Possible Option for a 5th starter

by VerlanderRulz_35 on Dec 27, 2011 5:04 PM EST

Here is an idea I have been thinking about for a 5th starter. How about Jeff Francis? He went 183 innings last year and is a lefty. A solid lefty is something the Tigers desperately need. He would probably be cheap. Look at signing him for a 1 year deal and an option for a second year. This will give Turner and some of the other talent down in the minors to mature. If Francis can’t get the job done the Tigers always have Turner, Below, or Oliver that could be called up and fill the slot. During his 7 seasons in the majors he has a career 4.78 era. Granted most of his seasons were in the national league. Last year with the Kansas City he had a 4.82 era in 31 games. I think he is a viable option among the pitchers still out there that are available. What does the rest of the Bless You Boys blog think? Viable option or not?

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

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for brad penny money, sure

He had a war of 2.6 last year and 2.0 the year before. I imagine he’ll sign after the Roy Oswalt and Edwin jackson types though

by mgoblue4ever on Dec 27, 2011 6:36 PM EST via iPhone app reply actions

I'd rather have a good righty than a mediocre lefty.

by SweetLouDoubleU on Dec 27, 2011 8:00 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

Eh

He was better than his surface numbers indicated. His FIP and xFIP were more in line with a guy like Rick Porcello.

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by David Tokarz on Dec 28, 2011 12:44 PM EST up reply actions

Francis? Really?

I would rather have Brad Penny back than Jeff Francis. Penny had a 5.3 ERA last season. However, he has a 4.3 career ERA. That’s .5 better than Francis. I am not a Brad Penny fan and would be VERY disappointed if he was to return next season. It’s really pretty simple, How confident were you last season in a Tigers win,with Penny starting a game? RIGHT. Lefty or righty, a mediocre pitcher doesn’t give you a GOOD chance to win. If you had a 4 hour drive to go to a Tigers game and wanted to see them win, would you pick a game that Francis was pitching? That should be the criteria used for picking up another pitcher. Find someone who makes you better, not as good.

by tiggs1 on Dec 28, 2011 8:22 AM EST reply actions

I do have to drive 4 hours to go to a Tigers game. I moved from the D a few years ago due to my job. Currently I live 4.5 hours outside of Denver Colorado. When the Tigers played the Rockies in Denver I had tickets to all 3 games and stayed for them all. Was booed and heckled quite badly for wearing my Verlander and Avila jersey to a Rockies game. Those rockies fans sure did shut up when Verlander took the mound on that sunday. He made them eat every single word and rude snide comment they made about the Tigers. True the Tigers did not play their best ball the first 2 games in the series. To get to my point. It seems that a NL pitcher never does very well when coming to the AL. Francis seemed to put up dencent numbers last year with KC after his previous seasons with the Rockies in the NL. During the first few years of Francis’s career he played for the Rockies and they were a pretty mediocre to bad team with the exception of 2007. If you remember correctly they fired their coach after the first month in 2009 after high loss numbers. I dont think Francis’s numbers that are posted are representative of how much potential he may have. Of all the pitchers that are out there that are low cost he may be a viable choice. When i team has nothing but right handed starters the opposing teams stack their lineups with lefty batters. I saw this many times last year watching games. This cost the Tigers some games. Coke is not a starter. He is a good reliever and should never be allowed to go more than three innings.

by VerlanderRulz_35 on Dec 28, 2011 9:20 AM EST up reply actions

Mediocre is mediocre

I understand your point, but Francis is a 5 ERA pitcher. Left, right or amidextorous, I think we can do better. Penny may have been better once, and that’s why the Tigers took a chance on him. Francis has NEVER showed greatness, and because you are what you are, he probably never will. If I can only go to 3 games a year, Francis is not one of the games I would pick. He’s also not one of the pitchers I would go after this off season. The Tigers are better than that now and unless you take a flyer on him for Santiago money, PASS.

by tiggs1 on Dec 28, 2011 10:49 AM EST up reply actions

You're missing the arc of Penney's Career

Penny had a 5.3 ERA last season. However, he has a 4.3 career ERA. That’s .5 better than Francis.

The fact that one point iin his career, before all the injuries, Penney was one of the better No. 1 starters in the NL explains the difference in career stats.

by rea on Dec 28, 2011 9:06 AM EST reply actions

Better Than Bad, It's Good

These words would not apply to Jeff Francis.

I’d still rather go for Piniero, followed by guys like Harden or Maholm…

I think Turner/Below/Oliver could each match Francis’ 4.80 ERA this season.

by Nich on Dec 28, 2011 2:08 PM EST reply actions

The lefty thing doesn't do much for me, but perhaps we should consider it.

I agree with the contingency that feels LH / RH matchups are a matter for the ‘pen. In baseball last season, 50.2% of AB’s were from LHB. That’s pretty damn close to even. While it’s true that some teams feature more LHB than others, it’s balanced by teams that are primarily RHB. Most lineups will showcase about half and half.

You can look at your division in an unbalanced schedule and see if your primary competitors are LH heavy or not and make decisions based on that. When the Twins were the best team in our division, featuring Maurer and Morneau, and playing them 19 times per season, it would be a good idea to have a lefty or two in your rotation. These days, it’s hard to identify our primary challenger in the Central. Perhaps we should look at the best hitters that we’ll be facing often and see which way they bat. The White Sox production is mostly RH in Konerko and Quentin. Dunn is LH, but he was a non-factor last season. KC is primarily LH with Hosmer, Moustakas, and Gordon, but Butler bats RH. If you’re scared of Cleveland, their major production is mostly switch hitters (Santana, Cabrera) or LH (Choo, Hafner, Sizemore, Kipnis). The Twins have Mauer and Morneau from the left side and now Willingham from the right.

Overall, the AL Central feature more prominent LHB than RHB. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a lefty or two in the rotation. However, some good LHP in the bullpen can certainly help to neutralize our RH rotation for about two AB’s per game. (Not that we have a strong LH bullpen.)

The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love. ~Bryant Gumbel, 1981

by momotigers on Dec 28, 2011 3:55 PM EST reply actions

It's not about what arm they use...

It’s what they do with it.

This isn’t even advanced sabermetrics, it’s basic baseball: you take the better starter, period.

by metatron5369 on Dec 29, 2011 10:25 PM EST up reply actions

It makes a bit of sense if you're shopping for an ace and are in a division with a ton of great lefties

like the AL East. 5th starter in a roughly bat-hand-balanced division? (actually most of the best hitters on our division rivals are righties or switchies) Doesn’t matter a lick what arm he throws with.

by thepartybird on Jan 1, 2012 12:17 AM EST up reply actions

Veteran LHP...

Concerned the Tigers may rush the young arms (Oliver/Smyly/Turner) before they are truly ready. Taking a chance on a LHP (Francis / Maholm) who could slide to the pen for the right price would also provide some much needed balance. A veteran LHP could benefit from pitching in Comerica Park (particularly with a lead) in addition to holding runners to give the catchers a chance and defense opportunity for more DP’s.

by Boomer Dog on Dec 28, 2011 7:49 PM EST reply actions