Justin Verlander's inner ninja, Dave Dombrowski's Q&A session, and Baseball Boyfriend: Morning Prowl

by Melissa Heyboer on Feb 8, 2012 6:00 AM EST in Detroit Tigers Links

Pitchers and catchers countdown: 11 days

Justin Verlander 'a ninja riding a cheetah' in new 'MLB 2K12' ad -- Detroit Free Press, Steve Schrader
I'm going to assume that you've all seen this. But I'm also going to urge you to watch it again. And so by me including it here, I'm simply making that easier for you. You're welcome.

Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes expected to arrive in Miami, meet with Marlins -- MLB.com, Joe Frisaro and Jesse Sanchez
Yoenis Cespedes has reportedly received a travel visa and is scheduled to meet with the Miami Marlins Wednesday. It's not clear if he's meeting with other teams in Miami, but it likely means the Tigers will have their first opportunity to schedule a meeting with the highly sought-after outfielder in person.

Prince is part of third father/son duo to play for the Tigers -- Detroit Athletic Co. Blog, Dan Holmes
But are they the first father/son duo to openly hate each other?

Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski speaks at Detroit Sports Broadcasters Assn. banquet -- Out of Left Field, Matthew B. Mowery
In case you "accidentally" missed this, Mowery provides a brief overview of Dombroski's Q&A session at DSBA Tiger Day.

MLB preview: Detroit Tigers in Morris -- The Morris Mirror
"Even with Prince Fielder, Detroit may have only the sixth-best roster in the American League in my book." Yeah? Well your book is stupid.

Memo to owners: spend money! -- SI.com, Joe Sheehan
Sheehan says Detroit Tigers Mike Ilitch is one of the few owners in baseball who is more concerned with winning than money. He says more owners need to take greater risks in signing free agents instead of worrying about putting their team "in red" so to speak.

Best Pitching Rotations Ever -- Tiger Tales, Lee Panas
Panas breaks down the best pitching rotations in the history of baseball. The final list includes the 1946 and 1949 Detroit Tigers. Can you name both those rotations without peeking?

Detroit Tigers' Dave Dombrowski expects Collin Balester to make roster; says one spot left in bullpen -- MLive.com, James Schmehl
Right-handed reliever Collin Balester is expected to be on the Tigers opening-day roster. So who does that leave for the final spot in the bullpen. My bet is on Duane Below, but it's possible I have a soft-spot for the guy. Who do you guys have?

Detroit Tigers' increased revenue could absorb cost of Prince Fielder's $214 million contract -- MLive.com, Justin Rogers
Rogers says if you factor in "attendance increases from the 2006 postseason appearance, and jumps after big acquisitions such as Miguel Cabrera and Pudge Rodriguez, the Tigers increased revenue could easily cover Fielder's massive contract." But will it cover the one we're about to give Yoenis Cespedes? What? I can dream.

Around the AL Central:

Competition in the Central Comes Down To (Fours): Part 2 of 2 -- Motor City Bengals, Chris Hannum
Remember the awesome seasons that weren't for Adam Dunn, Jake Peavy, and Joe Mauer (to name a few)? Well, let's pretend they all rebound significantly in 2012. Which, let's be honest, the only place Dunn can go is up anyway. But, what would that mean for the AL Central race, and more specifically the Tigers? Well, in short, hopefully nothing.

Travis Hafner: Exit stage left -- Let's Go Tribe
Though Hafner has been relatively consistent the past few seasons, his numbers against left-handed pitchers have been dismal. The Cleveland Indians should expect decent numbers from him again this season, but Let's Go Tribe argues that those numbers should be the result of appearances against right-handers, not left.

Royals Bullpen Handedness Splits -- Royals Review, Jeff Zimmerman
Zimmerman takes a look at "how the Royals bullpen's past handedness splits."

Elsewhere in baseball:

Dodgers sign Clayton Kershaw to two-year, $19-million deal -- Los Angeles Times, Steve Dilbeck
"The Dodgers avoided an arbitration hearing with National League Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw Tuesday by signing him to a two-year, $19-million contract."

Former MLB player Clyburn shot, killed in Lancaster -- The Herald, Nicole Smith
Danny Clyburn Jr., was killed in a shooting early Tuesday morning. Clyburn was an outfielder for both the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays, who were still the Devil Rays at the time.

A fantasy baseball game for girls who happen to live in the 1950s -- Ultimate Astros, Henry Schulman
You didn't think you'd make it through this entire link post without this, did you? Yep. Baseball Boyfriend is a thing. A very terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing. But on the bright side, it brought out the very best of people on the Interwebs. Seriously, there were some hilarious jokes as a result of this. So, I want to know: Who's your baseball boyfriend?

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Comments

Ninjaaaaaa.

@littlestclouds

by ivantopumpyouup on Feb 8, 2012 7:15 AM EST reply actions

I think he looks a lot more frightening when he puts a tin of Copenhagen in his mouth after he comes out of a game.

by ottisfranklin on Feb 8, 2012 12:02 PM EST up reply actions

Andy Dirks

Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports wrote an interesting piece on Andy Dirks and his slaying of Venezulan pitching (he hit .315 in the regular season down there). Here’s the link:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;ylt=AnYySxpjFGB7MvLVHR_EZIRvLYF?slug=ti-brown_andy_dirks_caribbean_series_el_gringo_020712

Jesus don't love me, no one's ever carried my load. I'm too young to feel this old. - Caleb Followill

by Nich on Feb 8, 2012 8:31 AM EST reply actions

Dirks

I also read in the Morris piece from above that he’s projecting Dirks to be the starting LF.

If Cabrera is truly our full-time 3B and Inge is displaced, we have an open spot in the lineup. I don’t think any one player will see what you would call regular time because of that spot, but just seeing Dirks written in there makes me realize that he’s probably the most logical choice on the current roster (among Laird, Raburn/Santiago, Kelly, and Inge) to see a major spike in playing time and AB’s as a result of the Fielder signing.

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

by momotigers on Feb 8, 2012 8:36 AM EST up reply actions

Gringo Star?

It’s perfect.

Detroit4Lyfe

by Rob Rogacki on Feb 8, 2012 9:20 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

6th best roster?

And then he says they might be seventh behind the blue jays?

Fine by me. I’m glad people haven’t been high on the Tigers. It seems like anytime a team is anointed (so to speak) before the season starts, they end up blowing it (see e.g., Red Sox 2010, Eagles 2010).

So by all means, let the hate continue, let the Tigers play with an underdog mentality. Let them earn respect instead of having it handed to them, they’ll be better for it in the end.

by MakeItTrizzle on Feb 8, 2012 9:39 AM EST reply actions 1 recs

Crap, I meant 2011

Didn’t even catch that while proof reading.

by MakeItTrizzle on Feb 8, 2012 9:40 AM EST up reply actions

You notice. . . .

. . . that the doesn’t name the five teams he thinks are better. (Yankees, Rangers, R. Sox, Rays & Angels? Surely not!)

by rea on Feb 8, 2012 12:30 PM EST up reply actions

I can see us being the sixth best

But we’re the hands down best in this division and I’d take us over NY and the Sox (maybe the Rays too, but their pitching is phenomenal).

"You, on the other hand, make Eeyore look like Rainbow Brite." -johnmoz

"I think of you more as the blue book style essay of sports journalism."-Kurt Mensching

by David Tokarz on Feb 8, 2012 4:33 PM EST up reply actions

Bullpen

Not surprising that Ballester has the inside track on one of the bullpen spot. He’s out of options and they gave up Perry to get him, so they obviously like him. His past performance doesn’t necessarily put him ahead of the pack. I figured, and mentioned in the bullpen story, that Colin and Dan Schlereth were favorites for two of the jobs.

Schlereth is more of a mystery. He’s not out of options, and his performance hasn’t been good. He’s just a teacher’s pet.

David Pauley is out of options and should be considered as much of a favorite as either of these two guys, but he’s not. Pauley was cruising along, performing better in Seattle’s pen than any of the other candidates have ever done in the majors when the Tigers got him. I’d hate to lose him through waivers because they want to keep Schlereth.

The saga continues.

"King of Minutiae"

by Tigerdog1 on Feb 8, 2012 12:00 PM EST reply actions

Nothing on Pauley's resume impresses me, outside of his Seattle stats last year

Even then, his peripherals weren’t too good. His stuff isn’t all that great and his ratios aren’t too good either. He’s a mediocre arm that probably fits in somebody’s bullpen somewhere. I’d rather take a chance on one of the kids with more upside.

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

by momotigers on Feb 8, 2012 12:29 PM EST up reply actions