Monthly Archives: January 2006

Minors

Detroit’s Prospects

5 Comments

Bryan Smith at Baseball Analysts has been posting his top 75 prospects list this week. Today Bryan posted 10-25 and two Detroit Tiger prospects made the list. Joel Zumaya came in at 23 and Justin Verlander at 13.

On Zumaya:

Skillset/Future: In the 2004 Futures Game, Jose Capellan made noise with that fantastic fastball, but didn’t show more than 2-3 curveballs in his whole inning. He had fallen in love with his heater, and while it was heavy, it was simply not enough. The Brewers, who acquired Capellan over the winter, were forced into converting him into relief. In the ’05 All-Star contest, Zumaya consistently hit 99 on the gun, but threw his fastball in 11 of his 12 pitches. His curveball, the twelfth pitch he threw, was quite good, but it appears Joel does not trust that or the change up he rarely throws. To avoid a future in relief, and to maximize his potential, Zumaya must gain confidence in his secondary offerings.


On Verlander:

Skillset/Future: On the mound, Verlander offers it all. His 6-5 frame is a fantastic pitcher’s body, and provides the tilt that his great fastball provides. His power curve is also quite possibly the minors best, and was the driving force behind his dominance in the Florida State League. Justin also offers a show-me change up, but given his two-pitch arsenal, he barely needs it. Verlander’s arm tired at the end of the longest season of his life, causing the Tigers to have to put him on the DL. The organization must approach Justin with caution, but once the reins come off, look for the Old Dominion record holder to do some great things.

Even if you disagree with the relative rankings, the fact that the Tigers have two prospects to legitimately get excited about is a pleasant change. The fact that non-Detroit people are enthused is a huge change given the organization’s recent history. Unfortunately, those were the only two Tigers to make the list, showing that the Detroit still needs more depth. A third Tiger, Cameron Maybin was listed as honorable mention.

detroit tigers, baseball, minors, prospects

Contracts

Tigers sign Maroth and Inge

3 Comments

The Detroit Tigers have signed Mike Maroth and Brandon Inge. Maroth got a two year deal, and Inge re-upped for one season. I don’t have the terms of either deal, but if various reports are accurate Maroth will get $5.25 million total with $2.3 million in the first year, and $2.95 million in 2007.

Assuming the details of Maroth’s contract are accurate, I like the deal for both sides. Maroth gets two years guaranteed, and the Tigers get some cost certainty in an ever escalating market for pitchers. The contract will be up in 2008 when the Tigers will have considerable payroll flexibility. If Maroth is still part of the mix, they could then try to ink him to another multi-year deal buying out his last year of arbitration and first year(s) of free agency. Plus, $2.5 million per year for 200 innings of league average pitching isn’t a bad deal.

baseball

Minors, Roster Management

Detroit Non Roster Invites

10 Comments

Below is the listing of the Detroit Tigers Non Roster Invitees, including the recently signed Matt Mantei

Pitchers
Tim Crabtree
Chad Durbin
Lee Gardner
Kevin Hodge
Colby Lewis
Matt Mantei
Hector Mercado
Bobby Seay

Catchers
Brian Peterson
Mike Rabelo
Chris Robinson
Danilo Sanchez
Max St. Pierre

Infielders
Mike Hessman
Kevin Hooper
Josh Phelps
Ramon Santiago

Outfielders
Alexis Gomez
Ryan Ludwick
Reggie Taylor

The list is a mix of familiar faces, and decent gambles. Guys like Bobby Seay and Matt Mantei are both low risk options who have had some success in the past. Mantei’s best season was in 2003 with the Diamondbacks when he had a 2.62 ERA and 29 saves. The best days may have past the 33 year old though as ast year he struggled and walked 24 hitters in 26 innings.

Most interesting among the list is Chris Robinson at catcher. Robinson was the Tigers 3rd Round Pick last year. It appears that Robinson will be the only member of last year’s draft class invited to the big league camp, despite struggling offensively at Oneonta (and in 4 games at West Michigan).

spring training, baseball

2005 Season

Warm Tiger Memories

3 Comments

This time of year is always tough for me as a baseball fan. The past two years the Tigers have kept things interesting in January with the signings of Ivan Rodriguez and Magglio Ordonez. Miguel Tejada rumors were about the closest that Detroit fans have come to excitement since the winter meetings. Given that, I was trying to muster up some baseball enthusiasm by looking back on my favorite Tiger memories from 2005.

Opening Day

This is an easy one. Opening Day, by virtue of it’s embodiment of the beginning of summer always receives consideration. Even a bad Opening Day is still Opening Day. This year however was a whole lot of fun. On an unseasonably warm day, Dmitri Young went yard 3 times, and Jeremy Bonderman effortlessly demolished the Royals en route to a 11-2 thrashing of the Royals.
Continue reading Warm Tiger Memories →

Trade Rumors

Miguel Tejada Rumors

8 Comments

So an otherwise quite Detroit Tigers offseason became a little more interesting yesterday with a Boston Herald article (via Tiger Tales) that mentions the Tigers were a late comer to the Miguel Tejada sweepstakes.

Then Tom Gage managed to get a “no comment” instead of a denial from Dave Dombrowski about the Tigers interest in Tejada. Gage points out:

Dombrowski didn’t wish to comment about Rodriguez two years ago at the first smattering of smoke that the Tigers might be interested in him.

Dombrowski also wouldn’t comment about Ordonez last year when it was initially learned that the Tigers had expressed interest.

That’s just his way. Cautious to the hilt.

It would be easy for Dombrowski to say the speculation is incorrect, which he’s been known to do when that’s the case . But when it’s not the case, or more specifically not yet the case, Dombrowski envelops himself in secrecy — often in overcast January secrecy.

I think it is pretty clear that there have been talks, the extent of those talks remains to be seen. I’m more inclined to belive in Lee’s guess that the Tigers would be more likely to be part of a mutli player trade than actually snagging Tejada. But like so much Tiger speculation, it is a chance to improve the team, but at an area that isn’t a tremendous need. Tejada would upgrade pretty much any team – Detroit included, but the Tigers have bigger needs.

Tejada doesn’t address the need for starting pitching or a left handed bat. He may however cost both of those as it may require a package of Curtis Granderson, Nate Robertson, and a high end pitching prospect. He does help address the issue of the fragility of the team – he hasn’t missed a game since 2000. And he would be another huge bat in the middle of the order. If Carlos Guillen wasn’t part of the deal, an infield of Guillen, Tejada, Placido Polanco, and Shelton/Pena could arguably be the best in baseball.

In any case – at least there is some of that news that Tiger fans have been pining for.

baseball

Former Tigers, Tiger History

Wrapping up Trammell and the Hall

4 Comments

Baseball Toaster has been conducting a roundtable regarding this year’s Hall of Fame candidates. Part III features a debate about the merits of Alan Trammell, and to a lesser extent Lou Whitaker. These wise and educated men are in agreement that Trammell clearly deserves a spot, going so far as to say:

Maybe I need to do a Lederer campaign [Rich Lederer’s efforts surrounding Bert Blyleven] extolling the virtues of the Tigers double play combo. It’s truly amazing to me on how asleep a majority of the voters could be on these two players, considering their all-time ranking.

There are also charts and numbers and stuff. Definitely it is worth a read, as are the other parts of the discussion.

The last few weeks have had me pondering a Tram campaign. But given the utter lack of support he’s received this year, I fear that it would be a quixotic endeavor. By my highly unscientific and unofficial tally (updated through January 3rd), Trammell will only appear on about 20-30% of the ballots. That’s up from last year’s 17%, but no where near gaining the momentum necessary to make a push for enshrinement.

UPDATE: Repoz of Baseball Primer posted in the comments that he has tallied 64 ballots, and the outlook is even more grim with Trammell’s total at a meager 14%.

detroit tigers

Managing & Strategy, Offense

Batting Around the Order

1 Comment

With the talk of starters yesterday, it got me thinking about potential batting orders. Now the value of setting the order is probably overrated. Aside from putting higher on-base guys at the top of the order, I’m not really sure how much sequencing actually matters. The only other real consideration I see is balancing left handed and right handed bats in the lineup to make late game pitching changes more difficult on the opposing manager.

The Core Lineup

This is my proposal for the most typical lineup, with minimal regard to platoon advantages:

  • Placido Polanco
  • Carlos Guillen
  • Chris Shelton
  • Magglio Ordonez
  • Dmitri Young/Carlos Pena
  • Ivan Rodriguez
  • Craig Monroe
  • Curtis Granderson
  • Brandon Inge

The Tigers are still handicapped by a lack of left handed bats. The top of the order was the hardest for me to resolve. Certainly Curtis Granderson would receive some consideration as a leadoff hitter, and he could conceivable hit a little higher in the middle of the lineup. He’s batting 8th in this version just to best leverage his left-handedness.
Continue reading Batting Around the Order →

Uncategorized

Projected Lineup

9 Comments

Here are the Detroit Tigers starters as projected by ESPN.

C: Ivan Rodriguez
1B: Carlos Pena
2B:  Placido Polanco
SS:  Carlos Guillen
3B:  Brandon Inge
LF:  Craig Monroe
CF:  Nook Logan
RF:  Magglio Ordonez

SP1:  Jeremy Bonderman
SP2:  Kenny Rogers
SP3:  Mike Maroth
SP4:  Nate Robertson
SP5:  Justin Verlander/Wilfredo Ledezma

CL:  Todd Jones

A few comments:

  • While I”m not ready to write off Wil Ledezma based on his struggles last year, I don’t really see a pitching rotation with 4 southpaws
  • Dmitri Young is absent.  I understand the numbers crunch, and the site just listed one player at each position.  However, I don’t see Carlos Pena as the clear cut starter.  Provided Young, Shelton, and Pena all break camp, Pena will definitely get starts at first base.  But everything I’ve heard has Shelton as the starter.  In any case Jim Leyland will have some nice platoon options.  As for Pena versus Shelton defensively, I’m not sure that Pena is really better.
  • Nook Logan does have value on a Major League roster, but I don’t see anyway he should be starting over Curtis Granderson.  The occasional start against left hand pitching and late inning use as a pinch runner /defensive replacement are the best bets for Logan.

baseball

Defense

On Pudge’s Defense

1 Comment

Last year about this time there was a pretty popular post about Pudge Rodriguez’s ability to thwart the running game. Last year, Pudge’s caught stealing numbers have suffered a little bit, but his reputation made him the catcher that was least likely to be run on. He led Major League Baseball with .51 stolen base attempts per nine innings despite throwing out only 29%. This year a slimmer and quicker Rodriguez gunned down 45% of would-be stealers. However, he was no longer the most feared catcher in the game, as 3 other starting catchers had fewer attempts.

Player                  Inn         SBA        SBA/9 Inn      CS%

Yadier Molina         959.1          35           .33         55%
Brad Ausmus          1065.2          57           .48         26%
Joe Mauer             999.2          54           .49         38%
Rod Barajas          1025.1          67           .59         32%
Ivan Rodriguez       1032.2          68           .59         45%

The table shows the catchers who had the fewest attempts per 9 innings. Not included in the table, but right behind Rodriguez was Chris Snyder. What’s interesting is that while the attempts against Pudge increased modestly in 2005, the attempts against the leaders were significantly below Pudge’s leading mark from last year.

So was this a league wide phenomenon? Comparing total attempts the last two years, the difference was only 55 fewer attempts (out of approximately 3000). I’m not sure what caused the shift, but a handful of catchers had the luxury of not being tested nearly as much as in the past.

As for what this means for Pudge, his reputation didn’t loom quite as large. In 2005 opposing managers probably noticed Rodriguez that Rodriguez had slipped in 2004. Will his reputation come back in 2006? He certainly will stand to benefit from having 3 left handers in the rotation, two of which are amongst the best at holding runners. The Tigers should be able to control the running game. The bigger question will be keeping the runners off the bases in the first place.

detroit tigers,ivan rodriguez,baseball