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The Everett signing finally became official. Dombrowski said that Everett will get the majority of the starts at shortstop. I'd guess majority would probably be 60-70%.
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Remember when Bazardo was a 6th starter/reliever candidate for the Tigers. I wonder how much his father's unexpected death contributed to his disappointing season.
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Any chance that source is a Tigers exec?
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The Baseball Card Blog retires, and they go out with a bang. Seriously, check this out.
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Eddie takes a look at everything that has happened since Edwin Jackson was considered a top prospect.
All posts by billfer
Granderson talks to Tiger Tales
Lee Panas of Detroit Tiger Tales recently interviewed Curtis Granderson. Lee asked several thoughtful questions and Granderson responded with some pretty thoughtful answers. My favorite was an exchange about Granderson’s defense last season:
TT: In the past, you have indicated that you take pride in your defense and that you have worked hard on that part of your game. Are you happy with the progress you have made in that area?
CG: This past year’s defense, I actually took a step back, so I wasn’t happy with my play in the 2008 season. I felt that being out with the broken finger and not be able to run while injured put me a step behind once I returned to the lineup and I never fully got back to where I wanted to be. So this 2009 season, I must get myself two steps ahead of where I want to be, and get back to playing the defense that I want to play.
It’s nice to hear a player admit when there was a shortcoming in his game. After each season Granderson has had one major area where he needed to improve. After 2006 it was cutting down on strikeouts. After 2007 it was hitting lefties. This year’s task is defense. His success on the other fronts and the recognition about his own performance is what makes me think 2008 will just be a blip.
Help a centerfielder out
Official Tiger of DTW and Billfer, Curtis Granderson, will be hosting his second annual charity basketball game. The game supports the Grand Kids Foundation, which in turn supports Michigan’s Inner City schools.
Continue reading Help a centerfielder out
Detroit Tigers Weblog Live 12.12.08
Wrapping up the winter meetings…
In this episode I talk of disappointment with the Matt Joyce trade and why I don’t think Edwin Jackson is the guy to get. I also talk about how James Skelton shouldn’t have been left exposed in the Rule 5 draft. I speculate about whether or not the failed auto loan will impact the team.
Links from the show:
Winter meetings end with a bang (my head against the wall)
Things started out so promising with the acquisitions of Gerald Laird and Adam Everett. And they end so disappointingly with the loss of James Skelton and Matt Joyce. To be fair the Skelton thing was set in motion weeks ago when the Tigers chose not to protect a young athletic lefty catcher with a 416 career minor league OBP.
Continue reading Winter meetings end with a bang (my head against the wall)
Winter Meetings – Heading to Day 4
On the last day of the Winter Meetings things shift a little bit to the Rule 5 draft. Okay, not everything shifts to that, but it will be the focus in this here blog post.
A quick rule 5 primer is that teams can’t bury players in the minors forever. Eventually they have to add them to the 40 man roster or risk losing them to other teams. The time limit for this varies based on the player’s age when they signed. Teams with open space on their 40 man roster can select from this pool of players, but the catch is said player has to stay on the 25 man roster all season, or the player has to be offered back to the original team.
Continue reading Winter Meetings – Heading to Day 4
Tigers set to send talented outfielder to Tampa for guy who throws hard
I‘m having a hard time even writing about the rumored deal that will send Matt Joyce to Tampa for Edwin Jackson. Joyce might flame out, but Jackson has yet to even burn.
Jackson has a fastball that averages in excess of 93 MPH. That’s fast, but he doesn’t seem to fool a lot of people with a K rate last year that was lower than Nate Robertson’s. At least he made up for it by walking 77 hitters in 183 innings. Marcel projects him to have a FIP ERA of 4.64 which is a considerable improvement over the 4.89 he’s posted over the last 2 years. Jackson is also a flyball pitcher meaning he won’t benefit from the new left side infield defense. Jackson will only be 25, but he is out of options.
In exchange the Tigers surrender a their most promising left handed hitting prospect. A solid defender who posted an .831 OPS as a 23 year old making his big league debut. He’s blocked, sort of, this year but has 2 options left. And his being blocked is contingent on the health of Carlos Guillen and Gary Sheffield. In essence he was only going to be blocked in 2009 and even then it’s questionable.
I don’t know how Jackson fits in, whether he will be a starter or reliever. Oh yeah, and he’s eligible for arbitration. Good luck Rick Knapp. I don’t get this one at all.
DRays Bay loves this deal, as they should.
UPDATE: This is official as Friedman and Dombrowski have met with the media. Joe Hamrahi of Baseball Digest Daily was in there and posted these notes in his twitter feed.
So his role as starter or reliever is undetermined.
Winter Meetings – Heading to Day 3
I had so much hope after the first day of the winter meetings. The Tigers had two holes filled with plenty of money to fix the bullpen. Things aren’t going according to my plan.
Francisco Rodriguez was never an option for the Tigers, but he’s with the Mets. Kerry Wood was a very attractive, no compensatory draft pick, choice. But Wood chose the Indians.
The Tigers are still interested in J.J. Putz, but so are the Brewers. The Brewers have a better system and I don’t want the Tigers to get into a bidding war. Already Matt Joyce AND Jeff Larish AND Luis Marte have been discussed. That’s way too much for a guy with elbow ligament issues. It would be reminiscent of the Renteria trade in which the team instantly gets older. Joyce can’t be part of that deal.
But it sounds like the Mariners aren’t finding any matches and it’s unclear of the Tigers met with the Mariners today.
Brandon Lyon is a secondary arm I’d like to see the Tigers add. He’s talking to the Red Sox now.
Yes, Brian Fuentes (Rosenthal says the Tigers are interested in Fuentes) and Juan Cruz are still out there. Either would mean parting with the second round pick in next year’s draft.
Meanwhile the Tigers don’t like the Bobby Seay-Clay Rapada-Nate Robertson possibilities as lefties and continue to pursue Joe Beimel. Beimel is suitable as a LOOGY, but he wouldn’t be paid or used that way. The guy has walked more right handed batters in his career than he’s struck out. Don’t be fooled by the low ERA last year. Other than an ability to limit homers he isn’t a good pitcher.
If they can’t get Beimel then John Parrish is the back-up plan. Parrish has walked 6.10 batters per 9 innings over his career. Yippee. The walk numbers have been more mediocre to not good as of late, but the K-rate has gone the same way. He strikes me more as a spring training NRI than someone worthy of a 40 man roster spot.
Here’s hoping tomorrow is a better day.
UDPATE Wednesday 5:58 a.m.:
- Morosi notes that Dombrowski reiterated that the payroll will likely be about $134 million. Good news for those wondering if the Tigers were saving money to spend it somewhere else, or just saving money. I have the payroll at $104 million currently.
- Dombrowski also said that Rodney could close next year. I think that is just talk at this point to try and paint the idea the Tigers aren’t desperate for a closer.
- Ken Rosenthal notes that the Tigers are one of 5 teams, including the Angels now, who are interested in Brian Fuentes.
UPDATE Wednesday 7:43 p.m. Thanks to everyone for participating and keeping the rumors flowing today. Sheffield and Smoltz? Huh.
Winter Meetings – Heading to Day 2
With the Tigers being fairly active today, there won’t be a lot of speculation about those catcher and shortstop holes. But there still are items of interest on the relief pitching front. Here’s the buzz as I get ready to sign off for the night. This will be our day 2 rumor repository as well.
Chad Cordero will meet with 5 teams. The Tigers are one of them. I wonder if Cordero gets a big league deal from anyone or he chooses the best looking minor league contract.
Brandon Lyon, a favorite target of mine, will be meeting with the Royals along with Kyle Farnsworth.
As for the closer market, the Tigers are still connected to J.J. Putz and Kerry Wood. Their price could be heavily dictated by K-Rod who received an offer from the Mets that is expected to be 2 and 24 with a 3rd year option. Not quite the $75 million people were expecting heading into the offseason.
On that front, division rival Cleveland met with Kerry Wood’s people this evening and are still interested in Brian Fuentes and Trevor Hoffman.
I’ll post more as I hear it. As always I recommend checking out http://mlbtraderumors.com as well as Twitter for updates on the winter meetings.
UPDATE: 7:30 p.m. Kerry Wood is off the market and to the Indians. Damn. He wouldn’t have cost a draft pick or prospects. The Tigers continue to pursue J.J. Putz but I’d just assume not get into a prospect bidding war with the Brewers for a guy who is coming off an elbow injury.
Jason Beck continues to report Joe Beimel rumors. Let’s just say that Day 1 seems better than Day 2 so far.
Detroit Tigers Weblog Live – 12.08.08
A very impromptu episode of DTW Live as we look at the day that was on the Tigers hot stove.
UPDATE: Thanks everyone for watching. The archived version is below:
With an fairly exciting, or at least productive, day of the winter meetings in the books, I look at the impact of the Everett and Laird deals and speculate about how the Tigers will spend the rest of their money. There is also an extended question and answer session and I get mocked about my choice of beer.
You can leave comments in the video if you like, just click that little plus sign in the player and the comment goes right at the specific point where you hit the plus.
Links mentioned:
- Motown Sports
- Detroit Tiger Thoughts
- MLB Trade Rumors
- Tigers depth chart (h/t Detroit Tiger Thoughts)
- Laird as starter, Ryan as Mud Hen
- Everett’s defense
Notes from Gerald Laird conference call
Paraphrasing some comments from Gerald Laird during his conference call today:
- Thoughts on the Tigers pitchers: looking forward to being on the same side as Verlander, Bonderman and other guys and catching them instead of hitting them.
- Doesn’t really know the guys on the team that well aside from playing against them
- Comerica is a great hitting park
- Jimmy Leyland is one of the greatest managers in the game. Excited to pick his brain and learn.
- Excited to play everyday. Was very frustrating in Texas not knowing whether or not he was the guy. He’s looking forward to relaxing and not looking over his shoulder.
- Looks forward to working with a stable rotation – there was a lot of flux in Texas
- He started getting text messages while at the Arizona Cardinal game and found out later that night
- His priority is to get the most out of the staff and throwing guys out and making plays at the plate. The bulk of his preparation is defensive game calling.
Tigers agree to terms with Adam Everett
Things are really starting to pick up for the Tigers after a slow start to the offseason. Ken Rosenthal is reporting that Detroit has agreed to a one year, one million dollar contract with some incentives. The deal is contingent on Everett passing a physical, but the Tigers must feel confident that his shoulder is healed after watching him workout yesterday.
Presumably Everett will split time with Ramon Santiago. Analysis will be forthcoming. In the meantime check out a wins-above-replacement analysis of the shortstops the Tigers were targeting.
The quick and dirty is: 1. Everett is a steal at one million 2. The left side of the infield looks to be very solid. 3. The bottom third of the order will likely be close-your-eyes bad. 4. Jack Wilson talk should subside until at least the trade deadline. 5. The Tigers have filled 2 needs and haven’t spent anything.
UPDATE: Despite an earlier denial by Dave Dombrowski this appears to be moving towards official. The denial is likely procedural until the MRI is done – which probably includes an MRI on the shoulder.
My thoughts haven’t changed too much, but in terms of value Everett is within a half win of Jack Wilson at a fraction of the cost. Or as Dave Cameron said in his analysis about the Tigers moves today:
This is a pretty massive steal for the Tigers, and along with the Gerald Laird trade earlier today, they’ve added something like three wins to their roster in 12 hours and spent a grand total of about $4 million to do so.
Heck of a day for Dave Dombrowski.