The news of Magglio Ordonez’s prolonged absence is certainly devastating on a number of fronts and only compounded by the loss of Carlos Guillen. Already without Brandon Inge for at least a month the Tigers lost a third of their starting lineup in the last week. It changes the outlook for the trade deadline, and may very well change the look of the 2011 team. It also likely puts a significant dent in Miguel Cabrera’s chances for a triple crown.

Ordonez and Guillen will be replaced on the roster with Wil Rhymes and Jeff Larish while Don Kelly, Ryan Raburn, and Ramon Santiago see increased roles. The lineup is more Toledo than Detroit at this point which is tough on a team that already has heavily reliant on rookies. There is only so much depth.

Buyer of Sellers

The Tigers had some holes to fill, be it starting pitching, a lefty reliever, and a little more consistency and offensive pop at both shortstop and catcher. Filling 1-2 of those holes would likely have kept the Tigers in the race deep into September without dramatically impacting the future fortunes of the team.

However the Tigers holes have doubled, and in a hard to replace way. I still think Scott Sizemore can hit at the big league level and he could slide into Guillen’s spot. The loss of Ordonez though is just too much for this team to overcome given the question marks at other positions. With playoff odds that were essentially split with 3 teams already, the Tigers chances of the postseason just got much longer and it may make sense for the Tigers to flip the switch from buyers to sellers.

The Option

One of the biggest stories last year was whether or not the Tigers should cut Ordonez to avoid his option vesting. They didn’t and the reaped the benefits of his performance this year (and the burden of his paycheck). There is a $15 million option for next season that now will not automatically vest. The Tigers may have $15 million additional to spend next year, or they may pick it up (which would be an overpayment), or perhaps decline the option and sign Ordonez to a more reasonable 2 year deal.

The business move is of course to decline the option. We’ll see if Mike Ilitch feels the same way though, especially given the fact that Ordonez broke the ankle hustling on a play in a game in which maybe he shouldn’t have even been playing.

The decision to send him home

I don’t think you can blame Gene Lamont for sending Ordonez home. It was just a bad situation. I’m not even sure that he broke it on the slide. Given the way he was running I don’t know that he would have been able to put on the brakes at third base anyways without damaging the ankle. It was unfortunate, but not a bad decision.

Cabrera and the triple crown

One of several real bright spots this season was Miguel Cabrera’s pursuit of the Triple Crown. The odds were long on this one as well just because of the shear difficulty of the feat. Ordonez and his .378 OBP will no longer be in front of Cabrera meaning fewer opportunities for RBI and more opportunities for teams to pitch around Cabrera.

It looked like a laugher, but then the jokes stopped getting funny, then the Miguel Cabrera had the last laugh. It’s games like this where I like to let Fangraphs tell the story.

Jeremy Bonderman looked great in the early going. He only needed 38 pitches to get through 4 innings. He pitched his way out of a rocky 5th with minimal damage, so it was quite the surprise to see him unable to finish the 6th and spare the bullpen.

And that bullpen which has been quite good and quite heavily used was vulnerable. Joel Zumaya finished off the 6th inning, but got knocked around for the first time this year. Phil Coke came on and got the first out before Vladimir Guerrero tied things up.

The offense scored early and late. Brandon Inge broke his home run drought in a big way. After sending a ball to the warning track he got angry and went homer-double-homer for a monster night. Ryan Raburn narrowly missed a grand slam and added another double.

But the biggest blast once again came from the biggest hitter. The Rangers inexplicably threw Miguel Cabrera a pitch over the plate in the 9th inning and he put it over the wall to give the Tigers a win that Jose Valverde saved easily.

A 5-6 road trip isn’t great, but it is certainly acceptable. And we get back to 7p start times, and the Minnesota Twins.

The Tigers performance with runners in scoring position of late has caused much consternation and understandably so. Sometime the failures have just been failures, but during this recent stretch a significant portion was just bad luck. It’s only fitting then that Ramon Santiago plated the go-ahead run with an “excuse-me” flop shot to left.

Brian Fuentes and the Angels were 1 strike away from escaping the 9th inning with the game tied when Santiago reached down and somehow lifted the ball into shallow left field. A good jump and secondary lead by Gerald Laird let him reach home just before the tag.

Of course this was all possible by some clutchness by Miguel Cabrera as well who crushed the 9th pitch of his lead-off at-bat to tie the game in the first place. It was also possible because Jeremy Bonderman, Eddie Bonine, and Phil Coke held the Angels scoreless after that 3 run first inning.

Bonderman had no rhythm and limited control in the first inning. But he settled in and went 6 innings and picked up a quality start. He pitched around 2 errors (one of his own) and held the Angels to 4 hits.

Jose Valverde locked it down with a Fernando Rodney (circa 2010) 1-2-3 9th inning.

• It’s a hot button issue, so we’ll mention that the Tigers only stranded 5 and went 2 for 4 with RISP. Three of those LOB occurred when Johnny Damon was called out and then thrown out after a borderline 3rd strike. Don Kelly also lined into a bad luck double play.
• Speaking of Kelly, he did have an error. He also made a nice diving stop. Oh yeah, and he hit his first career homer. It was also the first non-Venezuelan Tigers homer of the year.
• Austin Jackson with 3 more strike outs. This is becoming epic.
• Yes, Gerald Laird was used as a pinch hitter. Yes it worked out. Go figure.

The Tigers offense certainly doesn’t figure to be the team’s strength in 2010.  It also isn’t devoid of talent. The heart of the order is occupied by the team’s Venezuelan contingent. The trio certainly put on an offensive display in the series against the Royals and the health and production of these three are fundamental to the team’s chances this season.

Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez, and Carlos Guillen led the offensive against the Royals. The three combined to go 20-42 and accounted for all 3 of the team’s homers. Two of those homers were by Cabrera in the late innings. The Tigers scored 16 runs and these 3 drove in 10 of them and scored 8 of them. With the exception of Austin Jackson’s and Johnny Damon’s 2 RBI’s, every other run went through Venezuela.

The Tigers shouldn’t expect these 3 to combine to hit nearly .500 all the time, but when the 3 are clicking they should be able to muster enough runs to support what should be at least a decent pitching staff.

The good news for Tigers fans is that according to Jon Paul Morosi a couple of sources say it is unlikely that the Tigers trade Miguel Cabrera this week. Salary relief would of course be nice, but Morosi raises another good point. Trading away a team’s best player likely sends the wrong message to the player you’d like to keep around.

Verlander, who is on the verge of receiving a big raise in salary arbitration, is on track to become a free agent after the 2011 season. If the Tigers trade prominent players such as Granderson and Jackson, they may have a difficult time convincing Verlander to remain in Detroit for the long term.

It’s quite the conundrum for the Tigers. The cash saved by in the future by moving Miguel Cabrera or Curtis Granderson would certainly help with the flexibility to sign Justin Verlander but it would also make the climate less attractive. Verlander will get his money regardless so he’ll be able to look for a favorable situation.

As for what it will take to sign Verlander, we can start by looking at some rumors swirling around Felix Hernandez who like Verlander is 2 years removed from free agency. Ken Rosenthal reports that the two sides are far apart on a long term deal where the starting point was a 4 year $45 million offer.

Hernandez should command more because as good as Verlander has been, King Felix has been better and is 3 years younger. Still, it would take probably $20 million to buy out Verlander’s 2 arbitration years and then $15-18 million per year after that at least.

Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera and starting pitcher Justin Verlander were voted the Tigers’ top positional player and top pitcher of 2009, in a vote conducted by the Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes.

Cabrera and Verlander each received 20 first-place votes. Cabrera had a .942 on-base percentage plus slugging average (OPS), which was good for fifth in the American League. He had a .324 batting average, 34 home runs and 103 RBIs. All four categories led the Tigers. His Ultimate Zone Rating of 2.8 ranked second of all AL first basemen.

Verlander led baseball in strikeouts with 269 and was tied for first in the AL with 19 wins. He had an ERA of 3.45. He led the Tigers in all three categories.

Voting was also conducted in two other categories: breakout player of the year, for the player experiencing his first taste of success in the major leagues; and most improved, for the player who made the biggest step forward from the previous season.

Rookie right-handed starting pitcher Rick Porcello earned 18 of 20 votes for the breakout honors. The 20-year-old completed the season with a 14-9 record, 3.96 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 170 2/3 innings. Also receiving votes were right-handed starting pitcher Edwin Jackson (1) and utility player Ryan Raburn (1).

Verlander was also named comeback player of the year, rebounding from a 2008 season which saw him go 11-17 with a 4.84 ERA and 163 strikeouts. He received 11 of 20  votes in the category. Also receiving votes were right-handed closer Fernando Rodney (3), Raburn (2), Brandon Inge (1), Brandon Lyon (1), Jackson (1) and utility infielder Ramon Santiago (1).

Voting was conducted during the week of Nov. 9-15.

Established in 2005, the Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes now has 21 members who write primarily on the Internet. Its member writers are affiliated with such online organizations as MLive.com (Booth Newspapers), SB Nation, ESPN.com, Freep.com, Bleacher Report, Yardbarker, MVN, Fan Blog and Fan Huddle.

The Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes include:
Bless You Boys — Ian Casselberry
Daily Fungo — Mike McClary
DesigNate Robertson — Scott Rogowski
Detroit Tigers Den — Austin Drake
Detroit Tigers Weblog — Bill Ferris
Eye of the Tigers — J. Ellet Lambie
Fire Jim Leyland — Mike Rogers
It’s Just Sports — Patrick Hayes
Jamie Samuelsen’s Blog — Jamie Samuelsen
Mack Avenue Tigers – Kurt Mensching
MLive’s The Cutoff Man — James Schmehl and Scott Warheit
Old English D — Jennifer Cosey
Roar of the Tigers — Samara Pearstein
Spot Starters — Blake Vande Bunte
Take 75 North – Matt Wallace
Tigers Amateur Analysis – Erin Saelzler
Tigerblog — Brian Borawski
Tiger Geist – John Brunn
Tiger Tales — Lee Panas
Tiger Tracks — John Parent
Where have you gone, Johnny Grubb? –Greg Eno

Dave Dombrowski met with the press today and fielded questions for about an hour. Jaosn Beck, Tom Gage, and John Lowe had it covered. There is enough there to warrant about 6 posts worth of further explanation. But until that happens…

Miguel Cabrera

Dombrowski had a range of emotions about the situation, many were negative, but it wasn’t the first time he’s been in this situation in his 20 years as GM. It’s not surprising that he believes Cabrera will take the necessary steps. As for the question on whether he should have played Saturday night, that gets a little more gray. The response was:

“First of all, you have some legalities that are involved. You probably should know the rules when it comes to the Basic Agreement (the collective-bargaining agreement between the clubs and the players union).

“Secondly, we thought he was capable of going out there and playing.”

I admit to knowing nothing about the rules involved when a player has been drinking and is scheduled to play. I will say the answer was somewhat evasive in that they “thought” he was capable of playing. There was no comment on whether they thought they made the right decision.

Lloyd McClendon

Dombrowski said he was a “very good hitting coach” but he also made no commitment about the coaching staff remaining the same. I still think McClendon is gone. He could very well be a good hitting coach, but the players did not respond to him this year. Whether or not he knows what he’s doing becomes moot if it isn’t being translated to results.

Dombrowski also spoke of changing the team’s approach throughout the organization with regards to plate discipline (like increasing it). Toby Harrah is the minor league hitting coordinator so his job may be at stake as well, but when you’re talking about an organization wide change in philosophy that doesn’t bode well for the incumbent hitting coach. (I have a full McClendon post I’ve been working on for about 2 weeks so there is more coming).

The final likely dagger is probably that Dombrowski said he expects much of the offensive improvement next year to come from within, kind of like the expectation about pitching improvement going into 2009.

Free Agents

Dombrowski didn’t say much except to say he didn’t have a budget yet but that he can’t retain all the free agents. Beck astutely pointed out that Aubrey Huff and Jarrod Washburn are in that pool thought so he didn’t really tip his hand too much about the fates of Placido Polanco, Brandon Lyon, Fernando Rodney, and Adam Everett.

He did say that the team would likely use a rotation at the designated hitter spot which makes sense. No need to pay extra for DH’s when you have a couple on the roster already.

Jim Leyland

Okay, he didn’t say anything about Jim Leyland. But for those who think he should be fired Dombrowski said that he thought this was about an 86 win team. The team won 86 games. So in Dombrowski’s view they didn’t really under perform so I wouldn’t expect Leyland’s demise anytime soon.

Miguel Cabrera had a pretty crappy Friday night, and it just isn’t ending – nor should it. Cabrera screwed up big time and is deserving of the bulk of the criticism that he is receiving today. Whether it was a lapse of judgment or a habitual problem remains to be seen but getting drunk enough to blow a .26 at 6 a.m. on the morning of one of the biggest games in his Tigers career is a huge problem. The problem has since been compounded by errors in judgment by Jim Leyland and Dave Dombrowski.

The Story

Everyone has heard the story by now. Cabrera leaves the Tigers clubhouse after nearly popping out for the cycle on Friday night and finds himself eventually at the Rugby Grille in the Townsend Hotel. It’s a bar he’s been told to avoid by the Tigers after an August 31st incident, yet he’s there with a member(s) of the White Sox.

While there he consumes mass amounts of alcohol. For a 240 lb. man to get his blood alcohol up to .26 would mean something like 22 drinks in a 7 hour period. He eventually stumbles home to a wife who becomes irate when he wakes up the whole house talking loudly on his cell phone. There is an altercation that left his wife Rosangel with an injured lip and Cabrera scratches on the right side of his face and results in a call to 911 at 6:05 a.m.

Police find a broken cell phone and a broken chain and an incoherent and uncooperative Cabrera. They take him to the station for questioning with an interpreter. This is when he blew the .26 which is below the limit for medical intervention.

He is then released to Tigers President, General Manager, and CEO Dave Dombrowski who picks him up between 7:30 and 8 a.m.

The Tigers Response

An average person metabolizes alcohol at .015 per hour meaning it would take about 17 hours to metabolize all the alcohol in Cabrera’s blood. At the time Dombrowski picks him up Cabrera had less than 12 hours until game time and less than 9 hours until he needed to be at the park.

Even if Cabrera metabolized the alcohol quickly and was aided by IV fluids to stave of dehydration, there is no way he would have been in game shape to play on Saturday night. Yet there he was in the starting lineup.

Jim Leyland claimed ignorance on what happened to Cabrera’s face. Trainer Kevin Rand issued a statement through the team denying any knowledge. That Dombrowski and Leyland both knew about the situation and chose to let him take the field in a pennant race absolutely sends the wrong message to the fans, the team, and probably to Cabrera.

What to make of Cabrera’s actions?

I think Cabrera screwed up. I’m disappointed and I feel let down. I don’t know if he’s a bad guy or a guy that made a bad decision. I don’t know if he’s an alcoholic or a guy who got hammered. I frankly don’t care what Cabrera does on his own time – as long as it doesn’t adversely impact the team. If Cabrera was able to compete in his state then I’m much less inclined to react. But the circumstances and the results paint a grim picture.

Athletes have a right to private lives but when the careless decisions made in those private lives impact my favorite team’s ability to compete then I care. This was going out and having drinks and getting in late. This was a complete lack of respect for the fans. I won’t speak for the Tigers and their take on the situation. I don’t know if they are distracted or angry or if they just want to rally around their teammate.

I invest a great deal of time and money and passion in the team. If they fail because they aren’t good or just get beat it is one thing. If they are hungover and exhausted because of a night of idiocy I feel cheated.

There has been a lot of feel good talk about how the team recognizes the economic struggles of the region and that they want to put their best effort forward for the fans. I appreciate players coming out and saying what they’ve said in that regard. I don’t know if that’s the reason for their home record, but I appreciate the sentiment. Yet the franchise player has pissed all over that sentiment.

I have no false pretenses that athletes are all wonderful people and really I care more about what happens on the field than off it. It’s just easier to cheer for the ones who excel in both facets. Fortunately the Tigers by and large seem to be a group of guys that fans can be proud of off the field and on it. Many are involved in the community and in my limited interactions the positives far outweigh the negatives.

If this is immaturity then Cabrera needs to grow up. If this alcoholism then he needs help. In either case Cabrera needs to apologize to the fans. He needs to issue a real apology. To stand up in front of a TV camera and muster some sincerity. A canned statement where he apologizes because his actions have become a distraction is far different than apologizing for his actions and it is hardly sufficient.

Fortunately nobody was severely injured. Neither Cabrera nor his wife suffered long term physical damage. There was nobody hurt in an automobile accident. That’s the good news. Cabrera is a fun player to watch. A guy that looks like he loves playing baseball and he is blessed with incredible talent. The hope is that Cabrera can learn from this and avoid these situations in the future.

Probably not the dog that mauled Miguel Cabrera

Miguel Cabrera had an awful night at the plate on Friday. Miguel Cabrera had an awful night at the plate on Saturday. The difference between the two nights is that his face was cut and bruised on Saturday. This was quite noticeable to the media before the game and it elicited questions from Jon Paul Morosi and other media. The answer that Morosi got was that Cabrera’s dog was the culprit. It is a story that is hard to believe which has just led to more speculation.

The speculation will continue until actual information comes out. Dave Dombrowski acknowledged speaking to Cabrera about the situation but wouldn’t delve into it. Jim Leyland said he hadn’t noticed.

The thing with the secrecy is that it raises suspicions. If it were nothing I’m sure we would have heard about it. I’ve read 4 different rumors (I won’t delve into them here) which all reflect negatively on Cabrera. But unless Cabrera hooked up with Harold and Kumar it would have been impossible to have done all of those things in one night.

But the bigger issue is what information are we the public entitled to? As a fan of the team I would certainly prefer that the players were upstanding citizens and that they performed on the field. At the same time, what they do on their own time is really nobody’s business as long as it isn’t criminal and doesn’t adversely impact the team. Is it really our right to know in any other case?

Professional athletes are public figures (and are compensated handsomely as such) but while that status does come with increased responsibility and exposure it doesn’t mean that their right to privacy is completely abandoned either.

The speculation and potential outrage is enhanced because of Cabrera’s recent struggles. He’s had a couple of bad games. There is no evidence at this point tying scrapes and bruises to a couple of 0′fers.

I understand the media have a job to do so they will keep asking questions. I understand that fans are curious. I understand that tensions are high as the team struggles down the stretch and it’s biggest hitter is nowhere to be found at the plate. But let’s can the speculation and wait to hear actual news.

For more on this, I recommend Mack Avenue Tigers take on the situation.

UPDATE: Cabrera blew a .26 when police responded to the domestic disturbance at 6 a.m. on Saturday morning.

UPDATE: The Detroit News is reporting that Birmingham police were called to Miguel Cabrera’s house early Saturday morning for a domestic disturbance.

Something is amiss with Miguel Cabrera’s left wrist. He hasn’t swung the bat well this week, and there may be a injury related explanation. After a poor at-bat Fox Sports Detroit camera’s zoomed into the dugout and saw Cabrera inspecting and massaging the wrist after removing the tape. He ended up with another at-bat in the game that saw Kevin Rand come out and visit. The at-bat culminated when Cabrera grounded out to short (it was a nifty play by Tony Pena Jr.) and it appeared the didn’t follow through in the way he typically does. Jeff Larish came into the blow-out to play defense in the 9th.

An injured Cabrera would be a tremendous hole in the middle of the lineup. He played through a hamstring injury the early part of last year, but it seems that if he is hurting it would be prudent to give him a couple days to rest up.

I‘m stunned by how much attention this has gotten, but there has been speculation on ESPN that the Tigers will have to look to trade Miguel Cabrera. It started with speculation mentioned by someone on ESPN (I’ve heard it attributed to Gammons/Olney/Kurkjian but I don’t know who actually said it) that if the Tigers are out of contention economic forces would make it necessary to trade Cabrera. Boston was the destination that had been mentioned. Somehow this speculation turned into a rumor. Well, now Dombrowski has come out and said what most in Detroit had been thinking, that the rumors are absurd.

First of all, the Tigers are contending at the moment. And all the experts agree that the Central is going to be a tight division. So even knowing very little there is a good chance that every team in the Central will be contending.

Second, Cabrera isn’t just another superstar. He’s a cornerstone type player who is on a Hall of Fame career trajectory and just entering his prime years. Mike Ilitch and the Tigers can afford to pay him or they wouldn’t have inked him to the contract in the first place.

Third, and I may be reading something into this that isn’t really there, but just because Boston or New York want a player doesn’t mean they will get them.
 
Beck’s Blog: Dombrowski: Cabrera rumors “absurd”

With a disastrous season completed it is time to head into the offseason. Given the gravity of the collapse, you know with the high payroll and the last place-edness, there is probably a tendency to overreact and second-guess. While a deep dive analysis is definitely called for, there is also some inaccuracy being bandied about. With that in mind, some thoughts as we head into what will likely be a tumultuous winter.

Dave Dombrowski did not abandon his philosophy

I’ve heard this one frequently. The common thread is that Dombrowski abandoned his pitching first philosophy in favor of “buiding a slow pitch softball team.” Dombrowski has always believed in stock piling young pitching and using it as the building blocks of a team. Whether that entails using the pitchers on his own team, or trading it to fill needs, he’s always used young pitching.

The Renteria trade was made in large part for defense, not to build a slow pitch slugging softball team. The benefit of Renteria was that he was to be a 2 way player. The problem was that while Renteria was a defensive upgrade, it was a small upgrade (Guillen was -12 in 1074 innings at short in ’07, Renteria was -9 in 1173 innings in ’08 according to Fielding Bible +/-) and his offense was beyond absent the first half of the season. The trade failed, there’s no question, but it wasn’t a change of philosophy.

As for Cabrera, defense was never a part of the issue. It was entirely an offensive move. But it was also an opportunity that doesn’t come along that often. Players like Cabrera don’t grow on trees and to add an elite player at age 25 is largely unheard of. It is the kind of big splash move that Dombrowski has been known for throughout his career.

As for the rest of the staff, they were far worse than could have reasonably been expected. While Willis struggled last year and was trending down, to get nothing from him was unexpected to everyone. Robertson was never a top of the rotation starter, but was the epitome of a solid back of the rotation guy. To compete, along with Kenny Rogers, for worst starter in the league wasn’t part of any reasonable plan. And then there was Verlander adding a run and a half to his ERA. That your entire starting rotation would be injured or significantly underperforming wasn’t part of any plan or strategy and more than could have been mitigated.

The window isn’t closed

I should adjust that and say “the window isn’t closed if Ilitch doesn’t want it to be.” The boss could go all Huizenga and say “cut-cut-cut” but I don’t see that happening. This team was positioned to go for it in both 2008 and 2009. Because 08 was crap doesn’t mean you need to abandon 09 as well. The offense should be good again next year, and it isn’t unreasonable to think that the pitching staff will see some return to non-crapitude next year.

In terms of trading, they’d be selling low on most of the players that fans want to see traded. They could probably get a nice return for Armando Galarraga, Curtis Granderson, and Miguel Cabrera, but who really wants to see them shopped?

Don’t overreact

Everybody wants speed, defense, and starters, and bullpen arms. Some better defense would be nice, but don’t sacrifice offense completely. The Tigers are ready to make that move at third with the Inge pronouncement. It means they can’t afford to do it at both catcher and shortstop.

The bullpen was awful, but 5 years and $75 million to fix it will be money poorly spent. As for starters, is it worth a second round draft pick to sign a Derek Lowe type starter? (it might be if the Tigers can get the draft pick compensation for Renteria)

I’m not saying do nothing. Clearly this team has holes at multiple positions and another starter and a 2-3 new bullpen arms are clearly needed. But I still think, and perhaps this is naive, but good teams can have bad seasons. This team wasn’t as good as we thought going in, and it isn’t as bad as we think right now. I’ll borrow this conclusion from Nate Silver’s piece in Baseball Prospectus ($) and quote sparingly because it is premium content.

Bad years happen to good clubs. The key for the Tigers will simply be not to panic, nor to try and save face with guys like Renteria and Willis whose projections don’t really warrant it. The Tigers need to budget somewhere between $15-$20 million for perhaps three pitchers next year, but with the contracts of Renteria, Todd Jones, Kenny Rogers, and Ivan Rodriguez all coming off the books, they can easily afford to do so without increasing payroll.
…
This has been a frustrating season in Detroit, but hardly a disastrous one in terms of the club’s long-term fortunes. There have been several pleasant surprises this year in Galarraga, Joyce, and Brandon Inge’s smooth transition back to the catcher position*. From top to bottom, the Tigers still rank somewhere in the top ten in the major leagues in terms of their overall talent pool, and they should be on track to return to contention with some relatively common-sense fixes.

*The Inge part was written on August 14th before Inge completely collapsed down the stretch offensively and started allowing a PB per game.

The last 2 games have featured Magglio Ordonez hitting 3rd and Miguel Cabrera hitting clean-up. That’s going to last awhile, like into next season.

I don’t think lineups make a huge difference, but it never felt right having a hitter like Cabrera batting below the clean-up spot. And with Leyland not liking to shuffle guys, it meant having some unusual players hitting 3rd. No disrespect to guys like Marcus Thames or Ryan Raburn, but when you have Ordonez and Cabrera the previously mentioned guys shouldn’t be pushing them down in the order.

As for Leyland’s thought process for the sequencing? It was up to Magglio.

“I told Magglio, ‘You’ve got your choice of where you can hit, third or fourth.’ He took third.”

As I mentioned I’m not a big lineup guy, so this seems like the perfect way to give veterans a say and keep them happy and comfortable.

In the wake of Miguel Cabrera’s 2 homer performance on Tuesday, we learned a little bit about what Cabrera keeps in his locker and it seems to be an eclectic mix.

• He has 3 unopened candy bars. (yeah, yeah, weight jokes, yeah) We don’t know the brands, and I think this is pretty important information.
• Voodoo dolls. This was reported by Curtis Granderson. Not sure if the voodoo dolls are of particular people, or if maybe they are generic and wear certain uniforms on certain days. But I do feel somewhat comforted that Cabrera is channeling his inner Pedro Cerrano.
• And spotted tonight in his postgame interview, there was a bobblehead that I believe to be Curtis Granderson. It’s unclear if this is in fact one of the voodoo dolls.

So Miguel Cabrera slides into the clean-up spot with Magglio Ordonez hitting the disabled list. And promptly gets hurt himself. The diagnosis is hip flexor and the duration is day-to-day.

To add injury to injury, Pudge Rodriguez has spent the entire game grimacing and moving as if he is also in pain. This included a brief visit from trainer Kevin Rand early in the game.

Yeah, the kids have provided a nice lift filling it, but this is taking things to extremes.