First there was Craig Dingman’s artery injury that will probably force him to retire. And then there was Troy Percival’s failed attempt to come back that has resulted in his retirement. Then yesterday the oft-injured Matt Mantei strained his oblique. Mantei had been impressing everyone this spring and was a likely candidate to make the team. Now it looks like Mantei is a likely candidate to retire as well.
Continue reading Tiger Spring Training Round-Up
If you haven’t already heard, David Pinto of Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive. So far 137 people have contributed to David’s cause. If you’re not familiar with Pinto, or Baseball Musings I definitely encourage you to check out the site. David is a former lead researcher for Baseball Tonight, and for the last few years has become one of the most prolific baseball bloggers. Last year, he made blogging his full time job so this pledge drive is more than an opportunity to make a few bucks – it a way to feed his family.
I strongly encourage you to visit his site and make a donation. If you’re not a regular reader of his site, but you’re a reader of DTW, then you have benefited from much of David’s work. The probablistic model of range and day by day database are both products of Baseball Musings. Both are valuable tools that I’ve leaned on heavily in the past, and he makes them available for free. This is despite the fact that the data behind the tools comes at a cost. Just last week we were able to see the optimal Tiger lineup through a script that Pinto wrote and made available to the masses.
I know that money may be tight for many of you (belive me I know), but if you enjoy some of the analysis that you see here I’d hope that you would consider stopping by and making a donation. A dollar or two out of everyone’s pocket is a pretty small price to pay for the research and data that David provides. I’d love to see Tiger fans, and readers of DTW step up and help keep Baseball Musings going.
Brent Clevlen, last year’s Florida State League MVP with Lakeland, has picked up right where he left off last season. He got the start in centerfield today, and homered off of Cliff Lee and doubled off of CC Sabathia. This comes one day after he hit a homer and drew a walk against the Braves.
Clevlen hit 302/387/484 last year as a 21 year old in high A ball. While he figured prominently on various team prospect lists, it didn’t land him on the Baseball America top 100. (Although he just missed as John Manuel revealed in a chat). The main reason being is that 2005 was his second go around in the FSL. After solid seasons in Rookie Ball and with the Whitecaps, Clevlen struggled in 2004.
Playing as a 20 year old in the FSL he hit a meager 224/300/350 and struck out once every 3.3 at-bats. After hitting 12 homers in 2003 at West Michigan, he only managed 6 in Lakeland. It appeared that the Tigers might have another failed draft pick on their hands. Instead of progressing to AA Erie, Clevlen was sent back to Lakeland in 2005.
Clevlen was selected in the 2nd round in 2002 out of high school. After his successful season last year, BA made him the #4 prospect in the organization and as they project him to break into the big leagues they had this to say:
If Clevlen makes consistent contact like he did last season, the next league he’ll repeat is the American.
While Clevlen isn’t a threat to make the team this year, his success so far this Spring Training is encouraging. His progress as he moves to AA will be one of the story lines I’ll be watching most closely in 2006.
From Danny Knobler’s blog:
The Tigers say it’s nothing serious, but Mike Maroth has a tender left elbow and isn’t going to start tomorrow against the Tribe.
“We’re just being precautionary,” Jim Leyland said.
Cautious or not, a sore elbow this early in the year scares me, especially from a pitcher that has been very durable his first 3 years. I know I was worried about the Tigers playing in the World Baseball Classic getting injured, but this is the 3rd situation to develop already (Monroe and Young are the others) – and the WBC hasn’t even started.
Dmitri Young pulled up lame running to first today. He had to leave the game, and early reports are a strained quadriceps.
Dmitri Young’s injury is being called a strained left quadriceps for now until head athletic trainer Kevin Rand, who was in Winter Haven with the other split squad when the injury occurred in Lakeland, can examine it.
I guess the good news is that it isn’t a joint injury. If it does turn out to be something where Young will miss time, Marcus Thames probably stands to gain the most as he would probably become the 5th outfielder.
John Sickels has compiled his listing of the Top 20 Detroit Tiger Prospects for 2006. Last year’s list was also headlined by Justin Verlander, but there aren’t that many similarities beyond that. Curtis Granderson, who was number 2 is no longer eligible. Many of the other players have either improved their stock or been pushed off by last year’s draft class. The average grade for last year’s top 20 was a C+, and Sickels offered this commentary:
Oh, boy, what a dismal system.
This year’s list comes in between a B-/C+.
I think Joel Zumaya at a B+ is probably a tad low, and Chris Robinson as a C+ maybe a bit high. Otherwise I pretty much agree with his rankings. Cameron Maybin received a B grade, but with some professional success should see his grade improve. If Jeff Larish, Kevin Whelan, and Clete Thomas continue to build on their impressive debuts they seem poised to move into the B range.
The Tigers moved to 2-0 during grapefruit league action after outslugging Cincinnati 17-10. Danny Knobler reports that Justin Verlander was shaky at first, but managed to pitch his way out of it. And he did it without a visit from Jim Leyland or pitching coach Chuck Hernandez.
Leyland isn’t against mound visits, but he’s also big on individual responsibility. He wants players to think for themselves, and he wants to see how they react in tough situations.
“Get out of your own jam sometime,” he said this morning, before Verlander even took the mound. “Figure out how to do it.”
Former Tiger pitching coach Bob Cluck has found a job. He’ll be a minior league pitching consultant for the San Diego Padres.
Continue reading Tiger Roundup
I’m a pretty big fan of treemaps. I’ve used them here on several occasions to graphically display win shares values. So when I found this tool that treemaps salaries, I just had to share. (hat tip to Catfish Stew) Below is a screenshot of the AL Central.
There’s an interesting article by Jerry Crasnick about the difficult transition for Latin American baseball players. The article mentions the Tiger organization’s processes for helping the players.
The Detroit Tigers have a director of Latin American operations, Manny Crespo, who ensures there’s uniformity of instruction throughout the system. The organization’s young Latin players are drilled on the same cutoff and relay plays that are used at Comerica Park.
Off the field, Laurie Soltman, the Tigers’ coordinator of international player programs, makes sure that young players receive English instruction and helps them with the fine art of navigating supermarket aisles or ordering dinner in a restaurant. The Tigers also help young Latin players with the tax ramifications of their signing bonuses.
“You do the best you can to make the transition as easy as possible,” said Al Avila, Detroit’s assistant general manager. “It doesn’t guarantee that a kid is going to make it, but it gives you a better shot if you help him along.”
While it is great that Detroit is helping with the transtional elements, I’m happy to hear about the uniformity of instruction throughout the system.
For, lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is come,
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. Song of Solomon 2:11-12
Play Ball!
For those who aren’t aware, this was how Tiger fans were greeted after a long cold winter. Ernie Harwell would read the scripture passage before the first spring training game of the year. Now this year, the first broadcast isn’t until Saturday, so we wouldn’t hear it today anways. Nonetheless, the the Tigers kick off the Spring Training season today against the Reds. They unofficially began yesterday with their traditional exhibition tilt with Florida Southern. Carlos Pena picked up where he left off last season going 1-2 with a home run as the Tigers edged the Moc’s 4-3.
In other news, Magglio has been under tremendous pressure from his country-men to play in the WBC. So, I can’t really blame him for changing his mind and deciding to play.
The Tigers signed nine more players today. The group includes
Detroit has now signed 39 players on the 40 man roster. If my records are correct, the one member of the 40 man that hasn’t signed is Craig Dingman. Dingman of course has the artery issue in his arm and he’s unlikely to pitch anytime soon. It will be interesting to see if the Tigers sign him, or let him loose. Even if they sign him, he is likely to be headed to the 60 Day DL meaning that there will be another roster spot to play with.
Similarly, Troy Percival will be going on the 60 day disabled list meaning that there will most likely be two spots available.
Feeling sick, need sleep, short post…
Do the Tigers really appreciate what they have in Granderson? Are they really considering starting Nook Logan at centerfield this season? In 2004, Granderson broke out at one of the minors easiest stadiums to hit a home run in. His numbers were helped by an August that was disproportionate to the rest of his career. He was an anomaly, but this year, showed that his breakout was for real. Granderson might not be the next great Tiger, or even a consistent All-Star. But for a team like Detroit, that has been “rebuilding” for so long, he’s the long-term answer at one position. PECOTA loves him, but I don’t see enough power developing for a superstar to shine through.
The other reason I