Morning Prowl: Leyland Cheers, Armando's Sinker, Miner's Role, and Former Wolverines

  Today's Freep has a great old photo of Jim Leyland in the stands, cheering on Mark Fidrych after he pitched a complete game in 1980.  I'd love to post the photo here, but should probably point you over to the Freep.

  Armando Galarraga told Jon Paul Morosi that he thinks his sinker has even better movement this year.  Let that bring you some joy, if you're having a rough one today.

  Will Zach Miner's days of bouncing between the bullpen and starting rotation end once he becomes arbitration eligible?  He thinks so, and could be right.  But what if your role is to be a swingman?

  Also at the very end of Morosi's notebook is a mention from Dontrelle Willis's agent that the D-Train is scheduled to pitch for Single-A Lakeland on Tuesday.

  Michigan baseball coach Rich Maloney was a proud papa (so to speak) on Monday, watching two of his former players - Chris Getz and Clayton Richard - in town with the White Sox.  (Unfortunately, Getz didn't get to play in either of the two games.  Richard pitched 1/3 of an inning yesterday.)

  That reminds me: If you're interested, Michigan is retiring Jim Abbott's number before this Saturday's game against Michigan State.  (And if you need a reminder of how great a career Abbott had, watch this video.)

  According to the Chicago Sun-Times' Joe Cowley, Ozzie Guillen was close to walking away from the White Sox last season.

(via Baseball Musings)

  If you're looking for kind of a quick scouting report on the Seattle Mariners, the Tigers' next opponent, Geoff Baker's latest blog post details what kind of baseball the M's are playing.  The Angels' Torii Hunter says "they look different from last year."

  Rick Porcello wasn't mentioned in this piece by Dave Cameron for WSJ.com.  But for those who think Porcello doesn't strike out enough batters, he might be part of a new trend throughout baseball.

(via Rob Neyer)