Remember when Scott Sizemore was the answer to the Tigers’ second base question? After nearly five seasons of Placido Polanco’s wizardry at second, and in the number-two slot of the lineup, the Tigers tried to convince fans – and maybe themselves – that Sizemore could take over with gusto. After 65 games spread across two seasons, Sizemore was dealt to Oakland and suddenly second base became a giant black hole. Again. In 2010, Carlos Guillen and Will Rhymes both played more games at second than Sizemore, fully cementing the second-base-by-committee approach. Last season, Ryan Raburn made his play for the job, appearing in 56 games at second and committing 10 errors in 201 chances. Backed by his usual second-half surge, he convinced the Tigers…
Note: This article first appeared on ESPN.com’s SweetSpot blog today. 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,…
This is one of those rare and delightful days of spring in which I get to flip back and forth between a Tigers West Coast game and a Wings playoff game. April in the D, indeed. It’s always interesting to see how even a small winning streak can stir optimism among Tigers faithful. To wit: this past weekend’s series in Oakland. Buoyed by wins in the first two games, I was completely confident the Tigers could — would! — come back in Saturday night and Sunday games. A week prior (against the Royals at home) I had no such optimism. All in all I’m feeling good about their chances in Seattle, and not just because they’ll miss Felix Hernandez.
A few overdue thoughts as I work the previous-channel button on my remote, switching between the Tigers and Wings games. When a few specific things occur, I know for certain the baseball season is in full bloom — eight games in or not. Two of these things have already taken place in the past 24 hours: the Tigers lose to the Royals and Ryan Raburn makes at least one bone-headed play in the field. Speaking of the Wings, if they end up playing the Coyotes in the first round, I’ll have to endure lame Detroit jokes in the media out here. Did the Tigers really lose to Bruce Chen? Bruce Chen? Slowly — very slowly — I’m gaining confidence in Alex Avila. He was…
Scott Sizemore said he was disappointed about being cut today by the Tigers. It has to be even more disappointing for a player who, by most accounts, was reestablishing himself as a promising big leaguer this spring only to lose the job to a guy (Will Rhymes) who didn’t runaway with the job. As much as I like Rhymes — and loved having him on the podcast last fall — I still believed Sizemore would emerge as the Opening Day starter. Clete Thomas’s demotion wasn’t as surprising as Robbie Weinhardt’s. All spring long we heard about how Weinhardt would be a key component in the Tigers’ bullpen. Poor Clete. If he could hit like Brennan Boesch, he’d probably be on the 25-man roster.
