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Hockeytown0001

2012 Baseball thread

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Losing V-Mart is a huge blow. He had an amazing season last year so hopefully we sign someone to help soften the blow. Maybe Vlad Guerrero? He's old but veteran players always seem to do well in Detroit. Plus we mainly would just need him for DH. I just hope Dombrowski does something and doesn't think this current roster is enough to win a World Series because it's not.

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According to Bless You Boys – Jon Morosi reports that the Tigers are showing interest in Johnny Damon and are 'on the fringe' of talks with Roy Oswalt. I would really hope to see more production out of our DH than I think Damon could provide, given what he did in 2010. That said, leadership and base running are pluses for him. I worry, though, that his signing still doesn't protect Cabrera unless they go Damon, Jackson, Boesch and slide Young down to bat behind Cabrera. Even still, he's not as dangerous as Victor Martinez.

Sigh.

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Damon doesn't excite me in the least. I would rather Dombrowski just throw everything at Oswalt and see if a bat or two is available at the deadline to upgrade. The offense has gaping holes with or without Damon, but adding Oswalt gives the Tigers arguably the deepest starting rotation in baseball.

I think at this point Leyland really needs to consider moving Avila and/or Peralta up in the order. I would feel much better having one of those two along with Boesch on either side of Cabrera than Delmon Young.

Edited by GoWings1905

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Damon doesn't excite me in the least. I would rather Dombrowski just throw everything at Oswalt and see if a bat or two is available at the deadline to upgrade. The offense has gaping holes with or without Damon, but adding Oswalt gives the Tigers arguably the deepest starting rotation in baseball.

I think at this point Leyland really needs to consider moving Avila and/or Peralta up in the order. I would feel much better having one of those two along with Boesch on either side of Cabrera than Delmon Young.

I don't think Peralta, Avila, or Young is going to convince anyone to pitch to Cabrera. I would have really preferred Pena to anyone else on the market, but he's a Ray now.

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Oswalt has informed the Tigers that he is not interested, per Danny Knobler.

Knobler also reports that the Tigers are (obviously/understandably) underwhelmed with the market for replacement of Victor Martinez. Interestingly, however, he does contradict Morosi's reports - saying that the Tigers are not all that interested in Johnny Damon and are more so interested in the likes of Matsui or Ibanez. Personally, I'm not thrilled with any of the options. I would choose Derek Lee over any of the above if I absolutely had to, but I wouldn't rush out to overpay him.

He also reports that the Garza-to-Detroit deal is a real longshot.

At this point, I'd be fine with Jacob Turner rounding out the rotation, though he likely won't provide us the innings that you like to get out of a 5 spot guy - it'd be a nice introduction to the show for him. Going into this season, I thought a bat would be their biggest necessity and that fact has only been magnified by the absence of Victor. There isn't anyone from within the organization that can fill that role unless they are packaged up and sent elsewhere.

What does our opening day line-up even look like at this point?

Jackson

Boesch

Young

Cabrera

Avila

Peralta

Santiago

Inge

Laird

?

Yikes.

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I don't think Peralta, Avila, or Young is going to convince anyone to pitch to Cabrera. I would have really preferred Pena to anyone else on the market, but he's a Ray now.

Definitely agree. None of the three are anything like what V-Mart can do to protect Cabrera, but Young is the worst option of them IMO. I like Boesch hitting third way more than second. He has some power and the ability to drive in runs should Jackson and whoever bats second ever get on base. The only part I really like about possibly getting Damon back is he fills a need to bat second and despite declining, still has some speed to be the Tigers best option there. Just a random January idea:

Jackson

Damon/Santiago

Boesch

Cabrera

Avila

Peralta

Young

Santiago/Raburn

Free out from Inge/Kelly

That's not a powerhouse lineup by any stretch, but it's probably decent enough to win the Central still provided the Tigers get strong starting pitching. There are about five players there that could turn the offense into really good or very bad depending on their production. I have very low expectations for Jackson and Young. Pretty confident in Boesch and Avila being reliable. Peralta is going backwards from last season based on his career, but he is still going to hit. Maybe it all balances out and the offense is as mediocre as it looks on paper.

As far as the DH rumors, the only real scenario I would be happy with is signing Cespedes and moving Young to DH. Even then, from what I have read, Cespedes may need some time in the minors to start. All of the other DH options being mentioned right now are all the same to me. I won't be upset if the Tigers sign any of them, but none will excite me either.

I'm fine with the Tigers filling the 5th spot in the rotation internally too. If Turner isn't ready, then there's also Below, Wilk, Oliver (among others I'm probably forgetting) to start until Turner comes up for good.

Edited by GoWings1905

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I think the most attractive free agent option for DH has got to be Derrek Lee at this point. He had a rocky year last season bouncing between the AL and NL, but was good for 19 HR / 59 RBI despite having a terrible time in Baltimore. He's a career .281 hitter and could provide the pop and offense that we'd miss if we signed someone like Damon.

I agree that I'd rather have Young ahead of Cabrera than behind and am really fine with either he or Boesch hitting in the 2 or 3 spot. As long as one of them gets on base so Cabrera can do what he does.

Going:

Jackson

Young / Boesch

Boesch / Young

Cabrera

Lee

Avila

Peralta

etc

etc

Scares me a lot less than some of the other possibilities out there. Maybe at this point, even Cespedes. I've heard similar things about him not being ready and I'd hate to have our big signing not make an impact until half-way through the year. That said, they should still sign him.

...

Buster Olney just posted SPECULATION (his caps) from a baseball VP that the Tigers and Prince Fielder could make a 1-year deal happen, since Prince apparently hasn't quite found what he's looking for on the market yet. Obviously this is super far-fetched, but they go on to talk about how the Tigers could offer him a boat-load of cash since they get as much as 75% of Victor's contract back in insurance. I'd be surprised for a million different reasons if the two sides could agree on anything, but damn that would be cool.

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WOOOOOOOOO! I can't believe this is fricking real. How bad does Mike Ilitch want to win?

This was such a dismal off-season and then DD signs Prince Fielder out of nowhere. I've had my fair share of complaints about Dombrowski before, but he killed it today. He plays everything so close to the vest -- I think everyone fantasized about Fielder coming to the Tigers, but no one truly expected it to happen.

How sick is the nucleus of this team now? Verlander, Cabrera, Fielder, V-Mart in a year again, and Fister. I want April here tomorrow.

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WOOOOOOOOO! I can't believe this is fricking real. How bad does Mike Ilitch want to win?

This was such a dismal off-season and then DD signs Prince Fielder out of nowhere. I've had my fair share of complaints about Dombrowski before, but he killed it today. He plays everything so close to the vest -- I think everyone fantasized about Fielder coming to the Tigers, but no one truly expected it to happen.

How sick is the nucleus of this team now? Verlander, Cabrera, Fielder, V-Mart in a year again, and Fister. I want April here tomorrow.

MLB.com is reporting that Cabrera will likely DH with Victor out, but I'd be happy to see Cabrera move to 3B. He'll need to get in better shape, of course, but I think it'd be a waste to DH him. Let's not forget that the Tigers were already toying with this - having him field 3B last year in the event of a World Series birth. Additionally, his splits show him batting much better when he plays the field than when he doesn't.

So much for thinking Derrek Lee would be good. Leave it to Dombrowski to blow us all away. Illitch is motivated for a Tigers World Series and not even the biggest doubter can say that now.

If they do hold on to both Cabrera and Martinez, you're looking at the best 3-4-5 in baseball and someone like Young - who often hit 2nd and 3rd - batting 7th or 8th.

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This is the greatest possible signing after the V-Mart news. I can't wait for April now. Even more than normal. We could be world series contenders for the next couple years let alone next year. Thank you Illitch! Thank you Dombrowski! Welcome to the D Prince!

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I was cruising along and had the local Columbus sports radio on when they announced breaking news, the Tigers sign Prince Fielder. I was pretty shocked and immediately called my brother who said he couldn't find anything on ESPN about it yet.

I did not see this coming, and now we have the two best bats outside of Pujols in baseball. Unbelievable.

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Venezuelan sporting outlet, Líder has the following:

"I will return to third base," adding that Cabrera was not surprised by the signing. "It was something we were talking from the fan fest. Return to third base - that is my natural position. Fielder's arrival will benefit us."

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I can't wait to watch them. Really sucks that Vmart is hurt too.

I'm not high on Peralta playing like he did last season. Don't get me wrong, he played great, but that was a fluke year from him IMO. As for Young, some people aren't high on him repeating too but he's still young at 26 and he could pick up where he left off. I mean he played great after trading for him and kept it going in playoffs, I don't see why he couldn't keep the production going.

2012:

Jackson

Raburn/Santiago

Young

Cabrera

Fielder

Boesch

Avila

Peralta

Santiago/Inge

2013:

Jackson

Raburn/Santiago

Young

Cabrera

Fielder

Martinez

Boesch

Avila

Peralta

Edited by dropkickshanahans

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Another HUGE plus if Cabrera is indeed moving to third base this season: no platoon of Brandon Inge and Don Kelly. That in itself adds another element of excitement to getting Prince Fielder. However, I will believe the Cabrera at third talk when it actually happens. I wouldn't be surprised to see Cabrera and Fielder just alternate at DH until V-Mart is healthy. Sure, the Tigers defense is beyond terrible (even more now) but does that matter when you are going to score a ton of runs and have Justin Verlander and Doug Fister pitching twice every five days?

Jackson - CF

Boesch - RF

Cabrera - 3B

Fielder - 1B

Avila - C

Peralta - SS

Young - DH

Raburn - LF

Santiago - 2B

I still can't believe this happened.

Edited by GoWings1905

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As an aside, I'd read that the story of the Fielder signing was broken by CBS Sports; these are the same people that "reported" that Joe Paterno had "passed away"... on Saturday night.

How Detroit go from "no real interest in him" to this? The media might make a big deal out the fact that he hates his father and now wants to make a name for himself and make the fans forget about him.

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Prince1.jpg

!!!!!!!!

9 years / $ 215 million to wear the Olde English D.

:yowza:

I can't believe it. I had no idea the Tigers were even in the market for him so this was a complete surprise.

This season is going to be great, I can't wait for April! :yowza::siren:

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So it's been 24 hours and I'm still mostly in disbelief about this. The greatest 3-4 hitter combo in the game, plus Miguel Cabrera's trainer tweeted this photo:

Af_m79pCMAER-3A.jpg

Cabby's looking lean (and absolutely jacked). Obviously there will be quite the learning curve over at 3B, but having him play there routinely - like 2-4 times a week should be great at preparing him for Victor Martinez's return as the full-time DH.

GoWings, I like your line-up - but I project mine like this:

Jackson - CF

Boesch - RF

Cabrera - 3B/DH

Fielder - 1B

Young - LF/DH

Avila - C

Peralta - SS

Santiago - 2B

Then the 9 spot rotating between Inge (3B), Kelly / Raburn / Dirks (LF) depending on who is DHing that day.

And as greedy as it may be, this move does leave the Tigers open to sign someone with little pop but high OBP like Juan Pierre to play LF while Young DHs. That said, I still think Cabrera will be spending a lot of time as the DH while he transitions into the 3B role and platoons with Inge.

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