2007 Baseball Season

[Sergei Fedorov91 24]

I hope Zumaya and Rodney will make me forget about the Tigers not getting some type of help on the bullpen.

[Airborn 0]

Leyland lit into the club a little bit in the press last night, something in my opinion is a couple days late. Way too many errors lately, especially from the SS.

Guillen's error last night turned the game around for the A's: Something that has been happening way to frequently as of late. I can deal with errors every once in a while, but right now he's a huge defensive liability. If he's not healthy enough to play the field (he indicated as much in the press), then by all means have him DH and have Sheff play the OF. One thing I know, we won't miss Monroe's bat.

Also, the entire pitching staff needs to start throwing strikes. It's an epidemic. Verlander needed over 100 pitches to get through 5 1/3 innings. With his stuff, there's no excuse for that.

I don't know if the guys are tired or what, but their play of late has been horrendus. If anything, I would have like to see some deals yesterday, just to provide a spark.

[Lou_Siffer 1]

Guillen's error last night turned the game around for the A's: Something that has been happening way to frequently as of late. I can deal with errors every once in a while, but right now he's a huge defensive liability. If he's not healthy enough to play the field (he indicated as much in the press), then by all means have him DH and have Sheff play the OF. One thing I know, we won't miss Monroe's bat.

Who would play SS though? Definitely not Perez if he even comes back, and i dont want Infante either unless Guillen is totally ineffective. Omar hasnt been the most defensively sound either when he plays there.

[Kp-Wings 3]

Who would play SS though? Definitely not Perez if he even comes back, and i dont want Infante either unless Guillen is totally ineffective. Omar hasnt been the most defensively sound either when he plays there.

At this point, Infante could do no worse than Guillen.

We need a shakeup of some kind. I was hoping a trade would do the trick, but obviously since management decided to sit on their hands that won't be happening. Whether it be some unknown guy down in the minors, or something, this team needs a spark. They've been awful lately.

Also, the entire pitching staff needs to start throwing strikes. It's an epidemic. Verlander needed over 100 pitches to get through 5 1/3 innings. With his stuff, there's no excuse for that.

...as if the bullpen woes weren't bad enough, amoung other things, thank you for pointing that out. I don't know why pitching a strike has all of a sudden become as hard as landing on mars. Especially considering this is Oakland we're playing right now, who aren't really even in the running.

Edited August 1, 2007 by Kp-Wings

[Airborn 0]

Who would play SS though? Definitely not Perez if he even comes back, and i dont want Infante either unless Guillen is totally ineffective. Omar hasnt been the most defensively sound either when he plays there.

You are of course right, which explains why Dombrowski was trying to get a SS at the deadline.

I do think Omar would be an upgrade until Guillen get his knee feeling right.

[Hockeytown Red Wings 245]

You are of course right, which explains why Dombrowski was trying to get a SS at the deadline.

I do think Omar would be an upgrade until Guillen get his knee feeling right.

But then he has to bat...

[Lou_Siffer 1]

Dombrowski offered Dallas Trahern for that AAA Rockies shorstop Clint Barmes that i mentioned earlier. Colorado declined it, which tells me Trahern's stock must not be nearly as high as we were led to believe. I mean, Barmes lost his job at the start of the year and was demoted...you'd think they would take Trahern for him, when on the surface it looks like overpayment by us.

[GoWings1905 2,694]

The Tigers will be fine. There's no need to panic over a tough stretch of games. It's going to happen over the course of 162 games. As bad as the Tigers have played, Cleveland hasn't made up any ground in the Central, and the Indians have spent most of their time playing at home. I'm not pleased with the way things are going right now either, but it's a long season. Now, the Tigers have a ton of home games down the stretch run to play some good baseball.

I don't really have a problem with Guillen's struggles at shortstop. We don't have a better alternative for the position, and Guillen's bat is so valuable to the team. Neifi Perez and his .190 batting average is a lot worse than Guillen making a couple of errors. The biggest problem on the Tigers is still the bullpen. Nobody gets outs, and that is very scary. Our only hope is that the starting pitching is so good, that the gap to Jones is solely through Zumaya. I don't trust anybody in that bullpen, and Rodney won't change that. The offense will be there, but will the bullpen be able to hold a lead when it matters?

Lastly, I can't take Craig Monroe anymore. The guy is downright awful. Striking out with runners in scoring position every time he has the opportunity to drive in runs. Ryan Raburn should be in left field, until Thames gets back. Monroe is a huge waste. I know Leyland is trying to give Monroe a chance to turn his season around, but enough is enough. It's sad because Monroe seems like a decent guy and he has endured a lot with the Tigers, but he needs a permanent spot on the bench.

Time to come back home, and start winning again.

[mannysBETTER3434 1]

Lastly, I can't take Craig Monroe anymore. The guy is downright awful. Striking out with runners in scoring position every time he has the opportunity to drive in runs. Ryan Raburn should be in left field, until Thames gets back. Monroe is a huge waste. I know Leyland is trying to give Monroe a chance to turn his season around, but enough is enough. It's sad because Monroe seems like a decent guy and he has endured a lot with the Tigers, but he needs a permanent spot on the bench.

Time to come back home, and start winning again.

I agree...add Grilli to that list as well.

[Airborn 0]

Dombrowski offered Dallas Trahern for that AAA Rockies shorstop Clint Barmes that i mentioned earlier. Colorado declined it, which tells me Trahern's stock must not be nearly as high as we were led to believe. I mean, Barmes lost his job at the start of the year and was demoted...you'd think they would take Trahern for him, when on the surface it looks like overpayment by us.

Teams could just be leery of dealing with Dombrowski, as it seems he wins every deal he makes

Edited August 2, 2007 by Airborn

[Airborn 0]

I don't really have a problem with Guillen's struggles at shortstop. We don't have a better alternative for the position

I reluctantly agree, especially if the only available option is Jack Wilson. Why in the world is Dombrowski pursuing this (reports indicate he still is)? Wilson is owed a ton of money (14.5 million over the next 2 years) and he:

1. Strikes out twice as much as he walks

2. Doesn't hit for average

3. Doesn't hit for power

4. Is good defensively

Sure he might be an upgrade defensively, but at most he's late inning replacement. However, with the struggles lately to score runs late in games (increasing pressure on the already fragile bullpen), I don't want to lose Casey's or Guillen's bat in favor of a guy who provides nothing at the plate.

I'd much rather use the money we'd end up owing this guy to address the situation in the offseason.

Edited August 2, 2007 by Airborn

[Lou_Siffer 1]

I reluctantly agree, especially if the only available option is Jack Wilson. Why in the world is Dombrowski pursuing this (reports indicate he still is)? Wilson is owed a ton of money (14.5 million over the next 2 years) and he:

1. Strikes out twice as much as he walks

2. Doesn't hit for average

3. Doesn't hit for power

4. Is good defensively

Sure he might be an upgrade defensively, but at most he's late inning replacement. However, with the struggles lately to score runs late in games (increasing pressure on the already fragile bullpen), I don't want to lose Casey's or Guillen's bat in favor of a guy who provides nothing at the plate.

I'd much rather use the money we'd end up owing this guy to address the situation in the offseason.

I agree, Wilson's bat is just too bad. There is the possiblility that Wilson would make it through waivers, so this one's not dead yet I dont think.

Although he's having a bad year with the glove as well, I'd like to see David Eckstein signed as a free agent. Another low strikeout, scrappy .300 hitter. Him and Polanco in the same lineup would give pitchers fits! You could even throw hit at leadoff, and move Granderson down to 3 maybe...since he's devoloping more and more into a prototypical 3rd hitter. Or you could just leave him at leadoff and finally have someone that can hit for average in Eck batting 9th.

[Airborn 0]

Eckstein would be a great addition, although I like him in the 9-hole more than leadoff. Perfect type of player for a team like the Tigers who already have a bunch of sluggers. The sad thing is he'll probably end up costing half as much as Wilson.

One more shocking part of this potential trade. If you believe this report, we're willing to part with two of our top 6 prospects for Wilson. The only holdup is how much of Wilson's salary the Pirates will assume.

http://postgazette.com/pg/07214/806335-63.stm

I'd assumed this was just a salary dump, but would Dombrowski really give up two of our better prospects for a backup shortstop? This just can't be right!

[Kp-Wings 3]

Who's the unnamed pitcher? Andrew Miller?

If it is, I would feel Dombrowski lost his mind. Especially for a guy like Wilson, who isn't even that good. Two top prospects is a ton to be giving up for a player like him.

[Airborn 0]

Who's the unnamed pitcher? Andrew Miller?

If it is, I would feel Dombrowski lost his mind. Especially for a guy like Wilson, who isn't even that good. Two top prospects is a ton to be giving up for a player like him.

No it would be Vasquez or Tata. Miller is untouchable.

[Kp-Wings 3]

No it would be Vasquez or Tata. Miller is untouchable.

Ah, ok.

Usually when they say "unnamed" I fear the worst.

[GoWings1905 2,694]

I really don't want to give up either Vazquez or Tata for just Wilson. I would hope a reliever (Marte) would be included in the deal as well. Right now, the Tigers need one of those two to fill Kenny's spot until he gets back. At first, I wanted the Tigers to get Wilson just for some depth, but I'm not sold on him making much of a difference anymore, besides some solid defense at shortstop.

I wonder why everyone is so down on Sean Casey at first base. Sure, he doesn't have the power of a typical first basemen, but he's always good for around .300, a ton of doubles, and terrific defense. Remember who the only guy that hit in the World Series was last year? Besides, taking one of our only left-handed bats out of the lineup makes no sense. The Tigers are worse in every area with Jack Wilson than they are with Sean Casey.

As much as I wanted DD to make a deal before, I sure hope this isn't the one he ultimately ends up making. I know the Tigers have a ton of pitching in the minor league system, but I would rather see something more in return before giving up promising prospects like Vazquez and Tata.

[Lou_Siffer 1]

Im not down at all on Casey at 1st for the rest of this season. He's my boy still. I think the thought process with Wilson goes though is that he'll be just the reserve shortstop this season, then start next year and shift Guillen to 1st. I think Casey would still play first this year, but just wont be brought back.

Personally, I dont think theres really much promising about Vasquez. He strikes me as one of those guys who'll be bouncing to and from AAA his whole career. I know he has good numbers at Toledo, but still, I'd be willing to give him up in a trade no problem. We can dwindle this Pirates talk down to a couple names. If its 2 of our top six, you HAVE to rule out Maybin obviously and Gorkys Hernandez...unless DD has gone crazy. That leaves De La Cruz, Tata, Trahern, and I guess Vasquez. Since they were offering Trahern to Colorado for their SS, i think we can assume he's also being offered to Pitt for theirs. So there's 1. Now that leaves us with the MLB ready guy, now when they say ready to "join the staff", do they mean the starting rotation? I'd probably think so, that eliminates De La Cruz who's converted to relief. Hmmmm....Tata....Vasquez....Tata....Vasquez...Im going with Virgil Vasquez. Reason being he made a pretty decent start for us last time out but they decided not to bring him back up when Rogers went down and went with Tata instead. Almost like they wanted to protect that 1 pretty good start for trade value purposes and not risk him having any bad outings. Also it would make sense for them to look at Tata and get him some big league work if they knew they planned on dealing Virgil anyway..so yep, Im officially going with:

Jack Wilson for Virgil Vasquez and Dallas Trahern

(im obviously bored if you cant tell)

Oh GoWings...as for a reliever coming as well, I highly doubt it. I cant see someone like Marte, Torres, or Chacon just going through waivers unclaimed.

Edited August 3, 2007 by Lou_Siffer

[Airborn 0]

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with trading either Tata or Vasquez (or both), especially considering the young pitching we already have, the probability we'll sign Porcello, and it sounds like Jurrjens is coming into his own: http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=511

I just think we could get more if we wait. In the offseason, once teams are priced out of the FA market they'll be desperate and Tata and Vasquez will have more value (similar to how we couldn't move Sanchez last year to get a bat at the deadline, but we were able to use him later to get Sheffield).

If we wait, we'll get a lot more than a reserve SS. If Wilson were a reliever who could help, I'd be more inclined to overpay, but he's not, so why do it?

[GoWings1905 2,694]

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with trading either Tata or Vasquez (or both), especially considering the young pitching we already have, the probability we'll sign Porcello, and it sounds like Jurrjens is coming into his own: http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=511

I just think we could get more if we wait. In the offseason, once teams are priced out of the FA market they'll be desperate and Tata and Vasquez will have more value (similar to how we couldn't move Sanchez last year to get a bat at the deadline, but we were able to use him later to get Sheffield).

If we wait, we'll get a lot more than a reserve SS. If Wilson were a reliever who could help, I'd be more inclined to overpay, but he's not, so why do it?

Agreed. Unless a reliever is involved, I don't really have any desire to see Jack Wilson come here anymore. Omar Infante is fine with me, and we get don't have to give up anything to get him.

Off topic slightly, but I read that the Nationals would have sent Cordero to the Tigers for Trahern and Jurrjens at the deadline. I'm not real familiar with either of those two, but it seems like a pretty decent deal. I'm just curious if anyone thinks that would have been too much to give up for Cordero.

Edited August 3, 2007 by GoWings1905

[Lou_Siffer 1]

I bet the Nats are full of s*** on that one...given that they wanted Cameron Maybin for Jon Rauch, one of their other relievers.

Last rumor i heard today was the two prospects supposedly in the Wilson trade were Jurrjens and Brent Clevlen

[Airborn 0]

I bet the Nats are full of s*** on that one...given that they wanted Cameron Maybin for Jon Rauch, one of their other relievers.

Last rumor i heard today was the two prospects supposedly in the Wilson trade were Jurrjens and Brent Clevlen

Also, I would consider Gagne twice the pitcher Cordero is and he didn't even fetch that kind of deal, so it would have been crazy to pay that much for Cordero.

[Hockeytown Red Wings 245]

Alright, how long is this slump gonna last? Enough is enough.

[Kp-Wings 3]

...and with yet another loss, Cleveland regains the AL central lead.

Bullpen is/was awful once again. You know, it's becoming quite a common standpoint anymore of how we continue to lose games because of the bullpen.

I wish DD would quit twiddling his thumbs and address this problem already. The current reasources are not getting it done, and he's crazy if he thinks Rodney will the answer. He's been just as bad as the rest.

By the way: for anyone who cares, Barry Bonds (the pudgy bastard) tied Hank Aaron's record. Link on the story can be found here.

[aflac9262 211]

Another tough loss today. So the downward spiral continues. I feel bad for Tata, he pitched well enough to win the game, and our bats fail to show any life once again.

I really don't get why Leyland keeps playing Hessman.

He should try this lineup:

1B: Casey

2B: Polanco

3B: Inge

SS: Guillen

DH: Ordonez

RF: Rayburn

LF: Monroe / Infante

C: Pudge / Rabelo

Enough with the Hessman experiment. Rayburn can play right field temporarily until Sheff returns to the DH spot, then Maggs can return to right field.