MLB: Hot Stove Time

[-Jrabbit]

Not bad. Pretty nice.

But speaking of consistent: they had most of that last year and didn't even make the playoffs.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Holy crap!!!

What a deal for the Tigers!

[OzzyKP]

Whew, what a huge deal.

Win now.

Dombrowski

Kinda sad to give up Miller & Maybin, but everyone said that Maybin was expected to be another Cabrera. Well we took the guess work out of it and just got a Cabrera who is sure to be Cabrera, haha. Bird in the hand...

[Imran Siddiqui]

Definitely a "Win now". They dealt their whole farm system!

Well, at least the parts that mattered.

[OzzyKP]

We still have Porcello, and... well.. we better win now!

[snoopy369]

Holy ****... Marlins win a championship in 2010 now

White Sox had better make a few moves soon or they're going to be starting out in 4th place (depending on the Santana trade of course) ...

[Deity Dude]

Why does everyone say "win now". This is still a fairly young line-up.

Grandrrson - CF 26
Polanco - 2b 32
Cabrera - 3b 24
Ordonez - RF 33
Sheffield - DH 39
Guillen - 1b 32
Renterria - SS 32
Rodriguez - C 36
Thames or Clevlen or Inge - 30 - 24 - 30


Not to mention the Pitching Rotation Verlander (24), Bonderman (25), Rogers (43), Willis (25), Robertson (30)

Now there are a couple of old timers on the team - but for the most part they are in thier prime or pre-prime. Make a deal or 2 every year or so and they can replace the Sheffield's, Rodriguez's and Rogers' of the team. The bullpen is still suspect but they are only 1 player away thier too.

This is a team built for 4-6 years not 1 year.

[Arrian]

Big trade, wow.

As for the lineup... damn good. One of the best, certainly (especially if you park-adjust their numbers). The only hole in the lineup is Pudge. That's pretty damn good.

As for being a young lineup... not really, no. There are two young hitters (one very good, one on HoF tradjectory) - three if Clevlen plays, a whole bunch of middle-aged guys and two old guys. Are those this years' ages, 2008 season ages?

I don't know enough about the Tigers' system to know if continually reloading via trades is possible, but I do know they seem to be quite aggressive in the draft, so it's possible.

The rotation... well, we shall see about Willis - IMO he hasn't been any good for some time now and moving to the big boy league may result in him getting hammered every five days. Rogers is old, though "crafty lefty" types can sometimes get away with that. Anyway, just above everyone has some questionmarks in their rotation.

Any way you slice it, you have to see the Tigers as one of the main contenders in the AL.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Correction about "hole in the lineup" - Thames/Clevlen/Inge qualifies too. They all have the same problem Pudge has: OBP.

Some of these guys have some pop, so with the quality in the rest of the lineup there is the chance of ye olde 3-run bomb, but getting on base less than 30% of the time (Pudge, Thames) is terrible. Inge put up a slightly more respectable (but still bad) .312 last year, but slugged under .400. Clevlen put up a .346 in AA and .304 in AAA last year.

-Arrian

[Guynemer]

Jacque Jones will be starting in LF. Not a huge step up from Thames/Clevlen/Inge, but a step up nevertheless.

[Arrian]

I'd agree with that. Given the rest of the lineup... yikes.

The middle of that order is fearsome. I'd construct it differently than Diety Dude did, though. I think I'd go with this:

Granderson (speed, pop, decent OBP)
Cabrera (average, on-base, power - complete hitter)
Guillen (excellent OBP, good power... underrated hitter)
Ordonez (should regress some, but still very good)
Sheffield (old man, but still pretty bad man)
Renteria (good '07, but looks a little flukey. Decent hitter, not much more, IMO)
Polanco (value tied to BA, but often has high BA)
Jones (league-averageish OBP)
Pudge (old catcher, hitting like old catchers usually do)

Overall, that's a very good lineup, and 1-4 is absolutely brutal.

-Arrian

[Deity Dude]

Originally posted by Guynemer
Jacque Jones will be starting in LF. Not a huge step up from Thames/Clevlen/Inge, but a step up nevertheless.

Actually since Inge is such a good fielder and since Cabrera really isnt there is alot of talk right now of Cabrera going to left and Inge staying at 3rd.

If Cabrera does stay at 3rd I don't agree that Jones is a gimme to get LF. Perez batted over 400 last season after being called up - Thames has alot of power but cant hit a curve and Clevlen is an up and comer. I think LF would be wide open. Who knows Sheffield might not come back from surgury then 2 of those 4 will play - I think that was the ultimate idea behind picking up Jones to begin with.

As for Arrian comments I dont consider 32 middle aged (afterall ARod is 32 I wouldnt call him middle aged - I would say he was in his prime) Not early prime but prime - definitely not old.

Anyways when its all said and done the Tigers were a contender last year. They added Renterria and everyone said "WOW!! this makes them really good." Now they added Cabrera and Willis....

I'll be enjoying Tiger baseball for a few years to come.

[Stuie]

Speaking of Jones, Andruw gets 2 years/$36.2 million to make him the fifth highest paid player in the majors and the highest paid Dodger ever. Guess that .222 average didn't hurt so bad afterall.

[Arrian]

They added Renterria and everyone said "WOW!! this makes them really good."

Who said that? Edgar Renteria is a solid player, but come on.

As for "prime" ... typically that's late twenties through early thirties, so yes, 32 can still be called prime. The tail end of prime, before the decline phase usually begins. I'm not saying any of those guys are gonna fall off a cliff at 33.

Inge at 3B with Cabrera in LF might be the optimal solution, provided that: 1) Cabrera cannot be whipped into shape and play at least a decent 3B and 2) if 1 is true, he can play a passable LF. I read somewhere that he lost 15lbs already, so it's possible that, at the ripe old age of 24, he could get serious about his defense and end up staying at 3B.

Inge is a good defensive third baseman. He can't really hit, but he is a plus defender and that's worth something. Jones is probably an ok defender in LF (I have no idea, just guessing), and while he hits a bit better than Inge, I'd guess that Inge's defense at the more important position would cancel out his better bat. So, for 2008, the Tigers might be best off with Cabrera in LF and Inge at 3B. But if the Tigers acquire or develop a LFer who can hit... that's another matter. I think it's worth at least trying to keep Cabrera at third.

-Arrian

[OzzyKP]

I dunno, I think Inge is gonna be traded. He has shown some reluctance to be moved around as a utility-man, so I think we'll see what kind of prospects or middle relief we can get for him. Maybe throw Thames in if there is something good out there.