Morning Lede: What should be first on the Tigers' to-do list?
by Kurt Mensching on Jan 4, 2010 6:30 AM EST
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PrintI don't know about you, but for me that alarm came way too early this morning after a lengthy winter break. Alas, it's time to get back to work today.
But we're not the only ones who have work today this Monday mornin'.
Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski should be getting back from his reported vacation as well, refreshed and ready to get back to business of building a division-contending baseball team in 2010 and beyond.
So today's question -- suggested by Editor Emeritus Ian, refreshed after his winter break, as well -- is this:
What do you think the first thing Dombrowski should be taking care of is? Besides getting his morning coffee, anyway.
My answer is almost an anti-answer. First off, I think he actually needs to avoid the temptation to find a closer. USA Today thought the Tigers needed to add Jose Valverde, but I hope they're not even in the running. My take was and remains this: they need to find which of their young pitchers will step forward and be the closer of the future. Rather than paying the higher dollars that saves command on the open market, they have a plethora of relievers to sort through in the coming season. Then, if they find none of them fit the bill, then maybe they'd better hit the free-agent market next offseason.
Other than that, I'm not sure there's too much left to do with the forthcoming incarnation of the Tigers. I guess I'd also like to see them pursue a true DH like Jim Thome, who would really be perfect for their needs (left-handed hitter, some middle-of-the-lineup power).
Quick hits:
- John Sickels at Minor League Ball released his preliminary top-20 ranking of Tigers prospects.
- Are the Tigers interested in second baseman Orlando Hudson? The Freep thinks they are. But they cite reports that cite reports, so it feels like a giant game of telephone to me.
- MLB.com's Jason Beck answers 10 questions about the team's future.
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Watching Valverde
show-boat after every save would sour the joy of winning. I can’t stand watching him. Not to mention the high draft and monetary cost.
I’d like Podsednik on a one-year deal to compete for center field. There’s no telling how he would hit next year, considering his past. But best case scenario, we have a good leadoff hitter with average defense. Now that the Cubs signed Byrd, only the Giants and Royals seem to be his other options.
I agree about the closer
We have lots of relievers. Anyone who wants to make himself stand out should be working on becoming a closer. And the way Leyland manages pitchers, I don’t think closing is all that different from middle relief anyway.
We may need a back-up back-up catcher, though. I’m nervous about that — Laird has been great defense but sporadic hitting, and there’s that arrest thingy, too. Avila was a nice surprise, but surprises don’t last. I don’t see any other prospects for that position.
Lost in the Granderson shuffle,
we signed catcher Robinzon Diaz. I can’t speak to his defense, but looking at his stats, he definitely hates letting pitches go by.
by StringTheory on Jan 4, 2010 10:52 AM EST up reply actions
Asterisk
There is an asterisk by this one, but the Tigers have, notoriously, too many lefty relievers, and need to trade at least one for something useful.
The reason I put an asterisk by that is that getting rid of a lefty reliever isn’t exactly by itself the most urgent thing for the Tigers to do—but recognizing the system’s main surplus might be a step toward solving the system’s problems.
The Tigers’ main need is a decent lefthanded bat. I’d rather have someone with a little power than a traditional Maury Wills-style leadoff hitter, but I’m not sure the Tigers agree. I would also like someone with a decent OF glove who could play the field and let Guillen or Ordonez DH—but that may be inconsistent with our older players’ egos.
(Ideally, a trade—Seay for Luke Scott?)
Lefties in the 'pen
I agree that there are too many lefties in the ‘pen, but I hear mumblings that Coke may be tested as a starter. If that works, then we’re left with Seay and Ni, which is not excessive. If the team does plan on testing Coke as a starter, which makes sense, then they can’t deal a lefty until the results are known. If he’s headed to the ’pen, then the deal happens at the end of spring training, not in early January.
You forget . . .
. . . recent acquisitions Schlereth and Thomas
True... But
Thomas will begin the year in AAA, even if he has a great spring. Pretty much like Ni did last year. They will want him to log innings in Toledo first.
Schlereth is very good but I believe that regardless of his spring he will also be in Toledo to begin the season. He has less than a year of minor league expirience. His ceiling is high and I doubt they throw him too the wolves to soon.
Then again, they rushed Porcello and Perry so what do I know.
If they are going to be aggressive they should be aggressive with guys named Weinhardt and Satterwhite!
I agree though, Valverde is nice but not at tgat price!
by JAYRC on Jan 4, 2010 1:12 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
My bold prediction
Coke will start
and he’ll be a very impressive at the back of the rotation!
by JAYRC on Jan 4, 2010 1:14 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
First Priority...
…is to get one of the bad contracts moved if they can get anything for it. I’d like to see another decent middle infield prospect brougt in. Since the salaries are already sunk for Willis, Robertson, Bondo, and Guillen, maybe a team would take a chance on them if we ate most of the money. (But Guillen has 2 years, and probably provides the most value, so that is doubtful).
hmmmm....
The closer thing does not need to be addressed. The only one I was interested in was Matt Capps and that was just vaguely. I had hoped the Tigers would have resigned Lyon but the money was too great. The internal options are plenty, no need to spend the money.
Looking at the roster, my main concern is a left handed bat. We have Carlos, Clete, Ramon. Carlos will probably get hurt, Clete’s offensive ability comes and goes, and Ramon…he a good player but this team needs a more consistent left handed batter. I like Jim Thome but I like having the DH spot open to try and avoid injury to Carlos while also giving a small spell to Magglio.
I also have major concerns over our starting outfield. First off, Carlos has been named our starting LF. Maggs is still in right. and we don’t even know who is in CF. We got Jackson, but he’s not even conclusively a member of the opening day roster. So is Clete or Raburn going to be reliable out there everyday or platooned?
We have Verlander, Porcello, and that guy we traded for (i’ll remember their names eventually). I don’t think we’re gonna get far on a 3 man rotation and I really can only imagine Bonderman out of our other SP types being useful as one. Another starter would be nice.
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Internal
I think this should be the year of internal solutions for the Tigers. I agree with Kurt’s sentiment that it is time to see what some of the young(ish) guys can do in an expanded role. As far as the lefthanded bat goes It is about time the Tigers figured out whether Jeff Larish can be the middle of the order left handed bat they are looking for.
Secondly the Tigers had little more than a three man rotation last year, it would be difficult for whoever ends up in the 4 and 5 spots give us less than those spots gave us last year
The Tigers have drafted and acquired relievers.
No sense in wasting money for another one to fill the mythical “closer” role. Let the younger relievers work for that spot and make use of a positional strength.
A decent hitting left-handed hitter would be nice.
Hmm
Tempted to say that the Tigers should shove Larish into a corner if Guillen/Ordonez get injured or at least throw him into the rotation for LF/RF/DH…. give him 300 PA and see how he does.
President, Vice President and Secretary of the Casey Crosby Fanclub.
With Guillen's injury prone body, giving him a rest and giving someone else some PAs could be good.
I think 2010 is the year they should put some feelers out towards their younger players to see who will be there in 2011.
really what I hope for is a solid 4th man...
which I think Bondo has the most potential.
In ’06 we had a good 4 man rotation of Rogers, JV, Bondo, and Robertson with the 5th man being mostly rotated. If you have a good 4 man rotation (which the Tigers can have) than you can just play matchup with that 5th rotation spot.
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That requires depth
And I’m not sure we have that depth in the high minors. Who is our sixth starter? Eddie Bonine?
President, Vice President and Secretary of the Casey Crosby Fanclub.
I got a new idea...
Lets trade D-Train to ATL for Jair.
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While we're at it
Why don’t we deal them Ordonez for Heyward?
President, Vice President and Secretary of the Casey Crosby Fanclub.
by David Tokarz on Jan 5, 2010 11:41 PM EST up reply actions
If that were to happen
I’d be convinced that Jack Z led a coup and took over the Tigers front office overnight without anyone knowing. Wishful thinking…….
Lefty bat
I agree that we’re a little too right-handed, but many of the righties hit lefties reasonably well. We don’t have much room to wiggle without dealing a righty for a lefty and I’m not at all sure where that deal would even come from. We would have to eat some salary.
I will
be surprised if DD goes after anyone. They’re looking to unload payroll, not add to it. I would love to see us get someone, anyone that might be able to help out the team, but I just don’t think it’s a reality.
I'd like to see a leftfielder added who can lead off
I know… sounds picky, but Guillen is not a LF, he’s a DH. And we don’t have a leadoff hitter to speak of. Podsednik is intruiging to me.
Ugh.........
If you want the definition of replacement level, Podsednik is it. We have options in our system who can be almost as valuable for a fraction of the cost. I continue to be completely lost as to why so many people have this fascination with limited upside veteran OF with a little speed. Last year was Podsednik’s best season by far in four years. Teams interested in him that have been mentioned most frequently are the Cubs and Royals, and their GMs are perfect examples of how not to operate a ball club. So what’s the allure with him???
So how does that make him a more attractive player/contractual obligation?
It just means we’d be throwing away even more money.
What to do first?
I think we better be thinking of some bats preferrably a left handed hitter. We just subtracted a 300 hitter who puts the ball in play plus another 30 home runs left the lineup. With that said, pitching, pitching, pitching. I think with the potential starters we have, we could have a decent rotation with Verlander, Porcello, Garalagga, Willis, Bonderman, Robertson, Bonderman. Not cunting the extra arms we added. This is of course Bonderman, and Robertson can have bounce back years. And, dont rule out Miner becoming a starter either. His numbers are decent in the starting role. I dont forsee the Tigers hanging on to Will & bonderman a third year a row to see if they can pitch. If they are washed up, the tigers will let them go eating the money and all. I just dont think a MLB team can have 17-20 million dollars riding the AAA pine. Something will be done this year. I also think Robertson can have a decent chance of a comeback.
But, we still need a veteran bat or two. Thomas & Raburn will be ok in platooning the outfields but as someone pointed out earlier, Mags, Carols, and Cabrera are going to have to carry the bulk of the load. If we have decent pitching, we have as good as shot as anyone in the AL Central.
Problem with adding a bat
Is that there’s no space. A DH might work, or an extra rotating corner OF, but the market for those players sucks big time, and Leyland doesn’t want a full time DH (understandably). CF could be improved, but the only stuff I see on the market is junk- we’d be better off going with either Casper Wells or Austin Jackson. SS and 3B are offensive black holes, but the 3B market is empty and Dombrowski clearly prefers defense at SS (not like there’s any good bats out there anyways). 2B will be filled internally, we can’t get much improvement at 1B either offensively or defensively, and C could be improved offensively with Avila, but Laird is so freakin good that I can see where that wouldn’t happen.
Essentially, the only way to add a bat is to get rid of either Ordonez or Guillen, and that aint happening.
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