If you have a queasy feeling about the Tigers...you are not alone

I don’t follow enough other teams to know hoe much they shift defensive positions trying to get more bats in the line up. I’m not bothered by that.

I do think it’s odd that the Tigers spend so much on the bullpen. I guess 2008 is still influencing that.

Finally, I have read posts and articles suggesting that in a low scoring environment the bullpen is critical. So, mid and late relief may be the next OBP, the next undervalued commodity. I’m not sold yet, but it bears considering.

But I’m sorry I think the problems lies more in Leyland than the team. I know many will say Leyland can’t help how his teams performs, well I beg to differ. I know we don’t know what goes on behind closed doors but, I used to remember a Leyland that would dig into his team and call them on plain shitty play. I don’t hear that now or the last few years. THIS TEAM HAS BECOME COMPLACENT WITH ITSELF. And Leyland knows it, if this team doesn’t start to play well when Maggs comes back to can pretty much mail it in for the year, why Leyland never won above .500 ball in the 2nd half with the tigers.

I’m hoping for the best but know the worse is coming

well…. laughable

Is there one?

1. The rotation is inconsistent
2 The bullpen sucks.
3. The lineup has more holes than (pick your metaphor)
4. The farm is devoid of talent.
5. This year’s draft will be a bust.
6. The payroll is too high.
7. The organization is losing money.
8. Big name free agents won’t come to Detroit.
9. But, at the least the division is weak – unless Cleveland keeps winninng.

Is there any good news? Where’s the silver lining, people?

Rhymes is not a major league 2nd sacker. Not much we can do til the off season and look t osign a 2nd sacker.

Rhymes is not a major league 2nd sacker

Worth should be the second baseman of the future. He’s great defensively and he just needs a little bit more strength to be a decent hitter.

Sums up my feelings quite nicely. I guess, if I wanted the Tiger’s Brass the benefit of the doubt, I would say that they never planned on having Sizemore as their 2nd basemen of the future after he failed in his tryout last season. He was only up to showcase himself for a trade like this. It would all make sense if there was actually a decent option at 2nd base to take over!

Raburn has shown in the past that he can hit, and hit for power. Boesch has shown that also. Magglio was on a tear when he went on the DL last year, so if is problems this year were related to his ankle, it stands to reason that he could come back strong as when he left us. JL wants to get all those bats into the lineup, and see what works. IF RR can hit like he did in the second half last year, he’s Dan Uggla. If he doesn’t, he Dam Uggly.

My question, why has Avila not hit above 7th in a SINGLE GAME this season?! The kid has a .920 OPS and a good eye that could certainly play batting second…OR, slide Miggy up to 3rd, hit V-Mart 4th, and bat Avila 5th and Peralta 6th…

and I understand all your points. By my estimation, I think Mike Ilitch is playing a major role behind the scenes. He’s 82 and he wants to see the Tigers win a World Series in the worst way, that I think he’s “urging” DD to go get the guy that will put them over the top. Unfortunately, this team is more than one or two players from reaching that point. Yet, they keep chasing that rainbow.

That’s just my feeling, I have nothing to base it on, but it might start to explain some of the bipolar behavior from the front office.

That, or they just don’t have a plan.

I agree with Mark. The man behind the tiger-striped curtain is Mike Ilitch. And I think it’s fairly easy to see that by studying the track records of both Dave Dombrowski and his boss.

Was Dombrowski the kind of GM who didn’t stick to his plan before he came to Detroit? Did he make moves that had you scratching your head? No, I think the exact opposite could be said. Dombrowski was one of the most respected GMs in the business before he came here.

Now, let’s look at Ilitch. When he first bought the team, he started throwing money around like crazy, signing Cecil Fielder a huge contract, and overpaying guys like Mike Moore. For a time the Tigers had the biggest payroll in baseball. For their efforts, they were rewarded with a last-place team. I remember a big deal being made about how the Tigers finished dead last with the biggest payroll in baseball, and this was long before Dombrowski came to town.

After that, Ilitch decided to trade away players like Fielder, David Wells and Travis Fryman, getting absolutely nothing in return. Ilitch then slammed the pursestrings shut for several years while he waited to see if he’d get a new stadium; 90-plus loss seasons became the norm.

Finally, Comerica Park was built, and Ilitch decided he wanted to make it a pitcher’s park, with cavernous dimensions. He then decided to abandon his plan to build with “the kids from Erie” and trade away his top prospects for a “name” who would make a splash in the new digs. So who does he goes after? Why, Juan Gonzalez, of course — the worst possible fit for that kind of ballpark; a selfish player interested in his own stats (and, just to make it even more ridiculous, Gonzalez was in the last year of his contract).

What kind of moron would make a move like that? Although Ilitch was front and center when the trade was announced, taking credit for having come up with the idea, it was Randy Smith who took the brunt of the fans’ wrath after the Gonzalez experiment predictably ended in disaster. (Ilitch tried to make it even worse by offering JuanGone what may have been the stupidest contract offer in baseball history, but thankfully Gonzalez turned it down).

Ilitch has stuck his nose into personnel decisions since he bought the team, going back to when he ordered Larry Parrish to give Kimera Bartee more playing time. Ilitch is perfectly willing to take credit when personnel moves he ordered work out, such as the Pudge and Magglio signings, or the trade for Cabrera/Willis, all of which were orchestrated by the boss, if the stories coming from the Tiger camp are to be believed.

But it’s Dombrowski who gets the blame for things like the stupid contract extensions, or sudden changes in the organization’s philosophy.

I don’t understand why people are pointing their finger at DD. The kind of stupid moves we’ve seen recently have been Ilitch’s MO from the moment he got here.

This is really great analysis. Too bad DD and Co. don’t pay attention to BYB. My only real comment is one I’ve made before and probably will again.

I miss Placido Polanco.

I think the problem is, Ilitch played minor league baseball for the Tigers, so he thinks he knows more than he really does about baseball. With his hockey team, he just steps back and lets his people run the day-to-day operations.

Purcey has way more big league upside than sizemore, even with all the time under his belt. The kid has a great arm from the leftside and has shown a lot of promise since moving to the pen. Plus, quality depth at left handed relief is a need (that is, if we don’t want to keep running Thomas out there).

Sizemore could yet turn into a stable, mediocre everyday player. But we have a whole stable of players who can be mediocre at second base. Sizemore may have been the best option we currently have at the position, in the short term and especially longer term. But that is irrelevant because he is not THE answer. The Tigers simply MUST acquire a middle infielder from outside the organization in the next month and a half. That was true before we dumped Sizemore, and it is still true after.

I still can’t believe we found someone who would give us a useful big league pitcher for him.