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links for 2009-02-04

13 Comments

13 thoughts on “links for 2009-02-04”

  1. So, Inge REALLY is Mr. Clutch. I wonder if that is because of or in spite of his inability to lay off the low and away breaking ball.

  2. I agree with the Ducksnorts writer: any closer using “It’s Raining Men” as their song would be intimidating as hell.

  3. Speaking of closer songs, with the Tigers ADD approach last year, wasn’t theirs “Manic Depression”, or is that just me?

  4. How does Jason Beck get away with praising Larish’s ”impressive” .368 BABIP in that article?

  6. ***WARNING – NOT TIGERS RELATED***
    (Billfer, please feel free to delete)

    Billfer, I was looking thorough some tax code recently, and found something I thought may be of interest to you. There is some process you can go through to classify your blog as a business, and as long as you are “making a reasonable attempt at profit” (i.e. ads), you can deduct everything from your ISP bill to computer hardware/software to BP membership to tickets and transportation to CoPa as business-related expenses. If this is something you haven’t looked at, it may be well worth your while to consult a tax pro.

  8. Have to say, Leyland is right. Zumaya is the key if he’s back at 100%. He could solve are closer problem. Seay, Rodney, Lyon, and 2 starters out of Willis, Robertson, or Minor will likely be in the pen. I’m sure we’ll all be enthusiastically watching this spring training battle progress.

  9. re: Porcello making the ’09 rotation

    there’s no thread for this yet (?), so i figured this was the best place.

    while i’m happy to hear that the Tigers front office has adopted the “best man wins” mantra to making the starting roster, i’m beginning to grow anxious over talk of Porcello starting this year. i’ve read a lot of talk recently on the subject, with varying degrees of likelihood of him making the team.

    i’m not nearly as concerned about jump in the quality of the opposition he’d be facing as i am the jump in pitches (the articles i’ve read mention a 75 pitch-count) and innings you’d look for in an MLB starter. i’ll be very anxious to see this talk go away. i’d hate to see him added to the list of young pitchers that burnt out early.

  10. Andre,

    I think you hit on the biggest reason Porcello won’t make the cut – pitch count. He’s not been stretched out in terms of pitches or innings, so they won’t just throw him to the wolves. Too much money invested in that right arm.

    HOWEVER, they could treat like the Yankees did Joba or how the Red Sox did with Papelbon. That is, bring him up to pitch out of the pen and move him to the rotation on a strict pitch count. In the case of Papelbon, obviously, he was so dominant as a closer that they left him there, despite the occassional chatter of sliding him into the rotation. I would not be surprised (nor upset) to Porcello pitch out of the pen at some during the season. They will probably need the help.

  11. @ Mark

    i really hope they don’t go the route of the bullpen with Porcello. i’ll admit i’m still getting a hang of the “care and feeding” of young pitchers, esp. the young ones…but if Porc is to be a future starter, doesn’t sticking him in the pen this year slow that process? i suppose it would be better than trying to have him start, i mean he’d have to deal with better opposition WHILE trying to keep his pitch count down? that would seem like a recipe for disaster.

    i realize that its important to win, and possibly more important to win soon while this group is intact. but if Porc is as good as we’ve been hearing, why risk it…if not from a physical stand point, how about mental?

    even if he’s limited to the pen, how much does he add to the team from there (i know this is an almost unevaluatable (?) question), and at what risk to future production?

    i can calm down a little though as it seems that, according to the papers, there’s less and less talk of him making the team.

  12. The difference between Porcello and Joba/Paps is the fact that a) both of those pitchers were older than Porcello when they came up (23 for Joba, 25 for Papelbon) and b) each had thrown at least 50 innings at the AA or AAA level prior to being called up. I don’t see Porcello getting rushed. Also, the fact that he was born in 1988 makes me feel very old.

  13. Chris in D, good points about age and experience (and I echo your comment on the whole 1988 thing, especially since today is actually even my birthday! lol…).

    I did not consider those factors relative to Joba and Paps. I think you’re right, and I don’t see Porcello geting rushed either, but I don’t think it’s the end of the world to run him out there for 50-75 innings at the big league level if they think he can be effective. They did it with Zumaya, who was 21 in 2006, and from day one they have raved about Porcello’s maturity and demeanor on the mound. I think he could be a low leverage guy to eat up the 6th or 7th inning, all while working with the major league staff on things like preparation, conditioning, etc. There’s value in that for both the player and the team, but it should be done only if it’s truly beneficial in both cases.

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