Joyce/Skelton Salt in the Wound

They see a 25 year old guy with solid stuff who has some upside and arguably pitched better than every Tiger starter last year except Galarraga. He isn’t a top of the rotation guy but we don’t have the money or the prospects to get someone like that. And quite honestly an average major league starter is about what a mid-level prospect with 116 MLB ABs is going to get. This opinion that we could have gotten more for Joyce is ridiculous. And looking at that potential Putz trade, we almost got less.

For months we’ve been complaining about the starting rotation which is probably a bigger hole than the bullpen. Few Tiger fans have any faith in Willis or Robertson and some of us aren’t sure that Miner is ready to log 190 IP. DD addressed that one very pressing need with this trade and maybe we should be so quick to dismiss it until these guys play next year. Keep in mind that Joyce turning into a stud RF isn’t a guarantee either, he hardly hit anything at all in the last two months of the season.

If you want to blame DD for something blame him for tying up $37 Million in Sheff, Inge, Robertson and Willis, a predicament that forces us to make moves like this (and for Laird) since we simply don’t have any money to throw at free agents. But at this moment the trade is completely warranted.

Quick sidenote. That Fangraphs review thinks this is a huge win for The Rays because of the improvements they are able to make in their starting rotation now that Jackson has moved on. This has nothing to do with The Tigers. The review basically admits that each player is worth around 3 wins. The Rays are the winners because they maintained 3 wins and are now able to add David Price. We added 3 wins to a rotation that had nothing to begine with.

I am a huge Joyce fan and I am disappointed that DD’s decision to dole out poor contracts to Willis and Sheff forced him to trade away more young prospects. But can we stop acting so flabbergasted that the trade happened? Our starting rotation was awful last year. This move at the very least makes it so we don’t have to depend on Willis to bounce back or Garcia to stay healthy. I vote that we stop complaining till the All Star Break.

Especially in the Tiger’s situation. Tigers will scores lots of runs. I am thrill they improved their D. Tigers need to sign Cruz and keep trading for a closer.

“One proposal involved the Tigers sending Matt Joyce to Tampa Bay and outfielders Wilkin Ramirez and Casper Wells to Seattle. Putz was the only player the Tigers would have received.” – Morosi

 http://www.freep.com/article/20081212/SPORTS02/812120397/1050/rss15

If this is really what Putz is worth, the Jackson trade was a smart move.

matt wallace’s headline was the best..but lookout landings article is completely hilarious , it was so funny I had to tell someone who sits next to me at work about it and he doesnt even like baseball….CONGRATS DETROIT your retarded lol

i think Matt Joyce is going to be a hell of a player, just like Cameron Maybin will, and Jair jurrgens….

Well DD is a cheap skate which sometimes works in his favor. Good work DD on this one. DD is a good baseball man but lives in the past too much. I can buy Tigers new approach toward defense.