Over that same time period, compared to Jose Capellan and Todd Jones:

Capellan: 59.03% And this is including his Triple-A numbers.

Jones: 60.9%.

And the trade to get Otsuka wasn’t that bad. It was Adrian Gonzalez, who the Marlins completely gave up on, so the Rangers weren’t the first, and Chris Young in which he had a 4.26 ERA; a bit below league average. And him moving to the JV league of baseball certainly helps. Oh, and the fact that he’s in one of the best pitching parks in baseball. When he’s on the road, Young’s oppenents BA goes up 63 points, his ERA jumps nearly 3 full runs and in 9 road starts he’s given up 18 earned runs compared to just 5 in his home starts.

Chris Young is not as good as he’s being percieved to be. He’s an above average pitcher, but tops out as a No. 2 at the absolute best. So, again, that was not a terrible deal for a guy who has saved 36 games in less then 2 years despite not being the full time closer there for more then half a season.

Oh, and since he’s got such a “low” K/9, he’s also got WHIP’s of 1.073 and 1.082 while pitching in the band box that is Arlington, Texas. And he’s only allowed 3 HR’s in 97 appearances with the Rangers. I don’t get your notion that Otsuka is not good. He’ll require much less then what Eric Gagne will bring them. Oh, and the fact that we’re not on Gagne’s list of teams he can be traded two without consulting him and he probably wouldn’t waive his no trade clause to come here, especially since there are rumors of Boston, a place he almost signed last year, are in the hunt to grab him for their bullpen.

Getting a 35 yr old for a high-quality prospect, or two, or three, would be stupid. What do you get when the groundballs stop happening? Todd Jones. I seriously don’t want to mirror the trade Texas made to get Otsuka in the first place — which has to rank as one of the worst in the last 5 years and is what they want to get in return.

K/9 is surely not a tell all stat, but it definitely has elevated value in a reliever vs. a starter. But, BB are also magnified, and will be the primary hurdle that Capellan will need to clear if he is to stick in Detroit.

The LF move is a no-brainer. I understand what Leyland is doing; but enough is enough. I’m not sure what Monroe’s deal is, whether the Tigers have options, or what — but if they do, they should option him to Toledo. Let him work his way out of this horrendous slump batting for the Mud Hens, not the Tigers. We’re in a dog fight with Cleveland, and it is apparent the offense is coming down to earth. We can’t afford to experiment with Monroe too much more. We need someone who is A) perceived as a continual threat in the spot regardless of what streak or slump he’s in, B) provides more production, bottom line. What we do not need is someone who the pitcher can’t wait to pitch to after pitching around the setup guy before you. That’s Neifi Perez territory. We already got one of those on the team, we don’t need another.

Put Thames in LF, platoon him with Raburn if you like — put Timo Perez in for all I care — anybody but Monroe should in the lineup right now. If Monroe can get his swing back and pull out of this funk by the time of the extended roster, by all means bring him back for the post season. But right now, he belongs in Toledo.

The seats are in Section 105 (right behind MAGGS!); they also would come with Comerica Park Parking. Anyone interested?

As for last night’s game, on-field photo day had an enormous amount of people which made it very hard to get to see much. I think the line to get off the field was much longer than to get into the stadium.

It was also nice to see Carlos Guillen handle some hard hit balls without issue. Castillo for the Twins is also a heck of a shortstop, unfortunately the tigers kept hitting to him.

I agree about the singer, she was awesome. Does anyone have any more information on her?

-Sam

Playing the Twins is like facing a lineup of freaking leprechauns. Seriously. That team fields only FOUR positions players (Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, Hunter) that’d start on another MLB club. Maybe Castillo, but he’s in serious decline. Punto, Ford, Bartlett, Kubel .. uh? Tyner? Puke.

And the luck of this club in this series. Like in the 4th/5th(?) last night, when Cuddyer ends the bottom half by just putting his glove up — did he even see the ball?? Then Castillo leads off with a charmed chopper that somehow clears Bondo, but dies before getting halfway to second.

It seemed every opportunity the Twins had, they cashed in full. Every opportunity the Tigers had, the wind or some ethereal force conspired against them.

Not to knock their pitching, it’s definitely legit. But, talk about outperforming, their lineup is due for some regression to the mean.

His K/9 this year (~6.5/9), aren’t any better than Capellan. Not saying Otsuka isn’t a good reliever, but he’s no panacea for our woes. Better health and the right pieces are our best bet, unless a steal presents itself.

http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/.....8;c_id=det

Capellan still has a good arm but only had around a 7 K/9, and for his arm that’s pretty meager. Cody was kind of old for his level and I doubt he’s going to make an impact for the Brewers system. This is just aquiring another bullpen arm because we need to kick all tires possible and there isn’t much out there that would provide a substantial upgrade after Gagne and Otsuka (I like our chances of landing Otsuka).