Comments on: The benching of Magglio

By: Kathy

Kathy — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 03:01:40 +0000

It may be a combination of several things. However, knowing how Maggs is a family man, his wife’s illness must be killing him.

By: cib

cib — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:00:06 +0000

I’m with Dave111, that feeling never goes away! And I am pretty certain that part of Magglio’s slump is the distraction of his wife’s illness. Nobody is hitting that great and I regret seeing him singled out in this manner.

By: JB61973

JB61973 — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:39:18 +0000

What about the other players ont he team and other free agents? I mean, I would guess that other guys on the team think that they still have a better chance to win with Magglio than they do with Don kelly or Ryan Raburn playing. The players already know that Willis was brought in because of money and if you now sit a player to avoid his contract htat is the completely wrong message to send to the current players and future free agents. This is a delicate situation for the Tigers and i think they need to be careful how they handle it.

By: Craig

Craig — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:32:04 +0000

I’ll admit I’m a bit of a numbers Geek.

Looking at what Magglio has already done this year and combined with last years number, the plate appearances are a much bigger concern than Games started. Magglio averages about 4.2 PA’s per game, and must have less that 69 starts and less than 215 PA’s, however is Magglio starts 69 games we can project that to 289 PA’s way over the number that guarentees is option. Basically Magglio needs to start less than 50 games which would be 210 PA’s, but that means absolutely no pinch hitting. The numbers are still going to be a challenge to meet, Magglio would have to play equivelent to the amount of time that Clete Thomas has played this year, and Clete is not currently on the team nor did he start the season with the club, meaning that in order for this to work to the Tigers advantage and avoid the option, Magglio will still need either an extended stay on the DL or to be released.

By: Jerry the Tiger Fan

Jerry the Tiger Fan — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:28:14 +0000

Good point Birdy. The Tigers are in good shape to win any grievance that Maggs or his agent might file if the Tigers release him. He isn’t producing….period. If Maggs was producing at 2007 levels and then the Tigers suddenly sat him they would be screwed. However, that is not the case and hopefully DD will not cave to any Player’s Union/agent pressure. Maggs is old and well past his prime. He doesn’t deserve the $30 mill over the next two years.

By: scotsw

scotsw — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:52:34 +0000

I agree that restructuring the contract is in the best interests of both the Tigers and Ordonez. He certainly doesn’t want to face free-agency negotiations based on this year’s body of work, and there seems to me a good chance that Ordonez comes back around to be a productive hitter.

There is NO WAY the Tigers are going to let his options vest playing this way. That’s not a baseball decision, that’s a business decision. After throwing good money at Robertson, Willis, Bonderman, Sheffield and Guillen for about zero production, I’m sure there’s no appetite for wasting more millions. If money was no factor, you’d ride out Maggs’ slump because he’s played well enough long enough to warrant that.

By: Birdy

Birdy — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:21:12 +0000

I’d like you to revisit the “his release is unlikely” topic. Even the article you link to says that Glavine would likely have a difficult time winning his grievance, as teams generally don’t have to prove much in these cases. I don’t know if anyone has this information available, but maybe the language of the contract could give some clues. If it mentions injuries specifically being the determining factor whether he gets the necessary PA’s, which I think is highly unlikely, then maybe he would have a case.
From the limited research I’ve done, I think that Ordoñez would also have a hard time winning a grievance case, which of course leads me to think the Tigers are much more likely to release him, sooner than later.

By: mhideg@hotmail.com

mhideg@hotmail.com — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:27:19 +0000

I only found 2 games last year he played in but did not start so I have him at 144 Games Started and then 623 PA in 2008. Then for 2009 I have him at 57 games started and 242 PA. So he would need to start 69 more games this year(after the game tonight we have 96 left) or have just 215 more PA for this to kick in. So basically we are going to have to seriously bench him for a long time or release him for that not to happen.

I think the benching is the first step and then he will get another chance to produce which if he doesn’t I think we will release him. Or we could trade for another RF and argue we got a better player and then release him.

By: Coleman

Coleman — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:59:59 +0000

Maggs has done everything right as far as I can see–there’s no lack of effort, his head seems in the game, he’s managing to work a few more walks than usual to make up for the lack of hitting–he’s just not hitting anything. i don’t think too many fans are enjoying his struggles…

By: Dave111

Dave111 — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:37:07 +0000

We make a lot of jokes at Maggs expense but I’d happliy buy him a drink once a week for the rest of his life in thanks for the ALCS winning homer in 2006.

By: jud

jud — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:29:25 +0000

Thank You Tiger brass at least you are trying something and this is a good start benching Maggs….next

By: Magglio Ordonez benched, but for how long? | Mack Avenue Tigers

Magglio Ordonez benched, but for how long? | Mack Avenue Tigers — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:08:49 +0000

[...] possibility of owing Ordonez $18M next year if he reaches certain milestones for plate appearances (Billfer has those exact numbers), there’s a lot at play right now. First off, this is the right baseball decision. The Tigers [...]

By: jay

jay — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:36:12 +0000

is granderson starting tonight?

By: RPS

RPS — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:35:34 +0000

The more stats I look at, the more I think the Tigers could get away with this:

Magglio: .273/.347/.343 defense = Magglio
Raburn: .234/.330/.429 defense > Magglio
Thomas: .237/.315/.412 defense >> Magglio

Unless the ABs go to Anderson, the RF replacements are as good or slightly better offensively, and much better defensively.

By: J Ellet Lambie

J Ellet Lambie — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:33:47 +0000

Nice work Billfer, you did a great job of laying out the numbers. Everyone has been talking about the 540 PA/135 starts for ’09 but not many people knew the cumulative numbers had him so close already. This move tells me that DD is working on a trade for a corner outfielder, which is good news, unless it’s Adam Dunn.