Comments on: Tigers acquire Aubrey Huff

By: Jerry the Tiger Fan

Jerry the Tiger Fan — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 04:59:01 +0000

Isn’t Sean Casey?? I hope not. If he’s Sean Casey then we’ve whiffed on this deal. We don’t need a singles hitting punch and judy hitter like Casey. That being said, he has far more power than Casey and that is what we need from a left-handed bat right now, especially with a reachable RF fence at Comerica. Plus he gives our batting order some lefty-righty balance. Our lineup is way to right-centric, if you know what I mean.

By: billfer

billfer — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:51:50 +0000

Because I don’t think another team would give up a first round pick to sign him, meaning he wouldn’t get a better deal on the open market. It’s the Edgar Renteria situation.

By: anaaki

anaaki — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:28:50 +0000

I can agree with that. I never wanted him at third. I think Miguel should be hitting there. Carlos wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

By: Keith (Mr. X)

Keith (Mr. X) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:10:29 +0000

I knew there was a catch. I’ll pass. I think I’m better off here in Detroit where at least I know most of the homeless people that sleep at White Castle.

By: RPS

RPS — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:58:25 +0000

I think the last part of it is the big one. Huff is a slight improvement over the guys he’ll replace, more if he starts hitting again (which isn’t impossible), but is primarily a discount way to take another 10 games or so away from Maggs. Right now, the difference between 22 and 30 starts for Maggs is about 15 million dollars. Huff is just the sort of credible veteran that lets the Tigers get away with it.

By: Mark in Chicago

Mark in Chicago — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:15:32 +0000

It got way worse – in the 8th he bobbled a single that let Rios score the winning run easily when he absolutely had a shot at him at the plate.

He’s awful.

By: Andre in Chi

Andre in Chi — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:28:45 +0000

Watch out for those anti-whale-hunting hippies!

By: Stephen

Stephen — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:23:54 +0000

Mr. X, you make a fair to strong case. I’ll book you and your family on a fourth class steerage to Auckland on a Japanese Whaler. You will have to fillet fish 14 hours a day and the boat will be making unscheduled stops in The Bering Strait, a Manila seaside house of ill repute, and a New Guinea pygmy farm. But the company isn’t so bad. And you can watch the Japanese Industrial League on satellite.
You leave tomorrow.

By: Mark in Chicago

Mark in Chicago — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:14:30 +0000

billfer,

I’m curious on your thinking why Huff would accept an arbitration offer as a Type A. You know more about that stuff than I do, I just figured that since he’s only 32 he’d be looking for one more long-term contract somewhere. Is it because he’s had a so-so year and wants to try and increase the payday with a solid season? Is it because of the general state of the economy?

By: scotsw

scotsw — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:39:57 +0000

I think the comparison with Larish is excellent. Larish has a lot of power potential, but he doesn’t get the bat on the ball often enough. He’s prone to big slumps, and needs to put things together now.

Huff isn’t Barry Bonds, or even Sean Casey. But this year he’s having an off-year, and still looks like an average-quality MLB hitter. So there’s a chance he gets hot and becomes a plus bat for Detroit. Or maybe he ends up adding some mediocrity to the other side of the plate. Low-risk.

By: Mark L

Mark L — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:24:52 +0000

Someone here was saying recently that he wishes Larish and Raburn could be combined into one player. I think we’ve found him. Just older and a lot more expensive.
I like this pick-up. We badly needed the left-handed bat, and I like his versatility. I think he should play in left some, at least until Guillen is ready to take the field, and he should give Inge a break every week or so until his knee heals.
Whoever goes down to Toledo, it will only be until September 1. So let’s look at what we need between now and then.

By: billfer

billfer — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:12:08 +0000

I think the math is fine but not the assumptions on how he’ll be used. He wasn’t an awful third baseman and I think he gets a start a week there spelling Inge and probably doing it better than Raburn was doing it. He also assumes he’ll play first/dh which I actually doubt he’ll do much of. And I think he also helps limits Maggs at-bats.

By: Coleman

Coleman — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:44:06 +0000

I hope they pick the right game to score it in.

By: Keith (Mr. X)

Keith (Mr. X) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:38:43 +0000

What’s wrong with 14-15? 10 of them games were on the road vs playoff caliber teams. (NY, Boston, and Texas)

Why don’t you try looking at a few of the other teams for a change? You should at least attempt to compare the Tigers to other clubs.

The Red Sox are 12-16 since the AS break.
The White Sox are 15-15 since the AS break.
The Twins are 11-18 since the AS break.

Hard to believe I have to explain this to you, but for a New Zealand vacation I will. Hitting is just a small sample of the game my friend.

The average hitter is going to be successful at getting on base only about 34% of the time. So 66% of the time that player will make an out.
In a nutshell,
17% of the game is getting on base.
33% is making outs.
The other 50% of the game is playing defense and running.

That’s catching the ball, throwing the ball, and running the bases. The Fundamentals. Those are things that Inge, Everett, and Laird excel at. Those are the things we didn’t have last season and why we were in last place. Team effort is what helps our pitching and gets us more wins.

What’s also nice about the Tigers right now is that our offense is finally coming around. Polanco, Ordonez, Cabrera, Guillen, and Avila have been mashing the ball the lately. Check their splits for August and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Let’s hope Granderson gets it going too.

I won’t be able to go to New Zealand until the end of the year.

By: Jeff Molby

Jeff Molby — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:17:03 +0000

August 31st is still a couple weeks away, Rich. He’s eligible.