This voice still speaks to the heart 07/10/02
A nice column about memories of Ernie Harwell from a Jacksonville paper.
Yearly Archives: 2002
Molony: Tigers Made Right Trade
This latest trade could prove to be another in a long string of far-sighted moves Dombrowski has made during his career. In many cases those trades looked much better in hindsight than they did initially.
Comerica Park in Detroit isn’t a hitters’ park, but it’s a good place for Pena to go relax and be himself. He had disappointed some in Oakland who thought he was more advanced than he showed to be, and reliever Franklyn German (who also went to Detroit in the deal) is another tools guy Beane always uses — like Jesus Colome, Jose Ortiz and Mario Encarnacion — in deals such as this.
Transaction Oracle – Baseball Primer
This is a puzzling trade from the Tigers’ point of view. Jeff Weaver is the kind of pitcher you want to acquire when you’re rebuilding a team, a 25-year old pitcher who looks like he’s becoming an ace. Carlos Pena remains an excellent prospect, but the Tigers are just swapping very good players and not really making any gains off of it. The Tigers already have Munson coming around in Toledo (OPS getting close to .850 despite a .231 batting average) and I just don’t feel that this is enough of an upgrade to justify trading Weaver.
I’ve been away for the last couple days and am just now getting caught up on the trade. (apparently Blogger was glitchy and somehow listed me as the poster of the trade link, and had the wrong day) I was going to post all my thougts on the trade, but Lynn Henning did a pretty good job of breaking it down.
I hate seeing Weaver go, because he was the one guy that you felt like the Tigers had a chance to win with. At the same time, the injuries to Dmitri Young, Bobby Higginson, Damion Easley have hindered Dombrowski’s ability to trade those guys, and trading Weaver was the only way to bring in multiple quality pospects.
I think it is silly to try and decide if a trade was a good move right when it happens, but this trade did signal some more trends/future moves in the organization. First, either Matt Anderson’s injury is worse than expected/reported or Dombrowski just doesn’t feel he is a top notch closer. Second, Eric Munson’s carrer in the Tiger organization will be ending shortly, and it is likely that Dmitri Young will be moved also. Third, it further illustrates that Dombrowski is not satisfied with the state of the Tigers farm system. While their are a number of good pitchers at Toledo and Erie, decent position players are hard to come by. Fourth, it indicates that the Tigers are still several years away from doing anything. If Dombrowski thought they were close (1-2 years), he never would have let a top-tier pitcher go.
One of the most concerning things for me about this trade, is that the other teams involved were the Yankees and Oakland. It just seems that who ever trades with Billy Beane or the Yankees, always gets the short end of the stick.
So I don’t hate the deal (yet), I just wish the Tigers hadn’t been so bad that Dombrowski felt he needed to make it. Also, the Tigers have now become completely unwatchable.
New York Times: Torre Must Decide How Weaver Fits
“You know me
San Francisco Gate on the trade
Tigers Trade Jeff Weaver
Good thing the Tigers got a first baseman. It’s not like they’re deep at that position or anything. I think the Tigers just like being taken advantage of by the Yankees.
Detroit Tigers Promotions Schedule
This may be one of the best promotions ever:
Baseball purists who yearn for the days before pop music, commercials and in-game entertainment became staples of the game will have the chance to revel in the “good old days” as the Tigers host “Silent Night” on Monday, August 5 versus Anaheim. The Tigers will return baseball to its bare essentials for one night without the electronic, video and commercial enhancements that are commonplace in today’s game. The August 5 game has been added as the make-up game for the Tigers rainout against the Angels on May 16.
Danny Knobler: How many managers will it take before Tigers are good again?
But it’s sad that you even would think of trading a 25-year-old who already looks like one of the best pitchers in the league. It’s just as sad that the constant sense of turmoil makes it impossible for the Tigers to live up to even their limited potential.
Father-son reunion? Cubs could swing it
If the Cubs fire Don Baylor, Felipe Alou could be a candidate for the job.