Manufactoring a repeat of 2006.
By Kyle Bauer
Forgive me for being just a little late; I’ve been busy with finals, work and my other broadcasting duties.
6 days ago the Tigers made a trade that may have launched them into being legitimate contenders, not wildcard, division or pennant, World Series contenders.
The fallowing will be part one of a three part blog dissecting the impact of the trade, through out the Tigers organization and Major League Baseball.
Part 1- The excitement the Line up.
We gave up all of our best prospects but I should had read into the surrendering of Jurrjens and Hernandez as Dumbrowski figuring this core only has two seasons left, along with Leyland so why not sell the farm and make it World Series or bust by 2009.
With the obvious climate change I have no problem dealing Maybin who I used to value as a deal buster because; Miggy can play left field if he could get into better shape. If were going to commit to taking a risk and not much of one at that considering what we received in return its a no brainer.
Of course having Cabrera is something I would have never seen coming this off-season, and I heard rumors the Tigers would take a shot at him back in early November but I never believed them. This is a once in a generation hitter, future hall of famer with the only downside being his attitude, which is fine considering everybody plays hard for Leyland. How fucking fun is it going to be watching Miggy, Maggs, Polanco, Sheff, Granderson, Guillen and Renteria?
Then Willis. He’s been one of my favorite non Tigers since '03 and like Matt Stairs I will now have the privilege of seeing him in the olde English D. His numbers have dropped off a bit but then look at how the Marlins have run him out there. You know Grandpa Jimmy won’t let him touch over 100 pitches even if he has a no hitter with 8 2/3rds on the board so if he’s used conservatively I’m not that worried.
In an earlier blog I exclaimed that whether Kenny Rogers comes back or not, the Tigers needed another starting pitcher to keep Durbin and Miner in the bullpen. Having another arm, a lefty of Willis’ caliber at that makes for an imposing rotation.
I don’t believe the D-Train is washed up yet, he’s only 25, he has a renaissance coming, maybe not right away, I believe there will be an adjustment period but by the end of this season he'll be paying off. He will more than solidify this rotation.
Imagine in a 5 game series, Verlander, Bonderman, Willis to open it. That’s going to be tough to beat. If he was to continue with his plus 4 ERA, it won’t matter that much because on most nights the Tigers offense could easily put up 5 runs. He’ll have at least 12 wins and make a good contribution.
Get ready Tiger fans watching the best player in the major leagues under 25 and one of the best pure hitters period, will have you jumping out of your seats. He won’t put up monster numbers though. By monster, I mean 40 + homeruns. Being right handed, no matter how quick and smooth his swing may be, no right handed batter will likely ever touch over 40 homers just because of the Comerica Park dimensions are too deep in left and left center. If Cabrera continues to develop as a hitter, which he likely will, being able to tag it to all fields may allow him too but still I don’t see it happening.
That doesn’t matter though. The Tigers are putting out one of the greatest offensive line ups ever assembled. That’s not a reach. 7 of the 9 players in their line up hit at least .290, keep in mind Jaque Jones hit .295 and an injured Sheffield hit .265, previous to his shoulder injury he was hitting .285 and making a run at .300. You can suggest that the protection in the line up Cabrera will receive could boost his RBI’s and batting average. Pitchers can not go around anyone except Ivan in this lineup. It wouldn’t matter if he were even to hit 25 homeruns with 110 RBI’s because Guillen, Maggs and Sheffield could all put up those same or similar numbers and it will add up.
The Tigers organization has just proven they are committed to winning and are willing to deal with the Red Sox and Yankees. This was a statement and a damn strong one. With this deal, it is likely World Series by 2009 or bust.
Here is my projected 25 man roster for April 1st 2008....
Granderson
Polanco
Sheffield
Maggs
Cabrera
Guillen
Renteria
Ivan
Jones
Rotation
Verlander
Bonderman
Willis
Robertson
Rogers
Bullpen
Durbin
Miner
Grilli
Byrdak
Seay
Rodney
Jones
Platooning
Thames
Raburn
Santiago
Wilson
Sup, Boston?
Note, no Brandon Inge and the remaining gap for set up man. I’ll touch that in part 2. I will also talk about the potential negatives of the deal.
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.
Forgive me for being just a little late; I’ve been busy with finals, work and my other broadcasting duties.
6 days ago the Tigers made a trade that may have launched them into being legitimate contenders, not wildcard, division or pennant, World Series contenders.
The fallowing will be part one of a three part blog dissecting the impact of the trade, through out the Tigers organization and Major League Baseball.
Part 1- The excitement the Line up.
We gave up all of our best prospects but I should had read into the surrendering of Jurrjens and Hernandez as Dumbrowski figuring this core only has two seasons left, along with Leyland so why not sell the farm and make it World Series or bust by 2009.
With the obvious climate change I have no problem dealing Maybin who I used to value as a deal buster because; Miggy can play left field if he could get into better shape. If were going to commit to taking a risk and not much of one at that considering what we received in return its a no brainer.
Of course having Cabrera is something I would have never seen coming this off-season, and I heard rumors the Tigers would take a shot at him back in early November but I never believed them. This is a once in a generation hitter, future hall of famer with the only downside being his attitude, which is fine considering everybody plays hard for Leyland. How fucking fun is it going to be watching Miggy, Maggs, Polanco, Sheff, Granderson, Guillen and Renteria?
Then Willis. He’s been one of my favorite non Tigers since '03 and like Matt Stairs I will now have the privilege of seeing him in the olde English D. His numbers have dropped off a bit but then look at how the Marlins have run him out there. You know Grandpa Jimmy won’t let him touch over 100 pitches even if he has a no hitter with 8 2/3rds on the board so if he’s used conservatively I’m not that worried.
In an earlier blog I exclaimed that whether Kenny Rogers comes back or not, the Tigers needed another starting pitcher to keep Durbin and Miner in the bullpen. Having another arm, a lefty of Willis’ caliber at that makes for an imposing rotation.
I don’t believe the D-Train is washed up yet, he’s only 25, he has a renaissance coming, maybe not right away, I believe there will be an adjustment period but by the end of this season he'll be paying off. He will more than solidify this rotation.
Imagine in a 5 game series, Verlander, Bonderman, Willis to open it. That’s going to be tough to beat. If he was to continue with his plus 4 ERA, it won’t matter that much because on most nights the Tigers offense could easily put up 5 runs. He’ll have at least 12 wins and make a good contribution.
Get ready Tiger fans watching the best player in the major leagues under 25 and one of the best pure hitters period, will have you jumping out of your seats. He won’t put up monster numbers though. By monster, I mean 40 + homeruns. Being right handed, no matter how quick and smooth his swing may be, no right handed batter will likely ever touch over 40 homers just because of the Comerica Park dimensions are too deep in left and left center. If Cabrera continues to develop as a hitter, which he likely will, being able to tag it to all fields may allow him too but still I don’t see it happening.
That doesn’t matter though. The Tigers are putting out one of the greatest offensive line ups ever assembled. That’s not a reach. 7 of the 9 players in their line up hit at least .290, keep in mind Jaque Jones hit .295 and an injured Sheffield hit .265, previous to his shoulder injury he was hitting .285 and making a run at .300. You can suggest that the protection in the line up Cabrera will receive could boost his RBI’s and batting average. Pitchers can not go around anyone except Ivan in this lineup. It wouldn’t matter if he were even to hit 25 homeruns with 110 RBI’s because Guillen, Maggs and Sheffield could all put up those same or similar numbers and it will add up.
The Tigers organization has just proven they are committed to winning and are willing to deal with the Red Sox and Yankees. This was a statement and a damn strong one. With this deal, it is likely World Series by 2009 or bust.
Here is my projected 25 man roster for April 1st 2008....
Granderson
Polanco
Sheffield
Maggs
Cabrera
Guillen
Renteria
Ivan
Jones
Rotation
Verlander
Bonderman
Willis
Robertson
Rogers
Bullpen
Durbin
Miner
Grilli
Byrdak
Seay
Rodney
Jones
Platooning
Thames
Raburn
Santiago
Wilson
Sup, Boston?
Note, no Brandon Inge and the remaining gap for set up man. I’ll touch that in part 2. I will also talk about the potential negatives of the deal.
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 10:50 AM
<< Home