63 thoughts on “Game 2010.101: Tigers at Rays”

  1. Good luck today, we’ll need it.

    What’s the take on the Peralta deal? Here’s mine:
    JHONNY PERALTA TO THE RESCUE

    From the Freep article “Jhonny Peralta comes to rescue banged-up Tigers”

    “I was trying to do something [anything] to help our ballclub and do something to stay in this,” Dombrowski said. “We think [hope and pray] this helps our ballclub with a solid big league player. We’ve got a lot of young players. Right now it gives us another veteran in our lineup.
    “”We’re trying [desperate] to make some moves that maybe help us a little bit,” Dombrowski said. “I don’t have anything else right now.”

    “I think it’s a very good move,” Leyland said after the Tigers’ 7-4 loss to the Rays. “I think it sends a good message to the team that we’re going to try to do something.
    “This guy’s a professional hitter,” Leyland said. “He can knock in some runs. We’re taking a shot, but we need to get more veterans in here. We’re taking a shot really.”

    [ ] = my emphasis

    The short version (insert thought bubbles):
    DD: I’m freakin’ out here.
    JL: What a @#$%& joke. We ain’t got $&@#.

    So DD (Desperate Dave) trades some good looking (admittedly low minors) talent for a two month rental of a guy having his worst year. Sound familiar? I hate it when they come out with the “we have to try to do something” argument – it is practically guaranteed to turn out badly.

    A possible upside is that it gives the Tigers some flexibility for NEXT year IF they decide to keep Peralta around ($7M option) – he can play SS or move to 3B if Inge goes. But to claim he is going o make a difference THIS year is either dilusion or just bs. The fact is that by the time they get ENOUGH veterans back in the lineup they will be too far out of it for it to matter.

    1. So let’s sit back and enjoy the ride. Yeah, Pollyanna here. Rose glasses and all.

      I’ll be eating hot dogs and drinking beer at Comerica on Tuesday at the day game of the doubleheader. It was an whole different season when I bought the tickets, but it’ll still be fun.

      Any thoughts on probable pitchers for Tuesday? Porcello?

      1. Have a great time, Linda. Like Rod and Mario said, the Tigers need all the support they can get from the fans. Unless it’s a total whupping, it will still be fun, especially if the weather’s good.

    1. I’m surprised. The trade for Peralta sends the message that the Tigers are still going to compete for a playoff spot, yet sending down Sizemore so Will Rhymes can continue to audition in the big leagues sends the opposite message. Unless the Tigers have changed their view on Rhymes and Sizemore, thinking Rhymes has more big league potential than Sizemore. If so, I think its a little premature to make that conclusion. Sizemore has struggled all year long but I still think he can be a productive 2B in the majors.

      1. It’s really a mess. The best option for us is to trade and sell off as many players as possible before the deadline and try to get any head start possible towards the future which has been bleeding dry for so long. This team has really done a number on me with their prolonged disappointment; so frustrating to watch this and not be able to do anything about it. I’m gonna write them a letter. .

  2. Vince in MN, spot on.

    I don’t think the deal wins us the division, but I think it’s a fantastic job of patching one gaping hole.

    1. I could be wrong, but I think Vince in MN is arguing that getting Perralta is a lame move!

      1. Not necessarily a lame move, but I am not convinced it is a fantastic move. Sure he fills a need on the left side of the infield. The fact is however, that last year was the worst of his career and he is performing below that level this year. Will he magically turn it around now that he is a Henger and return to the Peralta with “pop in his bat” that he was a few years ago? Well, perhaps, but more likely not. Perhaps I just cynically see a RH batting ’09 Aubrey Huff situation here. In addition, he has a $7M option for next year, which I find really hard to imagine the Tigers will pick up, and I am not convinced he is even worth arbi, which in effect makes him a 60-game rental (although for cheap I understand). He looks like a temporary placeholder to me. Hope I am wrong.

        In the meantime, with all the roster shuffling going on it looks like almost everybody on the Toledo/Erie rosters is going to get a shot as we head towards the end of the season. What the hey, give ’em all 10 or 11 ABs ala Jeff Larish, and if one or two of them manages to actually reach base 4 or 5 times, Deleriously Desperate Dave Dombrowski (DDDD) and Jim “Toady” Leyland can proclaim victory and go into the winter with a solid core of young “can’t miss” position players (good pitch for season ticket sales which will definitely need a boost).

        OK, that was a little over the top, but you have to admit that the situation is a bloody mess.

        1. If Peralta was having a real good year, he probably wouldn’t even be available to us. I think we got lucky to get him for what we gave up, even if he’s only here for the rest of the season.

          If you think back to how DD built this team, this isn’t much different than how we got Carlos Guillen. He never amounted to much when he was with Seattle, but he came here as a huge long shot, and turned out to be a very good player for us. He got Carlos when he was 28 years old the same age that Peralta is.

            1. Advantage Mr. X there. Carlos’s #s were pretty pedestrian before coming to Detroit:
              http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/guillca01.shtml

              The deal that brought him to the Tigers may be the most one-sided of DDs trades – we gave up Ramon Santiago for him and then got Ramon back as a free agent later on. Basically we got Guillen for free. DD’s other great deal was getting Cabrera of course, but the Willis part of it actually hurt the club (IMO) and cost a lot of money to boot ($48M(?) to Dontrelle – PU).

            2. If Guillen was a stud in Seattle, then why did they trade him to us for practically nothing?

          1. Well, we’ll see. Basically, although he is an upgrade on the left side, I don’t see him providing a major impact right now. So the “rescue us into the div. championship” argument doesn’t work for me. If we are rebuilding (my preference), do we want to pay him $7M next year? Is he worth that to play 3B or SS? I see Renteria II potential there, but it could turn out better than that.

            For sure he is a cheap fill-in for the next 60 games and I’m fine with that I guess if we are just playing out the string and are attempting to avoid complete embarrassment. I just don’t se a hint of a plan here, but maybe it will become clearer later. With all the roster moves in the last couple of weeks (at all levels) I get more of an impression of hysteria than anyting else.

            1. I figure they buyout the option year ($250k), then resign him on a 2-3 year deal for about $4-5 Million a year. That’s similar to what we gave Guillen in 2005 (3 years / $14 M), which turned out to be a great bargain.

              1. Sorry Mr. X, Peralta sucks. At best of times, he is average. He is not a cog on a a contender. Just because he’s now a Tiger doesn’t mean he has an upside. He is a decent player for a bad team like the Royals.

            2. I was hoping they would go for Drew who I think has more upside. Maybe the thinking is that if Inge comes back, Peralta stays at SS, and if Inge goes, they can get either a 3B or a SS and Peralta plays the remaining position. I’m just that enamored with Jhonny I guess. I mean, c’mon, the guy can’t even spell his own name right.

  3. I basically agree. This deal doesn’t win us the division, but it should make us better off than we were. We should have had him the whole year, and maybe we could have won a few more games.

    I have decided I will just have fun watching the Tigers from here on out, and not focus on the division, as I don’t think it is realistic.

    1. That is definitely the best mindset to have when watching the Tigers the rest of the year or else you’ll just end up disappointed.

      1. Helps that Cliff Lee has three different fastballs.
        Price – 25 pitches, 25 fastballs through 2

          1. The Rays are taunting us today. Look at their lineup – they are basically saying “our AAA team can beat your AAA team”, and they are succeeding.

  4. I know that our RISP/ R3 #’s are about average, but the Ks in situations where contact scores a run have been unbearable as of late.

  5. 40 pitches, 40 fastballs through 3 innings for Price. Wonder how long he can keep this up for

    1. Fastballs are actually easier on the arm than breaking pitches, so maybe he gets a complete game this way, especially since the “kids” probably can’t catch up to the fastball.

  6. Price is in a groove. Somebody needs to step out of the box or do something to slow things down.

  7. I think I will have to take a breather from the Hengers for awhile. I’ll still check the boxscores and comments (especially here) on a regular basis, to find out what some of the players did individually (Cabreara, Jackson, Boesch, and Laird ) and who won (maybe) or lost (probably), but I’m having a real hard time rationalizing spending 3 hours a day watching this particular aggregate of “players” “perform”. I mean, I could be mowing the lawn or watching paint dry (I have a few home repair projects on tap) – constructively “trying to do something” in other words.

    Well, maybe once in a while on a rainy day.

      1. I intend to stick around and watch as many games as I can. I love me some Tigers (even if they are infuriarating at times).

        Don’t overlook Porcello’s performance in today’s game – very solid (really, 3 well pitched games for us in this series, we just can’t get any big hits).

    1. Wake up DD, you have just a little more than 48 hours to dump some salary, which at this point is the only thing you have to lose.

  8. Maybe Will Rhymes and Danny Worth will turn out to be our very own versions of the Twinkies “pirhanas” of a couple of years past. Take that Minnesota – we have two Nick Puntos.

  9. Our Bats need to go in the oven, we have had some great chances,,,,,,,,, but not cashed in. Boesch could have come up with a hit there, and did in the first half of the year. I say play the kids, forget the trades and stock up next year on FAs. I guess Jhonny Ghives us choices with Inge next year but the bats seem to be similar and Inge (with out looking) is a better 3rd baseman to me. Jhonny is a little Phat and if you cant hit in your position you darn well better to be able to field it, so I say keep Inge for reasonable dollars or get Brooks Robinson 😉

    Im on vacation for a few days so hanging out and doing honey do stuff is awesome with the Tigers game on.

    Cheers to all of you,

    Steve

  10. Guys 500 on the road and we are way ahead, instead we are fading fast. Well Lets hope we pull it together and make a run. Remember we could be Royals or Pirates fans

  11. Personally, I’m having fun watching how good Tampa Bay plays.
    They don’t have all-star talent at every position, and don’t have a great slugger like Cabrera in their line-up , but they beat you down and keep you down. They have great pitching, but really they have no big name, big money, pitchers. Their highest paid pitcher is their closer, Soriano.
    I’m looking at TB because somebody has got to prevent the Yankees from going to the World Series again and I don’t think that team is coming from the central division. Other than the Tigers, I’ll be rooting for TB from here on out.

    We got Boston next. I think we’ll win a few there.

          1. I’m not trying to argue, but they have a great team and most of their players are more well-known than our Tigers and they do it on the cheap with very few fans.

            1. They do have a great team, but their most recognizable face is Joe Maddon, their manager.

  12. stephen- Peralta sucks? What’s your idea of average? At his worst he is about average, but at his best he’s one of the most productive players on the left side of the infield.

    From 2005 to 2008 while playing Shortstop, he averaged .273 Avg, .339 OBP, .789 OPS, 20 HR’s, 89 runs, 76 RBI’s per season. With those numbers, he’d be an average Right Fielder, but for a SS that is awesome.

    Since 2009, while moving to 3B and seeing his team dismantled in front of him, his numbers have slipped quite a bit, but he’s still hitting . 251 Avg, .319 OBP, .698 OPS . That’s about what Inge does at his best. Since last year, Inge has . 241 Avg. , .324 OBP, and .733 OPS.

    When Peralta moves to SS as planned when Inge comes back, he’ll be a huge upgrade over what Adam Everett/Worth/Santiago have done offensively over the past few years. If Peralta hits again like he did before, then we’ll have a much improved line-up when Guillen and Inge come back.

    1. Guillen could be back on August 10th. It’s just a strained hammy and he said it already loosened up.
      Inge could be back at around August 17th. It’s just his left pinky that’s broken.

      1. Mr X, what exactly are we celebrating?
        Guillen has been paid $35 million over the last three years for 125 rbi’s. Let’s give him 15 more for the season before he gets hurts for the eighth time while playing his fifth position. That will average out to 250 grand an RBI. He’s going to make 13 m next year which is easily the worst contract in the American League.
        Brandon Inge is about to break the Tigers all-time strikeout record in half the at-bats of Lou Whitaker. He’s on pace to hit 9 home runs.
        Come to think of it, Jhonny fits in well with these guys.
        The problem is the Tigers simply don’t have enough good players. Inge, Guillen, and Peralta are all good 250 ab a season bench players for championship teams. Playing every day they either suck or break down. Seriously, the Tigers have made the playoffs exactly once in the past 23 years. Lets stop celebrating mediocrity.

        1. You just don’t get it, do you? If I brought an Entenmann’s Coffee Cake to work, you’d be the guy who complains that they’re not as good as fresh Crispy Cremes, but you’ll eat a piece of cake anyway. Whatever.

          1. Mr. X, the better analogy is this: I want a steak and you keep replacing McDonald’s with Burger King and telling me its steak because its flame-broiled.

    2. Mr X, if he plays shortstop he’s an upgrade over Everett, but he has an OPS+ of 86 and 92 the last two seasons. A .698 OPS even for a shortstop isn’t great. Jhonny is basically a decent #8 or #9 hitter, but you know with the Tigers he’ll be batting much higher.

      1. I want to see him bat 2nd so that we can have a Jhonny followed by a Johnny in the lineup.

      2. I don’t know if this argument is air-tight, but somebody over in the Fangraphs comments mentioned that trading for Peralta allows the Tigers to avoid overexposing all these prospects and keep them developing in the minors where they belong, while fielding a team that’s somewhat viable in terms of competitive integrity. I’m not defending DD’s entire CV, but in light of that idea, this move makes more sense.

        1. I’m not sure what they mean by “all these prospects”. If they are talking about SS and 3B prospects, we don’t have any, at least above GCL and Connecticut.

  13. I’m not celebrating mediocrity, but I think Peralta is a good emergency measure at a good price.

    I don’t want to see anybody with great potential traded away, but DD should be able to pick up a cheap catcher who can hit OK. Time to release Laird.

    Those two moves certainly improve the team.

  14. After the Tigers finish with Boston (or visa-versa), they have 17 games in 17 days against: white sox, angels, rays, white sox and yankees… OK now for some good news… hmmm….. ummmm…. ok, the best i could come up with is that they have 14 games left against the white sox, so IF (note the big ‘if’) the Tigers could win 9 or 10 of those against the sox… the twinkies would likely back into the playoffs again… and shortly thereafter get bounced out in 3 or 4 against the yankees.

Comments are closed.