Zumaya Out Until September? Sunday Short Hops - 07/01

 Joel Zumaya now thinks he might not come back until September.  Bravado has suddenly given way to caution.  

Probably the smart move.  So would trading for a reliever some time after the All-Star break, Dave Dombrowski.

 Craig Monroe saved me from devoting an entire post to his recent ineptness by hitting a single in the fourth inning yesterday.  Of course, that still only makes him 1-for-18 in his last five games, a streak that's dropped his batting average to .225, his on-base percentage to .273, and his slugging average to .399.

On June 1, his numbers were .239/.293/.461.  But I suppose that's an improvement from his numbers on May 1, which were .195/.245/.356.  

Where am I going with all this?  (Besides Mike McClary laughing at me from Arizona?)  Oh, I don't know.  I guess when I read that a few teams are interested in trading for Ken Griffey, Jr., I wonder if he's the Cincinnati Red the Tigers should be interested in, rather than Adam Dunn. Detroit would have to overcome not being on Griffey's "you can trade me here" list, however, and he's said he might like to retire with Seattle.

 Meanwhile, Jon Paul Morosi thinks Monroe could be the Tiger to go if the team makes a big trade.  (He chooses Houston as a trade partner, but speculates about as much as a sports talk radio caller.)

 Gary Sheffield insists he hasn't been angry "since 1993," and despite evidence to the contrary, I might be inclined to believe him.  But only because he hasn't burned his equipment in front of the dugout, like the Yankees' Scott Proctor did yesterday.

That seems angry to me.  Superstitious, perhaps, but definitely the act of an angry man.

 Here's something that makes me angry.  Mitch Albom has decided to write about sports again (one month later).  We can thank Magglio Ordonez for that, apparently.  Thanks for checking in with us, Mitch.

 The All-Star teams will be announced at 4 p.m. today on TBS.  (And the candidates for the final roster spot on each team will follow.)  If it was up to Ken Rosenthal, the Tigers would have five players on the AL team.  That's the same number Jim Leyland says he'd choose, if he was an unbiased observer.  Jon Paul Morosi predicts six, which is the number I'll go with, as well.