The Detroit Tiger Weblog

Author: billfer

  • What to do about…Jamie Walker?

    UPDATE: Walker is now an Oriole pending a physical. The deal is $11.5 million over 3 years. Congrats Jamie and best of luck with the O’s.

    Jamie Walker is the Tiger free agent who I’d most like to see back. The lefty reliever is coming off his best season where he posted an ERA of 2.81 over 56 appearances. He fanned 6.9/9IP which is pretty respectable for a finesse pitcher. The real strength of Walker comes in his control. For his career he only walks 2.2/9 but in 2006 he only allowed 8 walks in 48 innings (1.5BB/9). (more…)

  • Verlander ROY

    Justin Verlander handily won the American League Rookie of the Year award taking 26 of 28 first place votes. He’s the first Tiger to win the award wince Sweet Lou Whitaker in 1978.

  • Tigers acquire Gary Sheffield

    The Tigers have traded Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan, and Anthony Claggett to the Yankees for Gary Sheffield. The Tigers and Sheffield have also agreed on a 2 year contract extension.

    Humberto Sanchez was probably the 3rd best prospect in the Tigers system behind Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller. Last year he put together his most complete season between Erie and Toledo, but once again it was sidetracked by injury. He fanned almost 3 hitters for every walk and allowed only 4 homers in 123 innings.

    Kevin Whelan was drafted in 2005 with thoughts of becoming the Tigers future closer. He was pretty successful last year at Lakeland saving 27 games and fanning 69 in 54 innings. With Joel Zumaya moving to the bullpen for looks like forever, Whelan didn’t look to be counted on as a piece of the puzzle.

    Anthony Claggett was very good for the West Michigan Whitecaps last year with a 0.91 ERA while striking out a batter an inning and only allowing 35 hits.

    Meanwhile, the Tigers get perennial All Star outfielder Gary Sheffield. Sheffield will be 38 and is a career 297/398/525 hitter. He definitely fits the bill as the big bat the Tigers were looking for, except for the right handed part. The Tigers lineup is instantly better and with the 2 year extension, Ilitch and Dombrowski look to be making an effort to make the most of this 2-3 year window with Ordonez/Pudge/Guillen.

    So the Yankees get a major league ready prospect and a couple other guys who look to have value. The Tigers get the big bat they needed while keeping their team intact. It is a little more than I would have liked to see the Tigers give up for Sheffield given his age, but it isn’t unreasonable. Given the fact that Sheffield got the contract extension he wanted it should help to keep him a happy camper.

    Last year the Tigers got 258/309/460 production from the DH spot which was middle of the pack. It produced 81 RC. Sheffield’s RC the last 4 years are: 145/119/112/24. So the upgrade is pretty clear and dramatic. This is a good move for the Tigers in that it helps them in the short term without killing them long term. While I don’t know the details of the contract, I know it only extends out 3 years. If it helps the team maintain its status as a playoff team, the dollars will easily take care of themselves. The attitude issues are out there, but Sheffield sounds thrilled to be coming to Detroit. The fact that All Stars are ecstatic to be coming to Detroit speaks volumes about how far the Tigers have come.

    Some nuggets from the conference call:

    Jim Leyland – “I can’t tell you how happy we are.” … “I’m thrilled to death. It’s a great acquisition for us”

    Gary Sheffield – “I’m more than happy to be united with guys I’m familiar with.” Sheffield also said he was ecstatic to be back with Jim Leyland and Dave Dombrowski.

    According to Leyland, and he spoke with Sheffield prior to the deal, he will be mainly a DH with some playing time in right field. Leyland also said there are no plans to play him at first base.

    The names involved in the trade were agreed to on Tuesday and they had 72 hours to work out the contract extension. There was a verbal agreement Thursday night and the deal was formalized after a physical Friday morning.

    On being a DH Sheffield said: “I’m all for that. I thank Mr Leyland because he prolonged my career even moreso. I’m more than willing to do it, especially with a team that has been in the World Series.”

    Dombrowski on other needs: He said this was the big bat they were looking for, but they are still looking for a first baseman.

  • Lloyd McClendon to be hitting coach

    Jim Leyland has decided to move Lloyd McClendon in to the hitting coach vacancy that was created when Don Slaught resigned. McClendon of course served as bullpen coach last year and spent 4 years as the Pirates hitting coach.

    Jeff Jones will be promoted from Toledo to assume the role of bullpen coach. Jones had considerable success working with Wil Ledezma and Zach Miner last year. This will be his 5th stint as Tigers bullpen coach.

    Britt Burns will be promoted from A Lakeland to take Jones spot in Toledo and former Tiger Joe Coleman will assume pitching coach duties in Lakeland.

  • Offseason Goodness

    There are very few good things about the end of the baseball season. One of those things is The Bill James Handbook (aff link). This is my third year getting the book, and this appears to be the best of the group.

    If you’ve picked up the book in the past, you’ll find many of the same elements including:

    • Player stats
    • Manger record – Jim Leyland used 120 different lineups and pitched out 9 times.
    • Baserunning stats – did you know that Pudge was on first base 6 times when a double was hit, and he scored all 6 times? (Curtis Granderson was 6 for 7)
    • Park effects –

    The new stuff for this year includes the Fielding Bible Awards and the +/- leaders from the methodology used in last year’s Fielding Bible. There is also a section on Manufactured Runs (the Tigers were dead last).

    The new sections I’ve only skimmed because the first thing I do when I tear open the book is head to the leader boards where you find stuff that doesn’t show up in the Sunday paper. Here are just a couple of Tiger tidbits:

    • The Tigers had 4 of the top 10 pitchers in the AL in left handers batting average against – and Jamie Walker wasn’t one of them. Nate Robertson and Joel Zumaya ranked 1-2 while Kenny Rogers was 8th and Fernando Rodney was 10th
    • Carlos Guillen was 2nd among shortstops on the pivot and Placido Polanco was 5th amongst second basemen. Given that it shouldn’t be a surprise that Nate Robertson and Kenny Rogers ranked 4th and 5th in the AL in GIDPs induced.
    • Joel Zumaya led the AL with 233 pitches clocked over 100mph. Kyle Farnsworth was 2nd…with 26. What’s even more impressive is that he threw 884 pitches faster than 95mph which is 4th behind starters Josh Beckett, Justin Verlander, and Felix Hernandez.
    • Craig Monroe and Magglio Ordonez ranked 5th and 6th in terms of highest percentage of first pitches swung at (just under 39%).

    There’s a ton more statistical goodness which will be blog fodder for the rest of the offseason. But really, if you want something to get your baseball juices flowing I can’t recommend this book enough.

  • Tigers announce minor league staffs

    Here we are only a week and a half into the offseason, and already the team has generated 3 news items – and we haven’t even gotten to trade season or tendering contracts yet. Today, the Tigers announced their minor league staff assignments and things are all shook up.

    Toledo

    So things at Toledo are pretty stable. Larry Parrish is back at the helm. Jeff Jones is pitching coach, and Leon Durham remains as hitting coach. With the departure of Don Slaught, Toledo could still lose a member of their staff.

    Erie

    Erie’s entire staff from last year was let go. Matt Walbeck was promoted from West Michigan to lead the Seawolves. He brings along pitching coach A.J. Sager who filled the same role with the Whitecaps last year. Hitting coach Glenn Adams spent the last 6 years as the Mariners minor league hitting coordinator before being let go in August.

    Lakeland

    Larry Herndon returns as hitting coach, and Britt Burns is pack as pitching coach. But Mike Rojas, the manager for the last 2 years, is now the organizational catching coordinator. Kevin Bradshaw, who was the GCL Tiger manager last year, assumes the same role for the L-Tigers.

    West Michigan

    Another former Tiger earns a promotion as Tom Brookens jumps from Oneonta to the Whitecaps. Ray Burris was a first year pitching coach for Oneonta last year, and will move with Brookens. Benny Distefano was promoted for the GCL Tigers to become the hitting coach.

    The Tigers also announced new staffs at Oneonta (Man-Andy Barkett, Pit-Mark Johnson), the GCL Tigers (Man-Benny Castillo, Pit-Greg Sabat, Hit-Basilio Cabrera) and the VSL (Man-Josman Robles, Pit-JorgeCordova,Hit-Jesus Laya) and DSL (Man-Andres Thomas, Pit-Marcos Aquasvivas, Hit-Francisco Cabrera) teams.

    Given some of the desire to change the Tigers approach at the plate, it was little surprise that on the top 5 teams, only 2 hitting coaches returned (Durham and Herndon). Toby Harrah will return as hitting coordinator, and he certainly had a track record of patience as a player. (for more on Harrah’s philosophies check out this article)

    And a scout

    The Tigers also announced that they hired Murray Cook as East Coast Crosschecker. Cook is a former colleague of David Chadd and spent the last 5 years with the Red Sox scouting department. Prior to that he was a colleague of Dave Dombrowski spending 10 years with the Marlins scouting department.

  • Leyland down the law

    As I begin to delve into the merits of various players on the roster, I began to consider how much impact Jim Leyland has on the decisions. While it makes sense he would have a say, his impact probably stretches beyond what happens in organizational meetings. (more…)

  • Links a lot

    Cleaning out over a weeks worth of links and emails:

    • The Hardball Times gives us a taste of some of the batted balls data available in this years annual. The Tigers defense were 42 runs better than league average on ground balls.
    • Daisuke Matsuzaka will provide coniserable drama this year as he comes over to the States. He’s got a pretty good track record and he’s young. I just don’t see the Tigers finding value in coughing up $30 million for the right to talk to him. But if you want to keep track of the saga, Knuckle Curve provides some good sources of information
    • Kenny Rogers and Pudge Rodriguez were very deserving gold glove winners. But the Tigers probably should have had more.
    • I find it amusing when people talk about what the Tigers need to do to get over the hump next year. they got to the World Series and played poorly. It wasn’t because of the team construction that they failed in the World Series, it was that they were outplayed. Plus there’s that whole got to the World Series, I think that is the hump. But even with that preamble, I agree with Rob Neyer that the Tigers need to get better.

      The problem, if you’re Dombrowski, is that nobody was terrible this season. That was essentially the secret of the Tigers’ success. But just because nobody’s terrible doesn’t mean nobody’s replaceable.

      (thanks to Joey C for the tip)

    • There are a couple new Tiger bloggers on the block. The New Corner will look at the Tigers farm system and prospects. There is also Motor City Kitties. Check em out.

  • Slaught out as hitting coach

    Don Slaught today resigned as hitting coach citing family concerns. Judging hitting coaches seems to be particularly difficult. You can look at statistics, but it is hard to know how the coach actually impacts it.

    In the Tigers case, the bulk of the players performed similar to their career marks. They added some home run power, with Brandon Inge, Craig Monroe, and Marcus Thames all hitting career highs in homers. At the same time, the Tigers showed an incredible propensity for striking out finishing 2nd in the American League.

    Much was made about the team’s inability to take a walk, but their 2006 isolated patience numbers (OBP-BA) were in line with career norms for the bulk of the players. That deficiency seemed to be more a problem with the players than the coaching.

    I had 2 main issues with Slaught. The first was the extended slumps that Tigers hitters seemed to experience. Magglio Ordonez went months without homers. Curtis Granderson slumped dramatically for 2 months. Placido Polanco never got on track. And of course Chris Shelton never recovered after an incrdible 2 weeks. He didn’t seem to have much luck in getting them to shake out of it.

    The other issue was that too often very average pitchers looked awesome against Detroit. Since Slaught was in charge of preparing the hitters each night, part of that responsibility falls on him.

    As for who the next pitching coach may be, I have no idea. I’d like to see Leon Durham promoted from AAA. He’s had quite a bit of success with Thames, Granderson, and Shelton in the past and he was even able to fix Carlos Pena for awhile. As for what I think will happen, I wouldn’t be surprised if Lloyd Mclendon was moved from his bullpen coach duties and given a shot.

    In other news, Andy Van Slyke re-upped and will resume first base, outfield, and baserunning coach duties.

  • Dombrowski a Tiger through 2011

    Dave Dombrowski signed a 4 year contract extension meaning he’ll be leading the Tigers through the year 2011.

    This of course is great news as Dombrowksi has been instrumental in the Tigers success. It is also sure to irritate the bejeesus out of Rob Parker who called Dombrowski the worst GM in Detroit earlier this year.

  • What to do about: Sean Casey?

    The Tigers have a handful of players whose future is in doubt with the organization. I figured we’d tackle them one at a time.

    Sean Casey is one of 3 Tigers to declare for free agency which very much makes his future in Detroit in doubt, but that is just one of a handful of issues.

    First there is the fact that Casey, while he did have his share of timely hits, just wan’t that good as a Tiger save for the post season. As Lee points out, Sean’s numbers during his time with the Tigers were worse than Chris Shelton’s awful July (which prompted the trade in the first place). During his stint with the Tigers Casey managed only a 286 OBP and he did it with out power. The lack of power isn’t a surprise really. Casey’s only had one decent slugging year since 2001. What was surprsing was an OBP 80 points below his career average over roughly 200 plate appearances.

    Sean Casey has also proven to be pretty injury prone as he’s aged. We saw his calf explode against the A’s and he missed 6 weeks earlier in the season with back problems. We also know he’s had a bad hip, hence the leg raise thing. The older he gets, the more likely he is slowed by additional injuries.

    So why would the Tigers want to re-sign Casey? It’s possible that he could come pretty cheap given all the above issues. He also could serve as a one year stop-gap in the event the Tigers can’t come up with another first base option. And by all accounts The Mayor is as good a guy as you’ll find in the clubhouse. He also had a very good World Series, but I’d hope Tiger brass wouldn’t be too swayed by his performance over 5 games.

    Surprisingly, Sean Casey is a type A free agent. This means that should the Tigers offer Casey arbitration and if Casey were to sign with another team, the Tigers would receive the first round pick from the signing club (or 2nd round pick if the signing club is picking early) plus a sandwich pick between the 1st and 2nd rounds.

    If the Tigers do offer arbitration, they have until December 1st to do so. Now why wouldn’t the Tigers offer salary arbitration? Because Sean Casey may accept. If he accepts arbitration the Tigers automatically have him signed to at least a one year deal (I say at least because the club and player can continue to negotiate a longer term deal). So they may be stuck with Sean Casey, and without draft picks.

    Despite Sean Casey’s performance in the World Series, and the fact that he’s an easy guy to root for, I don’t see how the Tigers can resign him. He appears to have not much left in the tank, and that tank seems to be springing leaks with regularity. If for some reason he is signed, I would imagine it would be for a sliver of the $8.5 million he made last year with the understanding he would be a back-up.

  • Moving On

    It’s been a couple days now, and I hope the pain isn’t quite as strong. I received emails and calls from friends offering condolences like a loved one had passed away. It got me thinking about the grieving process, and I realized I did the bulk of my grieving after game 4. By game 5 I had come to terms with it, and was progressing through all 5 steps:

    1. Denial: My goodness no. Fernando Rodney didn’t just throw that ball away. How could this happen? It was an easy out. Why is this happening to me!? Curtis couldn’t have fallen on his own. Maybe the game can be played under protest or something
    2. Anger:: Frickin Eckstein. What does grit have to do with hitting routine flyballs that should be outs. This prick is going to win the MVP without actually hitting a ball hard. I hate gritty little players.
    3. Bargaining: Please God, just give this team a chance to get it back to Detroit. They’ve done too good and come to far. I know they’re not hitting but maybe the Cardinals could make an error or slip or something.
    4. Depression: It’s over. There’s no coming back from this. They were so close and will they ever get this chance again? What if someone gets injured next year or Verlander was a fluke? What if Jim Leyland gets lung cancer?Spring training is a long ways away. Now what am I going to do?
    5. Acceptance: They could win game 5 and bring things back to Detroit, but then what? It’s been a great season and the team just chose the brightest spotlight to play its worst. As much as I wanted them to win the World Series, it doesn’t diminish the wonderful experiences from the rest of the season. I can’t wait until next year.

    Now there is a hollowness that has come with the end of the baseball season. There was such a rhythm for so long, that I’m actually a little out of sorts without it. Part of me is grateful for the break. Fandom combined with maintaining the site left me without a lot of time for family and sleep. Now I can appreciate both a little more.

    As for the site, I’ll be here all off season and there is a ton to talk about. While I probably won’t be posting every single day, you can still expect new stuff 4 to 5 times a week. Even before the hot stove heats up, we’ll talk about:

    • The 40 man roster and who will be back, who will be added, and who will be jettisoned.
    • The merits of Don Slaught as a hitting coach
    • Why Guillen shouldn’t be moved to first base next season