From what I can gather on the web and on Twitter, the local reaction to the extensions of Jim Leyland and Dave Dombrowski has not been broadly positive. Nationally, it’s another story. If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you know that I’ve been a Leyland backer — and one of Dombrowski, too. Fifty-one weeks ago I wrote a piece titled In Defense of Jim Leyland and though the circumstances are different this year than last, I still think Leyland deserves another year. That’s not to say some of his in-game decisions don’t drive me batty. Ryan Raburn as late-inning defensive replacement? Jose Valverde in non-save situations? Brandon Inge? The featherweight lineup featured in so many getaway games? For me, the bottom line…
With the July 31st trade deadline just two weeks away, what the Detroit Tigers are going to add to the Major League roster in these next two weeks has become a hot button topic to say the least. The Tigers, like many teams, are looking for another starting pitcher. Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman reported that the Tigers, Red Sox, Yankees, and a few other teams are looking at Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda; Fox Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi reported that the Tigers were in Colorado scouting Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenezon Thursday night. The Tigers are also looking for someone to plug in at third base, but haven’t been directly linked to names yet. There is the chance, though, that the Tigers have a solution in their own…
I just couldn’t see the Tigers making a move for Dan Uggla and hoped, quite frankly, that they wouldn’t. The added power behind Miguel Cabrera certainly would’ve been nice but not in the form of another righthanded bat. I’m willing to wait and see what Dave Dombrowski has up his sleeve. Until then, here are some notable notes from around the Web: If you want one more Sparky Anderson photo gallery, ESPN.com is happy to oblige. Austin Jackson, in the eyes of Ian and many others got robbed on Monday when he finished second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting. His catch during Armando Galarraga’s near-perfect game should’ve cinched for him. The 1934 Detroit Tigers infield tonight was featured in a…
Eleven years ago today Randy Smith rolled the dice and pulled the trigger on a trade that will be his legacy in Detroit: trading pitchers Francisco Cordero, Justin Thompson and Alan Webb, catcher Bill Haselman, infielder Frank Catalanotto and outfielder Gabe Kapler to the Rangers for righthander Danny Patterson, catcher Gregg Zaun and, the crown jewel of the deal, outfielder Juan Gonzalez. The strategy both simple and fatally flawed: trade a boatload of young talent for a big-name slugger to play in a cavernous, new ballpark. Smith doubled-down when he offered Gonzalez an eight-year,$140 million contract. Thankfully, Gonzalez spurned the offer to play for the … Indians. In case you’ve forgotten, he appeared in 115 games for the 2000 Tigers, hitting .289 with 22…
No Tigers baseball for a week, how are you managing? Here in Phoenix we’re prepping for another season of Arizona Fall League action. (More on that later.) In the meantime, here are some odds and ends from the last week: If you’re still coming to grips with the notion of Brandon Inge and Jhonny Peralta manning the left side of the Tigers’ infield next season, here’s something I noticed that will either make you feel better or worse – and nowhere in between. Based on this year’s stats, it appears that Inge and Peralta are practically twins: 2010 Stats Inge Peralta Games 144 148 At bats 514 551 Hits 127 137 Home Runs 13 15 RBI 70 81 Average .247 .249 On-base Percentage .321…
