As a long time Tiger fan I spent many a night listening to the Tigers on the radio while growing up. Those of you who read my interview with Ernie Harwell, know my affection for the old time Tiger broadcasters. That other broadcaster who was with Ernie Harwell for so long was Paul Carey, and wouldn’t it be great to see him in the Hall of Fame as well? Throughout the month of November you can vote for broadcasters to be placed on the final ballot for the 2006 Ford C Frick award. I’d love to see Carey get in and I encourage all long time Tiger fans to go vote for Paul.
AJ Burnett
This falls under the category of not surprising, but the Tigers have contacted Burnett’s agent, Darek Braunecker. At least according to this article some interest may have waned with the September shenanigans, but the Tigers are listed alongside the Rangers, Mariners, and Blue Jays as teams who are still interested. Of course any agent worth his salt would keep as many teams in play for as long as possible. As for my thoughts on Burnett, I’ll get into that in a seperate post (basically I’m still doing my research).
2006 Projections
Last week Tiger Tales posted the projections from the Bill James book (aff link). Today, commenter Walewander (awesome name) pointed out that Baseball Think Factory has posted their ZiPS projections. I won’t copy their work here, but I will recommend you check out the projections for Shelton, Pudge, Verlander, and Zumaya. Shelton looks very promising, and Pudge projects to decent production. ZiPS thinks Verlander will be a stud. Zumaya on the other hand looks to struggle like a first time starter – but that wouldn’t be bad production given his age. Take the projections for what they are – educated guesses (albeit with some pretty good math behind them).
BA’s Top 20
Jim Callis posted his top 20 long term prospects. Justin Verlander was the lone Tiger rating number 11, which is probably fair. The nice thing is that you could make a legitimate argument that a second Tiger prospect could have been included. Things are looking up in the minors.
Thanks for the shout-out, Bill! Thought’d I’d share some Burnett news from North of the border. Jays have told AJ that they won’t be outbid for him (seems a dumb negotiationg strategy), and it would reunite Burnett with his friend and mentor, pitching coach Brad Arnsberg. However, AJ’s wife wants to be near their home in VA (hates to fly), and thus the Os are considered frontrunners. I still don’t want him. Give me 2 years of Millwood and a bat or two, and I’d be ecstatic.
No problem. I want to get the comments more involved, and make the site as interactive as possible. I’m still struggling with an efficient way to do that given my current configuration.
Thanks for the additional news. I’d love to get Burnett or Millwood for 2 years, with an emphasis on 2 years. I’m just tired of the Tigers having to go 4+ years on every free agent. That’s one reason I didn’t mind the Jason Johnson signing after 2003. It was short, and he ate 400 innings for $7 million at about league average production. As much as people want Johnson gone, and he will be, that wasn’t a bad trade off.
I would love to get Millwood. It’d be nice to add someone that consistant to the pitching staff. We’d be getting someone who has been relatively injury-free throughout his whole career. Coming off the second best season of his career, I’m not sure how cheap he would be. If the Tigers are going to throw a lot of money at any one pitcher, I hope it’s him though.
Paul Carey is the best! He’s always been overshadowed by Ernie, but as a kid, I liked listening to him even more than the great Harwell. He truly was a fantastic broadcastser and it would be nice to see him get his due.
Paul Carey is truly a class act.My family & I met Paul and his Wife back in September while on vacation in Mackinaw City at the Admiral’s Table restaurant.
Yes I agree that Paul Carey’s road should pass though Cooperstown. I loved listening to Paul just as much as Ernie like the other commenters.
Thanks for the link to the balloting.