It was nice to see a win for a change. Kinsler smashed a bat Sunday then swung a mean bat Monday, with the under-used James McCann providing the rest of the firepower needed. Alfredo Simon wasn’t good, but he wasn’t a disaster (sell high! well, relatively high), and the bullpen was, dare I say, good.
After the game Kinsler put in his plea to not give up on the season. Chris Iott says it’s a done deal: the Tigers have already decided to unload, regardless of what happens in the next 10 days.
Fangraphs says not so fast: with the current roster the Tigers are projected to be within a game of a wild card spot, and should upgrade the team and not sell.
[Update: via Jason Beck tweet, Tigers have closed their clubhouse for a team meeting.]
[Update 2: Iglesias scratched with “illness.”]
Today’s Grouse ‘Bout Krauss Lineup:
- Ian Kinsler, 2B
- Yoenis Cespedes, LF
- Victor Martinez, DH
- JD Martinez, RF
- Marc Krauss, 1B
- Nick Castellanos, 3B
- Alex Avila, C
Jose Iglesias, SS Andrew Romine- Gose, CF
And…we get Krauss batting 5th again. That’s worse than Avila batting 5th, at least Avila gets some walks. But he’s left-handed, you say.
2015 BA/OPS vs RHP
.143/.468 Marc Krauss
.297/.733 Andrew Romine
.221/.732 Alex Avila
.265/.686 James McCann
Not to mention James McCann had one of the big hits of the game last night. But hey, keep trotting Krauss and Avila out there, eventually it might work. But if you have to have one of them batting 5th, I’d go with the guy with the OPS .264 points higher. But that’s just me.
What will we get from Greene tonite? Dare we hope for a quality start?
Against the Mariners, it’s possible.
As long as he pitches around Babe Zunino.
Ha, ha —–yes!
And wonder how many more starts we get out of Price, before he’s gone?
I think the answer to your original question is looking like a “no.”
Yeah, lefties are eating him for breakfast, lunch & dinner, and their lineup is stacked.
And now —— Babe….
I wouldn’t take Greene out here. Now wear down Hardy & ‘pen.
Yeah, let’s trade Cespedes for some “prospects” ’cause there is no doubt they will be able to step right in and do what he does (just did). Sure, that will work out just fine. Selling is for suckers.
Fasten your seatbelts, it’s the Krol inning.
Yeah, now Rondon. Not that I’m crazy about Krol, ‘cuz I’m definitely not, but this “Bullpen Roulette” sucks. Ausmus will pay for this, I fear.
Whew! Big sigh of “relief”.
And now what? More Rondon in 8th?
(Shudder)…..
Casty lays wood!
Mark Trumbo the slowest guy in the AL..beats out an infield single because the slowest guy on the planet can’t throw him out…oh but wait….Casty cranks one in the bottom of the inning..atta boy.
What is Avila (slow catcher w/bad knees, on base 1x/wk) doing trying to swipe a bag?? Now there’s a guy to trade for prospects or even a used mitt and a 1/2 empty water bottle.
Balk….100%…you cannot fake a step towards first then fake a step to home and then step 2/3 of the way towards home….in fact that was 2 balks…..umpires are clueless with LH pitchers…
Agree. How was that NOT called. Tigers have had a few just like that called against them.
Don’t favor roulette, but Feliz to spell Rondon seems smart at this point.
I take back what I was thinking about Avila, that was a balk.
Ridiculous miss by umps. Isn’t that challengable?
I think you’re right but I’d still make that trade any day: used mitt and 1/2 empty water bottle for Ingevila
Man, this team.
Nice move Ausmus. Brilliant.
DET pitching staff is one hot mess…except for Price
If this wasn’t so sad …..it would be funny!……like how in the world can this keep happening!!!!!
Looks like Felez missed today’s clubhouse meeting.
He may not be invited to the next one.
if this game pans out like it appears to be heading, the only silver-lining in demoralizing loss (#23) is that finally this may prompt DET to ‘sell’ and bring in a haul of some young talent… by shedding some impending FA’s that likely won’t be returning to DET (Price, Cespedes) or won’t (or shouldn’t) be returning to DET (i.e., Soria, Davis, Avila)
if Cabrera can’t return fully healed and healthy, they may also want to consider shutting him down for the year
I seriously don’t understand the “sell” mind set. Just who are these nameless, faceless, statless wonders who will replace proven vets and turn this all around? Players like Cespedes and Price are not in wild abundance hanging from trees ready to be plucked when the prospects fail like so many do. Is it really time to go back to the dark days of say 2003 when we had mostly “prospects” in the line up?? I’d rather see the team miss the playoffs this year (a very high probability), hang on to its talent and sort things out in the off season. My 2 cents.
You raise a good point, but if Price and Cespedes aren’t going to return anyway, which they probably won’t, why not trade them for *something* before they become free agents and sign elsewhere? And if they do trade them, that essentially puts a fork in this season, so why not also trade some other guys like Castellanos, Avila, Davis, and/or Kinsler and start planning for 2016?
I agree that players like Price and Cespedes are not in abundance, but there is a high probability that they both will sign with another team as FA’s – so why not get something of value in return? I totally agree that “prospects” are just that, and many times they don’t pan out, but conversely there are some prospects (rec’d in deadline trades) that turn out to be stars. And i don’t suggest just DET just give Price or Cespedes away for just anybody(s); DET should only make the trade(s) if the offer contains top/legit prospects and/or high upside young players.
Plus, if DET truly wants Price a/o Cespedes back after trading them, they can outbid the teams that will be throwing exorbitant dollar/year contracts at them this off-season.
NOTE: the way Cespedes contract is structured, DET won’t even get a draft pick if/when he signs with another team – while Price signing with another team would give DET a ‘sandwich (draft) pick’.
who in their right mind would let Avila bat with the game on the line……I thought he had a home run there but he swung and missed 3 times…..close!!!
Sell, sell, sell.
And shutting down Cabrera isn’t a bad idea.
Question: Is Justin Verlander the worst starter in the AL since 2014?
Maybe shut JV down also..maybe it will help…can’t hurt!
You can officially put a fork in this team….they are done….7-8-9 innings Tigers must have swung at 20 pitches out of the strike zone when they needed to grind out 2…..besides selling…Fire. Ausmus, Lamont,Jones, Joyner what have any of the four of them done. Oh ya fire the bullpen coach who shall remain nameless. Someone actually gets paid as a bullpen coach on this team!!!