What’s nice about Washburn is that he’s at the top of his game right now. I understand complaining about Willis’ contract because it looked like he was on the decline, but now we have a guy who is pitching at his highest level.

So when are you supposed to give any player a contract? Some people make it sound like never.

I would wet my pants only if I went against Verlander at Comerica, where he is 7-0 in 9 starts with a 1.15 ERA.

If he continues on with the great season he’s having and helps us get to the playoffs, then he’ll probably be one of the most sought after free agents in the market.

I don’t know that you can directly tie the god-awful hitting performances to Lloyd, but I think at this point you simply have to change something. Anything.

It worked for the Rockies.

Once they fired the manager the team started playing radically better. And I considering that the manager doesn’t swing the bat or throw the ball, it’s strange to play some poorly under one manager and so much better under another.

I think the Rockies team had just gotten complacent. So changing managers shook things up.

Maybe the same thing is happening with the Tigers. They’ve gotten complacent and comfortable. So perhaps a change could do some good.

Overall, I think you are dead on. Amass a few extra picks, and while drafted kids are never a sure thing, the Tigers have a decent enough scouting system to come up with some major league players.

My first question is how much does the hitting coach work with guys between games?

My second question is, are these guys just folding under the pressure of leading the division?

I’m looking at the Red Sox as my comp. Much has been made of Sox ‘mangaing’ its playroll well and not signing huge free agent contracts (although Texiera would have been a huge contract) but what makes the Sox a dangerous organization are the 10+ 2nd round or better draft picks currently in the organization. It’s not that they draft ‘better’ than other its that they draft more. They’ve accumulated these picks by letting aging players leave as free agents and amassing compensation picks.

Now onto my point. Rodney projects as a type A as does Lyon. Washburn and Polanco are – right now – Bs, but that could change for both quite easily. I would think all four of these guys would turn down one-year arb deals for 2 – 3 year deals in market. That would give Tigers 4 extra sandwich picks next draft. In one year, Tigers could completely replenish its system and in two years Tigers would have both top prospects and salary room.

Of those 16, 9 were on the road, 6 of which were against the yankees and the rangers. For whatever reason, this team has been pretty bad on the road. That’s not a good thing, but in context, it’s the same thing we’ve been dealing with all year.

The real concerning thing is the continued inability to score runs. I am really scared about the BAL series because we are facing three rookie pitchers , two of whom we have never faced (and we all know how the Tigers do against starters they haven’t seen before), and one who shut us down in BAL in his major league debut on May 28 of this season. I hate to put any more pressure than what is already on our starters, but they will need to be sharp this week. BAL can score runs, and we probably won’t be able to outslug them this week. I am begging Lloyd McClendon to please…….please……….please…….please…………stress the importance of working the count this week against these cherry BAL starters. We will really do ourselves a disservice if we continue to go after first pitches all night long against these young starters. Please Tigers, take a page from the Yankee playbook and make these guys work. I guarantee we will have offensive success if we are disciplined enough to work the count this week. We need a strong homestand. It is obvious that we just can’t get it done with any consistency on the road (we have now lost 8 consecutive road series), we have to continue to make hay while we are at home. This is a big week. We cannot let a dog team like the Orioles (we do have some nice young pieces to build around) do damge against us if we are serious about winning this division. Leyland needs to manage these games as if they are postseason games because they essentially are just that, due to the fact that there won’t be a postseason if we don’t take advantage of a weak team like BAL at home.

I want no I beg the Tigers to prove me wrong and run off 7 in a row. But the way they are playing right now we will be lucky to go 4-3 at home.