Tigers Tracks

Site News- Moving to MCB

As some of you may be aware, several months back, I was “hired” to write a few posts per week for a startup website who’s name is not worth mentioning. The guy who started the site had very lofty goals, but very little time/experience. Long story short, almost 60 percent of the over 100 writers he recruited for his site had resigned their post as of a few days ago. After I publicly aired my grievances on their Tigers page, I decided to go ahead and resign to focus my full attention on my baby, Tigers Tracks.

The resignation email was simply a formality, I’m sure. But needless to say, Mr. Stewart still has not responded. In fact the only response to the rather honest post I wrote was to take down the post (which is why I haven’t linked to it). After everything I wrote about him and his site, he didn’t even send me an email. Again, not shocking.

That brings us to yesterday morning. I spent the morning at work trying to decide if I really wanted to back out of the deal I had with them, but decided they had long since backed out on me. I wrote a piece here and then sent the email to Mr. Stewart.  Not 10 minutes later I received an email.

The email came from Wally Fish, Editor at Kings of Kauffman and MLB Director for the FanSided network. His letter informed me that Joe Dexter of Motor City Bengals was stepping into a new role within the site and they were offering yours truly the lead blogger position covering the Tigers.  After several emails back and forth we agreed, and the next post you read from me will be found there.

And that’s the bitter pill.

Tigers Tracks has only been on the scene for seven months and this site has already grown bigger than I ever imagined it would. But stand-alone blogs just don’t have the access to the major outlets that networked blogs have. I will be sacrificing some design control for increased exposure and access. The clincher was getting the go ahead to transfer my archives over to MCB. Doing so will allow me to continue the By The Numbers series I have enjoyed writing so much.

As far as I know, Joe will continue to do the fine work he does on his podcast, and he’ll still post once in a while, too. I will be doing the Lion’s share of the writing, however. With camp opening in just a couple weeks, expect a renewed effort as I bring you the best I got. After all, I’ll need to impress the network.

So that’s it, then. I’ll be spending the next several hours sleeping, and I’ll get started on the big switch tomorrow. But I do want to personally thank each and every one of you who has ever stopped by to read what I had to say. I know I have bounced around a bit within the blogoshere, this will be my third “permanant” home since May of last year. So I’m asking you all one more time, and hopefully I won’t ever have to ask again. I look forward to building on the solid foundation that Joe has layed for me, won’t you all stop on by and check out the new Motor City Bengals?

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Tags: Site News

Lopez, Not Damon, Should Be Tigers Target

So now that the Yankees have spurned Johnny Damon by signing Randy Winn, the Tigers are said to be where Damon wants to play in 2010. Satan’s Minion, Scott Boras, who represents Damon, recently spoke to the Detroit News about a conversation he had with his client back in December.

“I can make the Detroit Tigers a winner” Boras quoted Damon to Lynn Henning. Boras then went on to detail how before signing his last two free agent deals, Damon had said the same thing about Boston and New York. Of course, it wasn’t until his third year in Boston, and fourth in New York, that Damon actually did make each of those teams a winner. At age 36, Damon and the Tigers don’t have the luxury of waiting for it to happen.

The fact is the Tigers are not Damon’s first choice. The Yankees were his first choice, they didn’t feel he was worth the money. The A’s are probably his second choice, or maybe Atlanta or Tampa, or even Cincinnati, all of whom have been linked to Damon in various rumors.

Early in the offseason, Damon apparently turned down a two year, $14 MM contract offer from New York, now the offers have dried up and he’ll likely have to settle for one year at around $4 MM. At that price, Damon is a good value and the Tigers will likely pounce, but if he signs with Detroit, you can bet it won’t be because he really wanted to play here. At this point, he’ll be happy just to find work.

While having Damon at the top of the lineup would make the Tigers a significantly more potent offense, he would present a roadblock of sorts to either the development of Austin Jackson or more likely the playing time of Ryan Raburn.  Dave Dombrowski has already stated that the club is prepping Raburn for full-time duty this season and I figure he has the inside track to handle the lead-off duties in 2010. Damon joining the roster would put a stop to all that noise and Raburn would be left to wait for Carlos Guillen to hit the DL. At least he won’t have to wait long. Read the rest of this entry…

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Tags: Felipe Lopez, Johnny Damon, Scott Boras

Twins Continue to Pile On

The Minnesota Twins have a way about them.

Last year, about this time, there was a free agent on the market that had a history of great success versus the Tigers. Minnesota engaged that free agent in contract talks and eventually outbid the Giants for his services. And while Joe Crede certainly did not have a stellar year for Minnesota, hampered with lingering back issues, he did perform when it came to facing the Tigers once again.

Mid-season, the Twins did it again, nabbing another player with a history of dominance over Detroit. This time it was Carl Pavano, aquired in a trade with Cleveland. Pavano had been 4-0 against the Tigers in 2009 before the trade, and although the Tigers did eventually hand a loss on him, he too helped the Twins to surpass Detroit for the divisional crown.

Now, Minnesota has struck once more.

The Twins reportedly have agreed to a one year $1.5 million deal with free agent DH Jim Thome, perhaps the most notorious Tiger Killer of them all. Thome’s days of playing first base are behind him, and Jason Kubel does most of the DHing in the Twins Cities, but rest assured that Thome will be in the lineup whenever the opponent is Detroit. Maybe they’d like to kick our dogs while they’re at it, too.

In 191 games against the Tigers, Thome has an OPS of 1.075, his highest mark against any AL team. He has 60 career home runs against Detroit, his best mark versus any team, and his .636 slugging percentage is also the highest. Not even the powers of Justin Verlander can suppress the mighty Thome, as he has taken JV deep seven times in only 41 at bats.

Translation: we’re screwed.

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Monday Tracks: D-Train, Inge, and Ernie

There was a Dontrelle Willis sighting over the weekend at TigerFest, and Drew Sharp of the Free Press wonders if we can expect to see a more successful Willis in 2010. Sharp’s article outlines the path Willis has taken to become more mentally healthy and all initial signs say that he has come to grips with his emotions.

At this point, how that affects his performance on the field is anyone’s guess, but if he can come back and just be healthy enough to compete, I would view it as a victory for Willis. Let’s hope that translates to victories for the Tigers.

If you would all indulge me for a moment, I am going to step away from unbiased analysis for a moment. I know the arguments, there is no cure for Steve Blass disease, the Tigers should cut him loose, we cannot afford any charity starts for a guy who can’t find the plate. If only for this few minutes as I write this, I am choosing to reject those arguments. I want Dontrelle on this team. I want him to succeed, or at least be given every opportunity to fail.

It has nothing to do with money for me, only my own selfish joy that I get watching great pitchers pitch. Make no mistake, Willis was great. From watching even his worst efforts last season, you could see the stuff was still there. If somehow he can find a way to harness that, he can be at least good again. And I would be pulling for him no matter what uniform he wears.

And speaking of comebacks, Brandon Inge has been cleared to resume baseball activities following surgery on both knees. He is said to be ahead of schedule, so he should be ready to play in game by the final couple of weeks of Spring Training. Hopefully he can regain his pre-all star break form of 2009. In a lineup with so many question marks, a strong start by Inge would help smooth the transition of Austin Jackson and Scott Sizemore to their major league roles.

In other news, Billfer passed along a tweet saying that Jeff Larish was outrighted to AAA. The Tigers are now safely back to 40 on the roster after adding Jose Valverde last week. Jason Beck confirmed in a tweet of his own.

Let me finish up by wishing a very happy 92nd birthday to Mr. Ernie Harwell. The unquestioned voice of the Tigers is turning out articles for the Free Press again, and while his battle with inoperable cancer won’t end in victory, I’m glad he was able to have another birthday. It is my hope that his final days are filled with comfort and happiness. God bless you, Ernie. And thank you for filling my childhood with memories. There will never be another like him.

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Tags: Brandon Inge, Dontrelle Willis, Ernie Harwell

Et Tu, Fergie?

Yet another former player has decided that Mark McGwire’s recent steroid admission and apology are not good enough for them. Ferguson Jenkins continued the trend by sending an open letter to the Associated Press in which he asserted that McGwire’s steroid-filled career “altered lives” of pitchers who gave up home runs to him.

Seriously, that’s what he said.

Nevermind that this is the same Jenkins, who is Canadian, that in 1980 was arrested at Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium when officials discovered cocaine and marijuana in his suitcase. He was convicted on drug possession charges later that year, only to see the conviction immediately erased by a Canadian judge who cited his “exemplary conduct”. It should be noted that Jenkins is/was a national hero in Canada at the time.

So much the same as Jack Clark and Carlton Fisk, Jenkins feels that McGwire owes more than he has given. If it were up to these men, I’m sure McGwire would have to walk door-to-door, personally apologizing to each and every human on the planet for his past transgressions. Jenkins would have Mac visiting mental hospitals, where he would meet with all the former pitchers who have been driven to the asylum after their own lack of success in keeping McGwire in the yard.

Except that’s not the way it works.

Jenkins asserts that there were many pitchers whose careers, lives in fact, were significantly altered when McGwire took them deep. “How many pitchers do you think he ended their careers by hitting numbers of home runs of them?” Jenkins asked in a telephone interview with the AP.

My guess: Probably not very many.

In fact, I can’t recall a single pitcher leaving baseball, either by his own choice or his teams, immediately upon allowing a McGwire home run.

I also find it entertaining that ESPN.com’s article on the matter listed several prominent pitchers who allowed a home run to McGwire in what turned out to be their final season. Among them, Bert Blyleven (who was in his 22nd season), Orel Hershiser (who was well past his own prime), and Donnie Moore. Moore certainly had his life altered by allowing home runs, but it wasn’t the one he gave up to McGwire, I don’t think. The Moore family has Dave Henderson and Don Baylor to thank for that.

But since ESPN has such a wonderful history of turning their analysts into the story (see James, Craig), why not have Hershiser make an appearance on Outside the Lines where he can talk about the effects of McGwire’s home run on his own life. Perhaps Hershiser can detail the years of counseling he has had to undergo, show us the bills from his psychiatrist. I’m sure Jenkins will tell you that Hershiser would have fared better as the Rangers’ pitching coach if not for having to face a juiced up McGwire.

In all seriousness though, this is just plain dumb.

Jenkins has done what Clark and Fisk have already done, cast the spotlight upon themselves one last time. Anything to get another 15 minutes I guess.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again. McGwire doesn’t owe me anything, nor does he owe anything to Jenkins, or any of the pitchers he took deep. How many pitchers, I wonder, were using steroids when they faced McGwire? The answer is probably more than anyone would guess.

It’s time to quit whining. Jenkins and people of his ilk are just bitter. The steroid era happened, no amount of bellyaching is going to change that. Accept it, and move on.

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Tags: Ferguson Jenkins, Mark McGwire, open letters, Pot Calling the Kettle Black, steroids, stupidity