– Keith Law wasn’t very complimentary of the Tigers’ farm system, ranking it 25th in the majors. (here’s the link to the ESPN article – you’ll need insider)
– Here’s a good (free) article on ESPN about the boys.
– Some spare on ESPN’s Page 2 writes that the Tigers lacked “bang for the buck” in 2010. Not news to anyone. That ESPN has a Page 2 is really the news here.
– What do you guys think about Galarraga and Jim Joyce co-authoring a book?
– Does Vlad do anything for you? Apparently the Orioles are doing a good job of driving down his value, offering $3M for a year. What about Bondo as a spot starter?
– If you haven’t seen it already, MLBTradeRumors really has the best free agent news around, despite their utter disregard for design.
Detnews reports the Tigers have closed the door on Jeremy Bonderman. As much as I appreciate his effort and history as a Tiger, I agree with the decision. Not because I don’t think he can be effective, but because I think he will be a constant member of the Disabled List. I’ve talked about this many times…the “inverted W.” It’s a mechanical flaw that leads to high rate of injury. When a pitcher strides and his front foot lands, where are the elbows? When the elbows are pointed upwards, and above the shoulders, it’s just a matter of time before the arm is ruined. Want to see Bondo? Check out the picture Detnews includes in their article.
http://www.detnews.com/article/20110201/SPORTS0104/102010430/1129/sports0104/Tigers–Dombrowski–We-won-t-sign-Bonderman–Guerrero-not-a-good-fit
Chris O’Leary discusses this in detail on his website, http://chrisoleary.com. Look for pitchers that have their elbows pointed behind them instead of upward, and it reads like a list to 40+ all stars: Greg Maddux, Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson.
This is such a good indicator of injury, it’s amazing major league pitching coaches allow their pitchers to throw that way.
If Joel Zumaya is reading this…we love ya man, FIX IT.
Sorta sorry to see Bondo go. We will need a #6 starter — we always do. And I think that after paying him as an invalid and through rehab, the prospect of having him healthy again for a couple million was a good one. I think he has the potential to be a 3.5 ERA pitcher again if he does the right things. But, there are lots of promising arms coming up, and I’m sure that’s a factor here.
As for Guerrero, sign him now. Victor Martinez is a great bat for a catcher, and only good as a DH. Avila has not shown he can hit at the major-league level for any length of time, sorry to say. He’s ideal as a backup getting 2 starts a week. Whatever defense is lost with Martinez behind the plate is minor compared to the difference between Guerrero’s bat and Alex Avila’s. Any anyway, every other team in the league will have 2 dedicated catchers on the roster; only the Tigers will be using one of theirs as DH most days. What are they going to do with the extra roster spot? Carry an extra second-baseman?
Bobby Seay is still a free agent… I’d like to see the Tigers bring him into camp and see how he does.