Tigers Act Quickly but too Hastily?
By Kyle Bauer
Yes, after an extremely long absence due to laziness and other poor excuses Im back for my first blog since, well I think the Tigers were still leading the Central, thats how long.
Down to business with a couple quick takes on whats going on right now in the world of Detroit pro sports.
Yesterday the Tigers wasted absolutely no time adressing a key need this offseason. They aquired vertern all-star short stop Edgar Renteria from the Atlanta Braves for the young stop gap pitcher Jair Jurrjens and highly touted outfield prospect Gorkys Hernandez.
This has already proved to be a polarizing move in the court of public opinion though the Major League off season is yet to be two days old.
Some are dancing over this move by Tigers GM Dave Dumbrowski. Getting a vetern short stop with a reliable glove, not the best range but a player that can hit for average, potentially lead off and enable Jim Leyland to move Carlos Guillen to first base full time. In exchange we gave up a young pitcher who could easily end up being a flash in the pan while already showing signs of future shoulder problems in Jair. One side sees this as an absolute steal.
The oppisite crowd is petrified that this move will be the 2007 version of the infamous 1987 trade that sent a young prospect by the name of John Smoltz to Atlanta for Doyle Alexander, a vertern pitcher that was supposed to put the Tigers over the hump and on the way to a World Series ring. I dont even need to type how that deal ended up for the Tigers. Though the similarites are eerily there, the outcry is also Jurrjens was surprisingsly one of the few reliable arms down the stretch for us last year. He pitched brilliantly in his first two starts against Cleveland while also knotching a huge win in Minnesota. Being a young crafty, efficient right handed pitcher that if given the chance was believed to be able to eat up innings. Jair could had also served as a nice switch up in a sea of power pitching lefties that fill Detroits starting rotation. With possible gaps in the pitching staff this upcoming season there is the classic argument that you could never have enough pitching.
Right now I fall right inbetween the two sides.
Renteria fills a gap that was crucial to fill this offseason, unless the Tigers could had swung a deal for a first basemen, which by the market was highly unlikely. They couldnt run Ramon Santiago out there every day or continue to deal with costly errors by Guillen. Santiago did excellent in a platoon role late last season but unless hes an extremely late bloomer, his stats suggest that he was just hot at the right time. Comparing Renteria who hit .330 last season, to Santiago whose lifetime average has huverd around .200, you need that bat if you can take it. Renteria is aging, his range is poor to average but only 9 errors compared to 28 by Guillen, you need to make that improvement if you can take it.
I am not comfortable with dealing Jurrjens though. Im well aware that this is a change of heart considering that I was screaming to deal him at the deadline for a player of Renterias caliber but Jair has shown me so much in that time. For his age, he could brake as nasty of a change up as there is. He played in some huge games and showed tremendous poise.
Leyland said that he didnt plan on placing Jurjjens on the opening day roster but who knows when you have a pitcher such as Bonderman, mentally falling apart with alleged elbow trouble.
Rogers who still is not officially coming back and if he does, can his arm effectively hold a whole season?
Robertson was far too inconsistant last season and in an average performance , his arm would go dead and he begun to hang everything after 70 pitches.
Then Andrew Miller, who Leyland still dosent believe is ready for the show and I'll agree with him on that since he only has two different kinds of fastballs to offer at this point.
Leyland hates Miner and I believe Miner feels the same towards Leyland but he could be this teams 4th or 5th starter since he pitches to contact, likely wont ever get another chance to in Detroit.
Durbin is too inconsistant and cant give you more than 4 strong on a good night.
So what happens to this staff? Despite Leylands comments, I believe Jurrjens could had been an effective 4th or 5th starter, if not a solid long or middle reliever which was a spot that ultimately crippled this team last season.
So I believe the Tigers will benefit from having Renteria at short and batting lead off, second or sixth in the line up. I also believe that this move will damage the state off the Tigers pitching staff unless Dumbrowski has a plan to grab another pitcher this offseason which I hope he does. Thats seems to be an area many Tigers fans are over looking at the moment but it does need to be adressed as bad as left field does.
Ok, so that wasnt so quick but you know, its not like I could ever be concise.
Hockeytown?
With attendance dwindling to lows that havent been seen since the mid 80's, how is it that the average Joe still cant afford to get into Joe Louis Arena?
I'll use myself as an example.
Being in college, Im not really set for money but still I would love to catch arguably the best team in the league led by arguably the best player (Zetterberg) in the game. So when Mr. Ilitch releases 9 dollar tickets to help fill his barron upper bowl how come they seemed nearly impossible to get? Last Saturday (October 20th) there was a small advertisement or story, informing Wings fans that a new block of 9 dollar tickets had been released. My first attempt to swipe a pair fell short in September as I waited a couple weeks and I was told they were sold out which was believable. This time I acted right away, scrambling down to the JLA box office that next morning only to be told they sold out of them the previous day.
So even though the Wings cant fill the Joe over 75% compacity, somehow theres enough fans that paid close enough attention on the Wings website (the only place I seen this announcement posted) and were excited enough to buy out all the 9 dollar tickets for 5 games offered the same day they were released?
Im sorry but this screams either two things...
1.The only thing keeping Joe Louis Arena from being sold out is ticket prices.
2.The whole 9 dollar ticket offer is a scam and theyre nearly unattainable making this more of a PR move while at the same time trying to re-up demand.
Could just be a combination of the both. Either way if Mr.I wants people to witness "Fire On Ice" hes going to need to drop ticket prices dramatically for next season. Its not right that even though the demand clearly isnt there anymore I still have to spend 44 dollars on an upper bowl seat and god forbid trying to take my girlfriend to a Wings game for a date, parking and concessions included its over a hundred dollar night. With the economy the way it is right now, youll be hard pressed to find anyone willing to dish out that kind of money on 3 hours of entertainment plus another 2 trying to get home through traffic.
If he can afford to pick select games to sell off upper bowl tickets for 9 dollars, a 35 dollar jump, theres no reason he cant do it all next year and until a new arena comes. Yes thats a dramatic decrease in profit but if hes gotten 3 million people into Comerica Park and college kids keep getting Hot N Readys I think things will eventually even out for him. Its not unreasonable for him to drop ticket prices on standing room from 22 to 15 and upper bowl from 44 to 24, I would even accept 30. When the new arena comes he can drive those prices right back up and regain the penny he would lose and then some. Maybe it could all even out this year too because Im sure people wouldnt have reservations watching an elite hockey team if it didnt cost them almost 200 dollars to bring their family.
Of course if the Wings make it to the Stanley Cup finals, the deep pocketed badwagon demand thats currently filling Comerica Park will likely return to the Joe Louis Arena. Still the average Joe will be pushed out of the fold as he has been for the past 20 years, rendering Mr. Ilitch without a lesson learned.
Thats more than enough today. Come back soon and I'll get around to blogging about the Red Wings as a hockey team aswell rants on the Pistons and Lions.
You can hear me doing the pre game and intermission reports for OU hockey aswell as on the OU hockey show every Wednesday from 5 to 6 pm.
Yes, after an extremely long absence due to laziness and other poor excuses Im back for my first blog since, well I think the Tigers were still leading the Central, thats how long.
Down to business with a couple quick takes on whats going on right now in the world of Detroit pro sports.
Yesterday the Tigers wasted absolutely no time adressing a key need this offseason. They aquired vertern all-star short stop Edgar Renteria from the Atlanta Braves for the young stop gap pitcher Jair Jurrjens and highly touted outfield prospect Gorkys Hernandez.
This has already proved to be a polarizing move in the court of public opinion though the Major League off season is yet to be two days old.
Some are dancing over this move by Tigers GM Dave Dumbrowski. Getting a vetern short stop with a reliable glove, not the best range but a player that can hit for average, potentially lead off and enable Jim Leyland to move Carlos Guillen to first base full time. In exchange we gave up a young pitcher who could easily end up being a flash in the pan while already showing signs of future shoulder problems in Jair. One side sees this as an absolute steal.
The oppisite crowd is petrified that this move will be the 2007 version of the infamous 1987 trade that sent a young prospect by the name of John Smoltz to Atlanta for Doyle Alexander, a vertern pitcher that was supposed to put the Tigers over the hump and on the way to a World Series ring. I dont even need to type how that deal ended up for the Tigers. Though the similarites are eerily there, the outcry is also Jurrjens was surprisingsly one of the few reliable arms down the stretch for us last year. He pitched brilliantly in his first two starts against Cleveland while also knotching a huge win in Minnesota. Being a young crafty, efficient right handed pitcher that if given the chance was believed to be able to eat up innings. Jair could had also served as a nice switch up in a sea of power pitching lefties that fill Detroits starting rotation. With possible gaps in the pitching staff this upcoming season there is the classic argument that you could never have enough pitching.
Right now I fall right inbetween the two sides.
Renteria fills a gap that was crucial to fill this offseason, unless the Tigers could had swung a deal for a first basemen, which by the market was highly unlikely. They couldnt run Ramon Santiago out there every day or continue to deal with costly errors by Guillen. Santiago did excellent in a platoon role late last season but unless hes an extremely late bloomer, his stats suggest that he was just hot at the right time. Comparing Renteria who hit .330 last season, to Santiago whose lifetime average has huverd around .200, you need that bat if you can take it. Renteria is aging, his range is poor to average but only 9 errors compared to 28 by Guillen, you need to make that improvement if you can take it.
I am not comfortable with dealing Jurrjens though. Im well aware that this is a change of heart considering that I was screaming to deal him at the deadline for a player of Renterias caliber but Jair has shown me so much in that time. For his age, he could brake as nasty of a change up as there is. He played in some huge games and showed tremendous poise.
Leyland said that he didnt plan on placing Jurjjens on the opening day roster but who knows when you have a pitcher such as Bonderman, mentally falling apart with alleged elbow trouble.
Rogers who still is not officially coming back and if he does, can his arm effectively hold a whole season?
Robertson was far too inconsistant last season and in an average performance , his arm would go dead and he begun to hang everything after 70 pitches.
Then Andrew Miller, who Leyland still dosent believe is ready for the show and I'll agree with him on that since he only has two different kinds of fastballs to offer at this point.
Leyland hates Miner and I believe Miner feels the same towards Leyland but he could be this teams 4th or 5th starter since he pitches to contact, likely wont ever get another chance to in Detroit.
Durbin is too inconsistant and cant give you more than 4 strong on a good night.
So what happens to this staff? Despite Leylands comments, I believe Jurrjens could had been an effective 4th or 5th starter, if not a solid long or middle reliever which was a spot that ultimately crippled this team last season.
So I believe the Tigers will benefit from having Renteria at short and batting lead off, second or sixth in the line up. I also believe that this move will damage the state off the Tigers pitching staff unless Dumbrowski has a plan to grab another pitcher this offseason which I hope he does. Thats seems to be an area many Tigers fans are over looking at the moment but it does need to be adressed as bad as left field does.
Ok, so that wasnt so quick but you know, its not like I could ever be concise.
Hockeytown?
With attendance dwindling to lows that havent been seen since the mid 80's, how is it that the average Joe still cant afford to get into Joe Louis Arena?
I'll use myself as an example.
Being in college, Im not really set for money but still I would love to catch arguably the best team in the league led by arguably the best player (Zetterberg) in the game. So when Mr. Ilitch releases 9 dollar tickets to help fill his barron upper bowl how come they seemed nearly impossible to get? Last Saturday (October 20th) there was a small advertisement or story, informing Wings fans that a new block of 9 dollar tickets had been released. My first attempt to swipe a pair fell short in September as I waited a couple weeks and I was told they were sold out which was believable. This time I acted right away, scrambling down to the JLA box office that next morning only to be told they sold out of them the previous day.
So even though the Wings cant fill the Joe over 75% compacity, somehow theres enough fans that paid close enough attention on the Wings website (the only place I seen this announcement posted) and were excited enough to buy out all the 9 dollar tickets for 5 games offered the same day they were released?
Im sorry but this screams either two things...
1.The only thing keeping Joe Louis Arena from being sold out is ticket prices.
2.The whole 9 dollar ticket offer is a scam and theyre nearly unattainable making this more of a PR move while at the same time trying to re-up demand.
Could just be a combination of the both. Either way if Mr.I wants people to witness "Fire On Ice" hes going to need to drop ticket prices dramatically for next season. Its not right that even though the demand clearly isnt there anymore I still have to spend 44 dollars on an upper bowl seat and god forbid trying to take my girlfriend to a Wings game for a date, parking and concessions included its over a hundred dollar night. With the economy the way it is right now, youll be hard pressed to find anyone willing to dish out that kind of money on 3 hours of entertainment plus another 2 trying to get home through traffic.
If he can afford to pick select games to sell off upper bowl tickets for 9 dollars, a 35 dollar jump, theres no reason he cant do it all next year and until a new arena comes. Yes thats a dramatic decrease in profit but if hes gotten 3 million people into Comerica Park and college kids keep getting Hot N Readys I think things will eventually even out for him. Its not unreasonable for him to drop ticket prices on standing room from 22 to 15 and upper bowl from 44 to 24, I would even accept 30. When the new arena comes he can drive those prices right back up and regain the penny he would lose and then some. Maybe it could all even out this year too because Im sure people wouldnt have reservations watching an elite hockey team if it didnt cost them almost 200 dollars to bring their family.
Of course if the Wings make it to the Stanley Cup finals, the deep pocketed badwagon demand thats currently filling Comerica Park will likely return to the Joe Louis Arena. Still the average Joe will be pushed out of the fold as he has been for the past 20 years, rendering Mr. Ilitch without a lesson learned.
Thats more than enough today. Come back soon and I'll get around to blogging about the Red Wings as a hockey team aswell rants on the Pistons and Lions.
You can hear me doing the pre game and intermission reports for OU hockey aswell as on the OU hockey show every Wednesday from 5 to 6 pm.
posted by Kyle Bauer at 7:16 AM
