If you haven't seen it already, Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan compiled his rankings of the 183 eligible free agents for 2008-09.  And the Detroit Tigers' hard-luck catcher, Vance Wilson, he of the two ligament replacement surgeries on his right elbow, is at the very bottom of the totem pole.

183)   Vance Wilson, C: Mr. Irrelevant is a guy who hasn’t played in the major leagues since 2006.  Seriously, it is impressive to appear on MLB’s official free-agent list despite missing two full seasons.  Wilson probably will retire because of elbow problems, so congratulations are due on this final accomplishment.  What a way to go out.

Passan definitely has a point.  Should Wilson even be on this list, given the unlikely nature of his playing status for next season? 

Other Tigers of note in Passan's rankings:

20.  Edgar Renteria

61.  Freddy Garcia

72.  Kyle Farnsworth

82.  Kenny Rogers

128.  Casey Fossum

Check out the list if you want to see where free agent targets like Rafael Furcal, Derek Lowe, Juan Cruz, and Brandon Lyon rank.  Plus, you can check back throughout the winter to see if Wilson actually begins to move up the rankings. 

Posting a list of "players on the edge" in response is Newsday's Ken Davidoff.  Kenny Rogers ranks quite favorably (or perhaps unfavorably) there.

We should be talking about Miguel Cabrera's pair of two-run homers that tied him for the AL home run lead and has him near the top RBI spot, as well.  Or the brawl that erupted between Gary Sheffield and Fausto Carmona (and Asdrubal Cabrera and Victor Martinez, and somehow... Placido Polanco?) in the seventh inning.  Instead...

Once again, the Tigers' bullpen - or more specifically, its complete ineptitude - is the story.  And for those who think Jim Leyland does a poor job in handling his relievers, did you see what Lloyd McClendon did tonight?

After taking out Armando Galarraga with two outs in the eighth, McClendon brings in Casey Fossum.  He doesn't use Freddy Dolsi to face the right-handed Ben Francisco.  (We're not advocating Kyle Farnsworth, of course.)  Or maybe even Fernando Rodney.  And after Fossum walks Francisco, McClendon leaves him in there to face Shin-Soo Choo, who'd already had two hits (a home run among them).  Not Bobby Seay, nor Clay Rapada - either of whom are left-handed specialists.

You knew what was coming.  It may have been the most predictable play of the year.  (Well, other than Todd Jones serving up that home run to Jermaine Dye back in July.)  And it only took two pitches.  Long fly ball to right field.  Home run.  Game tied, but really, game over.

The inevitable became official when McClendon brought in Gary Glover instead of Rodney to face Ryan Garko in the bottom of the ninth.  And talk about efficiency: Glover only needed two pitches - one to Garko, and one to Jamey Carroll up next - to give up two singles that brought home the winning run.

How many more games are left to endure on the schedule?

Do I have to write another woeful recap about a terrible Tigers pitching performance?  I think we're tapped out on those.  And I'm sure you don't want to read another one.  Unless I could find another photo of a train wreck, explosion, or sinkhole. 

So tonight, we'll try something different.  This recap is dedicated to bowing before our Baltimore overlords.  What Melvin Mora and Luke Scott have done to Detroit Tigers pitching this season is akin to barbarians destroying a village.  I can imagine Dave Tremblay gathering his team in the clubhouse after today's game, asking them to form a circle around him, Mora, and Scott, and asking his two sluggers the following question:

"What is best in life?"

To which Mora and Scott would respond in unison, "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women." 

Here's some lamenting for you: Today, Mora went 5-for-6 with two homers and six RBIs.  In this three-game series, he hit 10-for-13 for a .769 average.  He slammed three home runs, and drove in 10 runs.  In seven total games against Detroit this season, Mora has a .572 average (16-for-28) with six homers and 17 RBIs. 

Scott wasn't quite as dominating in this series, today's 3-for-6, 2 homer, four RBI performance notwithstanding.  But in his seven games against the Tigers this year, he's batted .542 (13-for-24) with five home runs and 12 RBIs. 

These two guys are stone cold Tiger killers.  If you saw two gentlemen walking toward a team bus with fresh tiger skins draped over their shoulders, wearing the heads of those beasts as hats, chances are it was Mora and Scott.  Wearing fur in 80-plus degree weather.  That's how fearsome this pair was.

For the second time in three days, the Orioles' lineup hung double-digit runs on a Tigers pitching staff that may as well be throwing the ball underhanded.  And we can't even blame today's 16 runs on favorite BYB whipping boy, Nate Robertson.  No, Zach Miner had easily his worst start of the season, one in which he couldn't even make it out of the second inning.  In just 1 1/3 innings, Miner virtually turned to quivering jello on the mound, giving up five runs, six hits, and four walks.  Coming into today, Miner had only given up seven earned runs and walks in five starts. 

But Baltimore scored 11 more runs, and we have the bullpen to thank for that.  Casey Fossum: four runs.  Aquilino Lopez: four runs.  Francis Beltran: three runs.  Fail, fail, fail.  These guys weren't just gas cans today; they were tanker trucks full of petrol.  And the Orioles treated that tanker truck like the 18-wheeler Batman flipped tail-over-head in The Dark Knight.  And he needed a bad-ass motor scooter with grappling hooks and cables to pull that off.  The Orioles just needed sticks of maple and ash.  And, of course, that generous Tigers pitching serving the baseball up on a tee. 

What a total traveshamockery.  Detroit needs the Tigers to go on a seven-day road trip to get the smell of this homestand out of Comerica Park.

Roll Call

We had an active GameThread, but unfortunately, it sort of turned into accident gawking right away.  By the end, men and women were trading cheesecake and beefcake photos.  Those that remained, anyway.  This is what we've been reduced to.

Thanks to wepri31, rook34, densogirl, ThaWalrus9, Juskimo, explosivo2k2, Rogo, Boney, spotstarters, gf206, and Wingz for viewing the carnage.

I think we could all use a day off from talking about the Detroit Tigers, but it's healthy to vent, so we're providing a safe place for you to get that stuff out of your system.  Normally, I try to encourage off-topic conversation on off-days, but not today.

There's too much to talk about after an awful weekend at Tropicana Field, one that created Mad Jim Beyond Thunderdome.  The Tigers' manager is threatening to make changes because he doesn't like what he sees (I guess he can go to the head of the line since he's the skipper), and implied he may be getting leaned on by upper management, as well.  Maybe we'll see some moves today, but I have a feeling we won't until tomorrow.  Today is probably a day of meetings and decisions among the Tigers' braintrust.

So what would you like to see Jim Leyland and/or Dave Dombrowski do?  And of course, we all have thoughts on who should go, but who really will?  Who has something to fear when they get to the ballpark tomorrow in Chicago? 

Is tomorrow night Nate Robertson's last stand as a starting pitcher?  Who should replace him?  Casey Fossum?  Eddie Bonine?  Chris Lambert? 

Have we already seen the last of Fernando Rodney as closer?  Though no one seems capable of protecting a lead at this point, who should get the next chance to do so?  Glass Joel?  Freddy Dolsi?  Casey Fien?  The Farns?  Kyra Sedgwick?

And how about the bigger picture?  Where does this team go now?  Did the season effectively end when Rodney walked in Carlos Pena yesterday?  (Of course, it may have been over long before that.)  Should the Tigers start playing for 2009 now?

Pull up a chair and say what's on your mind.  This is the BYB support group.  We're listening.  As always, just be nice to each other.

I know tonight's game didn't just come down to one moment.  It was a roller coaster ride of emotion, from the lows of Detroit falling behind 4-0 (during which you could see Eddie Bonine throwing his major league gig away) to the building anticipation for a rally that culminated with a game-tying homer from Matt Joyce.  And how about a tip of the cap to Casey Fossum for putting out the blaze that Bonine lit and giving his team a chance to stage that comeback?  (And how about those strikeouts?  Six in 3 1/3 innings?  When did Fossum become Cole Hamels?)

Up until the sixth inning, were you beginning to question whether or not this Tigers team really had it in them to make the sort of run we're all hoping for?  Did the reality of just how fragile, how precarious this season really is seem horrifyingly clear until Detroit began to put some runs on the board?

But with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the ninth, Miguel Cabrera wiped that dread away.  That two-run, walk-off homer gave us one hell of a moment to savor until game time tomorrow afternoon.  Damn, how much fun was that to watch?

Roll Call

Issues with my internet connection prevented me from enjoying that moment with everyone in the GameThread tonight (ARGH!), but the rest of the BYB Brigade got through those nine innings of emotion together.

Cheers to Zappatista, ThaWalrus9, explosivo2k2, wepri31, BigAl, densogirl, Grant E., Wingz, TFerg1103, Juskimo, Boney, ahtrap, Tony K, and bradm for showing solidarity.  So who had the rally caps on?

Normally, I'd probably write something about this being a relapse of the bad Tigers we saw earlier this season, with the lineup not being able to score enough runs and the bullpen giving a game away.  And I'd love to include some wholly unoriginal snark about how abnormally large Petco Park is.  But that's oversimplifying what happened tonight in the eighth inning.

Let's talk about Fernando Rodney, because this is a serious problem.  If it's not disastrous, it's damn close.  Jim Leyland can't possibly be considering putting Rodney in another game - even if it's mop-up duty - after what he did tonight.  Not only were Rodney's pitches nowhere near the strike zone tonight, but he's so out of control that he almost hurt someone.  The top of Jody Gerut's head was sizzling after Rodney air-mailed a fastball way above the shoulders.

And it wasn't just the fastball that Rodney couldn't control in that eighth inning; his change-up couldn't find the plate, either.  Eight pitches, eight balls, two walks.  You can say Rodney got squeezed on a couple of those pitches, but he also didn't demonstrate any sort of control to the umpire.  You could also point out that Casey Fossum and Joel Zumaya couldn't clean up the mess Rodney created, but even if they weren't very good (Fossum was terrible, Zumaya was okay), they were asked to stop a boulder tumbling down a mountainside. 

If Dontrelle Willis had to be sent to Lakeland due to his control problems, can we expect Rodney to be joining him down there by Monday?  The man's ERA is 135.00.  Think about that.  Don't just read it, either; say it out loud.

If you saw someone make a sharp, tire-squealing u-turn on I-75 tonight, it was probably Denny Bautista, who has every reason to think he'll be wearing a Tigers uniform again very soon.  Detroit has lost twice on this California road trip, and two games in their last 10.  And both of those losses are on Rodney.  Physical, mental - whatever the problem, the Tigers can't bear it right now.

Roll Call

What a fantastic turnout we had in the GameThread tonight.  I don't know what it may have been like before I took over BYB last year, but that is easily the most active thread we've ever had.  Some of the other SBN baseball blogs routinely have to create overflow threads, which is something we've never had to do.  But I had to think about it tonight, and man, was that a nice feeling.

Thanks to spotstarters, Grant E., Zappatista, ThaWalrus9, BigAl, Boney, cannonad03, MikeMcClary, weso33 (Welcome!), Matt in Toledo, miggy4mvp, MackAveKurt, rock n rye, densogirl, spartyboy40, Axion (who stopped over from Gaslamp Ball, where I had to eat some crow), KZone (Welcome!), ahtrap, Juskimo, and slomo984 for a wild night.  (And this recap would've been up a half hour ago, if not for keeping track of it.)  Oh, if only the Tigers could've sent us out the door happy...

I have to admit, I didn't think we'd ever see Fernando Rodney pitch for the Detroit Tigers again.  When a guy has to stop throwing sessions short because of pain in his shoulder, and makes appointments to see Dr. James Andrews, his pitching career begins to take on the faint burning smell of toast.  Yet Rodney kept at his rehabilitation.  Six minutes of throwing here, another pain-free day of long toss there.  And the Tigers held out hope, though Jim Leyland acted as if he didn't dare depend on someone who might not come back. 

But Rodney really is coming back (complete with some coaching tweaks), joining the team tonight in San Francisco.  And Joel Zumaya isn't far behind him.  Just as the Tigers are playing their best baseball of the year and appear ready to turn their season around, the two relievers that made their bullpen so dominating in 2006 are returning.  If Rodney and Zumaya are capable of pitching as they once did, is there any other team in baseball that's going to add relievers of such caliber in mid-season? 

With news of Rodney's return imminent, the question became who would have to go?  BYB reader Matt astutely observed that Freddy Dolsi would probably draw the short straw, based on his inexperience and remaining minor league options.  The general reaction to that was "What?  Are you nuts?  He's the Tigers' best reliever right now!"  But it made sense, given that Zumaya and Rodney were likely to take over the late-inning set-up roles, while Dolsi would be better served by getting innings in the minors, rather than pitch mop-up duty. 

Apparently, however, the Tigers agreed that Dolsi is pitching too well in relief to send down right now.  Or they're placing more of a priority on trying to rebuild their starting pitching depth.  In a rather surprising move, Detroit is sending Aquilino Lopez back to Toledo, in order to stretch himself out with more innings and become a starting pitcher for the organization.

What does that say about the depth in the minor league system right now?  Virgil Vazquez hasn't been very good this year (4-6, 5.08), and Jordan Tata has plummeted all the way down to Lakeland (he ain't down there for no rehab assignment).  Macay McBride was injured before the season, and Yorman Bazardo (1-3, 5.17) isn't throwing like someone who wants to get a call back up to the bigs.  The Tigers already called up the one guy they could, when Eddie Bonine came up for his start on Saturday.  And though he got a win, it wasn't exactly a dazzling performance.

Making Lopez a starter is a curious move, considering that Casey Fossum and Zach Miner both have more recent experience as starters.  (Both Billfer and Lee point out that Lopez last pitched as a starter in 2002, with Triple-A Tacoma.)  But he has pitched well in longer outings this season, including a four-inning stint in early April that would've been one of the Tigers' best starts of the year had Lopez actually started the game.  It looks like we'll be seeing him get those starts with Detroit pretty soon.

In his rundown of notable minor leaguers in today's Detroit News, Lynn Henning wrote that left-hander Casey Fossum "easily could be pitching for the Tigers right now."  Evidently, the team agreed with that assertion because Fossum has been called up from Triple-A Toledo. 

In 11 games (four starts) with the Mud Hens, Fossum has posted a 3-0 record with a 1.96 ERA, along with 48 strikeouts in 46 innings.  When the Tigers signed Fossum in early April, the move didn't make a lot of sense to me, as there didn't seem to be a spot for him on the major league roster unless he was projected as a left-handed reliever.  But as we know all too well, things haven't exactly worked as planned with Detroit's pitching staff two months into the season. 

The obvious follow-up question to Fossum's promotion, of course, is who gets sent down to clear a spot for him?  Francisco Cruceta hasn't looked very good in his last three appearances.  Billfer thinks Bobby Seay might be injured, judging from his recent performances, and could go to the DL.  Any other candidates?

 Always eager for an entrepreneurial opportunity here at BYB, I'd been mulling over the idea of a set of collectible milk cartons with Francisco Cruceta's roster photo on one side, with a caption reading "Have You Seen This Pitcher?  If So, Please Call Dave Dombrowski" underneath.  But it looks like I'll have to shelve that particular merchandising opportunity, and frankly, I'm happy to. 

Rumors of Cruceta actually becoming a Detroit Tiger felt as if they may have been exaggerated during Spring Training when visa issues (likely related to his 50-game suspension last year for using performance enhancers) kept him from entering the United States.  February and March passed without the Tigers being able to get a first-hand look at Cruceta and his reportedly blazing fastball or determine where he fit into their bullpen, and the team eventually had to break camp without him.  But Cruceta has finally fought through the bureaucracy, his visa has been approved, and he can now bring some hope (and heat) to the Tigers' pitching staff. 

Last season, Cruceta pitched in 25 games for the Rangers' Triple-A team, posting a 3-0 record and 3.02 ERA, with 70 strikeouts (and 40 walks) in 65 2/3 innings.

Cruceta will report to the Tigers' training complex in Lakeland, and the team will have 30 days to determine which part of the organization he best fits.  (He's out of minor league options.)  Assuming that he's been throwing and working out while trapped in the Dominican Republic, however, it's not too hard to imagine that Cruceta will be joining the big league club if the Tigers like his velocity and control.  Who might he replace?  Oh, I might have a suggestion...

 Also joining the Tigers organization yesterday was Casey Fossum, once a valued prospect for the Boston Red Sox who was part of the deal that brought Curt Schilling over from the Arizona Diamondbacks.  He signed a minor league deal with Detroit and will be assigned to Triple-A Toledo.  According to the Toledo Blade, manager Larry Parrish will keep Fossum on the temporary inactive list until his arm strength is built back up.  

Last year, Fossum pitched in 40 games for the Tampa Bay Rays, starting in 10 of them.  He finished with a 5-8 record and 7.70 ERA, with 53 strikeouts in 76 innings.  The Pittsburgh Pirates released Fossum toward the end of Spring Training this year.

When Mike McClary informed me of Fossum's signing via instant message, my immediate reaction was "Why?  He stinks."   I would've much rather seen the Tigers take a chance on Robinson Tejeda, though maybe they thought he was too much of a project at this point..

Despite his soft-tossing ways, however, Fossum does seem to fill a need, either replacing the injured Macay McBride in the Toledo starting rotation or compete with Aaron Fultz to become the left-handed reliever called up to Detroit when needed.

(UPDATE: I forgot to mention something else Mike pointed out when we were talking about Fossum last night.  If you go to his Baseball Reference page, and scroll all the way down to the "Similar Pitchers" category, there are a few names listed that should be very familiar to Tigers fans.)

  And for those of you still hoping for Fernando Rodney to make a worthy contribution to this year's team (I'm of the opinion that he's done), the Tigers say he threw a pain-free bullpen session yesterday in Lakeland.