Monthly Archives: June 2009

2009 Season

The Tigers take Jacob Turner 1st

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The Tigers went with high school right hander Jacob Turner. Turner went to Westminster Christian Academy in St. Louis and Baseball America has him ranked as the top high school right hander in the draft. He is advised by Scott Boras and is said to be seeking Porcello money and he’s got that commitment to North Carolina in his back pocket as well.

Tyler Matzek was the higher rated prospect on many boards, but Jim Callis reported on MLB’s draft coverage that he was looking for unprecedented money. Even though they didn’t go for Matzek, the Tigers didn’t exactly go with a signability pick.

Keith Law had Turner ranked 7th overall and said he second only to Stephen Strasburg in terms of consistent velocity.

There is a conference call at 8:25 and I’ll add more to this report as I spend some more time googling (notes are below the video now). In the mean time here is a nice profile piece that paints a very favorable picture and some video of Turner at work.

Conference Call Notes

Some notes from the conference call with David Chadd and Jacob Turner:

  • Chadd: Has been following Turner since last June on the showcase teams as well as the spring. Turner meets the profile for the organization (excellent athlete, lots of power, fastball up to 96, control of all his pitches, strong make-up)
  • Turner: As a baseball fan he knows about the Tigers but wasn’t worried where he’d be drafted and was focusing on his season.
  • Chadd: Thinks the delivery is sound with clean arm action and 3 pitch mix. He doesn’t anticipate much tinkering and is real high on his make-up.
  • Turner: All spring he viewed North Carolina as Plan A. Now he’s viewing the Tigers as another option.
  • Chadd: The draft was quite unsettled, right up until their pick, but they were excited when Turner was available.
2009 Season

Baseball Amateur Draft – Tigers Mock Draft Roundup

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5:03pm Jim Callis has locked in the first 8 picks and says the Tigers will have their choice between Tyler Matzek, Jacob Turner, Shelby Miller, and Michael Leake depending on how much they want to spend.

The Tigers will have the 9th pick in the draft today. I can’t speak with much authority about the pool of players they will be selecting from. Amateur baseball is something I just don’t have the depth or breadth of knowledge to talk about. So I’ll look to the experts. Here are what some of the mock drafts are saying about the Tigers pick:

Jonathon Mayo – MILB.com

9. Detroit Tigers: Jacob Turner, RHP, Westminster Christian Academy, MO
Staying put with this pick as it’s still a definite possibility. Two of the Draft’s wild cards, Scheppers and Tate, could feasibly find a home here. For now, though, Turner remains the pick.

BaseballAmerica.com: Draft:John And Jim’s Fantasy Draft (not a mock draft, that’s farther down the page)

9. TIGERS (Jim). Here’s where it gets tough, because Texas high school lefty Matthew Purke is the best player on the board. The Tigers haven’t been afraid to spend big to get players such as Justin Verlander, Andrew Miller and Rick Porcello, and they’re happy with how all three of those guys have turned out. But Purke’s father apparently wants Porcello money ($7 million) for his son, and while Matthew is very talented, that’s at least twice what I’d want to pay him. I’m not ready to pull the trigger on St. Paul Saints (American Association) righthander Tanner Scheppers yet either. He has thrown hard this spring, but he had serious shoulder issues a year ago, and shoulder issues scare me. I’m going to go for a little gamesmanship here, because there are a couple of players I like that I don’t think you’re going to pop, so I’ll take Texas high school righthander Shelby Miller. He’s got the best high school fastball in this draft, and that works for me.

MLB draft: Keith Law’s mock draft 3.0 – ESPN

9. Detroit Tigers Jacob Turner, RHP, Westminster Christian Academy: They’re also on Tanner Scheppers, and they’re having Reymond Fuentes in for a workout today. Mike Trout was rumored to be in the mix here a month ago.

SportingNews.com – MLB Draft Blog

9. Detroit Tigers
Jacob Turner, Westminster Christian (St. Louis) HS, RHP
Scott Boras representation won’t scare off Tigers, who have paid over slot for Rick Porcello and Casey Crosby.

BaseballAmerica.com: Draft: Mock Draft: Mock Draft 4.0

9. TIGERS. Late word is that Detroit won’t have a blank check to sign its favorite player who falls because of signability, which would have been Matzek, Turner or Purke. The Tigers could draft Crow and dig in, assuming he won’t want to head back for a second season in independent ball. Candidates for a slot deal include Lipscomb lefthander Rex Brothers, Trout and James.
Projected Pick: REX BROTHERS.

2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.057: Tigers at White Sox

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PREGAME: The nice thing about winning the first game of a doubleheader is that there is no pressure of being swept. But, a sweep sure would be nice.

The Tigers welcome back Jeremy Bonderman who will be throwing his first big league pitch in over a year. He’s still looking for all of his fastball velocity to return, so we’ll see what a craftier Bonderman can bring to the table.

Jose Contreras will be on the mound for the White Sox. The Tigers have scored at least 4 runs in each of their last 5 starts against Contreras. Hopefully that continues today.

Your lineup for tonight’s action:

  1. Anderson, LF
  2. Polanco, 2B
  3. Thomas, RF
  4. Cabrera, DH
  5. Granderson, CF
  6. Inge, 3B
  7. Raburn, 1B
  8. Laird, C
  9. Santiago, SS

Detroit vs. Chi White Sox – June 8, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Well that game sucked. Jeremy Bonderman wasn’t good. Not at all. It wasn’t just the homers, it was all the other hard hit balls, and the walks. I think it’s safe to say that Armando Galarraga’s spot in the rotation is safe for the time being. Jeremy Bonderman has options, he also has the right to refuse, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Tigers ask him to go to Toledo if there isn’t progress in his next start. And based on Bondo’s comments earlier it doesn’t sound like something he’d resist.

And then there was the offense which didn’t exist despite the fact Jose Contreras was pitching. Weak ground balls and lazy flyballs were the recipe for a near shutout. Finally, let’s not bat Josh Anderson leadoff anymore.

2009 Season, Roster Management

Ryan Perry optioned to Toledo

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The move to make room for Jeremy Bonderman was the optioning of Ryan Perry to Toledo. I don’t think this is a bad move at all and it could be for no more than the minimum 10 days. The Tigers can’t continue with 6 starters and I think a decision on the rotation will be made after Dontrelle Willis’s next start. Someone will get bumped from the rotation which will then answer a question about the bullpen, and then Perry’s recall could be scheduled.

2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.056: Tigers at White Sox

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PREGAME: It’s the start of a 5 game series, which just seems kind of crazy. I guess the nice thing is that for the team that loses the first game they have 4 more chances to avoide the sweep.

Armando Galarraga gets the day shift in the double header today. He’s coming off of back-to-back quality starts after really struggling in his previous 5 outings. Clayton Richard gets the ball for the White Sox. To contrast, he’s coming off a rough start after a string of 3 games where he only allowed a combined 4 runs in 20 innings.

There’s more stats and stuff here: Baseball Reference Preview

Detroit vs. Chi White Sox – June 8, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

2009 Season, AL Central

Perusing the AL Central

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The Tigers are welcoming back Jeremy Bonderman, but they aren’t the only team in the AL Central to be making some significant roster changes. Here’s a brief look at some intra-divisional goings on:

  • Fausto Carmona dominated the Tigers earlier this season. The Tigers have the distinction of being one of the few teams he’s dominated. He’s now been sent down to Rookie ball . The guy taking his place on the roster is fairly significant as it is Travis Hafner returning from injury. Hafner doesn’t have much of a breaking ball though so Tomo Ohka will take his place in the rotation for the time being
  • The Royals are losing on a regular basis now and are on the brink of 5th place. They hold a narrow half game lead over the Indians and the 2 teams will go head to head this week. That the Indians are hanging in despite having Grady Sizemore, Rafael Betancourt, Asdrubal Cabrera, Anthony Reyes, Scott Lewis, and I think Cory Snyder on the DL. And Jake Westbrook is expected back soon.
  • Speaking of the Royals they DFA’d Horacio Ramirez and have brought up Luke Hochevar. Too little too late?
  • The White Sox called up Gordan Beckham to try and provide some offense.
  • Taking a look at the standings, the Tigers are up 3.5 games over the second place team and 7 over the last team. So things are still tight. And if you look at the Indians, they’ve had to play 36 games against the AL East and only 3 against the AL West. Meanwhile the Tigers are 10 games over .500 against the West and 6 games under against the East.
  • The other thing that jumps out is the Twins record on the road. They are 7-18 away from the Metrodome.
2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.050: Angels at Tigers

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PREGAME: We can be fairly certain that Rick Porcello won’t be pitching a complete game today, so wouldn’t it bee nice if the Tigers knocked around Joe Saunders enough that he could leaven in the 6th inning or so with a quality start and a comfortable lead?

Saunders has had games lately where he hasn’t allowed a run, and other games where he has been hit hard. Hopefully the Tigers draw a hit-hard Saunders today and it would be nice to see the Tigers get a home run before the homestand ends.

LA Angels vs. Detroit – June 7, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME:  As bad as the homestand was for the first 4 games, taking the last 2 and a series win make things a little brighter as Detroit hits the road. Rick Porcello was victimized by a couple home run balls, but by and large the kept the ball on the ground.

And then there’s the offense. It was a week of futility but the Tigers finally managed to get some big hits, the biggest being a Clete Thomas grand slam. to the Tigers credit, they were content waiting out Angels pitchers who issued 9 walks. Thames had multiple hits. Adam Everett had a big hit with the bases loaded. Ryan Raburn had a great hustle play to score the tying run. This one felt good.  Mostly.

Joel Zumaya looked brilliant getting a double play ball to get out of a runners at the corners, 1 out jam in the 7th. But then he got wild and thanks to a dumb decision ended up walking in a run. The dumb decision being intentionally walking a guy with a sub .600 OPS when there are 2 outs to load the bases. Just dumb. Thankfully the Thomas slammed erased the decision.

The bad news is that Zumaya threw 31 pitches (actually 27 because of the intentional walk) and Fernando Rodney threw 23, and Ryan Perry threw 24. It was not particularly efficient for the trio with a double header on tap for tomorrow.

2009 Season, Contracts

This whole release Ordonez business

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There has been a growing sentiment that the Tigers need to release Magglio Ordonez. Ordonez has a very expensive $18 million option for 2010 that will automatically vest if Ordonez notches 249 more plate appearances this season. He also has a $15 million option for 2011 that vests if he has 270 starts or 1080 plate appearances between 2009 and 2010 (info from Cot’s Contracts). I think it is clear to everyone that Ordonez is a very long shot produce like a “$15 million player.” But if the Tigers cut him, it won’t be as simple as walking away from money owed.

Ken Rosenthal, in an article about a potential grievance that Tom Glavine may file after his release, points out that the CBA prohibits teams from cutting players for financial reasons. Ordonez has been struggling this year and a sub .400 slugging percentage isn’t at all sufficient. But the Tigers would be hard pressed to prove that even at his current numbers, cutting Ordonez wasn’t a financially motivated decision.

When Gary Sheffield was released, he was still going to get his money regardless. There was no financial motivation. With Ordonez there are two things working against the Tigers releasing him for performance based reasons. First, while the slugging percentage is low he does have the 3rd highest on base percentage on the team. The performance isn’t satisfactory or sufficient but he’s also far from a black hole in the lineup. He also has enough of a track record that I think the numbers do improve, probably not to his career levels, but I think they will be better.

Second, there is no argument to be made that his position on the roster is blocking anyone. There isn’t a stud prospect waiting in the wings and he’s not taking at-bats from anyone more deserving. it’s possible Wilkin Ramirez could become that guy, but he sure isn’t there yet.

Cutting Ordonez is the right move on the surface because he won’t perform like a guy who will make $33 million the next two years, but I’m pretty sure the Tigers knew that when they signed him in the first place. They had to pay the Tigers Tax for their years of futility to get Ordonez in the fold. So the Tigers knew they would be in the situation when they inked the deal.

Lastly, if you’re a believer in clubhouse chemistry, how do you think it would play for the other 24 guys to see their organization dump a guy to avoid paying him?

2009 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 6/6/09

Toledo 1 Norfolk 0
Brent Dlugach’s homered proved to be all the offense. Ryan Roberson did pick up 3 hits. Scott Drucker fanned 4 and walked 1 with 3 hits in 6 innings. Clay Rapada pitched the final 2 innings for the save.

Erie 6 Bowie 10
Scott Sizemore singled, doubled, and walked. Brennan Boesch and Shawn Roof each had 2 hits. Ryan Strieby started but left the game in the 2nd inning, I’m not sure what happened. Pat Stanley allowed 8 runs (6 earned) in 5 innings on 11 hits, 3 of which were homers.

St. Lucie 7 Lakeland 5
Justin Henry went 2 for 5. Jeramy Laster added a double. Charlie Furbush was knocked out in the 3rd inning after allowing 6 runs on3 hits and 3 walks.

West Michigan 5 Lansing 4
Ronnie Bourquin doubled twice and singled. Keith Hernandez doubled and singled. Anthony Shawler allowed 2 runs on 4.1 innings and Jared Gayhart allowed 2 in 2.1 innings. The club also announced that Mauricio Robles was going on the disabled list.

2009 Season, Injuries, Roster Management

Thames to start Sunday

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In his postgame press conference Jim Leyland announced that Marcus Thames will start on Sunday. With his activation from the DL, Jeff Larish will be optioned to Toledo.

I’m a little surprised to see Larish sent out over Raburn. The Tigers are flush with outfielders and with Cabrera’s hamstring hurting they are thin at first base.

You may remember a game in Anaheim last year where Thames took Joe Saunders (tomorrow’s starter) deep twice and to the wall another time. Maybe he can do it again and break the Tigers string of 7 straight games at Comerica without a homer.