Like Stripes on the Fur Coat of a Tiger - 04/06

  Check out this quote on the Tigers from Dan Graziano's Sunday Notes column in the Newark Star-Ledger:

"They look real slow," said the scout, requesting anonymity because of the protocol that prohibits members of his profession from publicly discussing players on other teams.  "If they're not hitting home runs, it's going to be tough for them to do much in terms of manufacturing runs, because it's all station-to-station."

The same scout acknowledged, however, that Curtis Granderson's return would bring some speed back to the lineup.

  At Tiger Tales, Lee writes a reassuring post about the Tigers' poor start.  But I'm hoping it's the last of the "bad starts don't mean bad seasons" posts and articles that we've been seeing over the past few days.

  Were the Tigers "disinterested" in their three games against Kansas City?  That's the adjective Mike Boddicker used when the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo asked him about the Royals' impressive start.

  There's a bit of gloating in Chris De Luca's recall of the White Sox backing off their pursuit of Miguel Cabrera when the Marlins insisted that Dontrelle Willis also be included in any such deal.

When the White Sox were talking trade with the Florida Marlins to land power-hitting third baseman Miguel Cabrera, they balked at demands that they must take Willis in the package. Sox scouts had noticed a major dip in Willis' velocity last season, and the Sox had no interest.

  Blame it all on Rodney?  Jon Paul Morosi points out how much one injured shoulder can make an offseason strategy suddenly fall apart.