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Drunk Punch

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So the Urbina-Polanco trade took a very interesting twist today with Danny Knobler’s report that Urbina was part of an alcohol fueled altercation on the team’s flight to LA on Sunday night. Knobler isn’t saying which player Urbina was fighting with, just that it wasn’t just one player. Jayson Stark further reports

“Ten guys wanted to kill him,” one person on the plane told Knobler.

Another source told Rumblings that the teams involved in the Urbina trade talks were aware of the incident. But clearly, the Phillies decided Urbina’s volatility was worth taking a chance on, in part because of his close friendship with Bobby Abreu.

Knobler points out that this deal, or one similar to it, would probably have gone down without the incident. The altercation just expedited the process.

What’s interesting is this is the first clubhouse incident that we’ve heard about during Alan Trammell’s tenure. Now it’s possible other things have occured and they’ve just been kept quiet. Even if that’s true, it is a credit to Trammell and his coaches that the team kept it in the family and it didn’t become a public issue. As for the information coming out in this case, it was done intentionally. If this was a leak or somebody having a grudge it would have been reported on Monday or Tuesday. Instead, it was kept underwraps until after the trade was completed.

Other thoughts on the trade and some responses to concerns:

  • Some are concerned that Troy Percival, while once a great closer, doesn’t have what it takes to finish games anymore. While this may be true, the Tigers certainly don’t think this is the case. If they had doubts about Percival, they wouldn’t have signed him in the first place. Given that they have faith in him, and Franklyn German, Chris Spurling, and Kyle Farnsworth have all pitched well, Urbina became very expendable.

  • The open roster spot will go to Fernando Rodney who came off the disabled list today. The Tigers roster is now back at 25, and they only have 4 starters. While they are over a week from needing a fifth starter, I’m curious to see who gets sent down. Will it be Doug Creek, Chris Spurling, Tony Giarratano, Omar Infante?

  • Speaking of Infante, his status is still uncertain. I don’t think the Tigers are giving up on him (he’s only 22 years old), but a utility/sporadic bench role isn’t going to help him at all.

  • One of the benefits of holding on to Urbina is that they could offer arbitration, and with Urbina wanting to close they would be assured of him turning it down. While the same scenario could play out with Polanco, keep in mind he was only available because the surprised the Phillies last year by accepting arbitration even though the plan was for Chase Utley to start.

  • Check out Balls Sticks and Stuff to see what Philly bloggers are saying about the deal. Or at least what they were saying before the information about the fight came out. And before Urbina gave up two hits (one a homer), and two walks in a third of an inning.

5 thoughts on “Drunk Punch”

  1. The bullpen has got some major depth. Besides what the Tigers bullpen has, the Mud Hens also have a great bullpen. I live in Toledo and follow them regularly. Vic Darensburg has a 0.00 ERA for 21 IP. Matt Roney (0.48 ERA) and Jason Karnuth (1.69 ERA) are also doing very well out of the pen. So trading Urbina means nothing.

    I am wonder about the starting pitching though. I guarantee that Sean Douglas will be the 5th starter for Detroit in a week. He is the only one down here that looks major league ready. Maybe Detroit will take back Andrew Good for the 5th starter role.

    I also heard Kyle Sleeth is going to have Tommy John surgery, looks like another wasted Tigers pick.

  2. If any team offered you a great infielder with a lifetime batting average of nearly .300 over eight seasons who, on top of all that, is a guy of tremendous character, you would jump at the chance to have him. Well, guess what: someone did and the Tigers now have Placido Polanco. Read any of the blogs devoted to the Phillies over the last few seasons and they will confirm this assessment. Polanco is a tremendous asset. The only “negative” comments you will ever find associated with him within the Phillies blogosphere were an outgrowth of frustration that Chase Utley was sharing the starting 2nd base position with him this year. Detroit will benefit tremendously from Polanco’s presence. He is a contact hitter who is smart, self-less, competitive and extraordinarily versatile with the glove. Second is his best position (he is superb in all aspects of defense) but he can play short and third and this season even played three or four games in left field.

  3. I don’t know that you can call Kyle Sleeth a wasted pick quite yet. Yes he went under the knife, but there are no indications he won’t fully recover. Now if you wanted to say wasted in the sense that the Tigers took a somewhat polished college pitcher in 2003 and the absolute earliest he could help the club would be 2007 – that I’ll buy.

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