September 7, 2002 – Transaction Analysis
At 23, Van Hekken shouldn’t be pushed too hard by a Tigers team that has nothing to gain by overusing him. He’s already pitched 183.1 innings this year, so making him work for much longer in September seems a bit dicey. Naturally, Luis Pujols didn’t care a whit, since he saw Van Hekken throwing strikes and getting what’s left of the Indians out, and he hasn’t gotten much of that from his other pitchers this summer. Hopefully, the Tigers will stop short of treating Van Hekken as this September’s Mark Fidrych.
Other roster moves include releasing Jose Paniagua and Jose Lima (finally). Also, Gary Varner is one of the PTBNL from the Moheler trade.