… Maybin is Exhibit A of the wonders that result from talent colliding with opportunity. After more ups and downs than your average debt-ceiling negotiations, he’s found a home as San Diego’s resident leadoff hitter, fly chaser and catalyst.

(snip)

Maybin, acquired by the Padres from Florida in November in a trade for relievers Ryan Webb and Edward Mujica, got the 2011 season off to a rousing start with a home run and a diving catch in St. Louis on Opening Day. Given the green light to steal by Padres manager Bud Black, he’s succeeded on 26 of 28 attempts. And his monthly batting averages — .247 in April, .263 in May, .288 in June and .315 in July — are testament to his personal growth.

(snip)

“This is the first time in two or three seasons where I’ve felt comfortable,” Maybin said. “I’m not worried about the consequences of going out there and trying to get a hit every night. Even if I have a bad week or a bad month, I feel like these guys are still with me.

I’ve often wondered if Maybin would’ve had the opportunity to develop with the Tigers. But, when I watch Austin Jackson I think they got a modified version of Maybin in the Curtis Granderson trade.

At any rate, it’s nice to see Maybin with a team that’s rebuilding and that can invest the time to watch him develop.

When the Tigers traded Scott Sizemore to the A’s over Memorial Day Weekend, it brought an abrupt and mildly startling end to his tenure as Detroit’s second baseman of the future. The Tigers, after all, anointed him as the heir apparent to Placido Polanco almost immediately after they lost Game 163 to the Twins in 2009.

Polanco was eligible for arbitration, which coincided with the Tigers’ momentary spending freeze, and soon he was back with the Phillies doing everything fans in Detroit had come accustomed to: steadiness in the field, reliability at the plate.

But back to Sizemore. The Tigers sent him to the Arizona Fall League – “a graduate school” for top prospects, according to the AFL Media Guide – in 2007 and again in ‘09 in what they undoubtedly expected to be a final tuneup before handing over the keys to second base to him for the foreseeable future.

Within days of the 2009 AFL season, Sizemore’s ankle was broken as he attempted to turn a double play and his fall league experience went kaput. It didn’t stop the Tigers from hoping that he could recover in time for spring training.

Fast forward to May 27 when he was dealt to Oakland for David Purcey (himself an AFL graduate) and the book was closed on Sizemore’s career in Detroit: 65 games, a .223 average, .605 OPS and a mere three home runs. Not legendary stuff and certainly nowhere close to Polanco’s track record.

Sizemore’s flameout got me thinking about the poor results the Tigers have seen from their Arizona Fall League representatives, particularly when contrasted with Central-division rivals.

Over the past five years, the players sent by the Tigers to the AFL (including Sizemore, twice) haven’t lived up their billing. Tigers fans heard breathless projections of guys such as Brent Clevlen, Cameron Maybin and Virgil Vasquez — not to mention Jeff Larish and Cale Iorg — only to see them cut loose or traded or otherwise vanish from baseball. In some cases, Cody Ross and Burke Badenhop for example, Tigers AFL prospects have gone elsewhere and had success.

Expand the view a bit wider and you’ll see that Curtis Granderson, Tony Clark and Frank Catalanotto and current Tigers utilityman Don Kelly spent an autumn in Phoenix. But
outside of Granderson, which Tigers player and AFL alum over the past five seasons has the most big-league experience? Outfielder Casper Wells, who, at the All-Star break, had 97 games with the Tigers.

Next in line is Opening Day second baseman Will Rhymes (73), Sizemore (65) and pitcher Eddie Bonine (62). Where are they today? Rhymes is a Triple-A All Star in Toledo, Sizemore’s near the Bay and Bonine is pitching for the Phillies’ Triple-A club.

From the perspective of a Tigers fan, these under-performing prospects are that much more frustrating when the Indians, White Sox, Royals and Twins accelerate their AFL players from the desert to the big-league club.

How’s this for a collection of who’s who? Chris Getz. Gordon Beckham. Joe Crede. Alex Gordon. Eric Hosmer. Billy Butler. Mitch Maier. Joe Mauer. Grady Sizemore. David Huff.

This examination of the Tigers’ AFL classes doesn’t mean they franchise hasn’t developed important players. Since 2006, Justin Verlander, Brennan Boesch, Alex Avila, Joel Zumaya all came through the Detroit farm system – but they bypassed Arizona on their way up.

For many teams, particularly those in the A.L. Central, the Arizona Fall League has been a key stop on their development fast track. Unfortunately, for the Tigers and their top prospects this graduate school has handed out nothing but failing grades of late.

1-2; 4th place, 1.5 GB Royals

Today’s Game

Tigers @ Orioles | 3:05 p.m. ET – Baltimore | On the air: FSD/AM 1270 and 97.1 FM

Pitching Matchup

Rick Porcello (0-0) vs. Jake Arrieta (0-0)

Yesterday’s Results

Tigers 10 – Yankees 7

• W: Max Scherzer (1-0)
• L: Phil Hughes (0-1)
• HR: Miguel Cabrera (2), Brennan Boesch (1)

Tigers History Lesson

Today’s Birthdays

• Cameron Maybin, 24

On this Date in Tigers History

• 2005 – On Opening Day in Detroit, Dmitri Young hit three home runs to lead the Tigers to an 11-2 win over the Royals. Here’s what the starting lineup looked like that day behind starter Jeremy Bonderman:
  1. Omar Infante, 2b
  2. Carlos Guillen, ss
  3. Pudge Rodriguez, c
  4. Magglio Ordonez, rf
  5. Young, dh
  6. Rondell White, lf
  7. Carlos Pena, 1b
  8. Craig Monroe, cf
  9. Brandon Inge, 3b

Thanks for your patience as I still try to get the hang of this blogging while working the 8-to-6 shift.

***

What was the point of Tom Gage‘s column on Monday? So Mike Ilitch came to Lakeland and left without talking to the media — big deal.

Maybe the man didn’t feel well. Maybe he wasn’t in the mood. Maybe the trip to Spring Training was squeezed in an otherwise busy schedule.

Gage seems to be making a lot out of Ilitch’s in-and-out visit — that somehow the long-term contract status of Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland is now more in jeopardy than it is.

I’m not buying it. You?

***

This weekend I got my first live look at the Tigers thanks to MLB Network. I got to watch the 30 Clubs in 30 Days installment — which, mercifully, did not include the unfortunate Hazel Mae — on Friday night and then got the bonus coverage on Sunday of the game against the Nationals.

First, the 30/30 episode. MLB Network does a decent job with these, though it’s hard not to be a tad critical of them when they feature your favorite team.

I thought the interview with Leyland was more than a bit low on insight, but was shocked — stunned, even — to see that Kirk Gibson‘s 1994 season was ranked by the hosts as one of the top single seasons by a Tigers outfielder.

As for the game, watching Justin Verlander carve up the Nats was flat-out fun. Yeah, it was Grapefruit League action but nevertheless I enjoyed seeing Verlander adopt a more serious mindset in an exhibition.

In other words, if he was that locked in for a meaningless game in Viera, I can’t wait to see how he looks on Opening Day in the Bronx.

***

I’ve been two four Cactus League games this spring and as much as I like watching baseball in person, I have to admit there’s a major snooze factor when the games involve two teams I couldn’t care less about.

My first game was Diamondbacks and White Sox at the new Salt River Fields. The most notable parts of the game were Armando Galarraga’s head whipping around as another bullet from Sox hitters buzzed past him.

Fast forward to this weekend when I saw three games: Padres at Angels, Reds at Diamondbacks and Padres at Mariners. Hard to summon much enthusiasm for these clubs (though I was interested in seeing Cameron Maybin play for San Diego, which happened on Sunday.)

Outside of the company of friends, the highlight of the trio of games was getting my photo taken with former big-leaguer and Angels TV announcer Rex Hudler at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

Before we posed for the shot I asked Hud, as all the Angels fans called him, if he’d take a photo with a Tigers fan. He said absolutely, told me how much he loved playing at Tiger Stadium and said it was one of his favorite parks.

I couldn’t resist, of course, asking him if he thought Jack Morris was a Hall of Famer and he said: “Oh yeah. Should’ve been in on the first ballot.”

With Hudler’s vote, that makes three former big leaguers I’ve had the opportunity to ask (Rick Manning and Ken Phelps are the others) who all agree The Cat belongs in Cooperstown.

I will now pause and wait for my man Lee Panas to again tell me why Morris doesn’t belong.

Be kind, Lee. Be kind.

P.S. I saw Peter Gammons at the Padres/Mariners game on Sunday. He was sitting behind home plate with former D-backs GM Josh Byrnes and some other baseball execs, and had with him a notebook, media guides and all his tools of the trade. The man doesn’t slow down.

***

On this date in 1996 the Tigers pulled off a pair of less-than-history-making deals when they first acquired RHP Ramon Fermin and infielder Fausto Cruz from the Athletics for outfielder Phil Plantier. Next, they picked up RHP Richie Lewis, C Raul Casanova and OF Melvin Nieves from the Padres for RHPs Sean Bergman and their 1994 top draft choice Cade Gaspar and outfielder Todd Steverson.

***

Finally, Happy 48th Birthday to Rich Monteleone.

• Placido Polanco, Phillies: .314 avg., 6 HR, 42 RBI, .348 OBP. Currently fifth in the N.L. in hitting, which is just another reason the Tigers (and fans) are regretting his departure.
  

• Omar Infante, Braves: .347 avg., 7 HR, 37 RBI, .837 OPS From Rob Neyer: “At the moment, he doesn’t have enough plate appearances to qualify [for the batting title]. To reach 502, he needs another 169 in the Braves’ 38 remaining games.”

• Andres Torres, Giants: .287 avg., 13 HR, 57 RBI, .869 OPS. Torres is the embodiment of stick-to-itiveness. Nearly a decade after he was touted as a centerpiece of the Tigers new wave of young talent, he’s downright essential to the Giants offense. Good for him.

• Aubrey Huff, Giants: .300 avg., 22 HR, 75 RBI, .922 OPS. Infuriating.

• Curtis Granderson, Yankees: .249 avg., 14 HR, 41 RBI, .761 OPS. I haven’t followed Granderson closely this year but it seems that his best series of the year came agains the Tigers last week. Still, it looks like he’s got a great chance of winning a World Series ring.

• Edwin Jackson, White Sox: 8-10, 4.44 ERA, 1.42 WHIP. Jackson’s back in the A.L. Central after half a season languishing in Arizona — his 149-pitch no-hitter notwithstanding. He was 6-8 with a 5.16 ERA for the Diamondbacks. With the Sox, he’s 1-1 with a 0.96 ERA.

• Brandon Lyon, Astros: 6-5, 3.34 ERA, 8 saves, 19 holds, 1.35 WHIP. Think the Tigers could’ve used Lyon in the bullpen this season? Me too.

• Pudge Rodriguez, Nationals: .270 avg., 2 HR, 35 RBI, .637 OPS. Pudge has gotten lots of praise this year for his mentorship of the Nationals’ young pitchers, including the now-shelved Stephen Strasburg. The question is, can Pudge squeeze one more season out of his aging body. He’ll need more than one year, though, to collect the 201 hits he needs to reach 3,000.

• Fernando Rodney, Angels: 4-1, 3.83 ERA, 6 saves, 21 holds, 1.45 WHIP. Angels’ closer Brian Fuentes‘ roller coaster, injury-plagued season created an opening for Rodney. He hasn’t exactly seized the opportunity.

• Cameron Maybin, Marlins: .235 avg., 5 HR, 21 RBI, .636 OPS. Sure-thing Maybin appears anything but at this point. He’s spent parts of this season in Triple-A New Orleans (in fact he was again recalled earlier this week). The kid is still just 23, so he’s got time and upside. Given how Miguel Cabrera‘s worked out for the Tigers, Maybin is but a distant memory for Tigers fans.

• Jair Jurrjens, Braves: 5-4, 4.36 ERA, 1.29 WHIP. Imagine Jurrjens in the Tigers’ rotation last season or this season or next season. You already have? Never mind.

• Edgar Renteria, Giants: .278 avg., 2 HR, 21 RBI, .706 OPS. For $10 million, the Giants have in return received just 58 games from Renteria this year. Lucky them.

• Jeff Weaver, Dodgers: 5-1, 5.21 ERA, 4 holds, 1.42 WHIP. Yes, he’s still in the majors and is only 34. Weave is currently on the disabled list.

I’m sure there are others I’ve missed, but these were the biggest names that I could think of. Who did I miss?

Tigers’ Final Spring Training Record: 18-12-2

Today’s Game

Off Day in Kansas City

The Tigers will conduct a 1 p.m. workout on Sunday at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium in preparation for Opening Day.

Jeremy Bonderman remained behind in Lakeland and will pitch in a minor league game on Sunday before joining the club in Kansas City.

Yesterday’s Results

Brewers 13 – Tigers 12

The Tigers rocked Brewers pitchers for five homers (Austin Jackson, Magglio Ordonez, Ryan Raburn, Danny Worth and Jeff Larish) but the bullpen obliterated another sterling performance by Rick Porcello (4.1 innings of two-hit, walk-less pitching).

Of particular wretchedness was Joel Zumaya who surrendered five runs without registering an out. Phil Coke didn’t fare much better: three earned runs in just a third of an inning.

Oh, and in his final spring tuneup, Dontrelle Willis gave up five hits in his three scoreless innings. Keep those fingers crossed.

Tigers History Lesson

Today’s Birthdays

• Cameron Maybin, 23

On this Date in Tigers History

• 2005 – Dmitri Young hits three home runs to lead his team to an 11 – 2 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

Here’s what Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez had to say about his new starter:

“I know that he’s a pretty good pitcher. … “There were a couple of years that he threw right around 200 innings. He’s a workhorse. Coming to the National League, where teams haven’t had a chance to see him much, maybe he can help us out.”

Nate will join former Tigers Cameron Maybin, Burke Badenhop and Cody Ross on Florida’s Opening Day roster. Andrew Miller was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans last week.

I admitted to Ian that it’s way early but that doesn’t mean that panic is not setting in everywhere around Comerica Park — but never at Fungo HQ!

So, I’m lobbing it out there: Are the Tigers wondering what they signed themselves up for over the next seven years?

Maybe.

Fast-forward to this afternoon and the latest installment of Jayson Stark‘s Rumblings and Grumblings on ESPN.com. This time he reviews the off-season trades and the Tigers’ deals are getting anything but passing grades.

6. Braves-Tigers (RHP Jair Jurrjens and OF Gorkys Hernandez for Edgar Renteria): “At this point, Atlanta has won that deal,” said one scout. “Jurrjens [4-2, 2.84] has been their most consistent starter.”

Ouch.

And if you think that’s a harsh assessment, get a load of this:

9. Tigers-Marlins (Miguel Cabrera and LHP Dontrelle Willis for LHP Andrew Miller, OF Cameron Maybin, C Mike Rabelo, RHP Burke Badenhop, RHP Eulogia De La Cruz and RHP Dallas Trahern): We won’t be able to judge Florida’s half of this deal until about 2010. And Willis has been a mess. But the surprise is that Cabrera has been: (a) an offensive disappointment, (b) such a defensive disaster at third base that he had to be shifted to first within three weeks, and (c) so lackadaisical that players on other teams are privately questioning whether he flicked on his cruise-control switch after signing an eight-year, $153.3-million contract this spring. “I expected him to come in there and be superman,” said one scout. “He’s been anything but that.”

Ugly stuff.

Ready for more? Each week Stark touches base with big-league scouts on what they are seeing and hearing. It sure looks like no one likes what they see from Cabrera.

“For $150 million, you’d like to at least see him run a ball out. I watched him for a week, and I think there was one ball all week where he tried to extend himself. That was a double-play ball, and he was still like 4.8 [seconds] getting down the line. On a routine ground ball, he’s 5.2, maybe 5.1. It’s ridiculous to even pull the clock out.”

So, is it too soon to call this trade a blunder? Of course it is. And it would be a lot worse if, say, Cameron Maybin were tearing up the National League.

But you have to wonder if the Tigers brass is wishing they could take a mulligan…if not on the mega-deal with the Marlins, then at least on the month of April.

What do you think?

1. This past weekend my wife and I traveled to Indian Wells, Calif., to watch the second round of the Pacific Life Open tennis tournament.

   When you take away the two-hour line to park and the gale-force winds, we had a great time watching some big-name players including Lindsay Davenport, Ana Ivanovic, Carlos Moya and defending champ Rafael Nadal.

   Between matches I pulled out my recent issue of Sports Illustrated and read about youngsters and teams making noise in big-league camps. The first snippet was on Tigers phenom Rick Porcello:
   

   Already Porcello, who has a repertoire of a mid-90s fastball, curve, slider and changeup is drawing comparisons to Josh Beckett (and even Jim Palmer) and stirring talk of a possible late-summer debut.

   Jim Palmer? No pressure there. Though, with all the young talent the Tigers have brought along — or traded — in the past few years, I find myself longing for the days of Sparky Anderson‘s predictions. Can you imagine what Sparky would have said about Justin Verlander, Curtis Granderson, Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller and Porcello?

   And while I’m glad the Tigers are high on Porcello, why even toy with a post-Sept. 1 callup? What’s the rush?

2. With a name like Michael Patrick McClary you can imagine that St. Patrick’s Day is a big deal in my family. Yet, March 17 is probably a much bigger day for Tigers catcher Vance Wilson who happens to have the good fortune of a St. Patrick’s Day birthday. He’s 35 today.
3. Did you happen to catch the Dontrelle Willis topic on ESPN’s The Sports Reporters on Sunday? It appeared that they needed a hook to talk about the Tigers and asked the panel if the D-Train would be running on time this year now that he’s with a better team. The consensus? A resounding “yeah, probably.”
   ]]> http://www.dailyfungo.com/2008/03/17/vance-wilsons-st-patricks-birthday-celebration/feed/ 0 http://www.dailyfungo.com/2007/11/12/the-monday-report-for-nov-12/ http://www.dailyfungo.com/2007/11/12/the-monday-report-for-nov-12/#comments Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:05:33 +0000 Mike McClary http://www.dailyfungo.com/2007/11/12/the-monday-report-for-nov-12/ My son woke me up at 5:45 this morning so I had some time to catchup on my reading and thinking…
   • Call me naive, but I thought the Kenny Rogers thing would be a slam dunk, even with The Scott Boras Factor. Now that Rogers, who turned 43 on Saturday, is testing the market — the market for a mid-40s pitcher coming off a season virtually lost to serious injury that is — one has to wonder if the Tigers have used up the patience they reserve for dealing with Boras. From everything I’ve read, most still expect a deal to get hammered out. And I tend to think so too if only because Dave Dombrowski doesn’t seem to be a cut-off-the-nose-to-spite-the-face kind of guy.Speaking of Rogers, I thought I’d stumbled upon major news over at Yahoo! Sports when I read in this Tigers rumor:
     

     According to the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit Tigers and free agent lefty Kenny Rogers have parted ways.  

     If you read to the story referenced in the piece you’ll see that nowhere does it say Rogers isn’t coming back. Perhaps a little fact checking would help.I’m intrigued by the Dontrelle Willis thing but can’t fathom what it would take to acquire him (for starters, Brandon Inge, perhaps?). Sure seems like a drastic change of course going from re-signing Rogers to dealing for Willis.Ah, but you gotta love the smell of hickory on the Hot Stove.

   • Our man Ian Casselberry notified me of the Omar Infante-for-Jacque Jones trade this afternoon. I think it’s safe to say Ian and I were both underwhelmed by the move. As Jon Paul Morosi suggests, this is likely a stop-gap solution until Cameron Maybin is ready for prime time, all the time. If that’s the case, I supposed I can live with it.

   Still, you have to believe that somewhere in the Dominican Republic, Timo Perez is wondering what he has to do to become more than a September call up.But probably not in those words.

   • If you missed it, Joel Zumaya turned 23 on Friday. Here’s hoping his birthday wish was for health and wellness. And, while the Lions were stinking up University of Phoenix Stadium yesterday, Jason Grilli and Chuck Hernandez were celebrating birthdays. A belated #31 to Grilli and #47 to Hernandez. To help you plan your card and gift shopping, here are the upcoming Tigers birthdays of note: Nov. 18 – Gary Sheffield (39); Nov. 19 – Preston Larrison (27); Nov. 29 – Tony Giarratano (25); Nov. 30 – Ivan Rodriguez (36). 
   • Mr. Casselberry and I also wondered aloud who the Tigers backup catcher would be on Opening Day. Vance Wilson should be ready to come back and reclaim his job, but Mike Rabelo certainly made a case for himself in 2007. Too bad one of them can’t play another position — or that Ryan Raburn can’t catch. Ian thinks Rabelo comes North. I’m undecided but tend to think Wilson will rejoin the team if he has anything that resembles a decent spring.
   ]]> http://www.dailyfungo.com/2007/11/12/the-monday-report-for-nov-12/feed/ 2 http://www.dailyfungo.com/2007/08/24/analyze-this-2/ http://www.dailyfungo.com/2007/08/24/analyze-this-2/#comments Fri, 24 Aug 2007 22:00:34 +0000 Mike McClary http://www.dailyfungo.com/2007/08/24/analyze-this-2/ One of the most enjoyable regular columns on BaseballProspectus.com is Transaction Analysis by Christina Kahrl. The Tigers rarely garner much attention in TA but this week is the exception. When you look at the number of roster moves Detroit has made lately you will a) be astounded, and b) amused by Kahrl’s take on certain moves, including the Craig Monroe trade. In this installment, Monroe gets double coverage (Detroit and, of course, the Cubs).

   First, a morsel of Kahrl’s Tigers assessment:

   [D]id hauling [Cameron Maybin] up really have to involve discarding Monroe? And what’s up with demoting Infante? In each case, my initial readiness to complain turned out to be pointless. Yes, Monroe’s really too good to be discarded this way, especially on a team that could use his bat against lefties, especially when that lineup’s carrying Casey’s carcass in one of its nine slots. 

   Ouch.And now for the Cubs:

   I’m as ready to bang on Monroe for his limitations as the next stathead, but I actually like this well enough for the Cubs. He’s coming over to the weaker league—just ask Jason Kendall if that hasn’t made a difference—plus he’s a guy who can play some center for a club that needs a center fielder. 

   Monroe in center? Ooooh, Lou Piniella won’t much like the looks of that. This edition of TA is a must-read if only for the outstanding Gregg Jefferies reference — and half-hearted comparison to Maybin.

   ]]> http://www.dailyfungo.com/2007/08/24/analyze-this-2/feed/ 0 http://www.dailyfungo.com/2007/07/31/putting-the-%e2%80%9cdead%e2%80%9d-in-trade-deadline/ http://www.dailyfungo.com/2007/07/31/putting-the-%e2%80%9cdead%e2%80%9d-in-trade-deadline/#comments Wed, 01 Aug 2007 02:25:06 +0000 Mike McClary http://www.dailyfungo.com/2007/07/31/putting-the-%e2%80%9cdead%e2%80%9d-in-trade-deadline/ Those of us old enough to remember when Pat Gillick was general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays (before moving on to similar roles with the Orioles, Mariners and his current employer, the Phillies), may be thinking of him today when pondering the Tigers approach to the non-waiver trade deadline.In the late 1980s, Gillick earned the nickname “Stand Pat” primarily because he would do just that at the trade deadline and leave Blue Jays’ fans scratching their collective noggins until Opening Night at Maple Leaf Gardens.Now that I’ve had a few hours to ponder the Tigers lack-tivity, I’m surprisingly relieved. What I found throughout the day as I listened to coverage on XM Radio and on ESPN, was that I was more anxious to learn who the Tigers would give up in a trade more so than who they acquired.The Tigers were not giving up Cameron Maybin; No drama there. And, given how fragile the Tigers’ pitching staff has proven to be this season, I couldn’t fathom the Tigers peddling the solid arms currently tending the farms in Toledo, Erie, Oneonta, Comstock Park and Lakeland.I’ll admit I’m a little late to this party.Our man in Connecticut, Peter Fuhrmeister, commented in podcast #24 that he didn’t want to see the Tigers make a move at the deadline. He’s content to ride out this season with what the Tigers have to offer in the bully. John Milton, my brother and I all disagreed with Peter but managed to avoid calling him nuts.After watching the first game of the Angels series, we were stinging from the dismal pitching performance on Friday night. Two games later, you could not convince me that a better, reasonably priced bullpen solution wasn’t out there. Somewhere. (Could the Tigers swallow some pride — and salary — to bring back Jamie Walker?)Today, Peter, as usual, looks to be the wise man.And now that I’ve had time to think about it, I’m willing to accept that a pair of healed, experienced arms are on the way in Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya. If they are back to full strength, the Tigers should be okay. I’m also willing to concede (again) that this team is going through a particularly grueling stretch of baseball right now. A couple of wins, a day off and a healthy back-end of the bullpen should put the Tigers back in business.If not, maybe Dave Dombrowski can phone Gillick and see what arms he’s willing to part with for a package of Jason Grilli, Craig Monroe and Omar Infante.I can almost hear Gillick’s response now: “Well, Jose Mesa‘s available…”Update: Jason Beck tells us what the Tigers had brewing today. Wasn’t much.
   ]]> http://www.dailyfungo.com/2007/07/31/putting-the-%e2%80%9cdead%e2%80%9d-in-trade-deadline/feed/ 0