if the lineup is constantly being changed. But there’s a simple cure for that. HIT WELL, HIT CONSISTENTLY, FIELD THE DAMN BALL. I guarantee you’ll have a solid spot in the lineup if you do.

The Cubs await, Mister Guillen. Don’t be an ass.

Is how frequent the lineup changes and Leyland’s flip-flopping on what position each Tiger plays. That said, tough to complain about consistent defensive playing time when numerous arguments have been posted here that suggests he barely should see the field at all.

JL is seemingly incapable of sticking with a consistent lineup. Maybe he thinks his old warhorses (Maggs, Guillen, etc) are incapable of playing five games in a row.

Has anyone asked Carlos whether or not JL was trying to save his shoulder? It seemed like medical opinions about the shoulder were all over the board. One day, he could bat right handed. One day, he couldn’t. One day, he could play the outfield. One day, he couldn’t button his shirt (ok, I’m stretching the point). But did he ever consider that JL may have been trying to save the guy’s arm?

From the Tigers FB site: “According to baseball-reference.com, manager Jim Leyland used 126 different batting orders this year, not including pitchers during Interleague Play. The most common order was used just seven times. That’s actually more stable than last year, when Detroit used 131 different orders, none more than five times.”
If there is one huge, valid criticism of Jim Leyland, it is this. Too often players are jerked in and out of the lineup, often based on a “hunch.” For anyone who’s played the game, I would think most would agree that this approach hurts a player more than helps, particularly when its this extreme. Further, Leyland makes strange substitutions…including pinch-runners who seem to get picked off rather often, and “defensive” replacements who, themselves, are spotty, such as Raburn.

While I never care for players taking their complaints public, I mind it less from a guy like Guillen than I would from many others. At least he had the prudence to wait until after the season, rather than risk a pennant-race distraction.
Carlos has been a tremendous player for the Tigers and I find much of this criticism of him to be over the top. He’s a gamer. He’s played so ill that his life was in danger while in Seattle (2001?), he played last year when his wife was severely ill, he’s been asked to play four positions in the past three years – without complaint – and he’s worked hard to improve at each spot. Personally, I think this guy is incredibly under-appreciated by most Tiger fans.

and whether or not if affected/bothered players. I guess I have my answer… now I wonder if he’s the only one that felt that way. I’d guess not. Still lame of him to deal with things this way, through the media.

If anyone was going to go this route it was going to be Carlos. He is a leader on the team and respected. I can’t begin to tell you how frustrating the “Sunday” lineups and all that was for many of us. Three years running Carlos moved from one position to another and kept quiet and/or just said what was best for the team. I can understand also Leyland moving players in and out of the lineup due to their health issues too. If he isn’t moved, which is highly unlikely with the 2 years and 26 mill remaining, he will be the DH all of 2011. I think Maggs won’t get the vesting option again. This team needs to get younger in the outfield corners, it’s just going to take a little longer than we would like.

to wake up the bats. I got the feeling he was trying anything to find the right combination of hitters. Maybe he should have stuck with the same one for a while and given it a chance to work, but then people would be all over him for that, too.

Guillen says he wasn’t able to produce consistently because the lineup kept getting shuffled. Leyland kept shuffling the lineup because guys weren’t producing consistently. Chicken, meet egg.

“Before he points the finger at the offense, he’d better look in the mirror and see what he did,” Guillen said Sunday. “I don’t want to make an excuse, but nobody in the big leagues feels comfortable when you play [lineups] that way. It’s not fun to play like that.”

Yuck. Can’t Carlos turn his phone off?

He sure didn’t seem to have problems with the way Jim Leyland constructed his lineup before this season (unless I am forgetting more whining through the media from Guillen in past years). So how about he just goes out and gives Leyland a reason to play him everyday by, you know, hitting the base ball hard and getting on base?

I said it to myself a few times over the season. There would be a day for example: Polanco went 4-4, on a Saturday, Sunday’s lineup, Hey why ain’t Polly in it??? I was constantly confused. You are supposed to play the hot hand till it goes cold! Leyland cooled it off for us. Congratulations on a great day at the plate! Here, take a day off now!

tradin Grandy. He’s a solid guy, just had a bad run there for awhile, he needs to back off the power hitting, or find ahappy medium between there & his doubles & triples he used to hit fairly consistently. Interesting because of Wilkin Ramirez & his speed, though I think he had some errors. I’d rather see him & Grandy out there. They need some1 who can put up RBI’s. & like I’ve said need hitting from the SS & Catching. Matt Nokes, Lance Parrish, Alan Tramell, Sweet Lou, Brookens, these guys could hit & field.