Not sure I take any article that suggest Joe Torre wanted to platoon Derek Jeter too seriously.
Regarding the young talent list: does anyone else find it disheartening that the only Tigers on it are Verlander and Granderson? I’m not saying that anyone else on the team deserves to be on the list – maybe Zumaya, maybe Bonderman, but those are debatable – but isn’t it scary that there is so much young talent out there right now, and the Tigers don’t have too much of it?
Or maybe in a few years, a few more Tigers will show up on that list – Gorkys, Maybin, (with a little miracle) Richard Zumaya, Porcello … but still, for the next few years, we’re counting on a bunch of comparatively old men to win ball games.
I wouldn’t trust any list that includes Nick Markakis, but not Dustin Pedroia.
Ryan – I don’t know if I’d distrust the list because of that. The two players are the same age and Markakis just finished his second full season while Pedroia just finished his first. Markakis hits for more power(as he should given his position) and steals more bases while having a similar walk rate (the 18 point difference in OBP is pretty much the 17 point difference in batting average).
I’m not saying that Pedroia shouldn’t be on the list, or that Markakis shouldn’t be lower. Just that I don’t think it’s obvious that Pedroia should be ranked ahead of Markakis.
There are 30 major league teams. So 2 out of 25 isn’t bad. Obviously, the aging lineup is a concern. But nearly all of them are performing at the highest level of their careers, so hopefully we get another couple years out of this group while the young pitching continues to develop. And, as I’ve said before, it’s a lot easier to buy more hitting when our current positional players are done than to buy pitching.
I’m not worried at all.
Like you said Kyle they are performing well.
Plus, it is much easier to go out and buy a productive hitter than a pitcher IMO.
BTW Peavy would be first on my list.
3 out of the last 4 years his ERA has been under 2.90.
Plus the K’s and the fact that he pitches in a hitters park…
Oh did I mention he won the triple crown?
I really hope our dream of Bondo-Verlander-Miller-Porcello +1 and Zoom becomes a reality for at least 3 years and we have like a team ERA of 3.20 or thereabouts.
One can dream…
Any list of 25 of anything is necessarily arbitrary,but that one sucks.The Tigers,however,seem to be adequately represented considering it’s shortcomings(I can understand the exclusion of Bonderman and Zumaya considering other more glaring exclusions).If any of those players is destined for the HoF it’s Cabrera,and his placement at #13 is a joke.
Markakis is every bit the player that Pedroia is (who also belongs on the list),but there are many other oversights,including Pedroia’s teammate Papelbon.
Just off the top of my head,no Twins (Mauer,Morneau,Liriano),Angels(Weaver,Rodriguez,Kendrick),Braves(McCann,Francouer),Reds(Phillips)or Yankees(Cano,Chamberlain,Hughes).
Additionally,some teams are just as arguably underrepresented as the Tigers,notably the Devil Rays (Crawford,Young),the Diamondbacks(Upton,Drew),the Brewers(Hardy),the Marlins (Willis),and the Mets (Maine).
The Tigers are represented fine. I’m a huge Bonderman fan and still think he has No. 1 potential but I cannot make a case for a single other Tiger to be on that list above any of them.
JJ Hardy should not be on it — he had an abnormal first 2 months and will struggle to hit 20 HR’s the rest of his career. He’s never had that power potential.
Dontrelle Willis is a good pitcher but not great, I’d easily taked 10-15 pitchers ahead of Dontrelle.
Chamberlain cannot be in this group, nor can Hughes, because of a lack of a sample. Same for Justin Upton. John Maine is a solid pitcher, probably a No. 3 or a No. 2 on a team who’s pitching is not the strength.
The only stunner on the list is the fact that Miguel Cabrera isn’t in the top 3. He should be number 1. After A-Rod and Pujols, Miguel Cabrera is the best hitter in the major leagues, especially given the fact that he’s only 24 and his first four seasons are essentially identical to Hank Aaron’s.
My top ten would be:
Miggy Cabrera
Prince Fielder
Felix Hernandez
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Scott Kazmir
Ryan Zimmerman
Cole Hamels
Matt Cain
Troy Tulowitzki.
Like I wrote,any list of 25 of anything except the first 25 numbers is completely arbitrary.That particular list is a mix of solidly established performers and potential ,necessarily based on limited sample size based on the young ages and very short careers of many of these players.The only reason I tossed out some of those names were to counter the Tiger fans here possibly aggrieved by the exclusion of Zumaya,Maybin,Miller,et al.
My own list would be weighted toward guys with a track record extending back more than a year, including for instance Mauer,Crawford,Morneau,Francisco Rodriguez,and McCann in addition to others James picked inlcluding Cabrera,Wright,Reyes,Ramirez,Verlander,Peavy,and Webb.
Also deserving to be on the list of ‘young’ talent is Dan Haren(who’s about the same age as Sabathia or Webb) and Bobby Jenks,both of whom I neglected to mention in my initial comment.
Regardless of who is ranked where,James is correct in asserting that there is an abundance of All Star quality young talent right now,particularly at SS.I agree about Hardy’s power(or lack thereof),but injuries have made him a difficult player to properly evaluate,similar to Baldelli in Tampa Bay.
Also,Bilfer,how about some posting on the World Series?
So,not willing to entirely trust ‘top of my head’ recall and with nothing better to do,I did a little research relating to the ‘young’ players on that list,as a couple(Webb and Sabathia) seem somewhat well seasoned.Younger than both of them is Carlos Zambrano(born in 1981),who I thought was older as it seems like he’s been with the Cubs forever(actually,since 2001).
Some MLB players James failed to mention but born the same year (1980) as Sabathia are Albert Pujols(1st ballot HoF),Mark Teixeira,Josh Beckett,Matt Holliday,and Chien-Ming Wang.
Born in 1979,the same as the youngster Brandon Webb,were Johan Santana,Erik Bedard,and Ryan Howard.
Obviously,some amendments are needed to James’ list.One that comes immediately to mind is that,with the addition of a few guys like A-Rod,Jimmy Rollins,and Vlad Guerrero ,we could just call it the top 25 players in baseball.
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News, views, and analysis on the Detroit Tigers and baseball
Not sure I take any article that suggest Joe Torre wanted to platoon Derek Jeter too seriously.
Regarding the young talent list: does anyone else find it disheartening that the only Tigers on it are Verlander and Granderson? I’m not saying that anyone else on the team deserves to be on the list – maybe Zumaya, maybe Bonderman, but those are debatable – but isn’t it scary that there is so much young talent out there right now, and the Tigers don’t have too much of it?
Or maybe in a few years, a few more Tigers will show up on that list – Gorkys, Maybin, (with a little miracle) Richard Zumaya, Porcello … but still, for the next few years, we’re counting on a bunch of comparatively old men to win ball games.
I wouldn’t trust any list that includes Nick Markakis, but not Dustin Pedroia.
Ryan – I don’t know if I’d distrust the list because of that. The two players are the same age and Markakis just finished his second full season while Pedroia just finished his first. Markakis hits for more power(as he should given his position) and steals more bases while having a similar walk rate (the 18 point difference in OBP is pretty much the 17 point difference in batting average).
I’m not saying that Pedroia shouldn’t be on the list, or that Markakis shouldn’t be lower. Just that I don’t think it’s obvious that Pedroia should be ranked ahead of Markakis.
There are 30 major league teams. So 2 out of 25 isn’t bad. Obviously, the aging lineup is a concern. But nearly all of them are performing at the highest level of their careers, so hopefully we get another couple years out of this group while the young pitching continues to develop. And, as I’ve said before, it’s a lot easier to buy more hitting when our current positional players are done than to buy pitching.
I’m not worried at all.
Like you said Kyle they are performing well.
Plus, it is much easier to go out and buy a productive hitter than a pitcher IMO.
BTW Peavy would be first on my list.
3 out of the last 4 years his ERA has been under 2.90.
Plus the K’s and the fact that he pitches in a hitters park…
Oh did I mention he won the triple crown?
I really hope our dream of Bondo-Verlander-Miller-Porcello +1 and Zoom becomes a reality for at least 3 years and we have like a team ERA of 3.20 or thereabouts.
One can dream…
Any list of 25 of anything is necessarily arbitrary,but that one sucks.The Tigers,however,seem to be adequately represented considering it’s shortcomings(I can understand the exclusion of Bonderman and Zumaya considering other more glaring exclusions).If any of those players is destined for the HoF it’s Cabrera,and his placement at #13 is a joke.
Markakis is every bit the player that Pedroia is (who also belongs on the list),but there are many other oversights,including Pedroia’s teammate Papelbon.
Just off the top of my head,no Twins (Mauer,Morneau,Liriano),Angels(Weaver,Rodriguez,Kendrick),Braves(McCann,Francouer),Reds(Phillips)or Yankees(Cano,Chamberlain,Hughes).
Additionally,some teams are just as arguably underrepresented as the Tigers,notably the Devil Rays (Crawford,Young),the Diamondbacks(Upton,Drew),the Brewers(Hardy),the Marlins (Willis),and the Mets (Maine).
The Tigers are represented fine. I’m a huge Bonderman fan and still think he has No. 1 potential but I cannot make a case for a single other Tiger to be on that list above any of them.
JJ Hardy should not be on it — he had an abnormal first 2 months and will struggle to hit 20 HR’s the rest of his career. He’s never had that power potential.
Dontrelle Willis is a good pitcher but not great, I’d easily taked 10-15 pitchers ahead of Dontrelle.
Chamberlain cannot be in this group, nor can Hughes, because of a lack of a sample. Same for Justin Upton. John Maine is a solid pitcher, probably a No. 3 or a No. 2 on a team who’s pitching is not the strength.
The only stunner on the list is the fact that Miguel Cabrera isn’t in the top 3. He should be number 1. After A-Rod and Pujols, Miguel Cabrera is the best hitter in the major leagues, especially given the fact that he’s only 24 and his first four seasons are essentially identical to Hank Aaron’s.
My top ten would be:
Miggy Cabrera
Prince Fielder
Felix Hernandez
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Scott Kazmir
Ryan Zimmerman
Cole Hamels
Matt Cain
Troy Tulowitzki.
Like I wrote,any list of 25 of anything except the first 25 numbers is completely arbitrary.That particular list is a mix of solidly established performers and potential ,necessarily based on limited sample size based on the young ages and very short careers of many of these players.The only reason I tossed out some of those names were to counter the Tiger fans here possibly aggrieved by the exclusion of Zumaya,Maybin,Miller,et al.
My own list would be weighted toward guys with a track record extending back more than a year, including for instance Mauer,Crawford,Morneau,Francisco Rodriguez,and McCann in addition to others James picked inlcluding Cabrera,Wright,Reyes,Ramirez,Verlander,Peavy,and Webb.
Also deserving to be on the list of ‘young’ talent is Dan Haren(who’s about the same age as Sabathia or Webb) and Bobby Jenks,both of whom I neglected to mention in my initial comment.
Regardless of who is ranked where,James is correct in asserting that there is an abundance of All Star quality young talent right now,particularly at SS.I agree about Hardy’s power(or lack thereof),but injuries have made him a difficult player to properly evaluate,similar to Baldelli in Tampa Bay.
Also,Bilfer,how about some posting on the World Series?
So,not willing to entirely trust ‘top of my head’ recall and with nothing better to do,I did a little research relating to the ‘young’ players on that list,as a couple(Webb and Sabathia) seem somewhat well seasoned.Younger than both of them is Carlos Zambrano(born in 1981),who I thought was older as it seems like he’s been with the Cubs forever(actually,since 2001).
Some MLB players James failed to mention but born the same year (1980) as Sabathia are Albert Pujols(1st ballot HoF),Mark Teixeira,Josh Beckett,Matt Holliday,and Chien-Ming Wang.
Born in 1979,the same as the youngster Brandon Webb,were Johan Santana,Erik Bedard,and Ryan Howard.
Obviously,some amendments are needed to James’ list.One that comes immediately to mind is that,with the addition of a few guys like A-Rod,Jimmy Rollins,and Vlad Guerrero ,we could just call it the top 25 players in baseball.