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Lou visits camp, confident in Trammell

“I introduced him to the players, and later on in the meeting used him in one of the examples of hitting strategy,” Trammell said. “Some of our players will be asked — or forced, I guess would be a better term — in certain situations to take a pitch.
“Lou was a good guy to talk about this. When he was a leadoff hitter, he learned how to take pitches and forced himself to learn to hit behind in the count.”
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Randy Smith sounds off

“The owner threw the plan out the window,” Smith said. “An owner’s ability to stay patient and stick to his convictions, to me, is the most crucial thing in an organization. The plan can be constantly evolving. But if it is constantly changing in different directions, the organization has no chance to be successful.”
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Palmer feels strong and healthy In Palmer’s mind, there’s no question now that he’s healthy. The Tigers medical staff considers him healthy enough that he begins spring training with absolutely no restrictions on his activity. For the first time since the spring of 2000, he won’t be on his own program but will take part in all the drills with his teammates.

Sometimes I wonder if sportswriters actually go to spring training each year, or if they just keep publishing the same pieces. Tomorrow, we’ll have an extensive look at the Tigers new attitude. All kidding aside, the Tigers need to get Dean Palmer back and healthy. He’s the only somewhat legitimate power threat in their lineup.

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Chris Karhl: Transaction Analysis

The happier deal by far was the swap with the Marlins. Mark Redman is that strangest of pitchers, the perennially frustrating low-ceiling fourth starter. He could be a nifty fourth starter for a full season, or he could be Mark Redman again, but either way, the Tigers are better off for having added a trio of talented arms from the Fish.
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More on the Redman Trade…

“For us to trade Mark, which we talked about all winter, we needed someone who would fit into our rotation right away,” Tigers President and General Manager Dave Dombrowski said. “So in that sense, Gary Knotts was a necessity because we feel he’s ready to start at the big-league level.

“He was our best starting pitcher at the end of the season, no question about it,” Dombrowski said, “but we had three left-handers (Redman, Maroth and Van Hekken) who pretty much fit the same mold, guys with below-average fastballs, but good off-speed stuff.

“Having three of the same type was a little much and when you look at the group, Redman had the most value.”

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Tigers try addition by multiplication
The Tigers have traded Mark Redman and Jerod Buell to the Florida Marlins for Gary Knotts, Nate Robertson, and Rob Henkel. While this has to be frustrating to Tiger fans who are tired of seeing the few quality players on the team traded for unknowns. Think how frustrating it must be for Dave Dombrowksi that he only has a handful of tradeable players with which to improve the team. I don’t know enough about what the Tigers got in return to decide if this is a good trade or not. And the truth is, we won’t know the quality of any of the Dombrowski trades for at least another year. Mark Redman isn’t going to be the difference between the Tigers going .500 or not, so why not build towards something? Also, with the spacious left field being reduced at Comerica, it is reasonable to expect that Redman might not have as strong a year this year anyways.
More Analysis
Baseball Primer:

I like Redman and while he’s really no more than a guy you have in the middle of the rotation, he provided the Tigers with one less question mark and based on what they got in return for the former Twin prospect, I would have chosen to stand pat.
Henkel is the prospect here and while A solidly-built lefty, Henkel has a good fastball and knuckle-curve (though the latter isn’t as good as Mussina’s), but some serious arm concerns have slowed down his development. Robertson’s a former 5th-round pick of the Marlins but is very unlikely to be given a shot in the Tiger rotation due to Henkel coming along in the trade and a bunch of incumbent minor leaguers. Fuell and Knotts are throw-ins.

Baseball America:

Henkel, 24, was considered the key to the deal for the Tigers, who came away with an intriguing trio of young arms. A 2000 third-round pick out of UCLA, Henkel overcame shoulder problems in 2001 to lead the organization in wins (13) and strikeouts (150 in 145 innings) last season between high Class A Jupiter and Double-A Portland. His best pitch is a knee-buckling knuckle-curve, and he also throws an 88-92 mph fastball and a developing changeup.
Knotts also went 5-3, 4.25 at Triple-A Calgary. He has an overpowering 95-mph fastball with good sink and run life, and he can spin a hard curveball and a show-me changeup. Control and command will dictate his role, but scouts love his arm strength.