Will Zach Miner's return from his rehab assignment mean the end of Jason Grilli in Detroit? Probably not, but according to Jon Paul Morosi, the Tigers were looking to trade Grilli this week. (Anyone else find it hard to imagine Detroit got return calls on that?)
Stuart Miller of the NY Times asks why hitters don't swing at 3-0 pitches as often as they used to. The increased emphasis on on-base percentage probably has something to do with it. But look at these stats the article references:
Today's Free Press has a feature on Gorkys Hernandez, who's hitting .296 with 28 stolen bases for West Michigan. (Note to WXYT's Mike Valenti: It's Hernandez, not Gonzalez.) And this is totally just a hunch, but I think if the Tigers trade for a reliever, he'll be part of the deal.
It's a largely symbolic idea, but I really like it, and would be curious what others think: Dave Winfield wants Major League Baseball to sign the remaining living Negro Leaguers to major league contracts. One has to wonder if it would've made a difference toward Buck O'Neil getting in the Hall of Fame.
While writing about Andy MacPhail being named CEO and President of the Orioles, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe mentioned something I hadn't realized. There's only one guy who has the three-headed position of CEO/President/General Manager in baseball: Dave Dombrowski.
Also from Cafardo's Sunday Notes section: He thinks all major league teams will eventually adopt the only-listen-to-music-on-headphones policy Dombrowski recently laid down on the Tigers' minor leaguers.
In his Sunday column, Ken Rosenthal quotes a general manager who thinks the Reds should hang onto Adam Dunn and wait until after the season to trade him, as the Yankees did with Gary Sheffield. Why? More teams might be interested if Cincinnati exercises Dunn's option year.