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***Officialish Detroit Tigers Thread*** (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter Doctor Detroit
- Start date
urbanhack
Fight The Power!
Greco
Footballguy
I know, right?
skillz
Footballguy
Good thing he came through to drive in the winning runs. I was about to throw my remote at the TV after Jackson led of with a triple to start the 9th and the next two hitters proceeded to get out.
Greco
Footballguy
Maddening.
Da Guru
Fair & Balanced
You just knew that Swiggy was going to drive the ball the opposite way. That guy would not come close to him.
Greco
Footballguy
I cannot watch anyone other than Miguel and Victor Martinez and maybe Peralta, at the plate on this team. It's the same #### over and over, inning after inning, game after game. The productive out is foreign to this team.
Apple Juice
Footballguy
With one swing of the bat Rayburn made you all his #####. 
Apple Juice
Footballguy
Can anybody explain why Tigers fans are so angry this year? Everything I see on message boards and hear on talk radio, fans are frothing at the mouth. There is overreaction and anger every year but this season I'm not seeing or hearing anything positive. You'd think the Tigers were out of the race already.
Every comment is about Rayburn/Inge/Leyland/Dombrowski, the worst players/management in the league, completely unacceptable, everybody needs to go, every time something bad happens it's because Leyland doesn't have a clue what he's doing. After wins, losses, off-days. At any point in a game when a Tiger strikes out or the opponent scores a run it's because Leyland started the wrong guy or didn't make a change. The hatred for Leyland is starting to legitimately frighten me.
I don't think every critique should be glowing and there have been a couple head-scratchers from JL this year but folks need to take a day or two off and relax. 2 1/2 games out, 10-1 against the White Sox and Twins, 14-16 on the road, bullpen is straightened out, seems like the bats are perking up.
Every comment is about Rayburn/Inge/Leyland/Dombrowski, the worst players/management in the league, completely unacceptable, everybody needs to go, every time something bad happens it's because Leyland doesn't have a clue what he's doing. After wins, losses, off-days. At any point in a game when a Tiger strikes out or the opponent scores a run it's because Leyland started the wrong guy or didn't make a change. The hatred for Leyland is starting to legitimately frighten me.
I don't think every critique should be glowing and there have been a couple head-scratchers from JL this year but folks need to take a day or two off and relax. 2 1/2 games out, 10-1 against the White Sox and Twins, 14-16 on the road, bullpen is straightened out, seems like the bats are perking up.
As long as the Tigers are in the race, all is good. Tigers are fine. Great in a few areas, below average in others. At least they put a competitive team out there with a real chance.Can anybody explain why Tigers fans are so angry this year? Everything I see on message boards and hear on talk radio, fans are frothing at the mouth. There is overreaction and anger every year but this season I'm not seeing or hearing anything positive. You'd think the Tigers were out of the race already.Every comment is about Rayburn/Inge/Leyland/Dombrowski, the worst players/management in the league, completely unacceptable, everybody needs to go, every time something bad happens it's because Leyland doesn't have a clue what he's doing. After wins, losses, off-days. At any point in a game when a Tiger strikes out or the opponent scores a run it's because Leyland started the wrong guy or didn't make a change. The hatred for Leyland is starting to legitimately frighten me. I don't think every critique should be glowing and there have been a couple head-scratchers from JL this year but folks need to take a day or two off and relax. 2 1/2 games out, 10-1 against the White Sox and Twins, 14-16 on the road, bullpen is straightened out, seems like the bats are perking up.
skillz
Footballguy
Wait until Magglio comes back on Monday. People are going to be pissed with how he handles the lineup with him back (presumably in the 3 spot).I think people have high expectations and think the team should be doing better. Usually when that is the case the manager gets the blame for the team not meeting expectations. It doesn't help Leyland that it is the same stuff as in past years (i.e. the unproductive outs from hitters as Greco mentioned earlier - it really gets old/frustrating to see that continue, mishandling the bullpen (putting Valverde in on days he had no business being in the game), and stubbornly keeping guys hitting in certain spots of the lineup even though they were struggling - for example, I don't know if Leyland would have the balls to move a player such as Dunn to 7th as Ozzie did). The fact that Leyland acted all indignant last week with the media hasn't helped his cause either. I think fans see the Central there for the taking this season so the sense of urgency has increased as the season has progressed (i.e. fans think Cleveland isn't going to keep it up and the Twins are down and out this season) so there is a fear that if the team keeps squandering games they otherwise should win that will allow the White Sox to gain ground or Cleveland to stay ahead of them. Plus, Leyland hasn't been much of second half manager so I am sure some people want the team to get it in gear now in the event there is a second half swoon again.ETA - Also many of the sports talk radio callers in Detroit are not very bright. It's easy to Monday morning QB stuff and hindsight is always 20/20.Can anybody explain why Tigers fans are so angry this year? Everything I see on message boards and hear on talk radio, fans are frothing at the mouth. There is overreaction and anger every year but this season I'm not seeing or hearing anything positive. You'd think the Tigers were out of the race already.Every comment is about Rayburn/Inge/Leyland/Dombrowski, the worst players/management in the league, completely unacceptable, everybody needs to go, every time something bad happens it's because Leyland doesn't have a clue what he's doing. After wins, losses, off-days. At any point in a game when a Tiger strikes out or the opponent scores a run it's because Leyland started the wrong guy or didn't make a change. The hatred for Leyland is starting to legitimately frighten me. I don't think every critique should be glowing and there have been a couple head-scratchers from JL this year but folks need to take a day or two off and relax. 2 1/2 games out, 10-1 against the White Sox and Twins, 14-16 on the road, bullpen is straightened out, seems like the bats are perking up.
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Apple Juice
Footballguy
I hear you. By no means do I agree with every line-up Leyland puts forth. The over-use of Valverde bothers me at times. But to me the hatred has become irrational and obsessive. It's very, very rare that I watch a game and think to myself that something Leyland did resulted in a loss--or at least, made a decision that you could look at and judge as foolish before seeing the end result. It feels to me like a lot of "fans" are more addicted to and derive more pleasure from attacking Leyland than watching the Tigers win. It feels more intense this year. I actually feel bad for the guy. It's to the point where he will receive zero credit for any success and the bulk of the blame if the Tigers don't win the world series. It's ridiculous.Wait until Magglio comes back on Monday. People are going to be pissed with how he handles the lineup with him back (presumably in the 3 spot).I think people have high expectations and think the team should be doing better. Usually when that is the case the manager gets the blame for the team not meeting expectations. It doesn't help Leyland that it is the same stuff as in past years (i.e. the unproductive outs from hitters as Greco mentioned earlier - it really gets old/frustrating to see that continue, mishandling the bullpen (putting Valverde in on days he had no business being in the game), and stubbornly keeping guys hitting in certain spots of the lineup even though they were struggling - for example, I don't know if Leyland would have the balls to move a player such as Dunn to 7th as Ozzie did). The fact that Leyland acted all indignant last week with the media hasn't helped his cause either. I think fans see the Central there for the taking this season so the sense of urgency has increased as the season has progressed (i.e. fans think Cleveland isn't going to keep it up and the Twins are down and out this season) so there is a fear that if the team keeps squandering games they otherwise should win that will allow the White Sox to gain ground or Cleveland to stay ahead of them. Plus, Leyland hasn't been much of second half manager so I am sure some people want the team to get it in gear now in the event there is a second half swoon again.ETA - Also many of the sports talk radio callers in Detroit are not very bright. It's easy to Monday morning QB stuff and hindsight is always 20/20.Can anybody explain why Tigers fans are so angry this year? Everything I see on message boards and hear on talk radio, fans are frothing at the mouth. There is overreaction and anger every year but this season I'm not seeing or hearing anything positive. You'd think the Tigers were out of the race already.Every comment is about Rayburn/Inge/Leyland/Dombrowski, the worst players/management in the league, completely unacceptable, everybody needs to go, every time something bad happens it's because Leyland doesn't have a clue what he's doing. After wins, losses, off-days. At any point in a game when a Tiger strikes out or the opponent scores a run it's because Leyland started the wrong guy or didn't make a change. The hatred for Leyland is starting to legitimately frighten me. I don't think every critique should be glowing and there have been a couple head-scratchers from JL this year but folks need to take a day or two off and relax. 2 1/2 games out, 10-1 against the White Sox and Twins, 14-16 on the road, bullpen is straightened out, seems like the bats are perking up.
bicycle_seat_sniffer
Smells like chicken
contrary to popular belief, Leyland knows more about baseball than anyone in this thread.I hear you. By no means do I agree with every line-up Leyland puts forth. The over-use of Valverde bothers me at times. But to me the hatred has become irrational and obsessive. It's very, very rare that I watch a game and think to myself that something Leyland did resulted in a loss--or at least, made a decision that you could look at and judge as foolish before seeing the end result. It feels to me like a lot of "fans" are more addicted to and derive more pleasure from attacking Leyland than watching the Tigers win. It feels more intense this year. I actually feel bad for the guy. It's to the point where he will receive zero credit for any success and the bulk of the blame if the Tigers don't win the world series. It's ridiculous.Wait until Magglio comes back on Monday. People are going to be pissed with how he handles the lineup with him back (presumably in the 3 spot).I think people have high expectations and think the team should be doing better. Usually when that is the case the manager gets the blame for the team not meeting expectations. It doesn't help Leyland that it is the same stuff as in past years (i.e. the unproductive outs from hitters as Greco mentioned earlier - it really gets old/frustrating to see that continue, mishandling the bullpen (putting Valverde in on days he had no business being in the game), and stubbornly keeping guys hitting in certain spots of the lineup even though they were struggling - for example, I don't know if Leyland would have the balls to move a player such as Dunn to 7th as Ozzie did). The fact that Leyland acted all indignant last week with the media hasn't helped his cause either. I think fans see the Central there for the taking this season so the sense of urgency has increased as the season has progressed (i.e. fans think Cleveland isn't going to keep it up and the Twins are down and out this season) so there is a fear that if the team keeps squandering games they otherwise should win that will allow the White Sox to gain ground or Cleveland to stay ahead of them. Plus, Leyland hasn't been much of second half manager so I am sure some people want the team to get it in gear now in the event there is a second half swoon again.ETA - Also many of the sports talk radio callers in Detroit are not very bright. It's easy to Monday morning QB stuff and hindsight is always 20/20.Can anybody explain why Tigers fans are so angry this year? Everything I see on message boards and hear on talk radio, fans are frothing at the mouth. There is overreaction and anger every year but this season I'm not seeing or hearing anything positive. You'd think the Tigers were out of the race already.Every comment is about Rayburn/Inge/Leyland/Dombrowski, the worst players/management in the league, completely unacceptable, everybody needs to go, every time something bad happens it's because Leyland doesn't have a clue what he's doing. After wins, losses, off-days. At any point in a game when a Tiger strikes out or the opponent scores a run it's because Leyland started the wrong guy or didn't make a change. The hatred for Leyland is starting to legitimately frighten me. I don't think every critique should be glowing and there have been a couple head-scratchers from JL this year but folks need to take a day or two off and relax. 2 1/2 games out, 10-1 against the White Sox and Twins, 14-16 on the road, bullpen is straightened out, seems like the bats are perking up.
Football Critic
Footballguy
LOLzcontrary to popular belief, Leyland knows more about baseball than anyone in this thread.I hear you. By no means do I agree with every line-up Leyland puts forth. The over-use of Valverde bothers me at times. But to me the hatred has become irrational and obsessive. It's very, very rare that I watch a game and think to myself that something Leyland did resulted in a loss--or at least, made a decision that you could look at and judge as foolish before seeing the end result. It feels to me like a lot of "fans" are more addicted to and derive more pleasure from attacking Leyland than watching the Tigers win. It feels more intense this year. I actually feel bad for the guy. It's to the point where he will receive zero credit for any success and the bulk of the blame if the Tigers don't win the world series. It's ridiculous.Wait until Magglio comes back on Monday. People are going to be pissed with how he handles the lineup with him back (presumably in the 3 spot).I think people have high expectations and think the team should be doing better. Usually when that is the case the manager gets the blame for the team not meeting expectations. It doesn't help Leyland that it is the same stuff as in past years (i.e. the unproductive outs from hitters as Greco mentioned earlier - it really gets old/frustrating to see that continue, mishandling the bullpen (putting Valverde in on days he had no business being in the game), and stubbornly keeping guys hitting in certain spots of the lineup even though they were struggling - for example, I don't know if Leyland would have the balls to move a player such as Dunn to 7th as Ozzie did). The fact that Leyland acted all indignant last week with the media hasn't helped his cause either. I think fans see the Central there for the taking this season so the sense of urgency has increased as the season has progressed (i.e. fans think Cleveland isn't going to keep it up and the Twins are down and out this season) so there is a fear that if the team keeps squandering games they otherwise should win that will allow the White Sox to gain ground or Cleveland to stay ahead of them. Plus, Leyland hasn't been much of second half manager so I am sure some people want the team to get it in gear now in the event there is a second half swoon again.ETA - Also many of the sports talk radio callers in Detroit are not very bright. It's easy to Monday morning QB stuff and hindsight is always 20/20.Can anybody explain why Tigers fans are so angry this year? Everything I see on message boards and hear on talk radio, fans are frothing at the mouth. There is overreaction and anger every year but this season I'm not seeing or hearing anything positive. You'd think the Tigers were out of the race already.Every comment is about Rayburn/Inge/Leyland/Dombrowski, the worst players/management in the league, completely unacceptable, everybody needs to go, every time something bad happens it's because Leyland doesn't have a clue what he's doing. After wins, losses, off-days. At any point in a game when a Tiger strikes out or the opponent scores a run it's because Leyland started the wrong guy or didn't make a change. The hatred for Leyland is starting to legitimately frighten me. I don't think every critique should be glowing and there have been a couple head-scratchers from JL this year but folks need to take a day or two off and relax. 2 1/2 games out, 10-1 against the White Sox and Twins, 14-16 on the road, bullpen is straightened out, seems like the bats are perking up.
I have no problem with Leyland, I like him, and think he has done well with what he has.
Leroy Hoard
Footballguy
And Brandon Inge is a better hitter than anyone in this thread.
But I'm more worried about how they compare to other MLB managers & baseball players.
But I'm more worried about how they compare to other MLB managers & baseball players.
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Da Guru
Fair & Balanced
Am I a bad person for wishing a career ending injury happened to Inge?
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Leroy Hoard
Footballguy
Only if you don't check the depth chart first.
bicycle_seat_sniffer
Smells like chicken
LOL. Thats correct.Leyland is probably an upper eschelon Manager in MLB. No? How many managers in baseball would you guys rather have? Wanting to get rid of him is fine, but if the replacement is no better than whats the point?
Greco
Footballguy
we three need to hang out more
skillz
Footballguy
It was either Sat. or Sun. but Kelly didn't get his glove down on a ball that he should have easily gotten to. I was thinking to myself "Inge would have made that play." I'm not an Inge fan but as long as he keeps playing good defense I am fine batting him 8 or 9 in the lineup. He is what he is. I wouldn't mind if he platooned with Kelly either but right now I am prioritizing his defense over lack of offense. Ideally if Cabrera could have remained in shape and stayed at 3B that would have allowed us to get another bat at 1B and Inge would've been'Leroy Hoard said:
years ago. I was thinking the other day that maybe Tona Pena could be a decent option to replace Leyland. I know he had some success in KC where they had very little talent and he has also served as Girardi's bench coach. I wouldn't mind giving him a look if we get to that point.
skillz
Footballguy
Interestingly I don't think he threw a pitch over 90 mph either.Porcello is having a nice outing so far, and has a 4 run lead.
Apple Juice
Footballguy
Worked out well that Porcello was one of the starters for this series. You want ground-ball pitchers throwing in that park. He did his job well.
Leroy Hoard
Footballguy
'Greco said:
tri-man 47
Footballguy
'Greco said:
I was 12 years old in 1968 (dating myself, obviously) while watching that great year. What a cast of characters. From comments following JN's death, you get the sense that he was part of the glue that held that team together. Ah, the memories!
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
Detroit talk radio has been super negative with the Tigers as long as it has existed. What didn't help is when that media segment was really growing in the 90s, the Tigers were terrible. The same idiots who call in and bash Dombrowski (Comer is a good example here at FBG) are the same idiots who predict a Lions team we all know will go 4-12, to go 9-7. It's one of the more hilarious phenomenons in all of sportstalk. I can always tell who gets their info from sports talk radio vice those who actually follow the team. I can tell who these people are in person, and I can tell who these people are on-line. Unfortunately these days the sports talk radio group is probably larger than those who actually follow the team closely.People also don't get how hard it is to rebuild in baseball. It is the hardest sport to rebuild in because draft picks are hard to gage, trading is tough because you often have to give away too much to fill one particular need and player development varies so widely in baseball due to the mental game involved in hitting a baseball. This franchise may have been the absolute worst in all of sports when Dombrowski took it over. Failed high draft pick after draft pick, bad trades, bad contracts and bad team management. Randy Smith belonged running the Lions, not the Tigers. Also Detroit fans are among the most pessimistic in all of sports. It has always been this way as long as I've been around, and the worse the economic conditions get the angrier people get. One of the biggest factors is going from nothing for 15 years, then getting to a World Series just like that. They should have won that World Series too, and now that we look back it probably hurts even more than it did the day after they lost. I remember listening to Detroit sports talk radio the following day and fans were calling in saying the Tigers embarrassed the city with their performance. Ok. Well looking back that season was the case of a team really overachieving and then getting red hot for the American League side of the playoffs. The 2007 team underachieved, the 2008 team was a disaster, the 2009 team was just about right and last year they were just meh. But fans who are truly pissed off about a season like last year, forgot 2001 or 2004. Or maybe they just forgot the Tigers for all those years they were terrible. This year however is the year the followers are beginning to become frustrated with the direction of the on the field product. Lloyd McClendon should have been let go a long time ago. When Chuck Hernandez was fired and Rick Knapp was hired it seemed as though Leyland would bend, but he hasn't with lloyd. Is it due to the talent on the field? Yeah, that plays a part but under Lloyd it seems guys regress instead of progress and Brennan Boesch's second half swoon last year was the last straw for me. The Tigers are a team infamous for getting guys into scoring position with less than two outs and then not be able to score them. Leyland has also looked bad handling the pitching staff and not doing things like bunting a runner over given the teams inability to not be able to move runners over during games. Brandon Inge is another sore spot, everyone wanted Adrian Beltre with good reason but the team was forced to keep Inge because there was simply no other options out there. I mean Nick Punto, Pedro Feliz and Bill Hall are guys that were out there. Eric Chavez is working out, but besides him and Beltre Inge may have been the third best option out there. I mean, seriously. Now the team has good staring pitching, the system is just overflowing with good young arms and we have stars like Verlander, Cabrera and VMart. Peralta has been great at the plate and in the field, I like what Boesch is showing us, AJax is regressing but has great potential and skeptics like me are hoping Alex Avila's first half is not a mirage. Maggs? Well I think we expected 310/370/450 with 15 HRs and 70 RBIs or so. This year he looked liek a different player, no one hits the wall that hard after having a pretty good year last year and a very consistent career as far as BA and OBP. Raburn? I tried to warn people. Polanco? Yeah, that was a mistake letting him go. Guillen? Meh, they got him for free and got some great years out of him so they got their money's worth there. VMart? Looks like the real deal. Valverde, guy has been genius as someone people thought they overpaid for. But this division is awful, this team is good enough to win it and it's put up or shut up time for Leyland. the team has a lot of holes on offense but the pitching and the two big bats can win the division. With a strong top of the rotation, two big hitters and a few guys getting hot you never know what is gonna happen. Look at the Giants last year, I don't think the Tigers are very much different from that team.Can anybody explain why Tigers fans are so angry this year? Everything I see on message boards and hear on talk radio, fans are frothing at the mouth. There is overreaction and anger every year but this season I'm not seeing or hearing anything positive. You'd think the Tigers were out of the race already.Every comment is about Rayburn/Inge/Leyland/Dombrowski, the worst players/management in the league, completely unacceptable, everybody needs to go, every time something bad happens it's because Leyland doesn't have a clue what he's doing. After wins, losses, off-days. At any point in a game when a Tiger strikes out or the opponent scores a run it's because Leyland started the wrong guy or didn't make a change. The hatred for Leyland is starting to legitimately frighten me. I don't think every critique should be glowing and there have been a couple head-scratchers from JL this year but folks need to take a day or two off and relax. 2 1/2 games out, 10-1 against the White Sox and Twins, 14-16 on the road, bullpen is straightened out, seems like the bats are perking up.
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Ilov80s
Footballguy
Justin Verlander is the best pitcher in baseball right now. I can't ever recall seeing some make Ichiro look so bad. Two pitches in the same at bad where he made Ichiro look like an amateur. 8 IP, 10ks, 1 ER
Also, what a fast game! 2 hours and 17 minutes, almost got it in before sunset.
Also, what a fast game! 2 hours and 17 minutes, almost got it in before sunset.
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Ilov80s
Footballguy
You can boil all of Detroit's problems down to 2 moves:- Letting Polanco go- Trading Jurjjens for RenteriaHad we not made those moves, the Tigers could be the best team in baseball.'Doctor Detroit said:Detroit talk radio has been super negative with the Tigers as long as it has existed. What didn't help is when that media segment was really growing in the 90s, the Tigers were terrible. The same idiots who call in and bash Dombrowski (Comer is a good example here at FBG) are the same idiots who predict a Lions team we all know will go 4-12, to go 9-7. It's one of the more hilarious phenomenons in all of sportstalk. I can always tell who gets their info from sports talk radio vice those who actually follow the team. I can tell who these people are in person, and I can tell who these people are on-line. Unfortunately these days the sports talk radio group is probably larger than those who actually follow the team closely.People also don't get how hard it is to rebuild in baseball. It is the hardest sport to rebuild in because draft picks are hard to gage, trading is tough because you often have to give away too much to fill one particular need and player development varies so widely in baseball due to the mental game involved in hitting a baseball. This franchise may have been the absolute worst in all of sports when Dombrowski took it over. Failed high draft pick after draft pick, bad trades, bad contracts and bad team management. Randy Smith belonged running the Lions, not the Tigers. Also Detroit fans are among the most pessimistic in all of sports. It has always been this way as long as I've been around, and the worse the economic conditions get the angrier people get. One of the biggest factors is going from nothing for 15 years, then getting to a World Series just like that. They should have won that World Series too, and now that we look back it probably hurts even more than it did the day after they lost. I remember listening to Detroit sports talk radio the following day and fans were calling in saying the Tigers embarrassed the city with their performance. Ok. Well looking back that season was the case of a team really overachieving and then getting red hot for the American League side of the playoffs. The 2007 team underachieved, the 2008 team was a disaster, the 2009 team was just about right and last year they were just meh. But fans who are truly pissed off about a season like last year, forgot 2001 or 2004. Or maybe they just forgot the Tigers for all those years they were terrible. This year however is the year the followers are beginning to become frustrated with the direction of the on the field product. Lloyd McClendon should have been let go a long time ago. When Chuck Hernandez was fired and Rick Knapp was hired it seemed as though Leyland would bend, but he hasn't with lloyd. Is it due to the talent on the field? Yeah, that plays a part but under Lloyd it seems guys regress instead of progress and Brennan Boesch's second half swoon last year was the last straw for me. The Tigers are a team infamous for getting guys into scoring position with less than two outs and then not be able to score them. Leyland has also looked bad handling the pitching staff and not doing things like bunting a runner over given the teams inability to not be able to move runners over during games. Brandon Inge is another sore spot, everyone wanted Adrian Beltre with good reason but the team was forced to keep Inge because there was simply no other options out there. I mean Nick Punto, Pedro Feliz and Bill Hall are guys that were out there. Eric Chavez is working out, but besides him and Beltre Inge may have been the third best option out there. I mean, seriously. Now the team has good staring pitching, the system is just overflowing with good young arms and we have stars like Verlander, Cabrera and VMart. Peralta has been great at the plate and in the field, I like what Boesch is showing us, AJax is regressing but has great potential and skeptics like me are hoping Alex Avila's first half is not a mirage. Maggs? Well I think we expected 310/370/450 with 15 HRs and 70 RBIs or so. This year he looked liek a different player, no one hits the wall that hard after having a pretty good year last year and a very consistent career as far as BA and OBP. Raburn? I tried to warn people. Polanco? Yeah, that was a mistake letting him go. Guillen? Meh, they got him for free and got some great years out of him so they got their money's worth there. VMart? Looks like the real deal. Valverde, guy has been genius as someone people thought they overpaid for. But this division is awful, this team is good enough to win it and it's put up or shut up time for Leyland. the team has a lot of holes on offense but the pitching and the two big bats can win the division. With a strong top of the rotation, two big hitters and a few guys getting hot you never know what is gonna happen. Look at the Giants last year, I don't think the Tigers are very much different from that team.Can anybody explain why Tigers fans are so angry this year? Everything I see on message boards and hear on talk radio, fans are frothing at the mouth. There is overreaction and anger every year but this season I'm not seeing or hearing anything positive. You'd think the Tigers were out of the race already.Every comment is about Rayburn/Inge/Leyland/Dombrowski, the worst players/management in the league, completely unacceptable, everybody needs to go, every time something bad happens it's because Leyland doesn't have a clue what he's doing. After wins, losses, off-days. At any point in a game when a Tiger strikes out or the opponent scores a run it's because Leyland started the wrong guy or didn't make a change. The hatred for Leyland is starting to legitimately frighten me. I don't think every critique should be glowing and there have been a couple head-scratchers from JL this year but folks need to take a day or two off and relax. 2 1/2 games out, 10-1 against the White Sox and Twins, 14-16 on the road, bullpen is straightened out, seems like the bats are perking up.
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The Tigers are easily the best team in this division. Cleveland's fall was predictable. With the Twin falling apart, it should be the Tigers division to lose. Verlander is pitching good enough to win the Cy Young lately. 10 strikeouts vs. 1 walk is incredible. Too many holes to do much in the playoffs though. Their defense and pathetic hitters at the bottom of the order will do them in.
Apple Juice
Footballguy
Good post DD, I was waiting for you to pop in here.
Maybe I'm a little too optimistic all things considered, and maybe that's a reaction to the relentless, often utterly irrational pessimism regarding the Tigers. The thing I take the most issue with are people's unrealistic expectations and constant whining about a couple players and the manager.
Are fans unaware that every team in the league has a few under-performing or flat out bad players on their roster? It's completely unavoidable. Rayburn sucks right now. Inge isn't a good hitter. Maggs may be done. It's no secret. How about the rest of the line-up? I haven't heard anybody comment on Peralta this year. Guy is the best short-stop in the AL this year. Avila is an all-star. I wouldn't mind seeing a touch of appreciation mixed in, that's all.
It's true that there's no more room for excuses this year. This team is without question the best club in the Central and they need to capitalize right now. Hell the whole American League looks pretty average. Verlander and Miggy are in their primes and enough players are playing well to get a lock on this thing.
I keep telling everybody, if there's anything to be worried about right now, it's Max. Max is by far the most important piece that is unraveling right now. I'm anxious to see his next couple starts and see if he can put it back together, to see if he just hit a bad stretch or if it's something deeper.
We need the Verlander/Porcello/Scherzer trio to go deep into games and provide a solid playoff rotation should we take the division. Whatever Penny and Coke give the team is gravy, and with the way the bullpen has solidified, they can provide both those guys with more wins as the season goes on.
Maybe I'm a little too optimistic all things considered, and maybe that's a reaction to the relentless, often utterly irrational pessimism regarding the Tigers. The thing I take the most issue with are people's unrealistic expectations and constant whining about a couple players and the manager.
Are fans unaware that every team in the league has a few under-performing or flat out bad players on their roster? It's completely unavoidable. Rayburn sucks right now. Inge isn't a good hitter. Maggs may be done. It's no secret. How about the rest of the line-up? I haven't heard anybody comment on Peralta this year. Guy is the best short-stop in the AL this year. Avila is an all-star. I wouldn't mind seeing a touch of appreciation mixed in, that's all.
It's true that there's no more room for excuses this year. This team is without question the best club in the Central and they need to capitalize right now. Hell the whole American League looks pretty average. Verlander and Miggy are in their primes and enough players are playing well to get a lock on this thing.
I keep telling everybody, if there's anything to be worried about right now, it's Max. Max is by far the most important piece that is unraveling right now. I'm anxious to see his next couple starts and see if he can put it back together, to see if he just hit a bad stretch or if it's something deeper.
We need the Verlander/Porcello/Scherzer trio to go deep into games and provide a solid playoff rotation should we take the division. Whatever Penny and Coke give the team is gravy, and with the way the bullpen has solidified, they can provide both those guys with more wins as the season goes on.
jabarony
Footballguy
Couldn't agree more. Especially that bum Renteria. He already showed he was a NL guy with his lame performance in Boston. I'm not a seam-head by any means, but even I knew that was a bad move.You can boil all of Detroit's problems down to 2 moves:- Letting Polanco go- Trading Jurjjens for RenteriaHad we not made those moves, the Tigers could be the best team in baseball.'Doctor Detroit said:Detroit talk radio has been super negative with the Tigers as long as it has existed. What didn't help is when that media segment was really growing in the 90s, the Tigers were terrible. The same idiots who call in and bash Dombrowski (Comer is a good example here at FBG) are the same idiots who predict a Lions team we all know will go 4-12, to go 9-7. It's one of the more hilarious phenomenons in all of sportstalk. I can always tell who gets their info from sports talk radio vice those who actually follow the team. I can tell who these people are in person, and I can tell who these people are on-line. Unfortunately these days the sports talk radio group is probably larger than those who actually follow the team closely.People also don't get how hard it is to rebuild in baseball. It is the hardest sport to rebuild in because draft picks are hard to gage, trading is tough because you often have to give away too much to fill one particular need and player development varies so widely in baseball due to the mental game involved in hitting a baseball. This franchise may have been the absolute worst in all of sports when Dombrowski took it over. Failed high draft pick after draft pick, bad trades, bad contracts and bad team management. Randy Smith belonged running the Lions, not the Tigers. Also Detroit fans are among the most pessimistic in all of sports. It has always been this way as long as I've been around, and the worse the economic conditions get the angrier people get. One of the biggest factors is going from nothing for 15 years, then getting to a World Series just like that. They should have won that World Series too, and now that we look back it probably hurts even more than it did the day after they lost. I remember listening to Detroit sports talk radio the following day and fans were calling in saying the Tigers embarrassed the city with their performance. Ok. Well looking back that season was the case of a team really overachieving and then getting red hot for the American League side of the playoffs. The 2007 team underachieved, the 2008 team was a disaster, the 2009 team was just about right and last year they were just meh. But fans who are truly pissed off about a season like last year, forgot 2001 or 2004. Or maybe they just forgot the Tigers for all those years they were terrible. This year however is the year the followers are beginning to become frustrated with the direction of the on the field product. Lloyd McClendon should have been let go a long time ago. When Chuck Hernandez was fired and Rick Knapp was hired it seemed as though Leyland would bend, but he hasn't with lloyd. Is it due to the talent on the field? Yeah, that plays a part but under Lloyd it seems guys regress instead of progress and Brennan Boesch's second half swoon last year was the last straw for me. The Tigers are a team infamous for getting guys into scoring position with less than two outs and then not be able to score them. Leyland has also looked bad handling the pitching staff and not doing things like bunting a runner over given the teams inability to not be able to move runners over during games. Brandon Inge is another sore spot, everyone wanted Adrian Beltre with good reason but the team was forced to keep Inge because there was simply no other options out there. I mean Nick Punto, Pedro Feliz and Bill Hall are guys that were out there. Eric Chavez is working out, but besides him and Beltre Inge may have been the third best option out there. I mean, seriously. Now the team has good staring pitching, the system is just overflowing with good young arms and we have stars like Verlander, Cabrera and VMart. Peralta has been great at the plate and in the field, I like what Boesch is showing us, AJax is regressing but has great potential and skeptics like me are hoping Alex Avila's first half is not a mirage. Maggs? Well I think we expected 310/370/450 with 15 HRs and 70 RBIs or so. This year he looked liek a different player, no one hits the wall that hard after having a pretty good year last year and a very consistent career as far as BA and OBP. Raburn? I tried to warn people. Polanco? Yeah, that was a mistake letting him go. Guillen? Meh, they got him for free and got some great years out of him so they got their money's worth there. VMart? Looks like the real deal. Valverde, guy has been genius as someone people thought they overpaid for. But this division is awful, this team is good enough to win it and it's put up or shut up time for Leyland. the team has a lot of holes on offense but the pitching and the two big bats can win the division. With a strong top of the rotation, two big hitters and a few guys getting hot you never know what is gonna happen. Look at the Giants last year, I don't think the Tigers are very much different from that team.Can anybody explain why Tigers fans are so angry this year? Everything I see on message boards and hear on talk radio, fans are frothing at the mouth. There is overreaction and anger every year but this season I'm not seeing or hearing anything positive. You'd think the Tigers were out of the race already.Every comment is about Rayburn/Inge/Leyland/Dombrowski, the worst players/management in the league, completely unacceptable, everybody needs to go, every time something bad happens it's because Leyland doesn't have a clue what he's doing. After wins, losses, off-days. At any point in a game when a Tiger strikes out or the opponent scores a run it's because Leyland started the wrong guy or didn't make a change. The hatred for Leyland is starting to legitimately frighten me. I don't think every critique should be glowing and there have been a couple head-scratchers from JL this year but folks need to take a day or two off and relax. 2 1/2 games out, 10-1 against the White Sox and Twins, 14-16 on the road, bullpen is straightened out, seems like the bats are perking up.
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
Well, I think that is overstating it. Jurrjens was terrible last year and there is no telling how he would hold up in the American League. Certainly would be nice to have them but if you aren't getting power from 3B or any of your outfield positions (although Boesch is coming on), then you have bigger issues. Polanco's WAR is 2.1 this year, Worth and Santiago are a combined +.6 while Sizemore, raburn and Rhymes are probably a combined -2. Apple Juice>Scherzer will work through it, he does this every year.You can boil all of Detroit's problems down to 2 moves:- Letting Polanco go'Doctor Detroit said:Detroit talk radio has been super negative with the Tigers as long as it has existed. What didn't help is when that media segment was really growing in the 90s, the Tigers were terrible. The same idiots who call in and bash Dombrowski (Comer is a good example here at FBG) are the same idiots who predict a Lions team we all know will go 4-12, to go 9-7. It's one of the more hilarious phenomenons in all of sportstalk. I can always tell who gets their info from sports talk radio vice those who actually follow the team. I can tell who these people are in person, and I can tell who these people are on-line. Unfortunately these days the sports talk radio group is probably larger than those who actually follow the team closely.People also don't get how hard it is to rebuild in baseball. It is the hardest sport to rebuild in because draft picks are hard to gage, trading is tough because you often have to give away too much to fill one particular need and player development varies so widely in baseball due to the mental game involved in hitting a baseball. This franchise may have been the absolute worst in all of sports when Dombrowski took it over. Failed high draft pick after draft pick, bad trades, bad contracts and bad team management. Randy Smith belonged running the Lions, not the Tigers.Can anybody explain why Tigers fans are so angry this year? Everything I see on message boards and hear on talk radio, fans are frothing at the mouth. There is overreaction and anger every year but this season I'm not seeing or hearing anything positive. You'd think the Tigers were out of the race already.
Every comment is about Rayburn/Inge/Leyland/Dombrowski, the worst players/management in the league, completely unacceptable, everybody needs to go, every time something bad happens it's because Leyland doesn't have a clue what he's doing. After wins, losses, off-days. At any point in a game when a Tiger strikes out or the opponent scores a run it's because Leyland started the wrong guy or didn't make a change. The hatred for Leyland is starting to legitimately frighten me.
I don't think every critique should be glowing and there have been a couple head-scratchers from JL this year but folks need to take a day or two off and relax. 2 1/2 games out, 10-1 against the White Sox and Twins, 14-16 on the road, bullpen is straightened out, seems like the bats are perking up.
Also Detroit fans are among the most pessimistic in all of sports. It has always been this way as long as I've been around, and the worse the economic conditions get the angrier people get.
One of the biggest factors is going from nothing for 15 years, then getting to a World Series just like that. They should have won that World Series too, and now that we look back it probably hurts even more than it did the day after they lost. I remember listening to Detroit sports talk radio the following day and fans were calling in saying the Tigers embarrassed the city with their performance. Ok. Well looking back that season was the case of a team really overachieving and then getting red hot for the American League side of the playoffs. The 2007 team underachieved, the 2008 team was a disaster, the 2009 team was just about right and last year they were just meh. But fans who are truly pissed off about a season like last year, forgot 2001 or 2004. Or maybe they just forgot the Tigers for all those years they were terrible.
This year however is the year the followers are beginning to become frustrated with the direction of the on the field product. Lloyd McClendon should have been let go a long time ago. When Chuck Hernandez was fired and Rick Knapp was hired it seemed as though Leyland would bend, but he hasn't with lloyd. Is it due to the talent on the field? Yeah, that plays a part but under Lloyd it seems guys regress instead of progress and Brennan Boesch's second half swoon last year was the last straw for me. The Tigers are a team infamous for getting guys into scoring position with less than two outs and then not be able to score them.
Leyland has also looked bad handling the pitching staff and not doing things like bunting a runner over given the teams inability to not be able to move runners over during games. Brandon Inge is another sore spot, everyone wanted Adrian Beltre with good reason but the team was forced to keep Inge because there was simply no other options out there. I mean Nick Punto, Pedro Feliz and Bill Hall are guys that were out there. Eric Chavez is working out, but besides him and Beltre Inge may have been the third best option out there. I mean, seriously.
Now the team has good staring pitching, the system is just overflowing with good young arms and we have stars like Verlander, Cabrera and VMart. Peralta has been great at the plate and in the field, I like what Boesch is showing us, AJax is regressing but has great potential and skeptics like me are hoping Alex Avila's first half is not a mirage. Maggs? Well I think we expected 310/370/450 with 15 HRs and 70 RBIs or so. This year he looked liek a different player, no one hits the wall that hard after having a pretty good year last year and a very consistent career as far as BA and OBP. Raburn? I tried to warn people. Polanco? Yeah, that was a mistake letting him go. Guillen? Meh, they got him for free and got some great years out of him so they got their money's worth there. VMart? Looks like the real deal. Valverde, guy has been genius as someone people thought they overpaid for.
But this division is awful, this team is good enough to win it and it's put up or shut up time for Leyland. the team has a lot of holes on offense but the pitching and the two big bats can win the division. With a strong top of the rotation, two big hitters and a few guys getting hot you never know what is gonna happen. Look at the Giants last year, I don't think the Tigers are very much different from that team.
- Trading Jurjjens for Renteria
Had we not made those moves, the Tigers could be the best team in baseball.
skillz
Footballguy
People get hung up on these two moves all the time. I agree both were bad moves but the way I look at it Jurjjens still wouldn't be on the team anyway today as he would've been included in the Cabrera trade. People talk about the Renteria deal as if that caused the Tigers to no longer have Jurjjens when in reality he still wouldn't have been on our roster today along with Cabrera.The Polanco situation was just a matter of DD getting worried of sticking the team with another bad contract where a player was making too much after his best days were behind him - he already had bad contracts with Robertson, Willis, Ordonez and Guillen so he got gun shy. Not justifying the move but that was the context for the decision. If Polanco had not panned out people would've been complaining that DD was an idiot for giving out another bad contract to a past his prime player. That same offseason though DD was able to get Jackson, Scherzer, Schlereth and sign Valverde and basically rebuild the team on the fly so you have to give him credit for doing that as the team would not be where it's at today without those players.By the way, Raburn drives me nuts. WTF was he doing when the guy ran to second in the 1st inning. Guy is worse than Inge- at best a streaky hitter, but unlike Inge his defense and mental approach in the field is horrible.You can boil all of Detroit's problems down to 2 moves:- Letting Polanco go- Trading Jurjjens for RenteriaHad we not made those moves, the Tigers could be the best team in baseball.'Doctor Detroit said:Detroit talk radio has been super negative with the Tigers as long as it has existed. What didn't help is when that media segment was really growing in the 90s, the Tigers were terrible. The same idiots who call in and bash Dombrowski (Comer is a good example here at FBG) are the same idiots who predict a Lions team we all know will go 4-12, to go 9-7. It's one of the more hilarious phenomenons in all of sportstalk. I can always tell who gets their info from sports talk radio vice those who actually follow the team. I can tell who these people are in person, and I can tell who these people are on-line. Unfortunately these days the sports talk radio group is probably larger than those who actually follow the team closely.People also don't get how hard it is to rebuild in baseball. It is the hardest sport to rebuild in because draft picks are hard to gage, trading is tough because you often have to give away too much to fill one particular need and player development varies so widely in baseball due to the mental game involved in hitting a baseball. This franchise may have been the absolute worst in all of sports when Dombrowski took it over. Failed high draft pick after draft pick, bad trades, bad contracts and bad team management. Randy Smith belonged running the Lions, not the Tigers. Also Detroit fans are among the most pessimistic in all of sports. It has always been this way as long as I've been around, and the worse the economic conditions get the angrier people get. One of the biggest factors is going from nothing for 15 years, then getting to a World Series just like that. They should have won that World Series too, and now that we look back it probably hurts even more than it did the day after they lost. I remember listening to Detroit sports talk radio the following day and fans were calling in saying the Tigers embarrassed the city with their performance. Ok. Well looking back that season was the case of a team really overachieving and then getting red hot for the American League side of the playoffs. The 2007 team underachieved, the 2008 team was a disaster, the 2009 team was just about right and last year they were just meh. But fans who are truly pissed off about a season like last year, forgot 2001 or 2004. Or maybe they just forgot the Tigers for all those years they were terrible. This year however is the year the followers are beginning to become frustrated with the direction of the on the field product. Lloyd McClendon should have been let go a long time ago. When Chuck Hernandez was fired and Rick Knapp was hired it seemed as though Leyland would bend, but he hasn't with lloyd. Is it due to the talent on the field? Yeah, that plays a part but under Lloyd it seems guys regress instead of progress and Brennan Boesch's second half swoon last year was the last straw for me. The Tigers are a team infamous for getting guys into scoring position with less than two outs and then not be able to score them. Leyland has also looked bad handling the pitching staff and not doing things like bunting a runner over given the teams inability to not be able to move runners over during games. Brandon Inge is another sore spot, everyone wanted Adrian Beltre with good reason but the team was forced to keep Inge because there was simply no other options out there. I mean Nick Punto, Pedro Feliz and Bill Hall are guys that were out there. Eric Chavez is working out, but besides him and Beltre Inge may have been the third best option out there. I mean, seriously. Now the team has good staring pitching, the system is just overflowing with good young arms and we have stars like Verlander, Cabrera and VMart. Peralta has been great at the plate and in the field, I like what Boesch is showing us, AJax is regressing but has great potential and skeptics like me are hoping Alex Avila's first half is not a mirage. Maggs? Well I think we expected 310/370/450 with 15 HRs and 70 RBIs or so. This year he looked liek a different player, no one hits the wall that hard after having a pretty good year last year and a very consistent career as far as BA and OBP. Raburn? I tried to warn people. Polanco? Yeah, that was a mistake letting him go. Guillen? Meh, they got him for free and got some great years out of him so they got their money's worth there. VMart? Looks like the real deal. Valverde, guy has been genius as someone people thought they overpaid for. But this division is awful, this team is good enough to win it and it's put up or shut up time for Leyland. the team has a lot of holes on offense but the pitching and the two big bats can win the division. With a strong top of the rotation, two big hitters and a few guys getting hot you never know what is gonna happen. Look at the Giants last year, I don't think the Tigers are very much different from that team.Can anybody explain why Tigers fans are so angry this year? Everything I see on message boards and hear on talk radio, fans are frothing at the mouth. There is overreaction and anger every year but this season I'm not seeing or hearing anything positive. You'd think the Tigers were out of the race already.Every comment is about Rayburn/Inge/Leyland/Dombrowski, the worst players/management in the league, completely unacceptable, everybody needs to go, every time something bad happens it's because Leyland doesn't have a clue what he's doing. After wins, losses, off-days. At any point in a game when a Tiger strikes out or the opponent scores a run it's because Leyland started the wrong guy or didn't make a change. The hatred for Leyland is starting to legitimately frighten me. I don't think every critique should be glowing and there have been a couple head-scratchers from JL this year but folks need to take a day or two off and relax. 2 1/2 games out, 10-1 against the White Sox and Twins, 14-16 on the road, bullpen is straightened out, seems like the bats are perking up.
Leroy Hoard
Footballguy
I would guess Wells goes.
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
This is very true but Illitch came to him after 2009 and said they would not be able to add any more payroll. The only FA the Tigers signed was Valverde and that was essentially a necessity. Had Polanco become a FA after 2008, he'd probably still be with the club because by all accounts, Dombrowski wanted him back.And on that point many people in the know think Illitch decides on the FAs after Dombrowski offers him the options (we'll never know because like any good organization they don't say anything about what goes on behind closed doors). I think Guillen belongs to Dombrowski which is fine because I still have no issue with that contract, but the others we'll never know and most think Illitch was responsible for Willis.People get hung up on these two moves all the time. I agree both were bad moves but the way I look at it Jurjjens still wouldn't be on the team anyway today as he would've been included in the Cabrera trade. People talk about the Renteria deal as if that caused the Tigers to no longer have Jurjjens when in reality he still wouldn't have been on our roster today along with Cabrera.The Polanco situation was just a matter of DD getting worried of sticking the team with another bad contract where a player was making too much after his best days were behind him - he already had bad contracts with Robertson, Willis, Ordonez and Guillen so he got gun shy. Not justifying the move but that was the context for the decision. If Polanco had not panned out people would've been complaining that DD was an idiot for giving out another bad contract to a past his prime player. That same offseason though DD was able to get Jackson, Scherzer, Schlereth and sign Valverde and basically rebuild the team on the fly so you have to give him credit for doing that as the team would not be where it's at today without those players.You can boil all of Detroit's problems down to 2 moves:- Letting Polanco go'Doctor Detroit said:Detroit talk radio has been super negative with the Tigers as long as it has existed. What didn't help is when that media segment was really growing in the 90s, the Tigers were terrible. The same idiots who call in and bash Dombrowski (Comer is a good example here at FBG) are the same idiots who predict a Lions team we all know will go 4-12, to go 9-7. It's one of the more hilarious phenomenons in all of sportstalk. I can always tell who gets their info from sports talk radio vice those who actually follow the team. I can tell who these people are in person, and I can tell who these people are on-line. Unfortunately these days the sports talk radio group is probably larger than those who actually follow the team closely.People also don't get how hard it is to rebuild in baseball. It is the hardest sport to rebuild in because draft picks are hard to gage, trading is tough because you often have to give away too much to fill one particular need and player development varies so widely in baseball due to the mental game involved in hitting a baseball. This franchise may have been the absolute worst in all of sports when Dombrowski took it over. Failed high draft pick after draft pick, bad trades, bad contracts and bad team management. Randy Smith belonged running the Lions, not the Tigers.Can anybody explain why Tigers fans are so angry this year? Everything I see on message boards and hear on talk radio, fans are frothing at the mouth. There is overreaction and anger every year but this season I'm not seeing or hearing anything positive. You'd think the Tigers were out of the race already.
Every comment is about Rayburn/Inge/Leyland/Dombrowski, the worst players/management in the league, completely unacceptable, everybody needs to go, every time something bad happens it's because Leyland doesn't have a clue what he's doing. After wins, losses, off-days. At any point in a game when a Tiger strikes out or the opponent scores a run it's because Leyland started the wrong guy or didn't make a change. The hatred for Leyland is starting to legitimately frighten me.
I don't think every critique should be glowing and there have been a couple head-scratchers from JL this year but folks need to take a day or two off and relax. 2 1/2 games out, 10-1 against the White Sox and Twins, 14-16 on the road, bullpen is straightened out, seems like the bats are perking up.
Also Detroit fans are among the most pessimistic in all of sports. It has always been this way as long as I've been around, and the worse the economic conditions get the angrier people get.
One of the biggest factors is going from nothing for 15 years, then getting to a World Series just like that. They should have won that World Series too, and now that we look back it probably hurts even more than it did the day after they lost. I remember listening to Detroit sports talk radio the following day and fans were calling in saying the Tigers embarrassed the city with their performance. Ok. Well looking back that season was the case of a team really overachieving and then getting red hot for the American League side of the playoffs. The 2007 team underachieved, the 2008 team was a disaster, the 2009 team was just about right and last year they were just meh. But fans who are truly pissed off about a season like last year, forgot 2001 or 2004. Or maybe they just forgot the Tigers for all those years they were terrible.
This year however is the year the followers are beginning to become frustrated with the direction of the on the field product. Lloyd McClendon should have been let go a long time ago. When Chuck Hernandez was fired and Rick Knapp was hired it seemed as though Leyland would bend, but he hasn't with lloyd. Is it due to the talent on the field? Yeah, that plays a part but under Lloyd it seems guys regress instead of progress and Brennan Boesch's second half swoon last year was the last straw for me. The Tigers are a team infamous for getting guys into scoring position with less than two outs and then not be able to score them.
Leyland has also looked bad handling the pitching staff and not doing things like bunting a runner over given the teams inability to not be able to move runners over during games. Brandon Inge is another sore spot, everyone wanted Adrian Beltre with good reason but the team was forced to keep Inge because there was simply no other options out there. I mean Nick Punto, Pedro Feliz and Bill Hall are guys that were out there. Eric Chavez is working out, but besides him and Beltre Inge may have been the third best option out there. I mean, seriously.
Now the team has good staring pitching, the system is just overflowing with good young arms and we have stars like Verlander, Cabrera and VMart. Peralta has been great at the plate and in the field, I like what Boesch is showing us, AJax is regressing but has great potential and skeptics like me are hoping Alex Avila's first half is not a mirage. Maggs? Well I think we expected 310/370/450 with 15 HRs and 70 RBIs or so. This year he looked liek a different player, no one hits the wall that hard after having a pretty good year last year and a very consistent career as far as BA and OBP. Raburn? I tried to warn people. Polanco? Yeah, that was a mistake letting him go. Guillen? Meh, they got him for free and got some great years out of him so they got their money's worth there. VMart? Looks like the real deal. Valverde, guy has been genius as someone people thought they overpaid for.
But this division is awful, this team is good enough to win it and it's put up or shut up time for Leyland. the team has a lot of holes on offense but the pitching and the two big bats can win the division. With a strong top of the rotation, two big hitters and a few guys getting hot you never know what is gonna happen. Look at the Giants last year, I don't think the Tigers are very much different from that team.
- Trading Jurjjens for Renteria
Had we not made those moves, the Tigers could be the best team in baseball.
By the way, Raburn drives me nuts. WTF was he doing when the guy ran to second in the 1st inning. Guy is worse than Inge- at best a streaky hitter, but unlike Inge his defense and mental approach in the field is horrible.
Inge? That is probably Illitch because Inge up to this year was a top three fan favorite. But again, there were no real options at 3B in either of the past two years anyway. Tigers are hoping Nick Castellanos can contribute by 2013 but I think that is a stretch, I think they need to sign a 3Bman in the offseason to bridge that gap. The FA options again are awful though, I think Edwin Encarnacion or Jose Lopez might be the best guys out there. I think they might need to move Peralta to 3B and bring in an FA SS which there are a few decent options (JJ Hardy, Rollins, Furcal). The FA pool for hitters is pretty stinky though so someone might have to be brought in via trade. Of the FA OFers, call me crazy but JD Drew would be a nice platoon player because the guy loves to draw walks. Hawpe, Ross and Pierre are other options but the pickings are slim. Hate to say it but I think they are stuck with Inge through 2012 at 3B. the only way around it seems to be making a trade and if Illitch is willing to pay David Wright's salary, I think the Mets would let him go for less prospects than normal because of the shape they are in. Then you have him this year, next year and have a club option for 2013.
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