All posts by billfer

2009 Season, AL Central

Perusing the AL Central

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The Tigers are welcoming back Jeremy Bonderman, but they aren’t the only team in the AL Central to be making some significant roster changes. Here’s a brief look at some intra-divisional goings on:

  • Fausto Carmona dominated the Tigers earlier this season. The Tigers have the distinction of being one of the few teams he’s dominated. He’s now been sent down to Rookie ball . The guy taking his place on the roster is fairly significant as it is Travis Hafner returning from injury. Hafner doesn’t have much of a breaking ball though so Tomo Ohka will take his place in the rotation for the time being
  • The Royals are losing on a regular basis now and are on the brink of 5th place. They hold a narrow half game lead over the Indians and the 2 teams will go head to head this week. That the Indians are hanging in despite having Grady Sizemore, Rafael Betancourt, Asdrubal Cabrera, Anthony Reyes, Scott Lewis, and I think Cory Snyder on the DL. And Jake Westbrook is expected back soon.
  • Speaking of the Royals they DFA’d Horacio Ramirez and have brought up Luke Hochevar. Too little too late?
  • The White Sox called up Gordan Beckham to try and provide some offense.
  • Taking a look at the standings, the Tigers are up 3.5 games over the second place team and 7 over the last team. So things are still tight. And if you look at the Indians, they’ve had to play 36 games against the AL East and only 3 against the AL West. Meanwhile the Tigers are 10 games over .500 against the West and 6 games under against the East.
  • The other thing that jumps out is the Twins record on the road. They are 7-18 away from the Metrodome.
2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.050: Angels at Tigers

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PREGAME: We can be fairly certain that Rick Porcello won’t be pitching a complete game today, so wouldn’t it bee nice if the Tigers knocked around Joe Saunders enough that he could leaven in the 6th inning or so with a quality start and a comfortable lead?

Saunders has had games lately where he hasn’t allowed a run, and other games where he has been hit hard. Hopefully the Tigers draw a hit-hard Saunders today and it would be nice to see the Tigers get a home run before the homestand ends.

LA Angels vs. Detroit – June 7, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME:  As bad as the homestand was for the first 4 games, taking the last 2 and a series win make things a little brighter as Detroit hits the road. Rick Porcello was victimized by a couple home run balls, but by and large the kept the ball on the ground.

And then there’s the offense. It was a week of futility but the Tigers finally managed to get some big hits, the biggest being a Clete Thomas grand slam. to the Tigers credit, they were content waiting out Angels pitchers who issued 9 walks. Thames had multiple hits. Adam Everett had a big hit with the bases loaded. Ryan Raburn had a great hustle play to score the tying run. This one felt good.  Mostly.

Joel Zumaya looked brilliant getting a double play ball to get out of a runners at the corners, 1 out jam in the 7th. But then he got wild and thanks to a dumb decision ended up walking in a run. The dumb decision being intentionally walking a guy with a sub .600 OPS when there are 2 outs to load the bases. Just dumb. Thankfully the Thomas slammed erased the decision.

The bad news is that Zumaya threw 31 pitches (actually 27 because of the intentional walk) and Fernando Rodney threw 23, and Ryan Perry threw 24. It was not particularly efficient for the trio with a double header on tap for tomorrow.

2009 Season, Contracts

This whole release Ordonez business

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There has been a growing sentiment that the Tigers need to release Magglio Ordonez. Ordonez has a very expensive $18 million option for 2010 that will automatically vest if Ordonez notches 249 more plate appearances this season. He also has a $15 million option for 2011 that vests if he has 270 starts or 1080 plate appearances between 2009 and 2010 (info from Cot’s Contracts). I think it is clear to everyone that Ordonez is a very long shot produce like a “$15 million player.” But if the Tigers cut him, it won’t be as simple as walking away from money owed.

Ken Rosenthal, in an article about a potential grievance that Tom Glavine may file after his release, points out that the CBA prohibits teams from cutting players for financial reasons. Ordonez has been struggling this year and a sub .400 slugging percentage isn’t at all sufficient. But the Tigers would be hard pressed to prove that even at his current numbers, cutting Ordonez wasn’t a financially motivated decision.

When Gary Sheffield was released, he was still going to get his money regardless. There was no financial motivation. With Ordonez there are two things working against the Tigers releasing him for performance based reasons. First, while the slugging percentage is low he does have the 3rd highest on base percentage on the team. The performance isn’t satisfactory or sufficient but he’s also far from a black hole in the lineup. He also has enough of a track record that I think the numbers do improve, probably not to his career levels, but I think they will be better.

Second, there is no argument to be made that his position on the roster is blocking anyone. There isn’t a stud prospect waiting in the wings and he’s not taking at-bats from anyone more deserving. it’s possible Wilkin Ramirez could become that guy, but he sure isn’t there yet.

Cutting Ordonez is the right move on the surface because he won’t perform like a guy who will make $33 million the next two years, but I’m pretty sure the Tigers knew that when they signed him in the first place. They had to pay the Tigers Tax for their years of futility to get Ordonez in the fold. So the Tigers knew they would be in the situation when they inked the deal.

Lastly, if you’re a believer in clubhouse chemistry, how do you think it would play for the other 24 guys to see their organization dump a guy to avoid paying him?

2009 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 6/6/09

Toledo 1 Norfolk 0
Brent Dlugach’s homered proved to be all the offense. Ryan Roberson did pick up 3 hits. Scott Drucker fanned 4 and walked 1 with 3 hits in 6 innings. Clay Rapada pitched the final 2 innings for the save.

Erie 6 Bowie 10
Scott Sizemore singled, doubled, and walked. Brennan Boesch and Shawn Roof each had 2 hits. Ryan Strieby started but left the game in the 2nd inning, I’m not sure what happened. Pat Stanley allowed 8 runs (6 earned) in 5 innings on 11 hits, 3 of which were homers.

St. Lucie 7 Lakeland 5
Justin Henry went 2 for 5. Jeramy Laster added a double. Charlie Furbush was knocked out in the 3rd inning after allowing 6 runs on3 hits and 3 walks.

West Michigan 5 Lansing 4
Ronnie Bourquin doubled twice and singled. Keith Hernandez doubled and singled. Anthony Shawler allowed 2 runs on 4.1 innings and Jared Gayhart allowed 2 in 2.1 innings. The club also announced that Mauricio Robles was going on the disabled list.

2009 Season, Injuries, Roster Management

Thames to start Sunday

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In his postgame press conference Jim Leyland announced that Marcus Thames will start on Sunday. With his activation from the DL, Jeff Larish will be optioned to Toledo.

I’m a little surprised to see Larish sent out over Raburn. The Tigers are flush with outfielders and with Cabrera’s hamstring hurting they are thin at first base.

You may remember a game in Anaheim last year where Thames took Joe Saunders (tomorrow’s starter) deep twice and to the wall another time. Maybe he can do it again and break the Tigers string of 7 straight games at Comerica without a homer.

2009 Season, Game Post

sregiT ta slegnA: 045.9002 emaG

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PREGAME: Time to change things up a little because nothing else is working. I’m changing my underwear everyday now, looking for that magic pair that brings the Tigers some offense and a win.

Edwin Jackson is coming off his best start of the season, but as Justin Verlander will tell you, even shut out ball isn’t enough given the Tigers offense.

Kelvim Escobar makes his first start of the year which means he’s looking for his first win of the year meaning the Tigers are in trouble.

It’s another ill-conceived lineup tonight:

  1. Anderson
  2. Polanco
  3. Thomas
  4. Ordonez
  5. Granderson
  6. Inge
  7. Larish
  8. Laird
  9. Santiago

Seriously, this lineup looks a lot better when the guys Leyland has batting 1-2 are batting 8-9.

LA Angels vs. Detroit – June 6, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Now that’s an exclamation point. To finish off a complete game by humping up 98 and 99mph heat in the 9th inning and striking out the 2-3-4 hitters (who happen to be Bobby Abreus – Vlad Guerrero – Torri Hunter) almost makes you forget how good Edwin Jackson was throughout the first 8 innings. That he was able to finish the game with 109 pitches is a testament to his efficiency and the fact he only walked 1 batter.

The offense continued to struggle in run scoring situations. At least there were run scoring situations tonight though. They made Escobar work and he needed 92 pitches to get through 5 innings. It didn’t really help getting into the bullpen as it turns out, but 10 pitch innings are really unsatisfying.

As for the title of this post, should I keep it this way until they lose of was this a one time way to break the losing momentum?

2009 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 6/5/09

Toledo 1 Durham 4
Brent Clevlen was 4 for 4 and a homer short of the cycle. Marcus Thames went 0 for 4 with 2 K’s. Brooks Brown allowed 2 runs on 3 walks and 4 hits in 6 innings. Casey Fien allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits in 2 innings with 1 K.

Erie 3 Bowie 0
Andy Dirks had 2 singles and he added a walk. Luis Marte pitched 7 innings of shut out ball on 4 hits, 1 walk and 6 strike outs. Josh Rainwater fanned 4 in 2 innings allowing 1 walk and 1 hit.

St. Lucie 5 Lakeland 3
Jeramy Laster had the only extra base hit, a double. Thad Weber lasted 6 innings allowing 3 runs on 6 hits, 2 walks, and 2 strike outs.

Great Lakes 16 West Michigan 4
Brandon Douglas and Ronnie Bourquin each had 3 hits. Luis Salas homered. Luke Putkonen and Luis Sanz combined to allow a lot of runs.

2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.053:Angels at Tigers

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PREGAME: Remember a few weeks back. The Tigers had won the first 6 games of a 9 game homestand and the Rockies came to town. The Tigers took the Friday night game and things were looking great. That was the last time the Tigers won a home game and now have a 5 game losing streak at Comerica.

Fortunately the Tigers have their ace, Justin Verlander on the mound tonight. Of course the last time Verlander faced the Angels he allowed 7 runs in 5 innings as the Angels ran his pitch count up by fouling off a ton of pitches, and then there was the little matter of Ryan Raburn playing really bad in right field.

The Angels send out Ervin Santana. He’s a pitcher trying to regain his form after spending time on the DL, kind of like when they face Matsuzaka on Tuesday night. Santana has been absolutely rocked in his last 2 starts allowing a combined 15 runs to Seattle and Boston.

LA Angels vs. Detroit – June 5, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Just home from the game. Yes I’m frustrated. The Tigers are fighting it. I’m going to try and boil this down to a couple thoughts:

  • Verlander was quite good again. He walked a few too many and as a result it was probably best he wasn’t out for the 9th. You don’t beat up a pitcher because the offense is terrible.
  • Fernando Rodney picked up his first loss. It is June 5th. Really. How many teams would love to say that about their closer? Don’t complain about Rodney. He wasn’t especially sharp going to several 3 ball counts but he also wasn’t shelled. He was ground balled to death and the second run scored because the grounder wasn’t hit hard enough. This stuff happens.
  • When the Tigers made the decision to go with a defensive mindset (which also brought in additional speed), they knowingly gave up offense. We knew before the season started that there would be holes in the lineup. This situation has been exacerbated by a couple of the Tigers bigger bats performing well below career norms and even normal expected aging curves (the curve became a cliff). And when you take your biggest thumper out of the lineup you aren’t going to score a lot of runs. The Tigers need more offense, but just remember that to get it they will need to sacrifice some defense.
2009 Season, Pitching

Friday’s Bloops and Blasts

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A bunch of stuff that I should highlight or comment on that I just haven’t gotten around to doing so I’ll let others do it for me:

  • Ian drops the hammer on Dontrelle after yesterday’s debacle. I give Ian credit for coming strong (damn, I sound like Jim Rome). I’ve yet to comment because while I’ve watched the replay, I still can’t even digest what happened. So take it away Ian: D-Train Disaster: Red Sox 6, Tigers 3 – Bless You Boys

    Congratulations, Dontrelle. You pitched well enough in the first four years of your career to get a $29 million contract. You benefited from a career-worst decision by a general manager and owner who felt they needed to push their team through an open championship window before it closed. You got to cash in on a 22-win season that took place four years ago. Kudos to you, sir. But this has been a massive failure. Seriously, man – you and the Tigers should be done professionally.

  • Here is a look at Edwin Jackson’s Success Through Pitchf/x. It’s one of those posts that I’ve been wanting to do. It looks like the slider has more down action this year than last. (h/t Bless You Boys)

  • The folks at It’s Just Sports just relaunched their blog, and I was honored to be part of the Better Know a Blogger feature this week.
  • The Tigers recent struggles have people wanting change. Kurt takes a rational look some of the options the Tigers may have
  • And from the Good News department, Rick Porcello was AL Rookie of the Month and Justin Verlander took him the AL Pitcher of the month honors

2009 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 6/4/09

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Toledo 4 Durham 3
Jeff Frazier went 2 for 4 with a double. Marcus Thames walked twice. Wilkin Ramirez returned to the lineup and fanned 3 times. Luke French fanned 8 and walked 2 allowing 3 unearned runs in 6.2 innings. Freddy Dolsi went 2.1 innings allowing a hit and a walk and no runs.

Altonna 4 Erie 3
Brennan Boesch was a triple short of the cycle and added a walk. Ryan Strieby went 3 for 5. Jonah Nickerson allowed 10 hits in 7 innings but didn’t walk anybody and he fanned 4 allowing 4 runs (2 earned). Zach Simons fanned 3 and allowed just 1 hit in 2 innings.

St. Lucie 4 Lakeland 2
Jordan Newton homered. Michael Bertram and Audy Ciriaco doubled. Andrew Hess lasted 6.2 innings allowing 4 runs on 6 hits, 3 walks, and 5 K’s.

St. Lucie 5 Lakeland 6
Kody Kaiser and Chris Carlson both homered with Carlson added a double. Matt Hoffman allowed 6 hits 2 walks and 2 runs in 5.2 innings with 2 strike outs. Scott Green walked 3 and allowed 2 hits and 3 runs in 1 inning of work.

Great Lakes 3 West Michigan 4 (12 inn)
Bryan Pounds went 3 for 5 with a walk. Brandon Douglas, Gustavo Nunez, and Luis Salas all had 2 hits. Mark Sorenson fanned 5 and walked 2 in 6 innings. Jared Gayhart fanned 3 in 2 perfect innings. Tyler Stohr got the blown save despite fanning 4 and allowing just a hit, a walk, and a run in 3 innings.

2009 Season, Injuries, Roster Management

Clearing up some roster confusion

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The Tigers have some roster decisions looming with the imminent return of Jeremy Bonderman and Marcus Thames. In both cases there aren’t clear cut performance based decisions on who gets sent down so things like options come into play. There has been some confusion about the option status and service time of various players so let’s clear that up.

MLB roster rules are never simple and chuck full of exceptions. While salary data and service time data is generally findable, options are harder to find and often requires combing through transaction lists. Fortunately for Tigers fans Eddie Bajek compiled this information during the offseason.

Continue reading Clearing up some roster confusion →

2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.052: Red Sox at Tigers

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PREGAME: It is time for this series to mercifully come to an end. The Tigers have not so much looked good in these first 2 games and now have dropped 4 in a row at home. As for today’s afternoon tilt, I don’t really know what to expect.

Tim Wakefield will be heaving knucklers  towards home plate. I’ve seen the Tigers beat up Wakefield, and be stymied by Wakefield. Hitting conventional pitching hasn’t been their strong suit lately so maybe this is just what they need. Wakefield has been more wild this year with his walk rate at 4.4 per 9 innings while his K-rate of 5.4 is right in line with his past 4 seasons. He has already hit 9 batters.

Dontrelle Willis takes the ball for Detroit after a rough start against the Orioles. Dontrelle’s ability to throw strikes against the Red Sox has me concerned. And really, with the 2 starting pitchers combining to walk 8.4 batters per 9 innings, this game could take a while.

Boston vs. Detroit – June 4, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday