Quick reaction: Tigers erred in Nate Robertson trade

100%

You’ve said it all.

Why does the blog even need me? haha

Mike gets it. Great piece. rec’d

“Gimmie Vaughn!”

“Vaughn? Rick Vaughn?”

“Yeah. I got a good feeling.”

This is a good take on it at Beyond the Boxscore. He’d possibly be a very valuable LOOGY at the very least. Why not get SOME value out of him rather than just paying him to not be here?

But they both suck and nobody would trade for Willis. This trade sheds some fat (Robertson is no longer our problem), we get a young guy who COULD pan out, and some extra dollhairs. Maybe Willis doesn’t work but he has been fine for a 5th starter this spring (and he’s still 28 years old). Either way we look at it, I think we see plenty of spot starts from Bonine, Gags, etc. etc. – spot starts that more likely than not would have been needed with Robertson, too.

(this is the cliff notes of the 1400 words I diarrhea’d at D4L — I’ll let a BYB boss link it if it’s worthy or you can go there to check it out yourself)

I owe you a handshake, good sir. Well spoken.

…..Prove em wrong…..Show em what ya got buddy…..Show them that you can do it…..You pitched well this spring…..Your numbers were great…..Including today Willis had pitched 19.1 innings giving up 15 hits giving up 7 runs for a era of 3.26 with 12 walks and 13ks and 0 HRS!!!!…..Nates numbers were 19.2 innings with 18 hits with a era of 3.66 with 7 walks and 19ks and 2hrs…..You earned it buddy….Everyone new it was a spring audition for the 3 and you earned one of the 2 spots….Once again id like to say great job Dontrelle you earned it buddy….GO GET EM TIGS!!!!

Dontrelle is a competitor, he is an amazing teammate and his teammates love to rally behind him. He may have a 4.5 era, but he can still win 10-12. He brings a winning attitude and I think the Tigers will be a much better team with him as the #5. He will leave it out on the field. And if he fails, Galarraga is nice insurance (which people forget).

Robertson, Zach Minor, et al are not clutch. They got some talent, but they always give up the big hit; they always DO manage to give up an extra run in a 8-7 loss. Robertson has done some good things for the Tigers, but this is a new and younger team. I am very happy to see him go. He would not have been back next year. And we got something for him now. Way to go Dave. You did the right thing.

best hitting pitcher since Earl Wilson. Other than that…

I think Dave did this for Leyland. Leyland did not want to have to handle the three pitchers all season. Becasue you know whomever went to the pen was going to complain about it, or even worse, even time they got shelled it was becasue they are not good out of the pen. So they cut one pitcher, eliminate the hassle, for better or worse. They did it with Gary last year. He complained no matter where Leyland put him. Seemed to work out in that case. Clete had as good season without the drama. Sme thing will happen this year. Plus I just couldnt go through another season of Nate. At least with Willis there is a chance he could be good. I am sure he won’t but at least there is a chance. Face it, Nate does not put fans in the seats.

one month or less in the starting rotation and maybe a month and a half till he’s back on the DL

I agree that relying on Dontrelle isn’t the surest of bets. But let’s not kid ourselves about Nate. He’s a journeyman at this point. If Dontrelle’s doesn’t work out, I’d rather see Oliver or Crosby get a shot anyhow.

We just dealt a potential 2-.5 win pitcher for a LOOGY in AA who may or may not provide value a year down the road- if he’s not passed on the depth chart by everyone else. In a year when we’re competing. AND we got no salary relief.

Pardon my French, but we got fucked. Absolutely fucked.

Willis stinks too. If Willis continues to stink, let’s give Galarraga a go, or Miner, or Bonine, or Ruddy Lugo, or Casey Crosby, etc.

There’s no way of knowing who was going to be any good. Willis at least used to be good and his problem is “only” that he can’t throw strikes (yes, I know that’s asinine). Robertson was never as good as Willis, so it makes sense to give him the shot.

Again, if Willis fails, give him the quick hook and try Bonine or Galarraga. Ruddy Lugo had a perfectly decent year in AAA last year (4.07 ERA), give him a shot. Or Figaro. We’re sifting through a bunch of crappy options, and we just voted the first guy off the island.

But since we all need something to calm down- I present this.

I lol’d.

the cry-babies need to get over it. there wasn’t this much anger when granderson got traded.

i enjoy the blog world, but i can’t stand when hundreds of “die-hard” fans think they can do a better job at being a GM than a pro like dombro. this isn’t fantasy baseball. do you think the organization didn’t look at every possible aspect? do you think they would sacrifice the club willingly? get real. they made a tough decision.

does anyone remember all the belly-aching robertson did at the beginning of last year when he was told he would be in the pen? he made statements to the press about how “it might be time to move on” and leyland responded by saying he isn’t good enough to make such demands.

leyland keeps it real. dombrowski keeps it real. the tigers still have their shot. robertson being traded doesn’t put the tigers in any terrible situation that they weren’t already in. the tigers need offense. they have enough pitching and defense. you all know that deep down.

and the amount of the contract we’re paying is absurd.

My other question to DD: Do you have contacts with any team other than the Florida Marlins and the Yankees?

Sheesh.

alot of us (most of us) feel that Dontrelle is destined to implode again do to his anxiety issues or just plain lack of skills. My question is this…Nate has had his share of injuries over the past few years. As pointed out by Kurt above and probably some others, those injuries were fixed. However, injuries come back. Just because the engine is new doesn’t mean the brakes lines won’t break. How are we so sure that Nate isn’t also destined for another break down? Especially given his history of injury as of late and the fact that he is no longer a spring chicken in the age department?

Note that I’m not saying that I like the trade, there were better options. I’m just a little confused that a lot of us can accuse Dontrelle of being a sure implosion when the possibility of Nate imploding exists to some degree, possibly nearing the degree Willis?

But I see a pitcher in Dontrelle Willis that started a steady decline after his magical 2005 season. Year after year, he has gotten worse and worse. I believe that he had a delivery that could not be sustained as his large frame naturally “filled out”. For one thing, a pitcher has to come to a brief rest point between his wind up and delivery. Dontrelle’s head was way in back of his center of gravity at this point, so it’s going to be all over the place coming forward and he’s going to be wild. What he had and still has going for him is that discombobulated delivery is very deceptive, so he’ll get his share of K’s if he is even around the plate.

But there is also strength in numbers. The Tigers are essentially hoping that two out of Bonderman, Robertson, and Willis will pitch effectively for them for a full season. If not, they’re short a starting pitcher or two. Heaven forbid something happens to one of the other three starters. Bonine is a minor leaguer, IMO. They (Leyland) have no confidence in Miner, who has actually been better than any of the three musketeers in the past three seasons as a starter. If one of the musketeers goes down, two still remain. I’d put the odds of any given one of them rebounding at less than 50%, and the odds of Willis lasting a full season in the rotation at 10% (that’s double what I gave him two weeks ago). Nate was at least insurance, and to me, he was clearly better than Willis in the rotation. No guarantees on any of them, but betting on Willis is pure foolishness, IMO. I hope I’m wrong.

because a certain number above 162 was staring at me.