I know that since he was tendered an contract he’s got a spot, but he could still be traded ahead of arbitration. Any kind of a deal would make the money given to Valverde less of a hit to the payroll, plus dealing Seay would alleviate part of the whole way-too-many-LH relievers problem. If he could be moved for a PTBNL or cash, I would think that would be the best possible outcome.

MLB Network ran Games 3-5 of the 2006 World Series in a row yesterday. Nothing like 9 hours of misery! And Joe Buck! Now I know what hell feels like.

maybe make a poll for your choices kurt?

I saw him pitch in a ST game in Lakeland last March. He gave up four runs in the first, but settled down to do well for 2 more innings before Robertson came in and pitched well for 3. This may be the only time in history Dontrelle and Robertson pitched well in the same game! I just feel that Detroit will keep Dontrelle around as long as they have to pay him.

He’s had a full-blown meltdown. Been contrite about it, sure, but he’s never going to work it out. I think the Tigers, as an organization, would be better off paying him to go away.

Would love for it to be Dontrelle, but I’ll say Eddie Bonine.

There’s no cure for Steve Blass Disease.

Biting the bullet, cutting a check and then releasing Willis would make the most sense. Unfortunately, the Tigers seem intent on giving Willis at least one more shot at making the rotation.

I’ll make an educated guess and say Don Kelly. He doesn’t have a role on this team as currently built, so why keep him on the 40 man? Utility men are dime a dozen.

I’d vote for Fien to go, but then I couldn’t say Fie-he-he-henay! anymore and that would be sad. I guess my vote would be for Bonine.

I’m suprised to see so many votes for Bonine. Sure he’s not the greatest pitcher but his last three starts were pretty solid. I would think he stays just because many of our starters are big question marks (Willis,Robertson,Bonderman etc)

will stay

whoever does go down probably won’t have to wait long to come back up. A 7 BB in 1.2 IP should do it.

So, they’ll likely cut Sborz or Fien.

I still do for some reason.

it’d be Willis.

The guy is toast in Detroit, and probably at the major league level in general.

and Willis returned to being an effective pitcher. But there’s no reason to believe he has the ability to turn his career around.

Willis has been trending (more like crashing, actually) downward since his excellent ‘05 season. Unfortunately, after 4 seasons of decline, it’s no longer a trend…Willis is a bad pitcher at this point of his career.

The only reason he keeps getting chances is the immense amount of cash he’s owed.

but it makes sense from a bottom line stand point to give him a shot in spring training. Of the other guys I really don’t care who stays and who goes but is there one guy from the group that would be most likely to re-sign on a minor league deal? Also, how exactly do the rules work once a guy is removed from the 40 man roster? I know they become a free agent and I believe waivers are involved, but if no other team is interested in Don Kelly as a number 3 hitter can he be resigned to a minor league deal with the Tigers organization?

I believe that Sborz has strictly been a reliever since he was drafted in 2003.

Having said that, +1 for the DFA of one Brad Thomas.

I like Casey Fien but I think he may need some more work..

I’d wager that DD would like to work a deal for Bobby Seay. He’s set to get an arbitration increase on his 1.3 mil salary, and then he’ll be a free agent at the end of the season. He got off to a fine start, leading the league in holds in the first few months, but then tanked in the second half, and was clearly (IMO) passed up by Fu Te Ni, as the primary lefty in the pen by season’s end. It’s been a nice run for Bobby, but with the additions of Ni, Coke, Schlereth, and Thomas, we’re set for lefties in the pen, and there are more in the pipeline.

Kelly is one of the candidates to be cut, and I was a little surprised that he made it past the Rule 5 draft, but there must be a reason for that. He could be in line for the 25th roster spot, he can play OF and IF, maybe back up in a pinch in the infield. He posted an OBP of .400 in Toledo, has been a SS most of his pro career, and hits from the left side. He has attributes that the team lacks. He’s still there for a reason.

Willis has to be a matter of insurance by this stage. Lynn Henning stated matter of factly last Thursday in a chat that the Tigers would save half of his salary if he spent the year on the DL. We all know that LH has been wrong more often than not, but maybe he knows something.

Of course, DD would rather swing a trade than just release a player, but that may not be possible. Someone could be designated for assignment, and that gives them ten days to work a trade, outright them if they clear waivers, or release them.

There’s something about him I like.
 
I remember watching Rick Ankiel play HS down here in Florida. It was like the 2nd coming, that’s how great he was. After the fall from grace, I never thought he would make it back as a hitter. He was a good athlete so I wasn’t concerned about fielding. He showed me something by making it, then showed me something else when he admitted to HGH or whatever it was. I guess the point is, never say never if the player really wants to come back.

He’s versatile, and isn’t a liability on defense or offense (minus one lost ball in the HorrorDome). In other words, he’s a great bench player to go along with Ramon.

I don’t like letting anyone go, but it probably makes the most sense to try to trade Seay. I really like him, but we have plenty of good lefty relievers. Worst case scenario, if we send Schlereth to AAA for seasoning (which is likely), put Coke in the rotation (possible), then we’d still have Thomas and Ni left in the ’pen.

More I think about it, the more Don Kelly just makes sense. He’ll probably be tried to get through waivers.

41 spots, 41 spots….

I think people are sounding far too confident they know what they’re talking about when in fact, we don’t have a clue what we’re talking about.

We just don’t.

It’s possible he’s been insured for some amount, but we don’t know for how much. We don’t know when it kicks in. We don’t know if the insurance company will dispute the reasoning for the disabled list. (And they should, on general principle. It is their money at risk for a non-physical injury.)

Here’s a post with ae bit more information, anyway.