I don't think anyone would say the Detroit Tigers have had a spectacular offseason. But even if they didn't go out and sign the big names available in free agency or make a splashy trade, they didn't stand pat, either. And I don't know how you can write about what the Tigers have done with their pitching staff and not mention Edwin Jackson. Somehow, David Mayo of the Grand Rapids Press has done it.
A new pitching coach, Rick Knapp, was hired to analyze and revitalize a flailing staff and perhaps find training-related reasons for its frequent injuries, including the surgically repaired returns of Bonderman and reliever Joel Zumaya.
Mostly, there was curiosity about what the Tigers would do to acquire new pitching blood.
The lone answer: Brandon Lyon.
That's not just a quote conveniently taken out of context, either. Click over and read the column.
I'll acknowledge that Mayo is trying to make the point that the Tigers are largely depending on rebound seasons from the incumbent pitching staff. And maybe he's just not impressed by Jackson. But to completely overlook a rather important transaction - one in which Detroit gave up one of its most promising young position players - is warping the truth and whittling the facts to fit his argument.
If I did that here, you guys would hammer me - and justifiably so. The readers of the Grand Rapids Press and MLive.com deserve better.
EDIT: The MLive commenters called Mayo out on this very point. (And is one of them also a BYB reader? That's a familiar handle.) Excelsior!