- The Daily Fungo interviews Hall of Fame President Dale Petroskey. It’s a very interesting listen, and I think it’s great that Petroskey took the time for a blogger/podcaster.
- Keith Law ranks the minor league systems. Detroit ranks a respectable 11th. (Insider).
The Gary Sheffield deal kept them out of the top 10, but Cameron Maybin is just a tick below the Jose Tabatas and Fernando Martinezes of the world, while Andrew Miller should be one of the top five pitching prospects in the minors by midseason.
- John Donovan says the Tigers are the only team without a weakness.
The Tigers, top to bottom, are the most solid team around. Stronger than ’06. No holes. Really. As long as Sean Casey stays healthy at first, they’ll be tough.
Category Archives: Minors
Tigers Miscellaney
This, that, and the other…
- The big news in baseball is the impending exclusive deal for the Extra Innings package with DirecTV. Here is a roundup of what some columnists are saying. Living in Southeast Michigan this isn’t a big deal to me. But with the Tigers surge in popularity I’m sure there are many displaced Tiger fans who will be frustrated. I’ve put up a poll related to this in the sidebar. Let me know what you think.
- The Tigers signed Joey Eischen to a minor league deal. He’ll get an invite to the big league camp, as will catcher Dusty Ryan.
- When I mentioned being surprised that the Tigers were positioning Eulogio de la Cruz as a starter, Matt sent info showing how much better de la Cruz performed as a starter last year. Matt also has a blog where he recently did a deep dive of the Tigers drafting of college players and their progressions through the system
- Jason Beck has a couple of TV notes. Beck notes that the Tigers have 6 televised spring training games. Also, the Tigers have eight 3:55pm Saturday games which is the start time for Fox Saturday Baseball.
- Cameron Maybin has a webpage. (hat tip The Surge)
- Carlos Pena is following in the tradition of Greg Norton, Alex Sanchez, and Eric Munson. He’s signing with the Devil Rays.
- For my feed subscribers, it seems like I just went full feed and now I’m back to partial. But it’s not my fault (entirely). I recently upgraded to the new version of WordPress (2.1) which supports full feeds differently than the old version. I’m hoping this gets corrected in the short term or that a work around is created. In any case I hope to be all the way back to full feed by the end of the weekend, even if it means uninstalling the new version.
Tuesday Linking
Short and sweet…
- Sam swung by Tiger Stadium and as usual performed photographic wonder-ness.
- Bryan Smith has his top 75 prospect list up. Cameron Maybin is at #8 and Andrew Miller #12.
- Interesting article in the Washington Post on Nook Logan. Logan talks about the difficulties of losing his starting gig in Detroit.
- Brian and Eric have both mentioned Jason Beck’s latest mailbag and each has taken something different away. Me, I didn’t know that the Tigers are trying to make a starter out of Eulogio de la Cruz.
Quick Links
We’re over the hump of the offseason and news is flowing now. So these link posts might get to be more frequent.
- You’ve probably seen this, but Brian from Tigerblog interviewed Ernie Harwell for The Hardball Times. He did an excellent job with the interview so make sure to check it out (if you haven’t already).
- Baseball Prospectus released a PECOTA projection spreadsheet earlier in the week. Today the player cards are available. The cards have a lot more information and will warrant their own post.
- And more from BP includes Kevin Goldstein with his top 10 Tiger prospects list. Same assessment as the other lists – a couple studs, a couple intriguing guys, and then question marks.
- Marc Jimenez takes a look at how Tigers playing in Winter Leagues are doing. I’m encouraged by Infante’s performance, by Eric astutely notes this isn’t the first time we’ve heard these reports.
- Lee has made it through all but the pitchers and catchers in his range assessments.
On another note, if anybody makes it down to TigerFest and would like to share their experiences drop me a line. I screwed up and waited too long for tickets so the boy and I are missing out.
Tigers add to Toledo
The Tigers signed 6 players to minor league contracts, including 2 past Mud Hens. Lance Davis and Jason Karnuth will both be back with Toledo. Joining them are pitchers Felix Heredia and Dennis Tankersley, outfielder Brandon Watson, and catcher Dane Sardinha.
It’s not that inspiring of a group, but minor league free agents rarely are. I don’t know much about Sardinha, but he must be a heck of a defender by the looks of his offensive numbers. Watson is a career 304 hitter in the minors, but with very little power. Watson is only 25 so he’s got that going for him.
Heredia will turn 31 next season. Other than 3 apperances for the Mets in 2005, he hasn’t played a role on a big league club since 2004. I’m guessing he has been injured the last 2 seasons based on stints in the Appalachian League and GCL – places that typically aren’t stops for 30 year olds.
Tankersley has posted some pretty good numbers in the PCL over his career. But in his limited stints in the Majors, he’s walked 6.4/9IP. At 27, he’s not a bad addition in terms of organizational depth.
Tigers get lefty in Rule 5 draft
The Tigers acquired left handed relief pitcher Edward Campusano today. Campusano was drafted from the Cubs by the Brewers. The Tigers then sent the Brewers cash considerations for Campusano.
Campusano only has 25 innings above A ball under his belt, but was very impressive in the Southern League (AA) last year with a 34/8 K/BB ratio.
Tigers Rule 5 Primer
Scout.com has a Rule 5 Draft Preview. This is particularly helpful for those of us who can’t keep tabs on all other teams minor leagues.
In case you’re not familiar with the Rule 5 Draft, players who are typically 3 or 4 years removed from their signing(although due to the CBA it’s 4 years this year) either need to be protected on the 40 man roster or they’re left exposed for other teams to draft them. As compensation, teams that lose a player are compensated $50,000. In other words it’s a cheap way to add talent. The catch is that the player must remain on the 25 man roster of the drafting team the entire season, or they need to be returned to the original club. (Here’s a more complete breakdown of the Rule 5 draft.)
The Tigers have one spot open on their 40 man roster meaning they could participate. The most likely need they’d target is a replacement for Jamie Walker. There are 2 interesting names who the Tigers could pursue.
1. Charlie Manning-27
Manning is a left-handed reliever who has posted a career mark of 45-29 and has averaged over eight strikeouts per nine innings in his six-year career. He doesn’t throw particularly hard, sitting around 86 MPH with his fastball, but he has a very good cutter and the development of his slider has made him a devastating opponent for left-handed batters. He held Double-A lefties to a .163 and his strikeout ratio against them was over 11 batters per nine innings this past season. Manning could be well worth the small financial risk in the Rule 5 Draft and find a home as a left-handed specialist on a big league roster next season.
2. Dan Smith -23
Smith was a non-drafted free agent signed the summer of 2003 after he missed his senior season in high school with an injury. The lefty was extremely successful as a reliever in the minor leagues, but the Braves moved him into the Double-A rotation in Mississippi late last summer to allow him to work on his pitches. Smith’s performance over eight starts was scary: 2.27 ERA, 24 hits in 39.2 innings pitched, 16 walks, and 53 strikeouts. The Braves still believe he can be a big league reliever, but the work as a starter may get him another chance in that role. He’s a kid that some scouts may feel is worth sticking in a big league bullpen.
Of course if the Tigers were going to try and fill Walker’s spot they could have just protected one of their own in Cory Hamman. The Scout article lists Ryan Raburn as another possibility to get drafted while Baseball America says Sendy Vasquez could get snagged(premium content).
Short cuts
While I wait for the BCS results, I’ll let others do the heavy lifting and link out:
- There’s an interesting look at the results by count, and more importantly by what happens after a certain count. The Tigers swung at a ton of first pitches, and Tom Gage even had some stats saying it was a good idea. My issue with Gage’s stats were that they simply showed the result when the ball was put in play. It didn’t take into account the adverse effect of fouling a ball off or swining and missing and putting yourself in a hole. He also didn’t mention sample sizes. By only looking at balls in play, he essentially takes out the possiblity of striking out which isn’t realistic and then there is the issue of not enhancing your OBP via the walk. I didn’t really have the comparisons for what those numbers should look like, but they’re available now. We still don’t know the complete picture on the Tigers at-bats, but it is an interesting comparison nonetheless.
- Baseball Analysts took a look at the best and worst defenders in the minors from 2006. The good news is that no Tigers showed up on the worst list. Kevin Hooper rated as the 2nd best defensive shortstop last year.
- Via Knuckle Curve Baseball America has put out a scouting dictionary. So if you want to know what a long swing is, or what it means for a pitcher to throw downhill, this is the place to check.
- Finally, it looks like there will be a DVD chronicling the Tigers season. It will be available December 7th and exclusive to Meijer stores. The DVD will retail for $18.99. For those interested in a sneak peek, the premiere will be December 6th at the Uptown Palladium in Birmingham. Dan Dickerson, Mario Impemba, and Nate Robertson will be on hand. Tickets are $10. Call 313-471-2052 for tickets and premiere information.
BA’s Top 10 Tiger Prospects for 2007
Baseball America announced the Tigers top prospect list today. The top of the top 10 certainly looks promising, but the bottom half is full of question marks. Part of the thinning came from the promotions of Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya while the Gary Sheffield trade pruned away 2 other top 10 prospects in Humberto Sanchez and Kevin Whelan.
Now most of this is premium content, but I will share the top 10. To get scouting reports and commentary you’ll need to subscribe.
1. Cameron Maybin, of
2. Andrew Miller, lhp
3. Brent Clevlen, of
4. Jair Jurrjens, rhp
5. Jordan Tata, rhp
6. Eulogio de la Cruz, rhp
7. Gorkys Hernandez, of
8. Dallas Trahern, rhp
9. Jeff Larish, 1b
10. Scott Sizemore, ss/2b
The problem with the list, and it isn’t so much the list but the players on it, is that there isn’t much in terms of immediate help. Only Jordan Tata, Jair Jurrjens, and Eulogio de la Cruz have had success above A ball. Brent Clevlen had a nice run of 39 at-bats at the Major League Level, but posted only a 670 OPS for Erie. He did show good on base skills drawing 18 walks in the AFL, but still fanned 35 times in 92 at-bats and only slugged 326.
I’d have ranked Larish higher, and de la Cruz lower (if at all) but otherwise the list is close to what I’d expect.
Gorkys Hernandez is a centerfielder who had a very strong season in the GCL at the age of 19. Scott Sizemore was a 2006 draftee who put together a nice season for Oneonta.
The week in links
I’m way behind here, and some of this hardly qualifies as newsworthy anymore. But in the interest of completeness…
- Gary Sheffield will wear Alan Trammell’s #3, and Trammell is okay with it. I have mixed feelings on this. First it is only a number and too much shouldn’t be made of it. But on the other hand it will be weird, to say the least, to see someone else sporting that number. Trammell is too classy to make a stink of it, but I can’t figure why Sheffield would even ask for it. It is sure to not endear him to Tiger fans, but that never seems to be an issue for him anyways. Even with 10 and 11 not available (and if 11 isn’t available is this to mean that Sparky’s # will be officially retired?), there were lots of other numbers to choose from. It almost seems intentional and calculated.
- Lee has started doing a Runs Created analysis for the Tigers. It is a series of posts, here is the first. I love the runs created stat because it boils offensive production down to a value that all baseball fans can relate to.
- This is actually 2 weeks old, but Beyond the Boxscores takes a look at former Tiger first round pick Scott Moore who is flourishing with the Cubs.
- The Lakeland Tigers are no more. They are now the Lakeland Flying Tigers. This will be helpful for me when I write up my minor league wraps next year because I was never a fan of L-Tigers. More importantly, it will help the organization tie in the aviation aspect of the Tigers facilities in Lakeland. The complex is on an old aviation school.
- This is a new link, but Alfonso Soriano is going to the Cubs for a mere 8 years and $136 million.
Tigers Ink Seven Minor League Free Agents
The Tigers signed 7 players to minor league contracts. They are righthanded pitcher Craig Dingman, lefthanded pitchers Tim Byrdak and Vic Darensbourg, catcher Steve Torrealba, infielders Mike Hessman and Kevin Hooper and outfielder Jackson Melian.
Dingman missed all of last year with a blood clot in his shoulder. Mike Hessman and Kevin Hooper were members of the Toledo team and Jackson Melian played for Erie.
Vic Darensbourg returns to the organization. Barring a trade or signing of a lefty reliever, he may be given the chance to claim Jamie Walker’s role from last year.
Lloyd McClendon to be hitting coach
Jim Leyland has decided to move Lloyd McClendon in to the hitting coach vacancy that was created when Don Slaught resigned. McClendon of course served as bullpen coach last year and spent 4 years as the Pirates hitting coach.
Jeff Jones will be promoted from Toledo to assume the role of bullpen coach. Jones had considerable success working with Wil Ledezma and Zach Miner last year. This will be his 5th stint as Tigers bullpen coach.
Britt Burns will be promoted from A Lakeland to take Jones spot in Toledo and former Tiger Joe Coleman will assume pitching coach duties in Lakeland.