Tigers making a playoff run?!?!?!

[lidstromania 0]

If you ask me, i personally dont hate the tigers chances of making a wild card run. They just took 2 out of 3 from the best team in the league, and if the pitching stays strong and hitting can stay healthy, i seriously think they have a good chance at the wild card. Next up, a 5 game series with the twins, including a day-night doubleheader on saturday, then a 3 game set with the hot oakland a's. these next 2 series will make or break our playoff chances IMO. BTW, does anybody like Chris Shelton as much as i do????

[BlakChamber 8]

Chris Shelton rocks!

As far as the playoffs. As of right now, they're only 5 games out. Unfortunately, they have the Twins, Yankees, Orioles, Rangers, A's, and Indians in front of them. Its going to take a lot to make the playoffs.

GO TIGERS!

[twins1729 0]

I wish with all my heart that the Tigers will pull together and win, I don't know, 20 out of their next 25 games and are all of a sudden ahead in the wild card.

I can dream, but it seems very unlikely. You never know what can happen in sports though, they are only 5 1/2 games behind the Twins.

[mattcorpolongo 0]

I'll start off with this, Chris Shelton and Magglio Ordonez are really playing well!

As for playoffs, with Farnsworth about to be suspended, their relief wont be as strong for 2-5 games, and since Trammel is barely playing Jamie Walker..and too much of the crummy pitchers, Doug Creek - Craig Dingman. Trammel does not know when to take pitchers out and leave them in as well. He should be fired after this season. I don't see a playoff run this year, unfortunatly. I hope they can prove me wrong!

5 Reasons for not making playoffs:

1. Dmitri Young (PLaying horrible) !

2. Carlos Guillen (No homers- no RBI's)

3. Nook Logan (Can't hit)

4. Doug Creek, Craig Dingman, Kevin Hooper (These guys should be in AAA. They have no reason to be here)

5. Trammel- Really making some bad moves this year.

[eva unit zero 271]

Trammell can't be doing that bad since the team is not that different from last year yet they are just out of the playoffs as it stands.

If the Tigers take a few from the Twins, and do well in the other upcoming series, they probably move into the wild card. Should they make the playoffs, I think they have a decent chance at winning the first round.

[mannysBETTER3434 1]

No they can't- They are so unpredictable. They get spanked a couple times by Kansas City, and then beat the White Sox. You never know what Tigers team will show up. The good one needs to show up every day for the rest of the season and they still might not make it.

[3Hasek9 0]

i don't think we'll make the playoffs. looking at the lineup, there really isn't any position that you could hope for much improvement: shelton's been outstanding, pudge is the third best catcher in baseball, polanco might be the third best al 2b, guillen is fantastic at short (the power's gone because of the knee. he's still got the average), inge, prior to the current slump, was a .300 hitter, as was logan. despite recent failures, dy's one of the better dh's, and maggs and monroe are great out there. our era has been fantastic at times.

the problem is consistency. we can't get everythign to work at once. when the offense lights it up, it's trying to make up for a 7 run deficit against kc. when the pitchign is outstanding, the lineup gets shutout by wang. by next season, i think guys lie logan, inge, and bonderman will be less inclined to the slumps or disastrous outings(bonderman's had a couple terribel starts. he's also been untouchable the rest of the time).

i don't think tram should be fired. if he had his team healthy all year, they would be over .500. certainly, tram has made some crummy decisions, but if you look as hard at the decisions guys like guillen, gardenhire, and mazzilli have made, you'll see that tram compares favorably. tram's just been down on his luck. keep in mind, though, that this team can taste a winning season, which would be their first in 12 years. tram took over a team that was predestined to have a historically bad season, and he has brought them far (as has the front office and ownership).

Trammell can't be doing that bad since the team is not that different from last year yet they are just out of the playoffs as it stands.

the team's quite different. new personnel of consequence: shelton, maggs, farnsworth, rodney (dl last year), german (minors last year bc he sucked), polanco, douglass (great in his couple starts-who's a thunkit).

the bulkof credit for improvement goes to the front office, time (bonderman and robertson have had important development), and bob cluck. cluck harnesses farns's fastball to make him devastating, helped rodney develop one fo the best chageups around, has aided bondo in his development, and, perhaps most importnatly (up there with farns), gave jj a sinker and slider that have made him solid.

[redwings1914 18]

Watch out for the tigers....

they are only 4 games back of the twins for the WC and MAgs is playing his a$$ off...l

[redwings1914 18]

Next year.... AL CENTRAL CHAMPS!!

[eva unit zero 271]

Next year.... AL CENTRAL CHAMPS!!

Next year AL Central champs...

and potential All-Stars Inge, Shelton, Guillen, Rodriguez, Polanco, Ordonez, White, Young, Bonderman, Farnsworth, Percival, Monroe.

Some of those guys could have made the team (Inge, Bondo, Farnsworth) this year but didn't because Francona needed the entire Boston roster....some of them are star players and just had injury trouble (Ordonez, Guillen, Percival) some have played like all-stars but did not appear in a significant amount of games (Shelton, Polanco) or had some consistency issues in the first half (Young, White, Monroe), and then there's Pudge.

Get the injuries and consistency straightened out...and they could do more than just win the Central.

[3Hasek9 0]

i think we will win the al central next year. consistency should come with experience. our outfield will eb sick: choose 3 to play daily: logan, monroe, granderson, maggs. maggs-yes. logan, if he's consistent, could be there with damon as the best leadoff man. monroe and granderson both are great. we'll have a wonderful logjam.

inge, shelton, guillen (if ever healthy), polanco, maggs, and bonderman will all have great all-star bids.

monroe should as well, but, idk why, i'm less confident in his early success.

rumors say farns won't sign up with us again. i hope that's not true, because he could be the first automatic closer the tigers have had since willie.

i have zero confidence in a percival return to anythign resembling effectiveness. if farns is back, he will close.

i don't think pudge will be an all-star. mauerdefinitely makes that team, and i think varitek beats out a rapidly declining pudge.

i'd be stunned if white were resigned given our overflow in the outfield.

next year: great pen: 7-german, 8-rodney, 9-farns (please). that's the best trio around. that's the best su-close duo around, provided gagne's not back.

great rotation: bonderman-cy young contender with 20 w's and 200 k's; robertson-dominating the al as he has this year; verlander-the debut of the best minor league prospect the tigers have had in my lifetime. the 99 mph fastball and knee bucklign curve will own, especially once he gets the confidence that comes with experience and regular mlb play; 4t and 5th-douglass, ledezma, maroth, free agent (jj?)??? regardless, it's a nice back end of the pen.

devastatign outfield, rock solid infield.

beautiful. granted, i had the same confidence this year.

to eva: the only red sock that francona had a say over was clement. the rest were fan-voted.

[eva unit zero 271]

i think we will win the al central next year. consistency should come with experience. our outfield will eb sick: choose 3 to play daily: logan, monroe, granderson, maggs. maggs-yes. logan, if he's consistent, could be there with damon as the best leadoff man. monroe and granderson both are great. we'll have a wonderful logjam.

inge, shelton, guillen (if ever healthy), polanco, maggs, and bonderman will all have great all-star bids.

monroe should as well, but, idk why, i'm less confident in his early success.

rumors say farns won't sign up with us again. i hope that's not true, because he could be the first automatic closer the tigers have had since willie.

i have zero confidence in a percival return to anythign resembling effectiveness. if farns is back, he will close.

i don't think pudge will be an all-star. mauerdefinitely makes that team, and i think varitek beats out a rapidly declining pudge.

i'd be stunned if white were resigned given our overflow in the outfield.

next year: great pen: 7-german, 8-rodney, 9-farns (please). that's the best trio around. that's the best su-close duo around, provided gagne's not back.

great rotation: bonderman-cy young contender with 20 w's and 200 k's; robertson-dominating the al as he has this year; verlander-the debut of the best minor league prospect the tigers have had in my lifetime. the 99 mph fastball and knee bucklign curve will own, especially once he gets the confidence that comes with experience and regular mlb play; 4t and 5th-douglass, ledezma, maroth, free agent (jj?)??? regardless, it's a nice back end of the pen.

devastatign outfield, rock solid infield.

beautiful. granted, i had the same confidence this year.

to eva: the only red sock that francona had a say over was clement. the rest were fan-voted.

I know he only chose Clement.

But Bonderman was more deserving, honestly.

I actually agreed with the reserves for the most part..I think the only difference I would have made was drop Hillenbrand for Inge. The pitching I would have made significantly different choices.

[3Hasek9 0]

I know he only chose Clement.

But Bonderman was more deserving, honestly.

I actually agreed with the reserves for the most part..I think the only difference I would have made was drop Hillenbrand for Inge. The pitching I would have made significantly different choices.

with inge and bonderman, i think thy should have been on the all-star team simpyl because they had legitimate arguments, and the game was here.

bonderman's era was noth of 4 at the time, so i think clement deserved it more on performance, but, given it being in detroit, he should have been on that roster.

when i saw hillebrand's name on espn, i was rather taken aback. a lot of guys, including inge and (youck) jeter, were more deserving of that spot.

[mattcorpolongo 0]

Next year AL Central champs...

and potential All-Stars Inge, Shelton, Guillen, Rodriguez, Polanco, Ordonez, White, Young, Bonderman, Farnsworth, Percival, Monroe.

Percival is retiring after this year....

Curtis Granderson anyone!?

[3Hasek9 0]

Next year AL Central champs...

and potential All-Stars Inge, Shelton, Guillen, Rodriguez, Polanco, Ordonez, White, Young, Bonderman, Farnsworth, Percival, Monroe.

Percival is retiring after this year....

Curtis Granderson anyone!?

it's nto yet certain if percival is retiring. he will try to rest the arm and forego surgery. if he foregoes surgery, then he will attempt to play next season. if he goes for surgery, he will not play next year. the decision is expectedin decemeber.

i mentioned granderson as part of our amazing outfield next year. i doubt he'll be an all-star in his first full season simpyl because it will be his first full season.

[mattcorpolongo 0]

I know Granderson wont be an All-Star anytime soon, but he is going to be huge for us if he continues to homer!

[3Hasek9 0]

I know Granderson wont be an All-Star anytime soon, but he is going to be huge for us if he continues to homer!

i agree.

he has 5-tool written all over him.

great at the plate, he's developing great speed which is making him look like a cf, and he has a cannon.

[lidstromania 0]

As it stands right now, after taking 3 out of 5 from the wild card leading twins, the Tigers are exactly 4 games out of the wild card, with a three game series with the 42-55 Seattle Mariners starting tonight. Right now, i would say our downfall is the middle of our starting rotation (Maroth and Johnson). If they could pull a few quality starts, we could defineitly be talking about the playoffs.

Granderson has been amazing, with 2 HRs in 4 games, plus a shot off the wall in right for a triple. This has been a good year for the Tigers callups! We have Sean Douglass who has been pitching like he could be our #2 or 3 starter instead of 5, then we have Chris Shelton, whos average is right up there around Derrek Lee's(triple crown!!!) numbers. and now, Curtis Granderson.

Our bullpen is defineitly in good shape right now too, with Walker, German, Rodney, and Farnsworth as the closer, since it appears that Percivals career is now over.

If not this year, i would dare say next year, but regardless, THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT IN DETROIT!!!!

[mattcorpolongo 0]

Future= Justin Verlander, Joel Zumaya, Kyle Sleeth, Jeremy Bonderman, Curtis Granderson, Brandon Inge, Craig Monroe, and Omar Infante!!

Thats a very bright future!!

[3Hasek9 0]

Future= Justin Verlander, Joel Zumaya, Kyle Sleeth, Jeremy Bonderman, Curtis Granderson, Brandon Inge, Craig Monroe, and Omar Infante!!

Thats a very bright future!!

bonderman=perennial cy young and future HOFer. i just hope we sign him to a long-term deal this year instead of letting him get to arbitration.

verlander=him and bonderman coudl potentially finish 1-2 in cy yougn voting for quite some time (unfortuneately, they'll have felix hernandez (or is it rodriguez-mariners prospect), santana, haren, etc.).

zumaya-from my understanding, the soonest he'll be here is 2007, but his heat with respectabel command is very promising.

sleeth-just had tommy john. no idea how that'll turn out. he might be relegate to pen duties.

granderson, inge, monroe-perennial all-stars.

infante-seriously? he's hittign .233. he's got the glove, but his bat has been ugly. last year seems liek an apparition, and if last year's his peak, i hate to see his worst.

[Grind_Lines_#1_Fan 0]

I'll start off with this, Chris Shelton and Magglio Ordonez are really playing well!

As for playoffs, with Farnsworth about to be suspended, their relief wont be as strong for 2-5 games, and since Trammel is barely playing Jamie Walker..and too much of the crummy pitchers, Doug Creek - Craig Dingman. Trammel does not know when to take pitchers out and leave them in as well. He should be fired after this season. I don't see a playoff run this year, unfortunatly. I hope they can prove me wrong!

5 Reasons for not making playoffs:

1. Dmitri Young (PLaying horrible) !

2. Carlos Guillen (No homers- no RBI's)

3. Nook Logan (Can't hit)

4. Doug Creek, Craig Dingman, Kevin Hooper (These guys should be in AAA. They have no reason to be here)

5. Trammel- Really making some bad moves this year.

Obviously youre behind or just dont like the tigers

1. Hooper, and Creek are in AAA and the only reason Dingmans here is because of the injury of Troy Percival.

2. Have you saw what Nook Logan can do when he is in the outfield and he is young and very fast it was a nice steal from the minors.

3. Trammell should not be fired because of injuries. Last year was no excuse to do poor but before that the Tigers had guys like Robert Fick as the team all star its not his fault. Now he has plenty to work with and there is no reason for there bad play.

4 Young is not doing very good as of late but i dont think that the three run Homer in the 8th last night was bad news on his part

5 Guillen is just coming out of an injury recently and still has his great moves at Short Stop

[BlakChamber 8]

Only 4 games out of the Wild Card!!

[3Hasek9 0]

i still don't think we'll make the playoffs. we have devastating consistency issues.

the only time we score runs is when the pitching is truly indomitable and the runs are icing.

when we need runs, we either can't score them for our lives, or we score them in the late innings when they have zero consequence since they bring us within 5 of the tie. then we stop scorign at that point.

tigers rotation can be unhittable. we have three guys with ERA's below 4. jj's above 4 but is ninth in the al in quality starts. maroth's our only weak spot, yet he compares mroe than favorably to the back end of the twins', a's, and sox's rotations. not to mention mr.5th in k's, second in wins bonderman.

the bullpen can be fantastic as farns and rodney will testify to. not to mentioned german and walker.

we lead the league in hits for july. yet we can't get the runs across the plate or get timely runs (last night was a wonderful exception).

until the team can click on all cylinders all the time, we'll be a .500 club with postseason hopes being nothing than that: hopes.

[mattcorpolongo 0]

5 Reasons for not making playoffs:

1. Dmitri Young (PLaying horrible) !

2. Carlos Guillen (No homers- no RBI's)

3. Nook Logan (Can't hit)

4. Doug Creek, Craig Dingman, Kevin Hooper (These guys should be in AAA. They have no reason to be here)

5. Trammel- Really making some bad moves this year.

Obviously youre behind or just dont like the tigers

1. Hooper, and Creek are in AAA and the only reason Dingmans here is because of the injury of Troy Percival.

2. Have you saw what Nook Logan can do when he is in the outfield and he is young and very fast it was a nice steal from the minors.

3. Trammell should not be fired because of injuries. Last year was no excuse to do poor but before that the Tigers had guys like Robert Fick as the team all star its not his fault. Now he has plenty to work with and there is no reason for there bad play.

4 Young is not doing very good as of late but i dont think that the three run Homer in the 8th last night was bad news on his part

5 Guillen is just coming out of an injury recently and still has his great moves at Short Stop

1. Obviously your behind. They sent Hooper and Creek down 5 days after I wrote that.

2. Nook Logan isn't a power hitter, he sometimes make lazy plays in the outfield. Yes, he's fast, but, Curtis Granderson is an allround better player, with more potential...

3. Trammel should and will be fired. Injuries have nothing to do with his poor decisions. He leaves pitchers in too long, then they get burned, or he'll take a pitcher out, who has a few good innings left in him and puts in a reliever who blows it.

4. Dmitri Young has picked it up the last few games. He just needs to continue. he has 17 homers and 50 RBI's with a 2 something average.....he needs to improve his RBI count and raise his average....

5. I understand Guillen is comming off an injury. He starting to get back to where he should be, but because he didn't have a good first half...we wont make playoffs..

[3Hasek9 0]

2. Nook Logan isn't a power hitter, he sometimes make lazy plays in the outfield. Yes, he's fast, but, Curtis Granderson is an allround better player, with more potential...

so what that he's not a power hitter? what the hell difference does that make. ichiro, pierre, izturis, eckstein, and many others are excellent players that don't hit for power.

logan has been called the fastest player in baseball. he has a real nice arm. regardless of what you want to say, he might be our best fielder (check the highlight reels: robbing a couple home runs in some games doesn't qualify as lazy-granted, you did say sometimes). he's made some errors, but he's also made some great plays. he's got a better glove than granderson, who many have tabbed as a corner outfielder. also, logan looks to have dominant leadoff stuff. unfortuneately, he's been slumping bad the last month, but if you dropped a guy when a slumps for a month, then neither inge nor pudge would be playign for us.

granderson's great, but keep in mind that he's a call up. he'll be ready next year, but this year is pushing it a little.

3. Trammel should and will be fired. Injuries have nothing to do with his poor decisions. He leaves pitchers in too long, then they get burned, or he'll take a pitcher out, who has a few good innings left in him and puts in a reliever who blows it.

look at other manager's decisions and compare what's out there. guys like mazzilli, gardenhire, manuel, wedge, and even guillen have made much worse moves more frequently.

4. Dmitri Young has picked it up the last few games. He just needs to continue. he has 17 homers and 50 RBI's with a 2 something average.....he needs to improve his RBI count and raise his average....

dy's ops, and his rankings in both contributing categories, is his than that of pudge. ultimately, it means pudge contributes less offensively than dy.