This is my "I told you so" moment.

For those of you who might not remember, over three months ago, I posted a rather critical article saying how the Tigers had failed as a franchise and that the team does not play well when presented with adversity. Here's the post I made:

http://www.blessyouboys.com/2009/6/28/928361/how-the-tigers-fail-as-a-franchise

Today, the Tigers have proven me right. Despite being in first place for the majority of the year, the 2009 season for the Tigers comes down to squandered opportunities and a failure on the part of management to make the right moves to ensure that this team has a chance to win. Today, Fernando Rodney was used for three innings and allowed 7 runners to reach base. Today, Jim Leyland cost the team a chance to play in the playoffs. Today, the Tigers lost to the Twins.

What then, separates the Twins and the Tigers? The Twins had a considerably lower payroll and presented a starting rotation at the beginning of the season that was nowhere near as talented as what Detroit brought to the table. The Twins have one of the best closers in the game, and a very good catcher. Most of the other aspects of the two teams are about even, save for one aspect: leadership.

The Minnesota Twins, quite simply, have better leadership and better management than Detroit. After having a full day to rest his entire bullpen, Jim Leyland got only one-third of an inning out of Fu Te-Ni, allowed Zach Miner to go and blow a save and used Fernando Rodney in a non-save situation, which is his biggest weakness. The Detroit bullpen was not emptied in an attempt to keep runs off the board, quite the contrary. The Twins, however, used as many relievers as they could to try and keep the game close. That difference is enough to send one team onward in October and send another team home. I feel I should also note that Leyland has not won a division title for any team since his days with the Pirates and will face his third straight year with the Detroit Tigers not making the playoffs.

The problem, however, does not simply lie with Leyland. It also lies with Dave Dumbrowski. Some of Dumbrowski's trades have been, well...just plain dumb. Here are a few examples:

Jair Jurrjens to the Braves

Ivan Rodriguez for Kyle Farnsworth

A minor league pitcher for Josh Anderson/Josh Anderson to Kansas City for cash

Jarrod Washburn for Luke French and others

Acquiring Aubrey Huff

The whole Dontrelle Willis "thing"....he will make 10 million dollars this year for what I believe are two good starts and a few bad ones.

While Dumbrowski did make a good deal by trading Matt Joyce for Edwin Jackson, the majority of his other moves have hurt the Tigers enormously. While Pudge might not be an all-star caliber player anymore, his production split between the Rangers and Astros has been better than that of Gerald Laird. For those of you who would say that Laird is important in terms of stopping baserunners, I would remind everyone of a game not so long ago where runners stole bases at will against Laird while Rod Allen and Mario Impemba claimed that it "wasn't his fault." Irregardless, it will go down in Laird's stats as a runner uncaught.

Jair Jurrjens has become a strong part of a Braves rotation. For those of you who would say he does well because he's in the NL, keep in mind he has face hitters like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Hanley Ramirez and Adam Dunn on a regular basis. Clearly, then, there's something about Jurrjens that is helping him succeed. Apparently, no one in the Detroit system noticed this particular something or if they did, they never spoke up about it.

Josh Anderson wasn't the best outfielder anyone's ever seen, and he's probably a career platoon player. However, giving a pitching prospect in your minor league system away for cash is a practice that will not win anybody promotions or cocktail dinners at the end of the year.

Luke French was a good pitcher for the Tigers. He hasn't been a good pitcher for the Seattle, but this deal reminds me so much of when Jeff Weaver had a good half-year with Detroit and then went to the Yankees where he promptly self-destructed. Getting rid of French (who made his major league debut this year) in exchange for Washburn's substandard production is another sign that trades are not made on the basis of potential talent, but of plain old stats, which can change rapidly with a change of scenery.

Aubrey Huff might have been the third baseman to let Inge get a rest. And...no matter how much anyone ever says anything to the contrary, I believe the Tigers made a huge mistake letting Inge play through his injury and not seeking out another third baseman such as Scott Rolen to fill the gap. During the second half, Inge was a drain on the lineup more often than not; he hit .186 in 263 at-bats. Apparently, the pride of an individual to perform outweighs the need of a team to win. Also, Huff did not do well with the Tigers, but this kind of thing has happened to other teams. What bothers me is that a replacement for Inge was not even entertained. Nevermind Ryan Raburn, he was never made to be an infielder.

From September 1st until October 6th, the Tigers went 16-16. During this timeframe, the Tigers were swept by the Royals in three games at Kansas City. They also played the Twins 9 times and went 3-6. Entering Friday, October 2nd, the Tigers were up by two games and they dropped two straight to the White Sox while the Twins won twice. In those two games, they were outscored 1-13.

Taking all things into consideration, one well-played game by the Twins did not sink Detroit's season. Detroit left the door wide open for another franchise to walk through one did. The blame has to be placed on the leadership of the team. Simply put, it's time for a change in Detroit. The city deserves better, their fans deserve better and, quite frankly, the players on the field deserve better.