just drop the bobblehead, and each time he shoved his friends away and continued on.  Well, that’s Oakland for you.

Best non-baseball part of the night:  the between-inning entertainment.  They have some female running the interviews for the fans in the stands.  One inning, they interview a… 12 year old?  10 year old?  Some kid… to ask a question.  As part of it, the female asks, on the TV in the stadium, who signed the ball he has in his hands.  He looks at the ball and answers… “uh, Gio Gonzales?”  But pronounces it “Gio Gon-zoe-less” – who at the moment is warming up on the mound.

Second best:  Whenever I go to a game in Oakland, random fans will ask me how they arrange the seats / general setup for Raider games.  Didn’t get those questions last night… probably because you can actually see the 50 yard line in the outfield grass.

Random:  Twice, after an inning-ending strikeout, Laird tossed the ball into the seats in front of us.  Twice, the same guy caught it — he was in the 11th row.  Laird needs to add a little more randomness into his game.  To be fair, the guy (sporting a Univ of Michigan sweatshirt) gave the second ball to an 8 year old A’s fan that ran over to ask for it.

UPDATE:

For some reason I felt compelled to rush this out last night.  Anyway, game was fun, seats were good, a bobblehead was stolen.  Gonzales and Jackson were probably a lot better then I gave them credit for while watching the game live.

Looks like i’ll be hitting at least two of the three games in Oakland this weekend, so i’m pretty excited.  Yesterday’s game was a great win, even if Detroit hasn’t exactly gotten a solid value in the Washburn trade yet.  It was fun to watch, and I love a good celebration (love the Leyland hug of Clete).

Read a couple of good articles (via bless you boys) on some financial decisions on Magglio from both sides of the spectrum — One from Kurt at mackavenuetigers.com and the other from Blake at The Spot Starters.  Couple Magglio’s likely contract option kicker with lagging attendance (its not bad, but its below last year), a high payroll in 2009 and looking at a high payroll in 2010… looking at declining suite revenue and season ticket retention in 2010… how can Detroit afford to let Magglio’s contract vest?  For a while I really felt it wasn’t “how can they let it vest”, it was “if it does vest, where do they find the money to actually pay him?”  Then, they broke out the wallet signing the draft class — that probably showed the fans that Detroit is ready to spend.  At least it showed me that they’re not going into a sell-mode like Cleveland did.

So I’m wondering, where is this money coming from?  Even though attendance hasn’t been poor, I hear too many commercials on my radio feed of the games about discounted tickets this year — in other words, fans are at the games, but they’re also paying less then they did in 2008.  So again, where is this money coming from?

My current thought:  Detroit’s going to get a payday from insurance / underwriters.  Its hard to find exact stats on this, but i found this blog that quotes an old Lynn Henning article.  Between Nate Robertson, Jeremy Bonderman, and Dontrelle Willis – three pitchers with a combined $29.5million coming to their bank accounts in 2009 – they’ve all missed significant time.  I do know that not every team will insure every contract — Robb Nen’s contract wasn’t insured by the Giants when his arm hung limp from his body following his World Series melt down (which of course was due to his arm hanging limp / torn rotator cuff).  This possible insurance payday is probably only pennies on the dollar, but what if they got $5million coming back to them?  $10 million?  Was that enough to allow the financial impact of Ordonez ‘hitting’ his way out of the right field platoon?

I’m not an expert, and most teams won’t comment on insurance anyway (it took a San Francisco radio personality months to get Brian Sabean to admit the Giants didn’t insure Robb Nen).  And to be fair, not every player’s contract is insurable for an amount that makes sense — though young and relatively healthy (when they signed the contracts) Bonderman, Robertson and Willis seem like ideal candidates for insurance.  I can’t see how Detroit is making money in 2009 — its almost a “how much are they willing to lose” argument.  But maybe at this point they know something we don’t.  And who knows, they might have figured out (or are working on) an insurance settlement for Dontrelle’s 2010 contract year.  The anxiety disorder is such uncharted business for baseball its hard to speculate what might be ‘available’.

Its not that I’m against the Aubrey Huff trade; I would have welcomed it in June.  For some reason I’m just not excited by it.  He does give Detroit defensive options — they all just happen to be bad ones.  A Porsche 911 isn’t a family car just because it has some semblance of a back seat; similarly, Huff isn’t a corner outfielder just because he’s played it before.  I like his bat and his team – leading RBI stat, though that stat currently favors the wrong team.

This doesn’t mean I think its a bad trade, it just doesn’t get me more excited about the current team.  And I do not think its a low risk, high reward trade either — someone now has to play the outfield between Guillen, Thames and Huff.  Thames and Huff aren’t much in the outfielder, and Guillen is at a high risk for injury whenever he steps on the field.  We also have little idea how Guillen will handle left field.  While Huff “might be adequate” in the field, it is getting away from what has made Detroit successful this year, which is defensive play.  So now we’re shuffling three poor outfielders between left field and the DH spot, one player whose throwing shoulder gave him a lengthy DL stint this season.  No, not low risk.

Now, if Detroit moves Marcus Thames off the 25 man roster, this would be a different story, but I don’t see that happening.  Detroit added a backup infielder/outfielder who doesn’t improve their defense and is having an off-year at the plate for a pitcher who wasn’t exactly tearing up the minor leagues (but good enough that Detroit drafted him in the fourth round a year ago).  Again, not a bad trade.  Just not exciting.

Offensively, Huff’s numbers from August -> October for the last two years:

• 2007:  .346, 9HR, 28RBI
• 2008:  .309, 10HR, 36RBI

I’d be happy with those numbers if Huff can find them, and if Detroit can find him the at-bats.

I was watching Sunday’s Tigers / Royals game while doing research about possible September call-ups.  Jim Leyland mentioned that he wasn’t going to have many call-ups this year, which I found interesting with a team so… ‘challenged’.  I’ll get to that in a few days, but after the 10th inning fiasco, I really feel Detroit needs to make an internal move.  Tomorrow.

I don’t blame Sunday’s loss on Ryan Raburn, but the fact is Raburn isn’t much of an infielder.  He seems to be challenged at third, and he’s had to learn first base on the fly this year.  Considering that he appears to be an average outfielder — which changes my original opinion of Raburn, where personally i thought he was above average as an outfielder — its a rough time having Raburn as your utility player.  So I feel Detroit needs someone who can fill in at third base adequately while Brandon Inge gets his off day.

I see two very important goals while Detroit makes a playoff run (well, two goals that don’t involve Miguel Cabrera staying 110% healthy):

1. Make the playoffs
2. Get Brandon Inge to a point where, if Detroit made the playoffs, he could play every day

I feel this last point is very important — we’ve seen how vital Inge’s defense (and solid offense in 2009) is to this team.  Detroit has to get to a point where Brandon can play every day in October.  To do that, they’ll need some days off for Inge, and its becoming apparent that Raburn probably isn’t the best replacement.

Oh, this far in and I haven’t mentioned who to call up?  My bad.  Don Kelly.  I’m not sold on Kelly as an everyday major league player, but he has the ability to play five positions well (third, first, and every outfield position).  He can spell either corner infield position (and seriously, Guillen doesn’t look good at first***).  He’d be an upgrade in left, and could work as a platoon with Marcus Thames.  He didn’t have an awesome stint batting in Detroit this year, but he is tearing up AAA (hitting over .320).  In other words… he makes a whole lot of sense to bring up RIGHT NOW, instead of September 1st.  I imagine he’ll be on the expanded roster either way, but I can’t see why they would hesitate to call him up before Tuesday.

This is nothing against Raburn, but defensively, Kelly fills a lot of needs and its not like Raburn is hitting .300.  Kelly gives them speed and another left handed bat to play with off the bench as well (again, probably not an awesome bat, but how surprising was it to see Alex Avila pinch-hit today?)

To summarize… on Monday, I’d demote Raburn to Toledo and call up Kelly.  This move is strictly to give more flexibility defensively to the team, and hopefully not feel rushed to insert Inge as a defensive replacement.  Now that no one seems to understand the playoff roster rules, most likely Detroit can figure out who gives them the best chance to win during the pennant race in September.  But Kelly gives them the best chance to win in August.

*** The “Carlos Guillen sucks at first base” thing is one of the most puzzling aspects of any major athlete.  First base is where they stick the guys who can’t field.  For a guy who was once ‘decent’ as a short stop, how can he not grasp first base?  This baffles me.