Miguel Cabrera most powerful in the American League
by Kurt Mensching on Aug 20, 2010 11:08 AM EDT
in Detroit Tigers News
Email
Print
We knew Miguel Cabrera had a lot of power, so what? We knew Justin Verlander had a pretty good fastball, too. So it's nice to get some third-party confirmation for bragging purposes.
Baseball America released its list of the best tools in the MLB (hat tip to Motor City Bengals' John Parent for the tweet), and some Tigers and former Tigers did pretty well.
Some highlights (and remember: this list is divided by AL and NL):
Miguel Cabrera -- Best hitter, best power
Justin Verlander -- Best fastball, best curveball
Brandon Inge -- No. 3 defensive third baseman
Jim Leyland -- No. 3 best manager
From the ex-Tiger list we can add:
Placido Polanco -- Best hit-and-run artist
How about the could-he-be-a-Tiger list?
Carl Crawford -- Fastest baserunner, No. 2 best baserunner, Most Exciting Player
Adrian Beltre -- Best infield arm, No. 2 defensive third baseman
Cliff Lee (hey, I can dream) -- Best Pitcher
OK, so that's a choice sampling. What do you think of the list? Did the inclusion of Leyland surprise you any? Have at it!
40 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I'm wondering
What the metrics they used to come to such conclusions, but I don’t necessarily disagree.
BA is scouting oriented
So probably the opinions of their scouts.
Assist. Editor, Minor League Division, Bless You Boys
Daniel Fields is better than you.
by David Tokarz on Aug 20, 2010 1:27 PM EDT up reply actions
dream?
The Tigers have plenty of money to spend on Cliff Lee. Screw Bondo and use the money from Dontrelle and Nate to pay him. And pay him 20 million for 5 years too.
well, as sutelc said
Lee does have a voice in the decision of where he ends up. maybe he wants to play elsewhere.
by Kurt Mensching on Aug 20, 2010 11:47 AM EDT up reply actions
There's a threshold.
Eventually the sheer amount of dollars overrides most consideration. I think we will get to see that with Cliff Lee.
Ryan Raburn antagonist.
Scott Sizemore liberationist.
seconded
Illitch is crazy if he doesn’t at least make Lee an offer, we’ll have the money next year. Whether Lee has any interest in living in Detroit and maybe contending as opposed to living in New York and definitely contending will be the question.
I'm pretty sure
That every major FA is going to get an offer, we just might not hear about it.
by metatron5369 on Aug 20, 2010 11:43 AM EDT up reply actions
If JV really has the best fastball and curveball...
He really needs to have more to show for it.
by rcpratt on Aug 20, 2010 11:46 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Leyland #3?
Terry Francona, Joe Madden and even Showalter along with Sciosia and Gardenhire mentioned are all guys would rather see managing the Tigers.
by Honeyman on Aug 20, 2010 12:18 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs
Showalter?
Based on what? Less than a month in Baltimore or his inability to get team over the hump?
Grant you that Buck might be a stretch,
..but I asked myself would I rather have him managing the Tigers now or Leyland, and honestly I answered Showalter. I think Leylands act has gotten old. Granted he managed some crappy teams, but his managerial winning percentage is under .500. How can he be one of the top 3 managers in the league?
Bobby Valentine
obviously not ranked, but I want him
Rooting for Tiger stripes, not pinstripes
by JerseyTigerFan on Aug 20, 2010 3:48 PM EDT up reply actions
What time period are we talking about here?
Verlander’s fastball hasn’t been nearly as accurate this year, and that makes the curve less effective, runs up his pitch count, and results in more base runners and fewer wins.
Inge’s defense, and his range in particular, has declined this season quite noticably. He’s now a little bit above average overall.
Polanco is still the best contact hitter in the game. Scutaro is also one of the best, but DD was hell bent on bringing back Everett.
One Boston writer suggested $ 45 million over three years for Beltre. Ask the Mariners about signing Adrian after he has a career season and then hits the free agent market. Still, he’s the best 3B that might be a free agent this winter. I think he stays in Boston.
If you think that Crawford will be tough to get, the Yanks are gonna go all out after Lee, and the Rangers will be throwing big money at him too. Lee is the only real top tier free agent starting pitcher this winter on the free agent list, but the Tigers desperately need to add a top SP, if not two of them. After Lee, we’re looking at guys like Lilly, Correia, Vazquez, Pavano, and Padilla. Might be better to see if the Marlins want to trade Nolasco in his third year of arb eligibility.
Give Leyland a major league roster before we judge him. The mess this season is Dombrowski’s fault.
If you survived 2003, you can get through this!
I agree with Tigerdog’s last comment. It’s hard to get past the key injuries to Zumaya, Seay, Magglio and Guillen (3 times this year!), as well as the absence of Polanco’s bat in the two slot. If you don’t like Leyland as a team motivator, I would say that’s a matter of opinion.
Lost 16 of their last 27,
including 3 of the final 4 at home. In my opinion, they were playing tight the entire last month of the season. Some of that has to be attributed to the manager.
downjersey talks about the injuries we have had. I posted where I would rate Francon above Leyland. He still has the Sox in contention and they have easily had as many injuries as we have had to contend with.
Last year's finish had a lot more to do with the Twinkies going 17- 4 to finish the season.
I do fault Leyland in a major way for starting Figaro in game 161, though.
Of all the bone headed moves he’s made, that one has to take the cake.
Rather than start Verlander on three days rest, just like hundreds of pitchers have done from the beginning of baseball through the mid 1990’s, he calls up a minor league pitcher to start a game with the entire season on the line. Figaro had not started a game, at any level, for over three months, and wasn’t even worthy of a September call up, but had been sent home to the DR. Un-freakin-believable!
But otherwise, I don’t pin the blame on Leyland for losing the division last year. I think he did a decent job with a mediocre team.
If you survived 2003, you can get through this!
The flip side to that is you lose Verlander for at least game 1, if not game 2 of the first round and he won’t be able to get 2 starts in the 5 game series.
Leyland can either manage to get to the playoffs, or manage for the playoffs. Either way he’s damned.
and Verlander would have been available earlier in the playoffs if he had pitched a day earlier at the end of the season.
If you survived 2003, you can get through this!
Agree completely
and that goes to my point of the team playing tight. You know with JV on the mound that game, we have a better chance of not falling behind 3-0 right off the bat. …….Granted, Cabrera was also drunk that day.
His overrall handling of pitchers has been debated here many times. I am dumbfounded at some of the lineups he puts together. He is loyal, to a fault to certain players and coaches.
I think making the playoffs is a bigger deal than not having someone for game 1 or 2.
Instead of sitting at home going: we would have had our #1 going if we had only won.
Ryan Raburn antagonist.
Scott Sizemore liberationist.
This, this, and ....
THIS !!!!!!
Rooting for Tiger stripes, not pinstripes
by JerseyTigerFan on Aug 20, 2010 3:50 PM EDT up reply actions
Reality Check
the Tigers scored one run off the Sox anyway that game, what difference does it make?
by Kurt Mensching on Aug 20, 2010 5:14 PM EDT up reply actions
or is Leyland supposed to bat too?
because let’s face it, he hits only slightly better than Gerald Laird
by Kurt Mensching on Aug 20, 2010 5:14 PM EDT up reply actions
I cannot come up with any possible way to rank managers, honestly
almost anything you come up with is outcome oriented. Managers are stuck with the players they’re given. Injuries happen. Good decisions can have bad outcomes. Bad decisions can have good outcomes. Wins and losses is a bad measurement.
Leyland has a lot of respect within the game. That speaks highly of him.
So to answer your question: He could be. Maybe he’s not. It’s pretty hard to say either way.
by Kurt Mensching on Aug 20, 2010 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Yes but we did not collapse
and that was my point, or yours, which I wholeheartedly agree with and have been saying along. And, yeah, we could have and should have won one more game somewhere along the way, but in the true sense of the word, we did not collapse.
But, why are we talking about this, anyway?
Rooting for Tiger stripes, not pinstripes
by JerseyTigerFan on Aug 20, 2010 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions
Wait
it looks, upon a second reading, that you weren’t even talking to me. So, we definitley agree, I think.
Rooting for Tiger stripes, not pinstripes
by JerseyTigerFan on Aug 20, 2010 5:53 PM EDT up reply actions
it was a reply fail on my part, sorry
by Kurt Mensching on Aug 20, 2010 5:59 PM EDT up reply actions
no problem
its difficult sometimes to tell who is replying to whom
Rooting for Tiger stripes, not pinstripes
by JerseyTigerFan on Aug 20, 2010 6:22 PM EDT up reply actions
as far as Verlander and Leyland go
the results haven’t always matched the rankings
Rooting for Tiger stripes, not pinstripes
list VS free agents
Verlanders fastball and curve ball in the first or third inning? Joking aside I think there are many others that are a little better. Not saying he isn’t great, just saying there are better. Leyland…..no way. 3rd I think not….People might be buying into him doing lots with very little, which is nice, but the season end collapses and headscratching days off are a bit much. Rest of the list…sure. Why not?
Free agent wise. YOU WILL NOT GET CLIFF LEE OR CRAWFORD. Players do not want to come here. The only free agents we ever get are declining veterens that we overpay for, whom no one else wants, or guys off an injury who are huge risks. Detroit isn’t and never will be a free agent destination for marquee players. We have to grow them our selves. Our drafting has been awfull for a while, so that doesn’t look good. All great Tigers have been home grown for the most part. The occasional above mentioned free agent (old/Injury prone/risk) pans out, but not often. I fear that’s what we’re in for again this off season….
Country Strong
We need to keep Damon
and have him be an ambassador of sorts to entice other marquee players and convince them Detroit is a worthwhile place to play – if he is so inclined. He seems like he might be.
… don’t know if this sort thing is common or works, but … just saying
Rooting for Tiger stripes, not pinstripes
by JerseyTigerFan on Aug 20, 2010 6:09 PM EDT up reply actions
I'd imagine...
Verlander would be near the top for best pickoff move as well.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- The Cardinals Hall of Fame can now be found at Bill Clinton’s library in Arkansas (Huh?)
- Will Bryce Harper start the season with the Nationals?
- Mitch Mustain puts football behind him, signs reported rookie deal with White Sox
- Robinson Cano and Denzel Washington face off in Jay Leno’s Yankees trivia contest
- Shane Victorino lands role on ‘Hawaii Five-0′
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
