The Ides of Boesch is a day on the Roman Calendar corresponding with March 13, a date which has become notorious for Detroit Tigers spring transactions, as illustrated in the prophetic 1798 painting The Unconditional Release of Brennan.
Will the Yankees be able to fix Brennan Boesch? Maybe. But let no one later claim that the Tigers “let him get away,” whatever happens down the road. His time in Detroit was clearly up. Crowded outfield and two more prospects knocking at the door. The release was puzzling at first in that, apparently, no teams had been willing to trade for Boesch, but Dave Dombrowski’s words “I have tried to trade his contract at various times here throughout the spring” made it clear what the obstacle to a deal was.
There have been no other surprising roster moves, just the players assigned to the minors that you knew would be, with many more such moves to follow shortly. The lingering suspense regarding the bench and rounding out the bullpen may not be and probably won’t be resolved for another two weeks.
Decipher this one:
QUOTE: Manager Jim Leyland was asked Friday if it were possible both [Quintin Berry and Jeff Kobernus] might make the team.
“Possible,” Leyland answered. “A longshot, but possible.”
“The two questions you have to ask are: Which guy gives us the best chance to win a game? And which scenario gives us the best chance to win games? One is singular and one is plural,” Leyland added. “That’s what you have to figure out. That comes into play when you’re figuring out your roster. Obviously, you want to win games. Plural. … We’re pretty well set, but there are a couple things at the end that are going to be a little hairy. A manager knows he’s going to break a couple hearts before this is over.” END QUOTE
Bruce Rondon is really good. (And was it not I who just poked fun at Jim Leyland for stating the obvious?) A pitcher, not merely a thrower. He sure looks ready or very close to it. The question is: Would you have him start the season in Toledo anyway, for his own good? Do the Tigers, chock full of bullpen right now, really need him right away? But the answer might be: Why wait? Nice sliders against the Mets. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of the speed thing already. I try to ignore it and concentrate on the location and movement of the pitches, which of course I’d be doing anyway. You can’t readily see speed from the standard camera angle, anyway, aside from what you can read from batter reaction. Or at least I can’t.
It was heartening to see, March 14 against the Mets, two fine defensive plays in a row behind Casey Crosby, first the great catch by Berry and then the nice work of Omar Infante/Matt Tuiasosopo. (For what it’s worth, the Tigers have committed only 11 errors in 21 ST games so far, as opposed to 36 in 28 games or so last spring.) It was also amusing that the Mets broadcasters picked up on the one Valverde-ism in Rondon’s pitching ritual, which I noticed (with some dismay) the first time I saw him this spring.
Who’s your favorite non-Tigers TV broadcast team? Of the ones I’ve encountered so far this spring, I liked Gary Cohen and Ron Darling of the Mets (SNY). I have greater respect for guys that aren’t total homers, who display some depth of knowledge about the opposing team and players and devote some time to discussing them. I think that this can be said of FSD’s Mario Impemba and Rod Allen – what’s your opinion?
It’s good to have a winning record any time of year, isn’t it? The Tigers have now surged to a 12-8 Grapefruit League record (yes, I just like the term “Grapefruit League” and will work it in every chance I get), which makes me feel better than 8-12 would. Statistical standouts on the pitching side include Al Alburquerque, Drew Smyly, Joaquin Benoit, and Brayan Villareal, but nothing tops Rick Porcello’s 18 K in 18 IP with no BB and a 0.78 WHIP. Darin Downs seems to be skating on thin ice every time I see him pitch, and yet he’s compiled a pretty immaculate line. The hitters tearing it up are Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, Tyler Collins, Nick Castellanos, Don Kelly (5 of 8 hits for extra bases), and – to an extent – Kevin Russo (38% K rate is ouch).
Around the horn on the recently happened and upcoming: Jhonny had some chowder, Prince had a flat tire, Ramon hit a grand slam off of Roy Halladay, Tuiasosopo (no slouch with the Ks himself at ~33%) hit the loudest home run of spring into a gusting wind, Doug Fister finally pitched more like Doug Fister, Justin hurt Joey but can’t be held accountable for Joey not wearing a cup, prospect Stephen Moya impressed against Florida Southern, Casey Crosby was optioned to Toledo as expected, and minor league RHP Cesar Carrillo (AA Erie) has been suspended 100 games without pay for drug policy violations, as illustrated in the prophetic 1798 painting The Suspension of Cesar. Verlander will be pitching for the Toledo Mud Hens later today. Octavio Dotel remains in the WBC. The Tigers will play the Washington Nationals three times over the upcoming week.
Finally, what about this new all-season interleague play deal? Sensible? Good? Bad? Can much be made of the Tigers ending the regular season deprived of the DH for the last 3 games? I mean, it’s only the Marlins.
And tell me everything you know about Jose Alvarez, the mystery man with 3 saves in ST. In the Grapefruit League, I mean.
On Boesch: so the Yankees signed him to the kind of contract that DD should have signed him to in the first place, therefore making him much more tradeable during ST.
On the Leyland quote:
On Rondon: Start him with the Tigers, but don’t hand him the closer job. See how he handles himself when the games count without loading that added responsibility on him right off the bat (pun intended).
On Berry and Kobernus: I think Kobernus makes more sense to make the team, at least initially. He bats RH and can play more positions. Of course Comeback Kelly could end up beating them both out, just for old time sake.
Well with the release of Boesch that only makes more sense to trade for Mitch Moreland seeing as he was also a lefty for RF, but he can also back up 1B so Prince can have a few days off during a long season, oh too funny. 🙂
Something to be remembered and considered when judging the contract the Tigers gave Boesch is that he was arbitration-eligible (which would have affected his trade status in itself) and that they sought to avoid arbitration.
Rondon appears to be well on his way to making the big club, and I’m guessing Leyland will handle that exactly as Vince suggests.
That makes it a tough choice for the final bullpen spot. Villareal vs. Downs, as far as I can tell. I like Downs and it would seem that another lefty is almost obligatory, even if Smyly starts off in the pen, but I would find it hard to argue that Downs is better than Villareal overall. Even if Villareal’s tendency to put hard stuff in the dirt regularly makes me very nervous with runners on.
The thing about Kobernus and “more positions” is that it’s not exactly true. The Tigers are trying to make it so in one ST. There must be some kind of hidden logic to why the Tigers took Kobernus as a Rule 5 pick. He’s a 2B. Kelly and Worth had him beat for versatility from the get-go, both have MLB experience he doesn’t, both have done better in ST, and neither have to make the club or be let go. For me, Kobernus makes less and less sense. Berry is the better outfielder by far and can play all three OF positions already. Kelly, Tuiasosopo, and Russo all bring more as hitters. Kobernus is, essentially, Quintin Berry as second baseman. Hidden logic…
I’m not getting the so-called need for a RHB OF. The Tigers have two already, by the names of Hunter and Jackson.
In the space of about a week, Matt Tuiasosopo has snuck up and asserted himself as the RHB outfielder I don’t think the Tigers need. Bench of (Pena), Santiago, Berry, and Tuiasosopo? I’d still prefer Worth over Santiago, 2 errors today notwithstanding, but Santiago in that list is a concession to the reality of Leyland.
The latest AP (or SL) Top 5 for non-C bench guys:
1. Worth
2. Berry
3. Tuiasosopo
4. Santiago
5. Kelly
From Beck’s Blog:
“The note was so minute when Don Kelly signed his minor-league contract with a camp invite, it might have gotten overlooked. Indeed, Kelly came back to his old club to compete for his old job, but he also made sure to get an opt-out clause that would allow him to ask for his release if he doesn’t make the team at the end of camp, just in case there was another opportunity out there for him.”
I had forgotten about this. It seems to me that the only way Kelly makes the team is if Berry doesn’t, which is altogether possible because of Berry’s knee. I don’t know how opportunity elsewhere would look for Kelly if he opted out. If I had to guess, I’d say he’d be better off opting in to Toledo and waiting for the inevitable call-up.
I wholeheartedly agree that he should be patient in Toledo because I don’t think other teams will give him any real shot and the Tigers certainly will, especially if an injury happens. I would have a hard time supporting his choice to go to another team unless that team stepped up convincingly with interest in him.
And now Dirks is day to day. Injuries ruin all calculations. I propose that they be banned.
But then this would be like the NFL where they would keep making rules every year to prevent injuries and it could make the game boring!
How about we also stick a glass shield in front of the batters so they can’t get hit by a pitch?
The Yankees with take a flyer on anything that bats or throws left-handed, which is a sensible strategy considering their ridiculously lefty-favoring home stadium.
This is true. But Boesch doesn’t quite fit the profile of a LHB masher who would thrive at Yankee Stadium. I don’t know whether the Yankees think they can turn him into one or whether instead they think he can just make the adjustments to counter the book pitchers so obviously have on him now and become the very good hitter he probably can be. Why this didn’t happen with the Tigers is anybody’s guess.
They had pretty good luck working with Curtis Granderson.
The advice for LH batters in NY is “see the ball, pull the ball.”
Yankee Stadium isn’t going to help Boesch much without some drastic changes. To Boesch, I mean. Although they could try bringing in the RF fence another 200 feet and making it 3 feet high, which might also help him defensively in RF. I think his power is and always has been overrated.
2011 is the one season that makes it look like the Yankees have had luck working with Granderson on the things the Tigers gave up on, but really, I think they’ve just let Curtis be Curtis. He’s a platoon player anywhere else, or at least anywhere else an everyday low average, high strikeout, power to RF guy doesn’t have the same payout as with the Yankees. The Tigers actually had more success working with him, but it must have been too much of a struggle.
Well to be specific, the Torii Hunter signing is part of the reason. He didn’t just cost a bag of money to bring on board, to surrender up Boesch was part of the price tag. Any new player coming to the team is always going to displace some other player, and the cost to make that transition is the naturally stated selling price PLUS this baseball tax. It sure would be nice if everything you bought in life never added a sales tax, but that’s not how it works in the real world or in the baseball world, and that accounting needs to be carefully taken into consideration with regard to any transaction that is made that brings a new player into the organization. When news broke that we signed him, most fans didn’t account for the tax nor do many reconcile it any point once they move on past their initial and immediate evaluation. It’s just always key to keep a proper cause and effect perspective in mind so that one can know what the true cost/gain is of any type of roster maneuvering. You can’t just dump raw sewage into the ocean and expect to get away with no repercussions forever.
Boesch had the job in RF and worked himself right out of it. Hunter was brought in as a replacement. Boesch was already out – Hunter didn’t force him out. Hunter is better in every phase of the game and has been consistently good for years and years, whereas Boesch was never good for more than part of a season.
This sudden love affair with Brennan Boesch seems nothing more than a pretense, TSE. Replacing a crappy RF with a good one is sound strategy. Period.
But Torii Hunter has to be replaced in 2 years, and why replace a RF twice if you can do it more efficiently in only 1 time?
Hunter’s expected shelf life of 2 years is the nearest match for the anticipated arrival times of Garcia, Castellanos, and possibly even Collins, which is not to suggest that all three are going to make it or that more than one (Garcia) will necessarily be a RF candidate. Going for broke longer-term with someone like Josh Hamilton or Nick Swisher (or trading for someone younger but proven) didn’t make sense in the context of the Tigers wealth of OF prospects. Settling RF was obviously a priority; the alternative would have been some kind of uncertain platoon situation such as Boesch/Garcia or Berry/Garcia or who knows what. That’s my take.
Well that sounds like an interesting plan. I’m just saying that you can’t say it’s as simple as saying Hunter is better than Boesch, so that justifies Hunter and the decision we made with Boesch. If we were to advance 30 years and look at a snapshot of our roster, well it’s possible that if we signed Hunter or don’t sign Hunter that those lists could possibly not have a single duplicate name. Just because you can carve out a role for a player that can justify a place for him on your roster doesn’t mean that it automatically should be acted upon just because he has more overall talent than the incumbent. That one decision can affect another which affects another and so on, and while your ideas for those outfield spots might make sense, there are still other missed opportunities of other types that need to be explored to determine what is truly the best way to solve all positional concerns. It’s not enough only to consider the OF dynamics here.
It *is* enough to consider only the OF dynamics here, because that’s what it was all about.
No because we have a finite amount of money to work with, and that has and will affect other positions. Hunter wasn’t the only OF choice available, and in fact was one of the more expensive ones.
Let me backtrack on something I said earlier. Can’t believe I got away with it (but sometimes it’s a relief to be not read carefully or at all, I suppose).
Curtis Granderson isn’t a platoon player “anywhere else. A platoon hitter, maybe, but he’s good enough overall that just about any team would take the bad with the good and play him every day.
There. I can sleep at night again.
Thanks for clearing that up! I did find that to be a curious statement and there was a lot of verbiage there so I couldn’t really pinpoint where to focus a clarifying question. I thought you were trying to say that the Tigers just didn’t respect his value enough, like as if they thought he would only be good enough for us if he had a platoon partner, and since they didn’t they sent him to a team that respected him as a regular starter.
Yeah, TSE, feel like I dodged a bullet there. No doubt there are hardcore Granderson fans here. I still like him a lot. He was one of those guys so many of us saw as a career Tiger. My initial statement was a reaction to delving more into his stats with the Yankees and being surprised that he hadn’t quite reinvented himself there as much as I’d thought.
Yeah I was quite stunned myself. I saw him as kind of a potential to have a big legacy like Yzerman or somebody, and before the trade I would have guessed that if you asked DD or Illitch about trading Granderson that they would have freaked out and thought that was some kind of blasphemy.
I was in a way glad they traded him because I thought it was a smart and strategic move to send him away even though a tough thing to do. So I was encouraged because it made me feel like wow these guys are willing to consider and do anything to try and make strategic moves, even trade such a popular player. I was not happy with the package received in return, so that watered it down a bit for me and left me in a bittersweet conundrum where overall I didn’t think it was worth it to go to all the trouble to make the deal considering the circumstances and my not liking the nature of the return package.
Every year we think Illitch has just about maxed out on how much he can spend on salaries and every year he raises it yet again. So, what is this ‘finite’ amount?
It’s “x”, it doesn’t matter what the specificity of the number is. Unless you want to contend that there is no limit, but I can’t see how that would make any possible sense. There is nothing that has every happened in this world to suggest that a baseball team could potentially spend an unlimited amount of money. Maybe there is a business man who isn’t afraid to spend $300MM on a team and pay a giant luxury tax, but it is my personal belief that Illitch does not want to absorb expensive payrolls of epic sizes. It seems clear to me that he is trying to get the best baseball team he can without spending every last cent he possibly can for upgrades. Otherwise why not blow another $25MM and get Josh Hamilton too, and Rafael Soriano to close. As long as money is no object, then those guys should project to be better players than Rondon and Dirks. But money IS an object, apparently.
Good try TSE, but I think your answer is “x”.
Yeah “x” is sufficient and irrelevant as to the quantity. If “x” is $200MM or $100MM or any number, it’s completely irrelevant to the fact that Torii Hunter is going to use up more of the money and a larger percentage of the money as a lower paid player. It would only be a factor if Mr. Illitch was willing to spend an unlimited amount of money to go for max wins regardless of the profitability, and there’s clearly no indication as to such.
Wow this is fully loaded with all kinds of juicy baseball tidbits, how fun! I think the title of the art piece was named perfectly and this could do down as an epic post for the history pages!
I will only comment on the Boesch topic for now since I still have lots to say and don’t want to go too long with my post today. This is a bittersweet weekend for me, on the one hand I truly had Boesch pegged as our Comeback player of the year prediction, and on the other I’m happy for him that he’s getting a better opportunity for playing time. I knew his biggest challenge with us would be getting at-bats being LH along with Torii Hunter playing in virtually every game.
I think this is a brilliant no-brainer move for the Yankees. It’s exactly the type of move that they should be looking for as opposed to all of their horrible value moves that they are accustomed to typically making. To analyze any decision I always put myself in their shoes to see what I would do. So as the Yankees GM, the first thing to consider is the Jeter/Arod combo. The days where they were a positive value have all but gone away, and you have to decide if you want to shoot the moon hard this year since the 2013 postseason is one of your very best if not last chance to parlay that combo of superstars into a qualified run. It seems they likely won’t be able to unload them in order to properly do a hardcore restructure for the future, so they are forced into making some degree of a legitimate run for a title this year. That being said, they can use Boesch to possibly advance that goal, but he will give them youth and flexibility and upside to help them transition as an alternative potential benefit. They really have nothing to lose and this serves as a good 2 way anchor to help them get focused and grounded with realizing that the smart thing to do is reorganize, and so I like the potential to use him towards possibly either goal in that regard.
If I am now putting myself in the shoes of the Hitting Coach for the Yanks, well I’m just salivating. I’m going to tell the GM that we need to get this guy. Hey we don’t get many opportunities for young free prospects with some upside and “track record’ for glimpses of potent power, and it seems he’s a little down in the dumps with a team that has not amplified his confidence level and put him in a position to succeed, so let me do it. I don’t know why he didn’t produce for Detroit, but I just see a raw piece of baseball meat and I want him. Heck I don’t even have to touch the guy if you don’t want me to, just get him onto our team and introduce me by bringing him within 5 feet of me and I’ll take it from there. I’ll ensnare him under my wings and give him my personal tutelage and I will rebuild his confidence level and turn him into a star. When I look at him I see a young solid man that looks like he loves baseball and just needs a mentor and some guidance, and maybe just a friend he can talk to. If this guy has any shot to develop then let us be the ones to figure that out and we might darn well have a 40 HR guy here. Get this guy in front of me now and let me do what I do. You told me my job is on the line this year and I have to earn my spot by producing offensive results, and this is the clay I’m looking for to be able to do that. Give me what I need and I’ll get you a solid chance for production that can help us win games or free up some trade currency to reorganize at a strategic juncture.
Having now experienced the Phillies TV broadcasters, I have to say that Gary Matthews is right up there with the late Ron Santo (radio) in the “Please, please… just shut up” category. I get the impression that a number of Tigers fans have some issues with Rod Allen, but hear me now and believe me later, it could be a lot worse.
Oh, I see that non-roster invitee LHP Jose Alvarez has been a *starter* in the minors. Pretty good numbers in his time in the Marlins system.
And he has more saves than Rondon this Spring (hint, hint) 😉
José Alvárez pitched a perfect game into the 8th for Magglio´s team in Venezuela. Pandoval with the first hit:
http://www.foxsportsla.com/noticias/77232-jose-alvarez-estuvo-cerca-de-lanzar-juego-perfecto-ante-navegantes-del-magallanes?country=ve
His professional career began while 16 YO:
http://lvbp.meridiano.com.ve/ficha-jugador-lanzador.aspx?pid=1559
Nice work, thanks.
Rotoworld is saying the Rangers and Padres are being the most aggressive for Porcello and that the Padres made an “aggressive” offer last week but were turned down. It also says the Tigers are interested in Leury Garcia from the Rangers, he was one of the guys I put on the list of plausible trade candidates out of the positional players the Rangers have.
Sounds like it could be only a short time before one of these teams up their offer and the Tigers pull the trigger. I think the Padres might be a better trade partner though and I’m curious what their offer was.
I think Porcello should be off the table for the time being, at least until they figure out WTF (what the Fister) is going on with our no. 3 starter. They say his issues are mechanical and will work themselves out over the next couple of starts. On the other hand he was on the DL twice last season, so there may also be a potential for health problems going on here. It is most likely Fister is just having his usual poor Spring, but I say let’s wait and see.
Well the risk to trade Porcello is that we might have a shortage of starting pitchers. But right now we are currently short of other starting players that the Tigers are concerned about. So if we have pitcher and positional needs, then they will go with the one that is in worse shape and I think they feel that is the positional needs. At least that would justify why they would make a trade in the very near future as opposed to being patient.
Obviously Porcello’s stalk isn’t super high and he could potentially have a great year and raise his stock, so if he can’t yield a sizable return package now, then I agree with you it makes all the sense to wait. But I’m sensing the Tigers don’t want to wait and will make some kind of deal before the season starts. That’s why I have been saying other teams should be trying to get Porcello as soon as possible while there is a good opportunity to get him on the cheap. And the Padres tried last week, so will they try harder to make it happen?
stock not stalk duh
I was starting to really worry about where you were going with the discussion of Porcello’s stalk and the sizable return package.
LOL sorry I must have been thinking about Don Kelly for a second. I joked in the past about a theory that Leyland and Lamont like to hang out with Don in the sauna for innocent guy chat that they enjoy for some reason and that’s how he kept making the roster all of these years. I find it odd that he happens to be so handsome, yet so unproductive, but he has a job in MLB? So I created this facetious angle to explain why they keep him around. I find humor helps me to deal with traumatic experiences like being a Tiger fan under DD’s watch!
I will absolutely shocked if the Tigers trade Porcello before the season. Not an advocate of this.
Especially since Below struggled. Which means they need a long relief guy. Which means Smyly is the best candidate for they. Which means Porcello is the 5th starter.
Yeah, Porcello’s stalk is definitely on the rise.
Corn may seem pretty boring, but speculation about future prices is anything but. Somewhere in the world exist people that currently don’t own any corn, but will one day make millions off of it. What will we do with our corny position?
Ethanol? That way we could have a gas with our corn.
But is it wise to trade some of the corn position now for an ethanol position? If the price of corn skyrockets in the future, then you would have missed out by not waiting patiently for an amazing opportunity to cash in big. And I hope ethanol was chosen because there was tremendous diligence done researching every other alternative as well, because not only do you have to make a good decision on when to sell the corn, you also have to make a good decision on picking the best thing to trade it for and there are endless choices.
And I hope you know what you are doing if you are trading in one asset for another that also happens to be highly flammable. That does sound like it’s creating for a possible opportunity for an explosive experience. If you do that type of trade, then I will pray that your calculations and safeguards are in perfect order. I’d sure hate to see you go out of your way to create a disaster that wouldn’t otherwise have happened.
Jason Beck guesses the Tiger bench going north will be Pena, Santiago, Kobernus and Kelly. My question is how many games into the season do we go before Leyland pencils them all into the lineup at the same time. Gotta get them all playing time early, to, you know, keep ’em fresh.
I’m sure Leyland will manage playing time perfectly by using his eyeball test to spot who is and who is not fresh. He can do that better than anybody I have ever heard of. He has some truly impressive subjective evaluation powers.
Former Tiger ace passed away this past Saturday.
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/03/caleras_virgil_trucks_was_a_gr.html#incart_hbx
Mr. Trucks was my sister-in-law’s great uncle. I think he was the last Tiger to throw a no hitter in Detroit before Verlander did it in 2007.
addendum: he was the oldest living Tiger and one of a very few who threw 2 no-hitters in one year (He actually went 5-19 that year).