Willy Taveras,

by Fien SHOULD CLOSE on Feb 9, 2010 1:28 PM EST Comment 24 comments

I know I am going to be eaten alive for this, but oh well. Oakland A's released Willy today, and I was just seeing if there are any other people out there that would prefer the Tigers signing him way cheap as opposed to paying Damon 7 million.

I know he sucks, and Damon has him beat pretty much across the board, but I am going to cry if/when I see that limp arm of Damon's in our OF....

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Bless You Boys writing staff.

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Damon > Taveras

I’d much rather have Damon. That said, Taveras would be awesome to have off the bench.

The artist formerly known as Granderson28

by KidRick48 on Feb 9, 2010 1:35 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Damon is better,

But is he so much better that we have to pay him more than we were paying Grandy? Not to mention that we would have to give that Pr#ck Scott Boras the satisfaction!

by Fien SHOULD CLOSE on Feb 9, 2010 1:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yes

Fangraphs:

There is absolutely no reason to consider him. I’d rather have Damon in the lineup and Raburn on the bench.

Bless You Boys.com

by Kurt Mensching on Feb 9, 2010 1:48 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that was cool,

fangraphs is a grea site. Obviously, I wasn’t thinking that Taveras would have the same garbage year he did in ‘09. But I am sure 08 doesn’t look too different. So I will mark Kurt down for paying Damon/Boras the money.

by Fien SHOULD CLOSE on Feb 9, 2010 2:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Flaming pile of poo > Taveras

by ChrisDTX on Feb 9, 2010 2:12 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

No. No. (Repeat 997 times) No.

We already have a bunch of dudes at least as good as T-Virus kicking around the system. I’d rather give Casper Wells and Wilkin Ramirez AB’s than do this.

He takes more crap than he merits, owing to his too-high salary and Dusty Baker’s unjustifiable need to hit his CF first, but he may or may not be better than Don Kelly, who we are already paying.

He might (might!) be worth league minimum if you limit his AB’s and only put him in as a defensive replacement and PR. But we are swimming in various iterations of that dude. Clete, Raburn, The Don, Ramirez, Wells; all are either more versatile or have more upside.

In re: Damon, I’m at no, unless his demands drop a LOT. Like, down to 1 year, 3 MM + incentives.

I don't want to hear any weak sh*t from Jason Grilli.

by cherub_daemon on Feb 9, 2010 2:20 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

+1

Willy T is the exact definition of replacement level. Not only does he suck, he’s sucked in the National League Central. That being said, I expect the Tigers to tender him a contract within 48 hours.

by ChrisDTX on Feb 9, 2010 2:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You know,

thats not a bad idea Chris. Lets say the Tigers leak out that they offered a contract to Taveras, then we can see how bad Johnny Damon really wants to be a Tiger and “help us win the divsion.” I would be all for signing Damon for the previous mentioned 3 mm + incentives.

by Fien SHOULD CLOSE on Feb 9, 2010 3:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Traveras is the guy . . .

. . . who was traded from the Reds to the As, then immeidately released? Not quite sure why that happened ( I mean, I see why he got released, but why did he get traded first? Reminds me of Rosenkrantz & Guilderstern)

by rea on Feb 9, 2010 4:15 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I'd answer

But I’ll allow Dr. Perry Cox to do it for me.

President, Vice President and Secretary of the Casey Crosby Fanclub.

by demondeaconsbaseball on Feb 9, 2010 4:19 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I will defend Taveras a bit … he was way unlucky compared to his career norms. His BABIP was .278 and a full 20 points lower than his previous career low. So, that said, he’s not a good hitter at all (bad, in fact) but he’s not as bad as he was last year. He shouldn’t get 400 PA’s at all, but he’s a decent defender that if a team were going for a 4th OFer, he’d be a passable option. I’d rather go for an Endy Chavez type since he’d be cheaper (most likely).

My old blog is Tigers By The Numbers.

Now I write at Bless You Boys.

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by Mike Rogers on Feb 9, 2010 5:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I don't know that an Endy Chavez would be cheaper

You can sign Taveras for the league minimum. Since Oakland released him, they are on the hook for his existing contract even if he signs with another team (see Sheffield, Gary and $14 million wasted Tigers dollars)

by ChrisDTX on Feb 9, 2010 6:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Oh true. Forgot about that. Though, I’m not sure they are to release him. Beane might just store him in Triple-A, no?

My old blog is Tigers By The Numbers.

Now I write at Bless You Boys.

Like music? See what I'm listening to at my Last.fm account.

by Mike Rogers on Feb 9, 2010 8:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Supposedly it's an outright release

President, Vice President and Secretary of the Casey Crosby Fanclub.

by demondeaconsbaseball on Feb 10, 2010 1:37 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

His OPS last year was .559

And if you think that was just an off year, in 2008 it was .609.

Plus, he is right handed. If the Tigers wanted that, they could just sign me.

Matt Millen's MMA Promoter

by trross1200 on Feb 9, 2010 5:50 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I know, I said he’s a bad hitter, but that 2009 was not indicative of his true talents. Wasn’t making him out to be Pujols or anything.

My old blog is Tigers By The Numbers.

Now I write at Bless You Boys.

Like music? See what I'm listening to at my Last.fm account.

by Mike Rogers on Feb 9, 2010 6:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You also said that you were planning on being "eaten alive" for making the suggestion...

… so I just wanted to prove you right.

Matt Millen's MMA Promoter

by trross1200 on Feb 10, 2010 12:59 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry

Meant to write “him” and not “you”/

I’ve already mistakenly called someone an SOB here, so I should try to be more clear from now on.

Matt Millen's MMA Promoter

by trross1200 on Feb 10, 2010 1:00 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm still broken up about that

cry

by Trysdor on Feb 10, 2010 9:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not Mike Rogers,

I was the one who said “I expect to be eaten alive.” Rightly so, too. But I just don’t want to give Damon that fourteen million two year contract either. I liked the idea that somebody said of just using our slew of young guys from Toledo…if nothing else they could show a bit of promise and be used to snag an under-the-radar guy next year. (Edwin Jackson for Matt Joyce)

by Fien SHOULD CLOSE on Feb 11, 2010 1:20 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Johnny Damon

Well, I guess that two year fourteen million I had previously mentioned I didn’t want Johnny Damon for seems to be exactly what rotoworld has reported we offered him. Crap. Well, Kurt should be happy.Its not that I dislike Damon, I dislike his agent. and how much money he wants. crap.

by Fien SHOULD CLOSE on Feb 12, 2010 6:11 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I don't like the reporting of a second year on the contract

I think the Tigers are mortgaging some of 2011’s flexibility to compete with a weak team in 2010. If a signing occurs, you’ll get a full post.

Bless You Boys.com

by Kurt Mensching on Feb 12, 2010 6:46 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If the second year is a player option

I’m OK with it. If that’s the case, Damon will decline the option if he has a good year (which I think is likely) and become a FA again. That would be a calculated risk by the Tigers which would work out for both parties IMO.

by ChrisDTX on Feb 12, 2010 3:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

if that were to happen,

it would work out for the Tigers because we would get draft picks, or we wouldn’t have to pay him the next year? I am not familiar with player options, if he opts FA then I am assuming the Tigers would then get compensated according to the type of level FA he becomes?

by Fien SHOULD CLOSE on Feb 14, 2010 5:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs