After today’s game the Tigers designated the contract of Adam Everett for assignment. Danny Worth has been recalled and will be in a time share with Ramon Santiago most likely at shortstop.
Everett’s value of course came as a defensive specialist and his bat was always going to be considered “weak” at best. However offensively futility was taken to another level this season with an OPS south of .500. Only 11.1% of his balls in play were line drives and he continued to pop out meekly to the right side. He’s also striking out more and walking less than at any point in his career.
Everett’s 600ish OPS’s over his career were pretty much the minimum that could be justified and that was only because he was a defensive wizard. To take 25% off an otherwise meager production is just too much to warrant a spot in the lineup.
Worth definitely appears to have the defensive chops to man the position based on scouting reports and our chance to see if him during his brief stint at second base. His minor league hitting numbers aren’t especially encouraging but he should be able to outperform Everett.
It would seem that Gerald Laird would be the next player sweating his position, though there isn’t another internal option. He’s likely to see less playing time, but barring an acquisition from outside the organization he will stick on the 25 man roster.
Everett was a guy I wanted the Tigers to sign two years ago, and they had to bring him back this season. He seems like a great guy, and joining his family in the metro Detroit area was a nice story. But .185 is just an indefensible average to carry. Especially when the Tigers have other options on the farm.
good move. this is a business you know…….next!!!!………….any catchers being looked at
Sorry for Everett, but I’m glad to see it. Worth may not be a whole lot better, but at least he can be evaluated, he can gain get some experience, and he can provide some hope of doing better. With Everett, you knew what you’d get. With so little to lose, Worth is a risk that should be taken.
The big takeaway is that the franchise is again willing to put mistakes behind them. Robertson, Willis, Everett, Sizemore weren’t getting the job done. The actions taken seem appropriate in each case.
This is another small indicator that the Tigers may be acknowledging they shifted too far in the defensive direction. The guy I’d be concerned about isn’t Laird but Inge. Same case there in regard to meager alternatives, but if the team is going to upgrade offense, Inge would be the most obvious target. Given offensive production compared to peers at his position, Inge seems like a much bigger offensive liability than our catchers.
In any case, infield is the place that the Tigers should target if they make an acquisition to try to win in 2010.
Had to work and come home to another loss and a player released. Adam had the most beautiful head of hair. I’ll miss that.
Wonder what will happen with Rugburn?
Hopefully back to Toledo where he can hit .400, raise his value and then be traded to some unsuspecting organization for a C or 3B prospect. However, realistically DD would be more likely to accept a AA LH relief pitcher. Perhaps I am being too cynical.
Good move. I think Worth is capable of backing both positions and he’ll be more valuable than Everett was.
I’ve been wanting this done for several weeks now. I guess they just wanted Guillen to get accustomed to 2B before making their decision final with Everett. I never would of guessed that Santiago/Guillen would be our 2b/SS combo before the season started, but I’m really glad they are giving it a go. How many teams have switch hitters at both 2B & SS?
Wasn’t Guillen/Santiago our SS/2B combo like 4 years ago?
I liked Worth from day 1. Much better glove than Sizemore, imo. He was great at 2nd base, but SS is a bit more difficult. They’ll probably give him a month or so to see if he’s a keeper.
“This is another small indicator that the Tigers may be acknowledging they shifted too far in the defensive direction.”
I agree with what you’re saying here, Mat, but it’s funny to think this about a team that leads the league in errors (I know there’s more to defensive metrics other than errors or fielding percentage but I think you get my point).
Also, I can’t believe Smokey signed off on DFA’ing Everett, he’s such a good bunter!
when you are already the worst defensive team in all of baseball what have you got to lose. Everett is a nice guy and all but ……………………..
They aren’t the worst defensive team in all of baseball. They are top third in UZR and RZR and middle of the pack in +/- DRS.
they could be first in ABCD and LMNOP but the bottom line is 45 E’s FIRST .979 worst
But why not use stats that are actually better at measuring what you want. FPCT and errors are horrible ways of measuring defense.
Detroit batters are tied for 3rd in fewest times caught stealing. Bottom line is the Tigers are the 3rd fastest team in the AL then right?
all those E’s have to mean something.
It means they’re an aggressive fielding team, perhaps. The more balls you lay out for, the more you’re going to miss.
the more errors you make the more extra pitches your pitchers have to throw. Extended innings absolutely make a difference all the way around. Errors are balls that are supposed to be put outs. Lets face it with the liberal scoring now-a days by score keepers the
Tigers might be closer to 60 than 45. If you search around long enough you will find enough stats that make The Tigers look like the greatest in baseball. Well guess what! they are only 2 games above .500 and poor defense is one of the main reasons
apples and oranges….caught stealing and fastest team,……. besides Jimmy doesn’t steal
Depends on how many times they’ve tried to steal.
Awwww!! Everett was DUE!!
yes, this is another move that had to be done. Our bottom 3 batters in the order are just the pits [in average]. If we don’t have a ‘semi-ready’ C in the minors, then Laird will have to stay. But I suspect he’s on a pretty short leash, too. As for Inge, the only thing keeping him in the bigs is his glove. He can’t hit, and hasn’t hit for quite a few years now. His K / HR ratio is now 49:6, and 49 K’s is the second most on the team [with a .325 average, I can overlook AJackson’s leading 61 K’s]. Inge has 198 ABs…so 49 K’s is almost exactly 1 K per 4 ABs. Way too much. Only reason Inge is still around is his ability to play a bunch of positions: 3B, any OF, and C. I don’t think we have another 3B ready right now anyway….so he’s gotta stay. Kelly can play 3B, but he’s no Inge defensively. Hopefully, DD is searching for a replacement right now….and another C, too. If we don’t get these issues solved, then I can’t see more than 85 wins, which is a shame considering Cabrera is having a monster year, and the pitching has generally held up ok [not today though].
I just looked up the stats: Tigers are the worst-fielding team in the AL with 45 E’s and a .979 fielding pct. The only AL team .990. And how many GBs are we now? I suspect here’s the reason….
hmmm, part of my last post didn’t show, for some reason. Let’s try this again….
I just looked up the stat: Tigers are the worst-fielding team in the AL with 45 E’s and a .979 fielding pct. They’re the only team less than .980. Contrast this with the Twins: the best-fielding team in the AL with only 15 E’s and a .993 fielding pct. They’re the only team better than .990. And how many GB’s are we now? I suspect here’s the reason……
I don’t understand this move. How are we going to get value out of the $1.5 Million we invested in him this year and win the WS if he is DFA’d? Oh that’s right, this isn’t even a professional baseball player, just another slap in the face of Detroit fans by DD and his crazy antics of blowing money on guys that don’t even belong in the league. DD can’t get enough of these baseball rejects, and we’ll never win as long as we keep shooting ourselves in the foot. Just another year where I’m right on the money about everything and DD doesn’t have a clue.
It’s so hard to believe you haven’t been hired on as a scout or GM by somebody. Your talent is just wasting away here on the internet.
Sad but true.
Do me a favor and go back to the Tigers luck with guys before Dombroski when we were losing 90 -100 games a year.
Just Google Randy Smith draft picks, or free agent signings. DD has turned our laughing stock team into an annual contender. What else do you want? He did it in 3 years, pretty incredible since our system was in shambles.
No one is perfect. Spending 1.5 on a starting SS isn’t a move to get worked up for. What does 1.5 million buy you on a baseball team? It didn’t work out, turn the page. You want to waste 1.5 million think of Cale Iorg, not Adam Everett, who played hard every day was good for the team and was excellent in the community.
he could have spent 5.5 million on Scutaro and we’d be in 1st place, that is another $4 million. Quite frankly we could have just not signed Damon, it isn’t that hard to find a corner outfielder, we could have just got Posednick and saved money, it was a dumb move. No way it was going to work out, nobody in the NL wanted this guy, I don’t even understand the defensive comments, he wasn’t that good, he was a decent SS but he wasn’t going to win any Gold Gloves and his range stinks. You couldn’t pick out a worse offensive player from the crowd, he has no power, speed, doesn’t walk and can’t even hit for a mediocre average, I think 230 was his upside with an OPS of 500. Even Ozzie Smith defense isn’t worth that kind of offense.
I liked the A-Jax,Coke trade, he got great value for Granderson and Jackson, neither of whom are anything special. Scherzer and Schlereth were just a bonus.
Valverde was a great signing but not offering arbitration to Polanco was quite frankly stupid, you can just cut the guy and only pay 25% of their salary and he wasn’t going to get much, so he basically saved a million dollars and lost 2 draft picks. The starting pitching really wasn’t addressed either, come on Bondo,Nate and D-train wouldn’t be playing without their contracts.
Overall pretty mediocre, lets be honest , the Twins wipe the floor with us in the front office, the only reason we have a chance is outspending them. This probably was DD’s best offseason without handing out $50 million+ contracts. I just don’t get signing these guys like Everett and Laird, Everett was horrible in the NL-what did he think was going to happen. Laird was lousy on offense in Texas which is a launching pad. He knew we already had Inge who should be a platoon player strickly vs lefties , if Inge is re-signed I won’t even watch next year, he is going to get worse. Hopefully we can just outspend everybody next offseason and buy a starting pitcher (or two), a 3b and SS
Scutaro wasn’t going to sign with us for 5.5 million. We offer 7, Boston would have offered 8. They needed him desperately.
Anyone can look at major league rosters and see hey the got this got cheap player whose is overperforming. For every Scotty Pods, or Johnny Gomes there are Randy Winns, Jeremy Hermida’s etc, Jacque Jones etc.
Hindsight is 20/20.
The Twins are the best run franchise from top to bottom, so I don’t think it’s fair to compare DD to them. They are the best and have had a chacnce to build their team for more than 5 years.
Although I thought Scotty Pods would have been a good pickup at the time.
Please refrain from Hawk-isms. 🙂
I like Scotty Pods, too.
left unchallenged is the notion that somehow Marco Scutaro makes us a first place team.
1.5 mill is chump change in major league money!!!!!
Oh, how I dread admitting this, but I don’t mind listening to Hawk at all. Guess that shows my blue-collar roots. He’s entertaining to me. If I was a Chicagoite, I’d be a WS fan. My brother and sister would be Cubbies. PUT IT ON THE BOARD!!
Haha, I get all kinds of flack from my fellow Tigers fans for saying I like Hawk. Face it, if he were a Tigers broadcaster, we’d all love him. I still hate the Sox, though.
Errors and Fielding % have always very iffy stats in my mind. The official scorer for each team has far too much latitude in calling hit vs. error, and official scorers’ objectivity varies greatly by team. The calls seem far too dependent on a players rep, too.
IMO, official scorers today are far to lenient in awarding hits on questionable plays as compared to 20-30 years ago.
Amen to that re official scorers. And guess what? They get to change the call within minutes or even a day later. How many times have we seen someone charged with an error only to have it change to a basehit instead or just the opposite. Just the human element of baseball we just have to accept.
SI story sort of interesting:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/tom_verducci/06/04/umpires.pitching/index.html#
Talks about lack of offense in both leagues.
I keep feeling like this team is a just about to turn the corner. And then we go into KC and drop 2 of 3. The last game being an absolute nightmare. At some point, the Tigers are going to have to figure out the Royals. These guys seem to constantly play spoilers.
They have turned the corner. Although DD, Leyland, et al will trumpet the “we are contending” line because it puts more fannies in the seats, in fact, with 4 rookie position players (if Sizemore returns it will be 5) and a few very young and lightly experienced pitchers (Bonine, Perry, Scherzer, Porcello, etc.) on the roster, they are really in rebuild mode.
It will be interesting to see who they dump by the trade deadline and what comes back in return. Damon and Ordonez have the most value and moving them out opens up two outfield spots for the many possible quality replacements from the farm. We are stuck with Laird and Inge, but along with Guillen and Raburn I am guessing they won’t be back next year – maybe Inge stays for the D if they can muscle up elsewhere in the lineup.
I see you (packing your bags) Adam!
–Rod Allen
The only Dromboski deal that will be remembered in 10 years will be the Caberra steal & signing.
Everett really took the news like a man.
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“The writing was on the wall, but it’s just part of the game,” Everett said. “If you don’t produce, that’s the way it goes. I don’t think, managerially, it was a tough decision. I think it was more of a tough decision personally [for Leyland].”
Everett was unsure as to what he plans to do in the future, but would still like to play baseball if the opportunity presents itself.
“I can’t foresee the future, but I’m sure it’s going to take a little while,” he said. “I’m just going to see where things go from here. If somebody gives me a chance, then they do, but if not, then I guess I had a good career.”
Everett’s replacement, Worth, was batting .287 with two homers and 18 RBIs for Toledo.
“I think he’s going to be good,” Everett said of Worth. “I think he’s going to be good for a long time. He’s got a great demeanor. He obviously did a lot of work in the offseason to turn his swing around and he looks great. I wish him nothing but the best. This is what it takes sometimes for a guy to get a break, and hopefully he’ll make the most of it. Everybody needs one.”
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100606&content_id=10894278&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det&partnerId=rss_det
Classy guy.
Very classy. Too bad he can’t hit.
That’s right. Everybody needs a break.
Even Jim Joyce?
I hope he stays in the Tiger system as a possible coach…..great guy….goes about his business as a professional……need more people like him working with younger players….
Speaking of ex-Tigers, Rodney just came in the game vs OAK…oh no, not Fernando Rodney, not Crooked Hat Rodney, but, according to the Comcast Sportsnet graphic, Fernando “Chef” Rodney….Bwah? When did that happen?
Good luck Adam, I’m glad I got to see one of your 4 RBI’s this year!
I bet a starting shortstop gets hurt somewhere and they pick up Adam. Just like the Tigers did in ’88 picking up Ivan De Jesus when Trammell hurt his foot. Of course, De Jesus turned out to be terrible and we released him a week later…so we picked up Luis Salazar who was pleasantly average.
Adam could be either one of these guys.
Finally! I have been saying we should release/send Everett down to the AAA & bring up Danny Worth ever since that series with the Red Sox when Maggs was injured and we brought up Worth. Even if he isn’t GREAT, I’m sad to say that I don’t think anyone could be as worthless as Everett :/ Luckily, DD is focusing on our problem areas (Willis/Everett) and trying to find a solution for this nonsense. I think a next good move for us would be to send Porcello down to the AAA for awhile (Don’t get me wrong, I like Porcello & I’ve seen what he’s capable of) but he has never been in the AAA, and I think he would benefit from it, I mean look at Scherzer, at the beginning of the year he absolutely SUCKED but he went down to the AAA and got his $#!t together, and look at him now 🙂 As far as players we need to worry about, I think Laird needs some work, and call me crazy but I’m not impressed with Bonderman at all.