All posts by billfer

Kenny Rogers the Signer

I wish I could have posted this earlier (darn day job), but as everybody has heard Kenny Rogers is a Detroit Tiger pending a physical. The deal is for $16 million over two year, which is line with other contracts. That said, I’m not thrilled.

Rogers has been fairly durable throwing over 190 innings each of the last 4 years. Last year he did a remarkable job preventing homers (only 15) despite pitching in the launching pad that is Texas. However, he also saw his strikeout rate drop to 4.02/9IP. While I expect the Tigers infield defense to be solid next year, that still amounts to a ton of outs left up to fielders. While his 3.46 ERA last year was impressive, his 4.30 DIPS ERA is rather average. I guess the good news is that the Tigers have two of the best pickoff pitchers (Maroth also) in the majors now.

My other issue with this signing and the to a lesser extent the Todd Jones signing, is the age. Rogers is 41 and Jones will be 38. For a team that was severely hampered by injuries last year, Detroit has increased that the chances of that happening again. Luckily the contracts are short term.

In terms of payroll, the Tigers had approximately $18 million come off the books with the departures of Fernando Vina, Bobby Higginson, Rondell White, and Jason Johnson. With these signings the Tigers are $3-$4 million below last year’s payroll. However, Magglio Ordonez goes to $15 million, and the Tigers contingent of arbitration eligible players are inline for big raises (especially Jeremy Bonderman given the starting pitching contracts). I won’t worry about this too much because so far the Tigers heavy investments the last few years haven’t precluded them for investing in scouting and development, or in purusing additional players.

No Offer for Johnson
In what may be the most disappointing move of the last two days, the Tigers decided not to offer arbitration to Jason Johnson. Johnson was very unlikely to have accepted, and even if he had accepted he would have provided similar production at a simliar price as Kenny Rogers. By failing to offer arbitration the Tigers gave up a shot at an additional first or second round draft pick.

Tiger Town
There’s another new Tiger blog – Tiger Town.

Blogger Hiccups

I apologize for the technical difficulties regarding the Todd Jones post. Blogger was acting up last night, and things got screwed up. Also, if you left comments on one of the superflous posts, those were obliterated also. Again – sorry about that.

But a comment that was posted was that Todd Jones was not offered arbitration so the Tigers will not have to cough up a draft pick.

Tigers get Todd Jones

The Detroit News is reporting that the Detroit Tigers have reached an agreement with Todd Jones. It is reportedly a two year deal (Tim points out in the comments it is rumored to be $8-10 million which seems like a lot to me). Jones was quite good last year as he halved his walk rate (1.7) and struck out 7.8/9IP. Most impressive may have been that he allowed only 2 home runs in 73 innings pitched. Granted he was in a park that limits homers, but he’ll be moving to a park that limits homers as well.

While his numbers were better across the board last year, the strength in his strikeouts, walks, and homers, indicates that it probably wasn’t all luck.

Jones is a likable guy who may be a good influence in the bullpen. Matt Anderson’s best season came when he took over closer duties from Jones in 2001. Maybe he can have a similar effect on Fernando Rodney.

The timing is a little curious in that Florida probably wasn’t going to offer arbitration to Jones by midnight tonight. If the deal is closed before midnight, or if the Marlins in fact do offer arbitration, the Tigers will lose a 2nd round draft pick.

Granderson in demand
First there were the rumors about Curtis Granderson to Florida for Josh Beckett. Then it was Granderson in the Javier Vazquez deal. Now it appears that the Red Sox are interested in Curtis as well. At least it further validates Tiger fans’ hope that Granderson is the real deal.

Winter Meeting Roundup

The Tigers have yet to make a move at the winter meetings, but according to various reports, that hasn’t been their choice.

In what was probably the biggest news (ESPN insider) Javier Vasquez invoked his no-trade clause to block a trade between the Diamondbacks and Tigers. According to Peter Gammons the Tigers were prepared to send Joel Zumaya and Curtis Granderson to Arizona. My first reaction was thank you Javy. I’m a big fan of Granderson, and Zumaya’s future certainly looks bright. Upon a little bit of reflection though, I think that most Tiger fans would be very satisfied if Joel Zumaya ended up being the pitcher that Vazquez is today, yet there is no guarantee. To give up a pitcher of Vazquez’s ability the Diamondbacks would probably demand a player who could contribute today (Granderson) as well as a prospect. The price tag isn’t ridiculous. A lot of fans have called for a top of the rotation starter – and those have a high price.

However, I’m still glad that the trade didn’t happen. First, both Granderson and Zumaya are years away from arbitration, yet alone free agency. Vazquez is signed for the next two seasons for $23 million, which isn’t cheap even in today’s climate. Second, as a long suffering fan I’ve been waiting for the farm system to produce something. I want to see these guys succeed and for them to do it in a Detroit uniform. Third, while the price may have been fair, I still think it would have been a better deal for the Diamondbacks.

The other thing to remember is that just because this trade didn’t happen, it wouldn’t surprise me if Dave Dombrowski has received calls from other GM’s willing to part with pitchers for a Granderson/Zumaya package (ie Billy Beane offering up Zito).

(UPDATE: Dave Dombrowski and Josh Byrnes have denied all reports, acknowledging there was trade talk but that it never got to the point of Vazquez. Dombrowski said, “And I don’t mean to downplay [Vazquez] at all, but that is not an appealing situation for us.”

I don’t think it was an appealing situation for any of us. Phew.)

In addition to the Vazquez news, there was a report that the Tigers and Mets had discussions regarding Pudge Rodriguez. Talks broke down when the Tigers demanded too much. I consider this to be good news. I don’t think the Tigers should trade Rodriguez, because I don’t think they would get fair value with him coming off of a rough season. And while his contract has been mentioned as prohibitive, there are only two years left on it, making it much more manageable.

Rule 5 Primer
With the Tigers dropping Ryan Raburn, they are now able to participate in the Rule 5 draft. If you want to read up on who the Tigers might select, head over to Baseball Analysts where they break down some likely selections (incidentally no current Tiger minor leaguers are listed).

Arbitration Deadline
December 7th is also the deadline for teams to offer arbitration to potential free agents. In the Tigers case this may mean offers to Rondell White and Jason Johnson. Given the way the offseason is going, I’d be surprised if the Tigers don’t offer Johnson arbitration. If he accepts the Tigers have a league average inning eater for one season, and at a somewhat reasonable price. If he declines they get a draft pick. I’d imagine that Johnson is likely to decline arbitration given the fact the can get a multi-year deal. White may be more likely to accept because a one year deal will give him a chance to prove his shoulder is healed. The trouble is the Tigers don’t really have room for him.

Erie’s Coaching Staff
The Tigers announced that the coaching staff at AA Erie will return next year.

Interviewing Dan Dickerson – Part 2

Continuing the interview with Tiger play-by-play announcer Dan Dickerson.

Part 1

DTW: How much research are you doing before each game and where are you finding your information?
DD: I love to get my hands on as much information as I can. At heart I’m probably just a complete stathead. I think that’s probably one of the things that got me into the game was the numbers. I played stratomatic baseball as a kid, I think that probably helped cement my love for the game. I love the numbers, I love the stats. I know you can’t do too much of that on a broadcast, but I do think it helps you understand how to evaluate players, how to try and evaluate players anyways, how teams build their rosters.

I like to read as much as I can. I like to read opposing papers and try and get a weeks worth of clips or more, print them out, and try to get a feel for what that team is doing now. Most of the information would come from the internet. Newspapers, websites. The team websites have become more valuable because you get some good feature stories. There’s no end to the baseball websites. If you’d click on My Favorites you’d see quite a few baseball websites I go to. I don’t know if you go to Hardball Times, but I think that has really become an outstanding website.

You can never have enough, and the fascinating part is how does it all fit, and a lot of it doesn’t fit into a broadcast.

DTW: Is the Detroit Tigers Weblog on your list of favorites?
DD: It is
DTW: That’s good to hear
DD: I didn’t go to a lot of those websites because I didn’t really know if it was a lot of guys making comments, and some of those sites are guys just posting stuff that is idiotic stuff. But then I did see your website, and I saw some of the stuff you do. I like some of the historical stuff as well as current stuff.
DTW: What is a typical game day like for you during the season?
DD: If it’s home, usually I’d get down there before 2:30 and 3:00. I like getting down there early, and 3:00 is aout as late as I want to get there for a home game. The clubhouse opens at 3:30, and if you get there early then you’ve got an hour to set your computer up, and start thinking about what you’re going to do that night.

I head down to the clubhouse between 3:30 and 4:00, and work both clubhouses. That’s one of the things I got from Ernie, because as much as I like stats, Ernie was very much people oriented. I think in the early days he introduced me to a lot of the people he knew and opened some doors for me. Just to see him go down to the opposing clubhouse, if not everyday then at least every series. He’d pop his head in the manager’s office, sometimes just to say hi and move along. Other times he’d have a specific target in mind, and if he didn’t know him, he’d introduce himself, or if he did know him he’d just go in and chat. To me it’s just not that easy to walk into a strange clubhouse, introduce yourself, and launch into some specific questions about his career, but I try and make sure I do that.

So I go down show my face, and sometimes strike up a conversation. Sometimes you get on a topic you weren’t expecting, sometimes it’s personal stuff, sometimes it’s baseball stuff. I just think that is one of the most fun parts of the job is that you get to ask the people who know so much about the game. No matter how much you and I think we know, we’ll never know the game at the same level these guys do. They see things in a different way, and to be able to go in and talk to a Carlos Pena, a Craig Monroe, a Brandon Inge about something that happened. Maybe it was a mistake they made but I want to have it in my mind whether it was a mistake that could have been avoided, or something that happened that I didn’t see on the play. Sometimes you’ll find out stuff that you didn’t realize, like “I hitched on the throw because the second baseman wasn’t at the base” or “That ball caught the lip of the infield and shot up into my gut.” The things that aren’t obvious on a replay or aren’t obvious at the time. To me that’s the real value in getting to know these guys, is they’ll tell you things that help you understand what went on in a game or what is going on in their lives as they struggle through a 2-25 slump. To me that’s a lot of fun and I’ll stay down there until 5:00-5:30.

Then I’ll get back up and get the lineups and fill out the lineup card and scribble in some notes by each guy’s name if there is anything that seems like it might fit. I know it seems like the last 2 hours always zoom by. It’s funny, you start righting stuff down and think “what about this” so you look it up in the computer, or “what did he do last year,” just little things that might pop up as your writing down a guys name. I try to keep bios on each player and a print out of the opposing team. You just kind of see what ends up on your paper that day. You talk to opposing broadcasters and get their take on things. You have dinner and you’re ready to go at 7:00pm.

DTW: Your home run call, “Way Back and Gone!” was that something that you rehearsed or did it just evolve naturally?
DD: I think especially for the deep ones it seems to work. It just came out one day. One day I said “Long Gone” [Ernie Harwell’s trademark call] and I was so mortified I made sure I had a different way to say it. When it’s way back you want to give the impression that it’s not one scraping the fence, it just seemed to work one day. I don’t use it every time because not every homer is deep, but if it was a Carlos Pena homer from the second half, it was deserving of that.

I try to vary it, but I guess the more you do it, the more you realize that “Gone” works, like “Score” in hockey. You’re hitting it, you’re punching it, and giving it your signature with your voice and the way you say it. I think a lot of guys say it, and I try not to get too fancy with it. I’ll use different calls from time to time, but when people hear “Gone” they know what’s going on.

DTW: What’s been your most memorable call?
DD: I always think of the Brandon Inge versus Troy Percival[Sunday, August 23rd, 2003]call because it was 2003, and it was a 9 or 10 game losing streak. They had not scored on Troy Percival, only like 2 runs in his career so it was the ultimate mismatch. Bottom of the ninth, down by a run with a man on and Inge hit a home run to win the game. There weren’t many memorable moments that year, but I came out of my seat on that one. There was so much going wrong and for him to hit that home run it was a very joyous moment in a season that hadn’t had many.

A great moment is a great moment. That team was bad, having a terrible season but then they won 5 of 6 to end the season, they were down 8 runs that Saturday and won 9-8, those were great moments. It’s always good to remember that no matter the record a great moment is still a great moment.

DTW: What do you think of the team’s prospects heading into next year?
DD: That’s a great question, I was having lunch with Dan Petry and another guy from the Tigers and were chewing over a lot of the things that could happen. I don’t like the way the free agent signing period has started. I think everybody has to be taken aback by the prices, or maybe not, maybe Dave [Dombrowski] anticipated the prices for closers. It seems like you have to go to plan B where if you’re going to improve you have to do it through trade.

I still think you can build a bullpen at a relatively low cost, outside of a closer. If you look at the White Sox bullpen last year I think I read it was a $3 million dollar bullpen. The guys they had were good and at a relatively low cost.

You’ve got to shore up the rotation. You have to add a veteran arm, or two. I still think there are options out there like a Matt Morris or Paul Byrd. I don’t know what the Tigers think of those two, but at a relatively low cost, I don’t know what that is anymore, you could sign one of those two. Javier Vazquez name is being floated out there as a potential trade. Carl Pavano also, but I guess not as likely. But I think you need to add the veteran arm to the roation with Verlander coming in.

The bullpen still is a question mark but I think it can be built in a low cost way outside of a closer. I don’t know what they’ll do about closer, but I think it is a high priority. I do think you can acquire a starter or bullpen help in a trade. Obviously with Pena and Young both on the roster, there isn’t room for both in the lineup next year. It seems to me one of those could be possible trade bait if you’re willing to pick up some of Dmitri’s salary, or if a team is interested in Pena.

Pena is the real X factor, I think that is the biggest decision. You watch him hit the last two months and think, “Do I really want to get rid of this kind of left handed power?” On the other side he’s only done it for a couple months the last couple seasons in spurts.

I think Jim Leyland is going to have a major impact on this team. Listening to him in the press conference, he seemed to be really anxious to get back to managing and wipe out the short stint in Colorado. I think he wants to prove he still has the fire, and it sounds like it to me. Everything I’ve read about him from his past in Pittsburgh and Florida is that this is a guy who lets you know where you stand, and what the consequences are if you don’t perform the way he expects. Talking with Dan Petry, you want to play for this guy. You want to do your absolute best. This is a guy who knows how to get it out of you. I don’t know how that translates into in terms of wins, but I think he’ll have a major impact.

I’d like to thank Dan Dickerson for being so generous with his time. Dan will be cohosting the Tiger Town radio show with Dan Petry on WXYT1270. The next two editions will air December 8th and December 14th at 7:00pm.

Interviewing Dan Dickerson – Part I

Dan Dickerson had one of the toughest jobs in sports – the guy that replaced Hall of Famer Ernie Harwell. Dickerson does play-by-play of Tiger games with Jim Price. Before becoming the voice of the Tigers Dan held a number of broadcast jobs in Detroit including two years of play-by-play for University of Michigan baseketball, and fill-in play-by-play for Michigan football.

Dan was kind enough to do an interview with DTW. Dan was very generous with his time, so the interview is quite lengthy. Part I is below, and Part II will be posted once it’s transcribed (hopefully in a day or two).

DTW: You grew up in the area (Detroit), when did you become a fan?
DD: I went to my first Tiger game in 1967 at Tiger Stadium. The 1967, 1968 teams really hooked me on baseball. Especially the end of 67, because I was just old enough, I was 8 when it went down to the last out. I do remember watching those last few games and of course the 9-1 start in 1968 and that team just had me hooked on baseball.
DTW: Did you have a favorite player as a kid?
DD: Willie Horton was it, he was. Al Kaline, absolutely, but there was just something about Willie as a kid that just captured my imagination. It looked like he could hit a home run every time he stepped to the plate. I think that really got me going, and I just didn’t miss an at-bat on radio or TV if I could possibly help it. I just thought he’d hit a home run every time.
DTW: Now you find yourself broadcasting for the team you grew up with. When you started off in broadcasting, was it your dream doing play-by-play for the Tigers?
DD: Nope, I never really thought that was a possibility. I remember telling my mom once when I was in my teens, that I was going to replace Brent Musburger someday, that was my dream. The Tiger job to me always seemed out of reach.

I loved sports, and every job I got in radio was news related. I kept trying to get into sports full time and I did for one year in Grand Rapids. When I came to Detroit it was news at WWJ, and part time sports. I was always working to get in sports, but it was just a little bit here and there. Then I did some Lions pre-game and post-game stuff. It was 1995 and it took me 15 years to get a full time sports job and that was a reporter – not play-by-play.

The thought I’d be the Tigers play-by-play guy was out of reach until the late 90’s.

DTW: You did play-by-play for Michigan basketball, how long did you do that?
DD: Two years. What got me into the Tigers booth started in 1995 when I got to WJR. I’d go out to the Silverdome and practice my football play-by-play. Ray Bentley, the former football player came over from Grand Rapids and he wanted to practice his color, so we made tapes together just practicing. I gave the tape to Chuck Swirsky, who was the sports director at WJR. There was a need for a fill-in guy for Michigan football two weeks into the season. He told me you’re the guy. They wanted him to do it, but he said “No, Dan’s ready.” To me that was the biggest break because then I got to be known as a play-by-play guy in Detroit, versus a play-by-play guy doing high school stuff in Grand Rapids.

That was the break that led to Michigan basketball. And those two things combined made me a credible play-by-play person and got me into the Tigers booth.

DTW: Did you have any apprehension following a legend like Ernie Harwell given the reception that Rick Rizzs and Bob Rathbun had received a few years earlier?
DD: Not really, just because I’d been in the booth for 3 years with him. I think if I was coming from out of town it’s almost an impossible task. whether it’s Detroit or any other town where they’ve had a broadcaster for a long time (pity the guy who follows Vin Scully in LA). Unless it’s a local guy, I think that’s important, someone that you know and are familiar with. I didn’t really have that much apprehension. I think Ernie really helped smooth the way for me.
DTW: Not to mention it was completely different circumstances
DD: Yeah, he was going out on his own terms. That’s a big difference
DTW: You’ve broadcast some pretty disappointing seasons. Does the job become more difficult with the team out of contention in August?
DD: Put it this way, I think it would be a lot more fun if they were playing meaningful games in August and September. The first 3 years on the job we had some not good season in 01 and 02, but in 03 when I was doing the job after Ernie I was really wondering what it would be like at the end of the year. That team started 3-25, that number sticks in my head, and there are numbers you can pull out and just keep going. And I wondered what August and September were going to be like. I really found out in 2003 that the job never got old. I can’t think of a day where I dreaded going to the ballpark or having fun on the job.

It really goes back to some advice Ernie gave me early in my career, when in 2001 the Tigers started 9-23, and that was supposed to be a pretty good team with the Juan Gonzalez trade and the deals they made. I said “How do you do this?” This was my team, they are 9-23 and I was down. He said “Remember, every game stands on its own.” That advice was very simple but it really stuck. You might see something you’ve never seen before, you might see a great individual performance, you might see a great game between two bad teams. And it’s true, it sounds so simple and I think all fans realize that, and that’s why you have fans at games. For some reason, just to hear him say that, it really stuck with me and I found it’s true. In 2003 there was always something to look forward to, like a pitcher on another team. I always looked forward to Jeremy Bonderman’s starts because you never knew when he might do what he did in Oakland when they were 1-18. I think 2003 really drove home the point this is the best job you can have, because it never got old.

DTW: Being a big fan of the team before becoming the broadcaster, do you find yourself worrying about being too much of a homer? How do you balance it?
DD: It is a bit of a balance. I think it helped to listen to Ernie all those years, because as a listener I appreciated he always gave a good call to both teams. Obviously the better call was to the Tigers. I think there’s a bit of a fine line in that you don’t want to get too down or too up. I think you can let a little bit of the fan in you out during a broadcast. If there’s a disappointing play or a game ending home run that goes the opposite way, you have to make sure you strike the right tone and not be overly down – or over the top. Although I do think I’ve probably gone over the top a few times.
DTW: But those were really exciting moments (laughing)
DD: (laughing) They were, so I guess they deserved it. But I guess Ernie helped, and I try to think about what I want to hear.
DTW: You’re employed by the team. Does it ever get uncomfortable, or do you find yourself censoring yourself because you’re employed by the team?
DD: Yeah, I think you have to. I think that’s the reality even if you aren’t employed by the team, and my first year I wasn’t. I think that’s the reality of being a play-by-play person is that you do a little bit of self censorship, but it’s not to the detriment of the broadcast I don’t think. I think it means you don’t get into the things like the soap opera kind of stuff that gets in the papers sometimes. It’s legitimate reporting, but it’s not something that I believe needs to be in a broadcast unless it has spilled over and is so obvious. It’s like the elephant in the corner, you have to talk about it at some point. I think Jim and I have found that there are times, and I’ll bounce it off of him “We should probably talk about this today.” We’ll bring it up, acknowledge that it happened, whatever it is, and then just kind of move on from there.

But I think there is some of that, and it’s part of being a play-by-play person. You learn some things being so close to the team that other people might not learn. You learn things in confidence from players that gives you some perspective about what’s going on that you’re not going to use in a broadcast. I think it helps the broadcast because you’ve learned about it and you have the perspective in the back of your brain.

In terms of criticizing the team, as a listener I don’t want to hear a lot of criticism of the team anyways. You can certainly point out they’ve lost 8 out of 10. I don’t hesitate to talk about if their pitching has gone well. I’ll try and point out the stretch they’re in. If it’s going bad I’ll point out the stretch they’re in without dwelling on it too much or repeating and repeating. The game is still there, you have to call the game, but I think you can point out the good and the bad as long as you don’t over do either – especially the bad. I’ve never had anybody from the team say anything to me about “you have to be more positive” or “you’ve got to watch what you say about this.” Hopefully that means I’m walking the line and bringing up both the good and the bad.

Continue Reading Part 2

Tigers continue to spend

The Tigers continue to spend, although not on free agents. Today they announced two more additions to their scouting staff. Detroit named Miguel Garcia as Director of Venezuelan Operations/Central American Scouting and Tom Moore as the club?s Assistant Director of International and Professional Scouting.

You may remember that earlier in the month the Tigers announced the hiring of 4 scouts and Manny Crespo as Director of Latin American Operations.

Garcia and Moore assume similar positions to those they held with the Boston Red Sox. Garcia left the Red Sox earlier this year when they lost their Venezuelan facility. As for long time Tiger scout/employee Ramon Pena, he was promoted to the nebulous position of Special Assistant to the General Manager. Curiously, while Garcia and Moore have been added to the Tigers front office listing on the web page, Crespo isn’t.

Once again, I’ll say the Tigers are doing some things right this offseason. While it won’t help the team this season, investing in amateur scouting will hopefully bear fruit in the coming seasons. The Tigers difficulty in signing free agents without grossly overpaying highlights the need for homegrown talent. These hirings are at least a step in the right direction. Unfortunately that’s little consolation for fans heading into 2006.

Rumors and Rumblings – Closer Edition

Peter Gammons latest offering (which is now Insider – damn ESPN) has some rumors about the Tigers pursuit of bullpen help. Actually, the article isn’t about that at all, but it does mention the Tigers.

Among the rumblings are that Bob Howry turned down $13.5 million from the Tigers to sign with the Cubs for $12 million over 3 years. Gammons also has sources speculating that the Tigers and Indians had offered 4 year deals to BJ Ryan (who signed for 5 years with the Blue Jays). However, my sources indicate that while Ryan was wined and dined and toured the Birmingham area he left town without an offer from the Tigers. (I know I don’t frequently have sources, but I believe my information to be pretty solid here).

I had hoped that the Tigers would be able to land Kyle Farnsworth. However, it appears that he will be a Yankee (I know, another subscription site) for 3 years and $17 million. The report states that the Tigers were among several teams who had offered 3/15. Given the price of relief pitching, that actually seems affordable.

The Tigers need to bolster their bullpen. I’m not giving up on Fernando Rodney as closer, but they need more talent before Rodney (or whoever the closer becomes) even gets the ball.

Baseball in the Dominican Republic

The St Louis Post Dispatch has an interesting article about baseball acadamies, corruption, and buscones in the Domincan Republic. Quoted in the article is Detroit Tigers assistant GM Al Avila.

Avila’s father, Ralph, helped the Los Angeles Dodgers establish a foothold in the Dominican as a scout and executive 30 years ago. The Dodgers subsequently built the nation’s most impressive academy. (The academy was forced to close for one year when the club was found to have signed Adrian Beltre before his 16th birthday.)

“It’s a different system than in the United States,” Avila said. “You have to operate within that system. Certainly there are elements you would like to change. And things have changed to an extent. But it’s still different.”

Article:STLtoday – Sports – Special Reports

Tigers miss on BJ Ryan

One of the Tigers’ free agent targets, BJ Ryan is headed to Toronto. New York Daily News reports that Ryan will get $47 million over the next 5 years. We’ll see if this increases the Tigers’ urgency, or price for Kyle Farnsworth. Whether or not the Tigers’ get a true closer isn’t as important as getting more quality arms in the bullpen. Fernando Rodney certainly wasn’t consistent as a closer last year, but the bullpen woes weren’t all because of a lack of a true closer.

I’m not sure that a 5 year contract would have been in the Tigers best interest anways, but if I were to give any available closer 5 years, Ryan would be my choice.

Sickels Top 20 in Review

John Sickels has posted his review of his 2005 top 20 Tiger prospects. Comparing last year’s list with what transpired, it is easy to say that the Tigers farm system is definitely looking better. Going into 2005, Justin Verlander, who hadn’t even pitched professionally was Sickels top-rated Tiger prospect. While Verlander had a very promising season, I think the preseason ranking had as much to do with the Tigers lack of talent as it did with Verlander’s potential.

While some guys such as Eric Beattie and Collin Mahoney turned in less than impressive seasons, several other prospects more than compensated. Jordan Tata and Brent Clevlen had huge years for Lakeland. Then there was the draft that yielded promising prospects and performances from Kevin Whelan and Clete Thomas – and that doesn’t even include the potential of Cameron Maybin.

Going in to 2006 the Tigers will be losing Curtis Granderson and Chris Shelton off the prospect list, but for all the right reasons. At least right now it looks like the Tigers farm system actually has some solid performers instead of (or at least in addition to) guys with potential.