8-10-07 No Relief In Sight

Just about the time I thought the team was turning a corner with two wins over the Devil Rays, they go and get dominated by James Shields and Scott Kazmir in the next two games. Shields and Kazmir are both great young pitchers with top of the rotation stuff, but it was still disappointing to see the offense not step up to the challenge.

Like I said in my last post, there isnt much to say at this point. I could go on and on about Leylands management, DD not pulling off a deal to make the team better, certain players not performing well, etc., etc.... But the truth is that the entire team just isnt playing well right now. Starting pitching has surprisingly become a huge problem, the bullpen has been dreadful (although the return of Fernando Rodney has supplied a ray of hope) and the offense has been inconsistent. There's just not much to say. Only 2 or 3 players right now are playing at a high level right now (Granderson, Raburn, Polanco) and most of the others have really struggled in one way or another. I dont know if there's anything that anyone can do or say at this point to turn it around. I think it just has to be played through.

Marcus Thames and Fernando Rodney are back, Zumaya is inching closer to a return, and it seems like Guillen and Sheffield are getting over their nagging injuries. It just hasnt come all together yet. No statistical analysis is going to make that pill any easier to swallow. It's ugly, but we all know that this team has way too much talent to be playing this poorly. They'll bust out of it eventually, and if they dont, then you know DD and Illitch are going to do what they can to right the ship in the off-season

A quick look at the potential free agents leaving the team after this season:

Sean Casey
Vic Darensbourg (Toledo)
Todd Jones
Neifi Perez
Kenny Rogers

and Pudge Rodriguez has a team option.

The only one of those 6 players I'd want to bring back is Pudge--and that's just because we have no depth at catcher and there isnt going to be anything aside from Michael Barrett on the FA market. Rabelo has done a nice job, but I wouldnt get all excited about him as a catcher of the future. He'll be a solid backup for many years.

Casey, while he hasnt been a complete disaster, is nowhere close to giving us the production out of a first baseman that we need in the AL. Unfortunately, there also isnt much in the FA market in terms of first basemen either after this year, so it wouldnt shock me if they bring Casey back on a 1 year deal. Otherwise they'd have to make a deal with someone (Oakland for Dan Johnson?)

Todd Jones is another guy that I can see getting re-signed, but I hope they dont. He's been miserably bad this year, and always puts too many runners on base. He survives on luck and a managers refusal to demote him from his role. Frankly, if Zumaya isnt going to be ready to close next year, then we need to find another arm who can actually come in and shut the door consistently without giving up an unnecessary number of hits and walks. If we re-sign Jones, its gotta be for a different role, in my opinion.

I think the ship has sailed on Kenny Rogers. His two injuries this year have both been rough. Frankly, if we do re-sign him, it'd better be for cheap and as a one year deal. With his age, he's an injury risk, and it also gets increasingly more likely that his abilities will tail off. With the starting pitching concerns we've had down the stretch so far, it's nice to have a veteran like Kenny on the team, even if its just as a clubhouse persona...but I wouldnt spend good money to keep him if there are other options out there that are both better and longer term situations.

Neifi will be gone (and that actually bothers me a bit, because I can see DD and Leyland wanting to go after another overpriced backup infielder rather than just using Ramon Santiago.) I'd be surprised if Neifi plays in the MLB again after failing a drug test for the third time. With that on his resume, and the fact that he may very well go down in history as the worst offensive player ever, is not going to appeal to anyone except perhaps the Giants. Vic Darensbourg is also a guy who I wouldnt mind re-signing just to add depth to the minor league system.

So if all of these contracts come off the books, we should be able to pony up enough cash to get a couple decent impact players. Guillen's defense has become a concern at SS, and there is rumors of him maybe moving to first base. Craig Monroe has been awful in left, but we may have found adequate replacements in Marcus Thames and Ryan Raburn. Other than that, our lineup is pretty solid, although Pudge and Brandon Inge can be very frustrating at times.

I'd look heavily into bulking up our bullpen this offseason with the cash coming off the books--similar to what the Orioles did this past off-season. Get a few guys in there who are legit major league caliber relievers to go with Rodney and Zumaya. Macay McBride and Jose Capellan will likely improve a bit (they've both been shaky at times, but have shown decent promise) and I really dont mind Bobby Seay as the LOOGY. Other than that, Byrdak, Grilli, Jones and Zach Miner should not be a part of our opening day bullpen in 2008 if we hope to both improve and avoid problems similar to what we have run into this year.

That's about all I have to say at this point. I'm starting to sour on the idea of us making the playoffs, just because the Yankees are finally running on all cylinders, and the Indians and Mariners are both going to be tough teams to compete with. Its still doable and, when healthy, the Tigers are easily the best of the bunch...but there have just been a lot of factors working against us lately and the momentum just isnt there. Hopefully the Tigers can pick up the W tomorrow on my birthday, but with Dan Haren on the mound, it's going to take a good effort from our boys.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone who has given me good reviews on my blog so far, both in the comments section and on motownsports. Although the season has taken a frustrating turn, I'm really finding this blog and other discussions among my fellow Tiger fans to really be a lot of fun, even if we go off the deep end and lose our cool on occasion. Thats what makes being a fan fun. So thank you to everyone who has read my blog and given me feedback, I'm glad to see I'm producing some decent quality stuff over here!