Audio from my ESPN970 interview

They bring on a Tigers blogger and the majority of their questions were about the Twins and Mauer. You fielded them well though, Kurt.

There, I said it. :)

Very nice and good analysis. Tiger’s Nation is fortunate.

let’s see if BYB is flooded with Yoopers pretty soon! :))

Now for some substance from the interview, and some random comments:

With the Granderson trade, I think it’s fair to split it into two deals, Jackson for Scherzer, and Granderson for Coke, Schlereth, and Austin Jackson. I think that’s fair because I buy into the reports from JP Morosi and others who say that the Tigs were offered Mad Max for Eddie Jacks, even up. I love that end of the deal as well. Flip a coin as to which one of those will be better in 2010, but three more seasons of club control makes this a no brainer for DD. Boras is definitely prepping EJ for a run at free agency. Seems that it may have been made possible because of some doubts about Scherzer’s future from the AZ side, but I’ll take it.

On the other hand, I don’t like the other half of the deal. AJax dreams of being what Granderson has already done. Unless you’re convinced that Curtis is a platoon guy, and is starting to regress already, then there’s no way you call it an upgrade. Now, if Coke can hold a rotation spot for several years, that changes the dynamics of the deal. But I’d want more than a Granderson wannabe plus two relievers for Curtis. Even if DD was hell bent on dealing Granderson, I’d have been shooting for some infield help, with guys that are young, speedy, make contact, and at least one that hits in the one or two hole.

The real question with AJax, IMO, is whether he can lead off. I wouldn’t be doing that, but then I wouldn’t have done it with Granderson, either. I think that Sizemore profiles as a lead off man much better than AJax does.

Agree on Rodney. He was always an accident waiting to happen. Not so much Lyon, IMO, but he’s not exactly the ideal closer, either. Valverde is a big upgrade there.