Detroit Tigers Links could use an All-Star break

The Tigers could use a little break. The All-Star break can't come soon enough. First, it would supply some recovery time. The team received good news with regards to their starting pitching injuries. Daniel Norris is expected to return quickly after the All-Star break and Jordan Zimmermann's neck injury has been deemed minor. Oh yeah, and that J.D. Martinez guy. He is trending more toward the six-week portion of his 4-6 week fractured elbow timeline meaning he likely will not be available until August.

The break should also give the front office some time to, with all due respect, figure out what the hell is going on. Bringing back Buck Farmer for 1 game? Substituting him for Bobby Parnell? Carrying 10 relievers on the roster? Sure seems like they are throwing arms at the wall to see if they stick. And it's not inspiring confidence.

Finally, the break should provide some thinking time. As in, does the team add a piece? They've been linked to pitching help and an extra bat. I'm with Matthew Trueblood of Baseball Prospectus: the team might as well go for it.

Cleveland Counter

1-0.

These boots were made for pitching. Want to hear something really American?

When he needed a sturdy pair of shoes for his offseason side gig a few years ago, he turned to his trusty pair of size 13D Limited Edition Double-H King Ranch cowboy boots. He received them as a gift from his wife, Kelsey, as a matching complement to his Ford Super Duty F-250 King Ranch pickup truck and rarely left home without them.

Of course Michael Fulmer has an F-250. Note that his main offseason activity is digging plumbing ditches. Country strong.

Top 25 under 25. ESPN would like to introduce you to their paywall. As is my journalistic duty, I will not expose the exact contents. HOWEVA, I will say that the Tigers landed two on the list at No. 18 and No. 25, and they rhyme with Fichael Mulmer and Lick Nastellanos.

Needs moar Fulmer. Don't know if you noticed but Fulmer has fully established himself in the AL Rookie of the year conversation. This allows him to get the full Smoltzy treatment:

Is Gincarlo Stanton overrated? A test case.

Fan calls Giancarlo Stanton overrated... Stanton promptly homers. pic.twitter.com/7ApJqjhSn4

— Shaun Newkirk (@Shauncore) July 6, 2016

No. No he is not.

Ken Griffey Jr. went quietly into the night. Interesting read on Kenny Griffey Jr, his retirement and his life after baseball. It's an illuminating piece on Griffey's aversion to the spotlight despite being everyone's favorite player.

Griffey, who changes his cellphone number as many as five times a year, built the house a decade ago, but he doesn't know any of his neighbors. "What am I gonna do, borrow some sugar?" he asks.

It really speaks to his mind state considering the lengths I go to maintain my phone number (313 whaddup). That said, it's great to see how he immediately embraced fatherhood and how at peace he was after he walked away from baseball. Let's make sure to celebrate his achievements by cleaning off that Ken Griffey baseball cartridge.

Baseball is awesome.