Monthly Archives: November 2006

2007 Season, Contracts

Tigers sign Santiago

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Jon Paul Morosi reports that the Tigers reached agreement with Ramon Santiago on a one-year deal. The deal is for $500,000, or about $120,000 more than the league minimum. The Tigers probably could have signed him as a minor league free agent, but this is a low cost move that rewards Santiago for his contributions last year.

Santiago is quite good as a defensive replacement/pinch runner/designated bunter type of player. The thing is, the Tigers have 3 utility infielders. If this means Neifi Perez won’t be back I’m thrilled. Although with Perez being owed $2.5 million it will be nearly impossible to trade him so him going might mean an outright release. If this means there is no room for Omar Infante then I’ll be disappointed. Infante has the most talent offensively of the group and is competent defensively. At 24 years old he’s the youngest of the trio as well.

2007 Season, Fan Experience

Tigers announce 2007 Ticket Prices

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The Tigers announced their 2007 ticket prices, and as expected there were some increases. This only makes sense as the American League Champion Detroit Tigers are surely a better ticket than the xx consecutive losing season Detroit Tigers. And even though there were increases, they were modest.

Ticket prices for the entire upper level of the ballpark will remain the same in 2007 and have not changed since the ballpark opened in April of 2000. Total seating capacity at Comerica Park is 41,070 and over 11,000 of those seats are priced at $15 or less.

For the upcoming 2007 regular season, the On-Deck Circle ($65), Infield Box ($40), Outfield Box ($30), Right Field Grandstand ($20) and Pepsi Bleacher ($10) areas have all been increased.
The ten remaining seating price areas are unchanged for next season. Those seating areas include the Tiger Den ($60), Terrace ($35), Club Seats ($25), Upper Box Infield ($20), Upper Box RF ($20), Upper Box LF ($20), Pavilion ($15), Mezzanine ($15), Upper Reserved ($12) and Skyline ($5).

Fans with full and partial season ticket plans in 2007 will continue to see a discount of up to 40% off the regular ticket price, based on seat location. Season ticket packages of 81, 41 and 27 games will be available in 2007 and include Opening Day tickets, complimentary food vouchers and post-season ticket priority.

The areas that increased all appear to have increased by $5, with the exception of the Bleachers which increased by $2. Those seats that increased were a pretty good value for the most part. While I typically didn’t spring for the infield box or Tiger Den seats, I did enjoy the bargains on Outfield Box and the Grandstand. The Grandstand seats always seemed to sell quicker than the rest, and I have a feeling would have been increased regardless of the teams’ outcomes.

Also of note, the 21 game packages are gone in favor of 27 game packages.

I have to say I’m happy about this. Mike Ilitch gets additional revenue, yet it is still affordable for a family to head down for a game.

2007 Season, Minors

BA’s Top 10 Tiger Prospects for 2007

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Baseball America announced the Tigers top prospect list today. The top of the top 10 certainly looks promising, but the bottom half is full of question marks. Part of the thinning came from the promotions of Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya while the Gary Sheffield trade pruned away 2 other top 10 prospects in Humberto Sanchez and Kevin Whelan.

Now most of this is premium content, but I will share the top 10. To get scouting reports and commentary you’ll need to subscribe.

1. Cameron Maybin, of
2. Andrew Miller, lhp
3. Brent Clevlen, of
4. Jair Jurrjens, rhp
5. Jordan Tata, rhp
6. Eulogio de la Cruz, rhp
7. Gorkys Hernandez, of
8. Dallas Trahern, rhp
9. Jeff Larish, 1b
10. Scott Sizemore, ss/2b

The problem with the list, and it isn’t so much the list but the players on it, is that there isn’t much in terms of immediate help. Only Jordan Tata, Jair Jurrjens, and Eulogio de la Cruz have had success above A ball. Brent Clevlen had a nice run of 39 at-bats at the Major League Level, but posted only a 670 OPS for Erie. He did show good on base skills drawing 18 walks in the AFL, but still fanned 35 times in 92 at-bats and only slugged 326.

I’d have ranked Larish higher, and de la Cruz lower (if at all) but otherwise the list is close to what I’d expect.

Gorkys Hernandez is a centerfielder who had a very strong season in the GCL at the age of 19. Scott Sizemore was a 2006 draftee who put together a nice season for Oneonta.

Defense, Offense, Players, Statistics

The problem with Sean Casey

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When Sean Casey was resgined I indicated I didn’t like the deal, but never really elaborated. My issue is that as nice a guy as Sean Casey is, he just isn’t very good.

Offensively Casey is at best an average hitter. His OPS+ since 2002 looks like this (OPS+ indexes a players OPS against the league average. 100 means the player is average, values above 100 mean above average)

Year	OPS+
2002	78
2003	98
2004	142
2005	104
2006	87

Over the last 5 seasons Casey has had 1 good year, 2 average years, and 2 bad years. Even if Casey can regain his earlier form, that merely means he is an average offensive player at a position where considerable offense is expected.

So for the sake of argument let’s assume that Casey gets back to be a league average hitter. That puts him slightly below average at his position. But what about defense? Continue reading The problem with Sean Casey →

2007 Season, Roster Management

Roster Finalized

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The Tigers turned in their finalized roster to MLB with one final addition. Virgil Vasquez, who pitched 28 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings in the AFL, had his contract purchased today. The streak is particularly impressive given the hitter friendly nature of the league.

The roster is set at 39 which means the team will be able to participate in the Rule 5 draft at the upcoming winter meetings. If they choose to participate I’d guess they would be looking for a lefty reliever. Of course if are going that route, they could have just added one of their own lefty relievers, Cory Hamman. Continue reading Roster Finalized →

Contracts, Minors, Statistics, Tiger History

The week in links

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I’m way behind here, and some of this hardly qualifies as newsworthy anymore. But in the interest of completeness…

  • Gary Sheffield will wear Alan Trammell’s #3, and Trammell is okay with it. I have mixed feelings on this. First it is only a number and too much shouldn’t be made of it. But on the other hand it will be weird, to say the least, to see someone else sporting that number. Trammell is too classy to make a stink of it, but I can’t figure why Sheffield would even ask for it. It is sure to not endear him to Tiger fans, but that never seems to be an issue for him anyways. Even with 10 and 11 not available (and if 11 isn’t available is this to mean that Sparky’s # will be officially retired?), there were lots of other numbers to choose from. It almost seems intentional and calculated.
  • Lee has started doing a Runs Created analysis for the Tigers. It is a series of posts, here is the first. I love the runs created stat because it boils offensive production down to a value that all baseball fans can relate to.
  • This is actually 2 weeks old, but Beyond the Boxscores takes a look at former Tiger first round pick Scott Moore who is flourishing with the Cubs.
  • The Lakeland Tigers are no more. They are now the Lakeland Flying Tigers. This will be helpful for me when I write up my minor league wraps next year because I was never a fan of L-Tigers. More importantly, it will help the organization tie in the aviation aspect of the Tigers facilities in Lakeland. The complex is on an old aviation school.
  • This is a new link, but Alfonso Soriano is going to the Cubs for a mere 8 years and $136 million.

Gary Sheffield, Alan Trammell, Lakeland, Detroit Tigers

Minors

Tigers Ink Seven Minor League Free Agents

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The Tigers signed 7 players to minor league contracts. They are righthanded pitcher Craig Dingman, lefthanded pitchers Tim Byrdak and Vic Darensbourg, catcher Steve Torrealba, infielders Mike Hessman and Kevin Hooper and outfielder Jackson Melian.

Dingman missed all of last year with a blood clot in his shoulder. Mike Hessman and Kevin Hooper were members of the Toledo team and Jackson Melian played for Erie.

Vic Darensbourg returns to the organization. Barring a trade or signing of a lefty reliever, he may be given the chance to claim Jamie Walker’s role from last year.

Free Agents

Sean Casey signed?

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The Tigers scheduled a conference call today with Sean Casey. I’m guessing that means they signed him. If so, I’m not a big fan of the deal. I’ll have more later tonight.

UPDATE: Jason Beck says it’s a 1 year deal. At least it is short, but the fact the Tigers are content with Casey as the first sacker/left handed bat they need is disappointing.

UPDATE 2: Sean Casey is here to be the starter. That was made very clear by Dave Dombrowski who indicated that Chris Shelton would need to earn his way on to the team in spring training and would otherwise be optioned to Toledo.

Dombrowski also said that the starters appear to be set and he isn’t looking to make any more deals for starting players.

As for Casey, he is thrilled to be back and said Detroit was his first choice.

Free Agents, Pitching

What to do about…Jamie Walker?

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UPDATE: Walker is now an Oriole pending a physical. The deal is $11.5 million over 3 years. Congrats Jamie and best of luck with the O’s.

Jamie Walker is the Tiger free agent who I’d most like to see back. The lefty reliever is coming off his best season where he posted an ERA of 2.81 over 56 appearances. He fanned 6.9/9IP which is pretty respectable for a finesse pitcher. The real strength of Walker comes in his control. For his career he only walks 2.2/9 but in 2006 he only allowed 8 walks in 48 innings (1.5BB/9). Continue reading What to do about…Jamie Walker? →

Trades

Tigers acquire Gary Sheffield

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The Tigers have traded Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan, and Anthony Claggett to the Yankees for Gary Sheffield. The Tigers and Sheffield have also agreed on a 2 year contract extension.

Humberto Sanchez was probably the 3rd best prospect in the Tigers system behind Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller. Last year he put together his most complete season between Erie and Toledo, but once again it was sidetracked by injury. He fanned almost 3 hitters for every walk and allowed only 4 homers in 123 innings.

Kevin Whelan was drafted in 2005 with thoughts of becoming the Tigers future closer. He was pretty successful last year at Lakeland saving 27 games and fanning 69 in 54 innings. With Joel Zumaya moving to the bullpen for looks like forever, Whelan didn’t look to be counted on as a piece of the puzzle.

Anthony Claggett was very good for the West Michigan Whitecaps last year with a 0.91 ERA while striking out a batter an inning and only allowing 35 hits.

Meanwhile, the Tigers get perennial All Star outfielder Gary Sheffield. Sheffield will be 38 and is a career 297/398/525 hitter. He definitely fits the bill as the big bat the Tigers were looking for, except for the right handed part. The Tigers lineup is instantly better and with the 2 year extension, Ilitch and Dombrowski look to be making an effort to make the most of this 2-3 year window with Ordonez/Pudge/Guillen.

So the Yankees get a major league ready prospect and a couple other guys who look to have value. The Tigers get the big bat they needed while keeping their team intact. It is a little more than I would have liked to see the Tigers give up for Sheffield given his age, but it isn’t unreasonable. Given the fact that Sheffield got the contract extension he wanted it should help to keep him a happy camper.

Last year the Tigers got 258/309/460 production from the DH spot which was middle of the pack. It produced 81 RC. Sheffield’s RC the last 4 years are: 145/119/112/24. So the upgrade is pretty clear and dramatic. This is a good move for the Tigers in that it helps them in the short term without killing them long term. While I don’t know the details of the contract, I know it only extends out 3 years. If it helps the team maintain its status as a playoff team, the dollars will easily take care of themselves. The attitude issues are out there, but Sheffield sounds thrilled to be coming to Detroit. The fact that All Stars are ecstatic to be coming to Detroit speaks volumes about how far the Tigers have come.

Some nuggets from the conference call:

Jim Leyland – “I can’t tell you how happy we are.” … “I’m thrilled to death. It’s a great acquisition for us”

Gary Sheffield – “I’m more than happy to be united with guys I’m familiar with.” Sheffield also said he was ecstatic to be back with Jim Leyland and Dave Dombrowski.

According to Leyland, and he spoke with Sheffield prior to the deal, he will be mainly a DH with some playing time in right field. Leyland also said there are no plans to play him at first base.

The names involved in the trade were agreed to on Tuesday and they had 72 hours to work out the contract extension. There was a verbal agreement Thursday night and the deal was formalized after a physical Friday morning.

On being a DH Sheffield said: “I’m all for that. I thank Mr Leyland because he prolonged my career even moreso. I’m more than willing to do it, especially with a team that has been in the World Series.”

Dombrowski on other needs: He said this was the big bat they were looking for, but they are still looking for a first baseman.