Tag Archives: daniel schlereth

Seay, Miner hit the DL

The Tigers trimmed their roster down to 32 this morning with a couple of disabled list moves and other cuts. Most notable was the placement of Bobby Seay and Zach Miner on the 15 day disabled list.

Seay has been traveling from doctor to doctor in search of a diagnosis on his balky left arm (UPDATE: It’s a torn rotator cuff. There’s more info at the bottom of the post). Miner’s malady seems less dire but he won’t be ready for the beginning of the season. The moves do open up two spots on the active roster.

Miner’s long relief role could be the destination for the loser of the Nate Robertson-Dontrelle Willis-Jeremy Bonderman battle (assuming Robertson doesn’t get traded). Right handed reliever Robbie Weinhardt also remains in camp meaning he still has a shot. On the left side of things it would see to boost Brad Thomas’ chances of heading to Kansas City for the opener.

Daniel Schlereth, one of the lefties looking for a spot in the pen, was among those cut today. Scherleth was optioned along with Wilkin Ramirez to Toledo. Enrique Gonzalez, Phil Dumatrait, and Max St. Pierre were sent to minor league camp.

UPDATE: The injury to Bobby Seay is a torn rotator cuff. The plan is for Seay to try and rehab the injury and avoid surgery if at all possible. While the Tigers have other lefty options, it really is a blow to Seay who is a free agent after this year and will likely have his open market value severely hampered due to the injury.

Tigers relief notes

With the deals for LaTroy Hawkins and Brandon Lyon it appears that the market for “back end of the bullpen pitchers who could potentially set-up or close” may be getting steep for the Tigers. And with that the club may turn to in house options.

Jason Beck spoke with Dave Dombrowski who said that a return of Fernando Rodney is unlikely calling it a “long shot.” More frightening though is that the team is viewing Joel Zumaya as a legitimate option for the closer role.

I’m on board with not sinking a lot of money into a bullpen. I think the Tigers have done a good job the last few years of mixing young guys, minor league free agents, and fringy closer material guys together the last few years. It’s a quantity over quality approach where you hope enough guys make it work each year.

But going into a season with Zumaya competing for the role of closer is a ridiculous gamble and yet another reason to question the clubs intention to compete in 2010. In 2006 Zumaya was incredible. He hasn’t been healthy or effective since then. The velocity is certainly still there, but the results haven’t been for too long to “count on him.”

Ryan Perry and the newly acquired Daniel Schlereth would like be competing for such a role as well so all the eggs aren’t in Zumaya’s incredibly fragile basket. Still, those other options are particularly assuring at this point in their career either.

Winter Meetings Day 4

The last day of a very active winter meetings for Tigers fans is upon us. A look at what took place yesterday and what may take place today follows.

This should be old hat by now, but here are all the ways to keep up with the Winter Meetings at DTW.

More notes on the trade

UPDATE 7:30 PM: Freddy Dolsi and Dusty Ryan were designated for assignment. I’m surprised by both moves with other seemingly expendable players on the 40 man roster…Jason Beck spoke with Gerald Laird and got his take…Beck also spoke with Dombrowski and Phil Coke’s role has been left open…Danny Knobler sees the Tigers as potentially big spenders after this season.

UPDATE: 4:50 PM: The press conference just ended Dave Dombrowski fielded most of the questions. Here are the notes:

  • Dombrowski: team needed to make adjustments. Wanted to get a young starter and a young centerfielder to start. Team is trying to stay competitive and set themselves up for the future.
  • On Schlereth: He was a player the team considered drafting in 2008. For the Diamondbacks to include him, they were going to need a second arm which brought in the Yankees.
  • On Austin Jackson: they are counting on Jackson to make the big league club. They have been scouting him for a while. “Jim Leyland breaks in young players as well as anybody.”
  • Cashman on Granderson: After speaking about how hard it was to give up the young players that they did he went on to say he’s a premiere player and an exceptional character guy. He can step in right away as an established player which was important with potential departure of Damon and Matsui
  • Dombrowski on trading Granderson and his popularity: It’s difficult and he told Granderson it was one of the more difficult calls he’s made in his career. Granderson has meant a lot to the franchise, the city, and the state but it is a business decision. He’s a unique individual. Hope is that they have acquired more players that the fans will learn to love.

UPDATE: 4:08 PM: Now pretty much every writer says its official and the presser comes at 4:30. Also John Lowe has a story on Leyland’s media session this afternoon and his concerns about the youth of the team and the right handedness of the lineup.

UPDATE 3:35 PM: Joel Sherman just tweeted that the trade is official. Expect press releases and a news conference very shortly.

UPDATE: 2:10 It sounds as if Jim Leyland is holding court with some reporters at the moment. Kevin ‘Duk Kaduk of Big League Stew (@bigleaguestew) has been tweeting the notes. Leyland is frustrated to be talking about players he used to have and is worried his lineup is too right handed. Sounds like a familiar refrain.

It looks like there will be plenty of news, notes, and opinion on the trade that will come out today – along with a formal announcement and quotes galore. I’ll use this post to try and capture some of the more salient information.

As of 11:15 AM what’s being reported is:

What the Tigers got

As unpleasant as giving up Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson is, the Tigers did manage to net themselves a handful of players who will be able to help in 2010. For the most part these aren’t prospects where fans need to hope that they pan out. The Tigers added a starting pitcher, 2 bullpen arms, and hopefully a centerfielder for the near future.

Max Scherzer

Max Scherzer is headliner of the group and he will take over Edwin Jackson’s spot in the rotation. Scherzer is a year younger than Jackson, but with only a year and a half of service time he won’t reach free agency until the 2015 season. The righty was Arizona’s top pick in the 2006 draft.

In 2009 Scherzer fanned better than a batter an inning and his 3.87 FIP was impressive. He’s a fastball (94ish), slider (84ish), change-up pitcher (85ish). Even if ‘09 was a breakout year for Jackson, Scherzer’s year was better.

Plus Scherzer is sabermetrically inclined so that should be fun.

Scherzer image credit: tunnelarmr on Flickr Continue reading What the Tigers got