• Word is, the Cubs will not hire a new GM this month, leading to speculation within baseball that they are targeting an established name GM first. Those most speculated about include the Rays' Andrew Friedman, the Athletics' Billy Beane, the Yankees' Brian Cashman, the Dodgers' Ned Colletti and the Red Sox' Theo Epstein. Two other possible names of interest could be the Reds' Walt Jocketty and Indians president Mark Shapiro. Ultimately though, the Cubs may have to settle for one of a number of strong up-and-comers as many of the GM stars have contracts for next year, an ownership stake in their current teams or some other sound reason for staying. Friedman is the name most speculated, and while he operates without a contract, most baseball insiders don't see him leaving Rays owner Stu Sternberg, with whom he has a very close relationship.
Many people in Cleveland think it might be Shapiro.
Re: Just Baseball: Major League teams OTHER THAN the Tribe
212Agreed, on Moneyball, Rusty.
I still want to see it.......in my living room.
Heck, one of my fave Kevin Costner baseball movies that few saw or have seen is For Love of The Game.
I still want to see it.......in my living room.
Heck, one of my fave Kevin Costner baseball movies that few saw or have seen is For Love of The Game.
Re: Just Baseball: Major League teams OTHER THAN the Tribe
213"I've got the ugliest wife in the league"
Re: Just Baseball: Major League teams OTHER THAN the Tribe
214Under the direction of Brian Sabean, now the Giants general manager, the Yankee minor league policy in the early 1990s is to use pitching prospects as either starters or closers. Rivera is neither. He is such an organizational afterthought that he is deployed as a spot starter and a middle reliever even as he puts up good numbers and demonstrates the impeccable control that would become his hallmark.
Wait, the obstacles are not quite large enough yet. Rivera, trying to expand his starter’s repertoire, incurs nerve damage by overthrowing breaking balls. Think about that: Two decades ago, Mariano Rivera needed surgery because he couldn’t master the art of making a ball break enough.
His rehab includes playing catch with Ron Guidry and Whitey Ford, and you can imagine this being as close to greatness as Rivera will get.
He makes just 10 starts in 1992, again pitches very well. But he is only at Single-A. He is turning 23 in November, the same month as the expansion draft to stock the Marlins and Rockies. The Yankees protect pitchers such as Mark Hutton, Domingo Jean and Sam Militello. But they never feel compelled to protect Rivera. Each round they pull three more players back, none is Rivera. And three rounds go by and neither the Marlins nor Rockies select a budding genius.
Instead, Rivera stays a Yankee. His arm gets stronger and - as Herb Raybourn believed - better nutrition and training have added miles per hour on the fastball. By 1995, Rivera has married elite athleticism, a stoic demeanor, unflinching self-confidence and pinpoint precision to be ranked as the Yankees’ ninth-best prospect by Baseball America. But that wasn’t even best in his family. His cousin, outfielder Ruben Rivera, was first, followed by Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte.
Rivera is still a starter midway through the 1995 season when the Yankees contemplate trading him to Detroit for David Wells. But in what Rivera would describe as an act of divinity, his fastball suddenly reaches new heights, climbing to the 95 mph range. Then the general manager Gene Michael refuses to deal him. That October, Michael becomes even more impressed. Nobody in the Yankee bullpen can slow down the Mariners of Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez and Jay Buhner. No one but Rivera.
Used more out of desperation than inspiration by manager Buck Showalter, Rivera throws 5 1/3 shutout innings in the Division Series. The Yankees lose anyway.
Still, this is Rivera’s route, which means nothing simple, nothing handed to him. So he begins next spring with a new manager in Joe Torre, but a familiar role, which is to say none. The organization, meanwhile, is fretting about trying to win with a rookie shortstop named Jeter. And here are the Mariners breaking in their own young shortstop, Alex Rodriguez, and suddenly Fermin is available. Seattle asks for either Rivera or Bob Wickman.
The Yankees’ top brass meets the week before the 1996 season begins. They decide to stick with the rookie shortstop, evading perhaps the worst day in organization history: Trading Rivera and demoting Jeter.
Instead, Rivera and Jeter, who had played together at four different stops in the minors, become breakout stars for the 1996 champions, cornerstones of a dynasty. Rivera is a long man in April 1996 and indispensable by May.
Torre recognizes the weapon. The ball is flying out of ballparks like never before, but no one can hit the skinny righty. Rivera finally has a role. Well, actually many roles. To this team he is middleman and set-up man, lefty specialist and righty specialist.
And on May 17, 1996 -- with closer John Wetteland unavailable -- Rivera pitches the ninth to protect an 8-5 victory over the Angels. Career save No. 1. He is already 26 years old, still a season away from replacing Wetteland as the full-time closer. He has yet to perfect the pitch that will define him: A cut fastball that will snap bats and break hearts.
Yet here he is now, at 41, the all-time save king and, perhaps, the greatest postseason pitcher ever. He has more saves than the next three men on the Yankees all-time list -- Dave Righetti, Goose Gossage and Sparky Lyle -- combined. He is a testament to durability; the only man to pitch in more than 1,000 games for just one team and the last man who will have the honor of wearing No. 42 in the majors.
He has never won a Cy Young or the MVP, but nobody has pitched better than him over the last 15 years and no one has been more valuable to his team winning. He has used steely self-belief, flawless mechanics and an imperturbable nature to dominate an era. Rivera has created an indomitable dichotomy: His pitches break late and viciously, yet obey his commands. So he has walked few, limited homers and dominated lefties -- a three-part formula at the center of his brilliance.
It seems incredible to think that he was unsigned until 20, not even considered much of a prospect until 24. The path from where he started to where he is today feels as though implausible married impossible. But this is no fairy tale. This was earned with sweat, strength and savvy. The all-time save king is a champion of durability and dependability, of confidence and conditioning, of inner strength and utter conviction.
Mariano Rivera’s excursion to all-time save king began at less than zero.
And we still don’t know where it ends.
joel.sherman@nypost.com
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/yankees/ ... z1Ygy6he3U
Wait, the obstacles are not quite large enough yet. Rivera, trying to expand his starter’s repertoire, incurs nerve damage by overthrowing breaking balls. Think about that: Two decades ago, Mariano Rivera needed surgery because he couldn’t master the art of making a ball break enough.
His rehab includes playing catch with Ron Guidry and Whitey Ford, and you can imagine this being as close to greatness as Rivera will get.
He makes just 10 starts in 1992, again pitches very well. But he is only at Single-A. He is turning 23 in November, the same month as the expansion draft to stock the Marlins and Rockies. The Yankees protect pitchers such as Mark Hutton, Domingo Jean and Sam Militello. But they never feel compelled to protect Rivera. Each round they pull three more players back, none is Rivera. And three rounds go by and neither the Marlins nor Rockies select a budding genius.
Instead, Rivera stays a Yankee. His arm gets stronger and - as Herb Raybourn believed - better nutrition and training have added miles per hour on the fastball. By 1995, Rivera has married elite athleticism, a stoic demeanor, unflinching self-confidence and pinpoint precision to be ranked as the Yankees’ ninth-best prospect by Baseball America. But that wasn’t even best in his family. His cousin, outfielder Ruben Rivera, was first, followed by Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte.
Rivera is still a starter midway through the 1995 season when the Yankees contemplate trading him to Detroit for David Wells. But in what Rivera would describe as an act of divinity, his fastball suddenly reaches new heights, climbing to the 95 mph range. Then the general manager Gene Michael refuses to deal him. That October, Michael becomes even more impressed. Nobody in the Yankee bullpen can slow down the Mariners of Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez and Jay Buhner. No one but Rivera.
Used more out of desperation than inspiration by manager Buck Showalter, Rivera throws 5 1/3 shutout innings in the Division Series. The Yankees lose anyway.
Still, this is Rivera’s route, which means nothing simple, nothing handed to him. So he begins next spring with a new manager in Joe Torre, but a familiar role, which is to say none. The organization, meanwhile, is fretting about trying to win with a rookie shortstop named Jeter. And here are the Mariners breaking in their own young shortstop, Alex Rodriguez, and suddenly Fermin is available. Seattle asks for either Rivera or Bob Wickman.
The Yankees’ top brass meets the week before the 1996 season begins. They decide to stick with the rookie shortstop, evading perhaps the worst day in organization history: Trading Rivera and demoting Jeter.
Instead, Rivera and Jeter, who had played together at four different stops in the minors, become breakout stars for the 1996 champions, cornerstones of a dynasty. Rivera is a long man in April 1996 and indispensable by May.
Torre recognizes the weapon. The ball is flying out of ballparks like never before, but no one can hit the skinny righty. Rivera finally has a role. Well, actually many roles. To this team he is middleman and set-up man, lefty specialist and righty specialist.
And on May 17, 1996 -- with closer John Wetteland unavailable -- Rivera pitches the ninth to protect an 8-5 victory over the Angels. Career save No. 1. He is already 26 years old, still a season away from replacing Wetteland as the full-time closer. He has yet to perfect the pitch that will define him: A cut fastball that will snap bats and break hearts.
Yet here he is now, at 41, the all-time save king and, perhaps, the greatest postseason pitcher ever. He has more saves than the next three men on the Yankees all-time list -- Dave Righetti, Goose Gossage and Sparky Lyle -- combined. He is a testament to durability; the only man to pitch in more than 1,000 games for just one team and the last man who will have the honor of wearing No. 42 in the majors.
He has never won a Cy Young or the MVP, but nobody has pitched better than him over the last 15 years and no one has been more valuable to his team winning. He has used steely self-belief, flawless mechanics and an imperturbable nature to dominate an era. Rivera has created an indomitable dichotomy: His pitches break late and viciously, yet obey his commands. So he has walked few, limited homers and dominated lefties -- a three-part formula at the center of his brilliance.
It seems incredible to think that he was unsigned until 20, not even considered much of a prospect until 24. The path from where he started to where he is today feels as though implausible married impossible. But this is no fairy tale. This was earned with sweat, strength and savvy. The all-time save king is a champion of durability and dependability, of confidence and conditioning, of inner strength and utter conviction.
Mariano Rivera’s excursion to all-time save king began at less than zero.
And we still don’t know where it ends.
joel.sherman@nypost.com
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/yankees/ ... z1Ygy6he3U
Re: Just Baseball: Major League teams OTHER THAN the Tribe
215Ten reasons the Tigers reached the postseason
By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 09/23/11 12:00 PM ET
The Tigers went from a tie atop the American League Central in 2009, to a .500 season last year, to the type of runaway finish this September that the club hasn't seen since 1984. It didn't simply happen by accident.
Some of the reasons for Detroit's rise were a matter of good fortune. Just as injuries to Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen and Brandon Inge sank the Tigers in late July 2010, the health of the team played a big role down the stretch. The disabled lists in Cleveland and Minnesota made Detroit's injured ranks look scant by comparison. And every team wishes it had an ace like Justin Verlander, the way he has pitched this year. Verlander has always pushed himself, rather than having the team push him.
But take out those factors, and the Tigers made a slew of decisions that put the pieces in place for their dominant finish. As wheeling and dealing goes, it might be the best 12 months of Dave Dombrowski's tenure in Detroit, if not the best of his professional career.
How They Got There:
"We made some moves this year, and up to this point, they've worked terrific," manager Jim Leyland said. "You never know how that stuff's going to play out. Sometimes it works out good. Sometimes it doesn't. It's that way with all clubs. There's no slam dunks. That's just the way it works. You think you know what you're getting for sure, but you never really know for sure until you get them."
As for lineup considerations and batting orders, it wasn't always easy for Leyland, but a few key moves yielded big results and some vindication for him in the face of summer second-guessing. The success earned both Leyland and Dombrowski contract extensions.
Add the moves and choices to some other factors, and you can come up with at least 10 reasons why the Tigers are celebrating long-awaited success.
Here's a short list:
Verlander's remarkable season: No decision here on the Tigers' part; they were just along for the ride. But when Verlander went into Spring Training focused on changing his early-season fortunes with a regimented, intense program, he put himself in position for one of the most dominant seasons by a pitcher in the past 10 to 15 years. Whether it warrants the AL MVP Award is irrelevant to this discussion; without Verlander, Detroit isn't here.
Teammate Brad Penny said near the end of camp that Verlander might have had the best Spring Training he has ever seen from a pitcher. The work Verlander put in on all his pitches, the focus to avoid simply getting his work in, resulted in three, sometimes four, nasty pitches at his disposal. Verlander's ability to deliver a strong, often dominant outing almost every start kept the Tigers out of major losing streaks.
Put it this way: Recall how formidable a Tigers series against the Twins felt with Johan Santana on the mound for Minnesota back in the middle of the last decade. That's what opponents feel now when Detroit comes around on the schedule.
Signing Victor Martinez in offseason:
Last winter's star-studded free-agent class featured Carl Crawford, Jayson Werth and Adam Dunn. All of them were paid nicely. None of them had as much of an impact on a team as Martinez, whom the Tigers targeted from the outset of the Hot Stove season. His veteran bat and clutch hitting bolstered Detroit's lineup, especially the gaping void of protection behind Miguel Cabrera in the batting order. Martinez's leadership bolstered Detroit's clubhouse. He was the one proven winner among the top group on the market, and the Tigers are finding out why.
"I think he's probably one of the most contributing factors as to why we're at where we're at right now," Verlander said. "And that's not to discount what everybody else has done. But the way he fits into what we had has just been kind of like that missing puzzle piece."
Offensively, Martinez has made opponents pay for pitching around Cabrera. His influence goes virtually everywhere else.
Putting Alex Avila behind the plate:
The instinctive reaction among Tigers fans once Martinez signed was that he would end up behind the plate for a lot of his Detroit tenure. If it didn't happen at season's outset, it was bound to happen eventually once Avila fell into a slump. Thus, while Avila went into Spring Training with the bulk of the catching duties, he seemingly went in with footsteps behind him.
Nobody's hearing footsteps anymore. Avila says he never did. Leyland and others assured him it was his job, and they were sticking with him. Avila's performance since has rewarded their belief, with interest. The first-year starter almost instantly blossomed into one of baseball's best backstops, both at the plate and behind it.
Re-signing Jhonny Peralta:
Unlike the more heralded moves the Tigers made this summer, getting Peralta at the Trade Deadline last year was a more subtle move. But Detroit officials saw the chance for more than just a late-season fill-in bat when they acquired him. Their willingness to shift Peralta to shortstop once Inge returned last August was the first step; their aggressiveness to re-sign him to a two-year deal before he could hit the open market was the next.
Tigers officials believed they could make Peralta work at short if they had good defense around him. They couldn't have anticipated an All-Star season from him. While Peralta has regained some lost range as the season has unfolded with help from infield coach Rafael Belliard, his offense has helped Detroit regain the production it lost when the club moved Guillen away from shortstop four years ago. Peralta leads AL shortstops in OPS, and it isn't even close.
Teaming up Jose Valverde and Joaquin Benoit for the late innings:
The Tigers remember well how the Twins commanded games in the late innings years ago with Juan Rincon, J.C. Romero and Joe Nathan in the bullpen. It took them a while, but they've built that same factor now around Valverde and Benoit. Valverde was their free-agent splash before last season, but this was the year Detroit truly felt his value, as he set a team record in saves and compiled the second-longest single-season save streak in history.
Dombrowski had never spent big on a setup man until this winter, when he stopped waiting for a healthy Joel Zumaya and took a shot on a three-year deal with Benoit. After a rough opening month, Benoit has quietly settled in to become an eighth-inning force for his new club. The numbers aren't the same as his ridiculously low stats from 2010, but the impact on a playoff team is the same.
Trading for Doug Fister:
No trade this summer has yielded better results or made a bigger impact on the playoff picture than the July 30 deal that was supposed to provide rotation depth. The Tigers thought they were getting a contact pitcher who could be a middle-of-the-rotation or back-end starter. Instead, Fister has been Detroit's best starter not named Verlander, turning a sharp breaking ball into high-strikeout performances that have left jaws dropping across the AL.
The deal for Fister was announced hours before second-place Cleveland made a higher-profile swap for Ubaldo Jimenez. In some ways, it ended up a defining point in the division race. While Jimenez struggled against Detroit, Fister became a Tribe nemesis the first time he saw them while wearing a Tigers uniform.
The Tigers went 4-16 in starts from their fifth starter before Fister arrived. They won five of their next six starts after they got him.
Trading for Delmon Young:
The Tigers felt pretty good about their offense going into the non-waiver Trade Deadline on July 31, aside from the Wilson Betemit trade, and they decided against a larger swap. But Detroit has always held Young in high regard -- it would have drafted him in 2003 had a rainout not cost the club the AL's worst record. So when the Twins put him on trade waivers in mid-August, the Tigers put in a claim. When they had a chance to work out a deal, they pounced.
Young's arrival in Detroit changed the look of the Tigers' offense, and it changed the season for him. Batting third in front of Cabrera, a guaranteed spot to see strikes, proved the perfect fit for the aggressive hitter. Young's extra-base power, meanwhile, added more punch. Once Brennan Boesch fell to a season-ending thumb injury, Young's offense was vital.
Moving Phil Coke back to the bullpen:
Coke's conversion to a starter entering the year came with the right intentions, giving Detroit a power lefty in its rotation while Jacob Turner and Andy Oliver learned a little more in the Minors. And Coke had his moments, including a mid-May duel in Boston that gave the Tigers a chance before they fell late in the game. But the longer it went, the less encouraging the results. In a situation without a playoff race at stake, Coke might've had the time to develop, but this wasn't it.
As it turned out, the Tigers needed Coke in the bullpen more, especially once they lost Al Alburquerque for a couple weeks with a forearm strain. It took a while for Coke to get back into his relief mindset, but he was back to his 2010 form by late August, just in time to bolster the bullpen for the stretch. He turned at least two late-season games in Detroit's favor, including a low-scoring duel at Tampa Bay.
Moving Ramon Santiago to second base:
The Tigers have had five players spend a stint as the regular at second base in 2011. Santiago was the fifth through the revolving door, but he has been the best all around. His reliable fielding and strong arm gave Detroit's infield a much-needed infusion of consistency. Santiago's bat, especially during an unexpected power surge from the middle of August on, proved valuable.
Santiago is now sharing starts with Ryan Raburn, but he doesn't have to take it as a fallback position. When the AL Division Series comes around, Santiago figures to be in the middle of it.
Signing Alburquerque:
It was such an obscure move that it was a footnote on the heels of the Martinez deal. All that stood out about Alburquerque was the name. Six months later, his slider was a headlining pitch nobody wanted to see.
The right-hander with the nasty breaking pitch and the high-90s fastball needed a while to find some polish on the mound, but once he did, he became the high-strikeout power reliever the Tigers lacked with Zumaya on the disabled list. Teaming Alburquerque with Coke, Detroit eventually found the tandem to handle the seventh inning before Benoit and Valverde go to work.
By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 09/23/11 12:00 PM ET
The Tigers went from a tie atop the American League Central in 2009, to a .500 season last year, to the type of runaway finish this September that the club hasn't seen since 1984. It didn't simply happen by accident.
Some of the reasons for Detroit's rise were a matter of good fortune. Just as injuries to Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen and Brandon Inge sank the Tigers in late July 2010, the health of the team played a big role down the stretch. The disabled lists in Cleveland and Minnesota made Detroit's injured ranks look scant by comparison. And every team wishes it had an ace like Justin Verlander, the way he has pitched this year. Verlander has always pushed himself, rather than having the team push him.
But take out those factors, and the Tigers made a slew of decisions that put the pieces in place for their dominant finish. As wheeling and dealing goes, it might be the best 12 months of Dave Dombrowski's tenure in Detroit, if not the best of his professional career.
How They Got There:
"We made some moves this year, and up to this point, they've worked terrific," manager Jim Leyland said. "You never know how that stuff's going to play out. Sometimes it works out good. Sometimes it doesn't. It's that way with all clubs. There's no slam dunks. That's just the way it works. You think you know what you're getting for sure, but you never really know for sure until you get them."
As for lineup considerations and batting orders, it wasn't always easy for Leyland, but a few key moves yielded big results and some vindication for him in the face of summer second-guessing. The success earned both Leyland and Dombrowski contract extensions.
Add the moves and choices to some other factors, and you can come up with at least 10 reasons why the Tigers are celebrating long-awaited success.
Here's a short list:
Verlander's remarkable season: No decision here on the Tigers' part; they were just along for the ride. But when Verlander went into Spring Training focused on changing his early-season fortunes with a regimented, intense program, he put himself in position for one of the most dominant seasons by a pitcher in the past 10 to 15 years. Whether it warrants the AL MVP Award is irrelevant to this discussion; without Verlander, Detroit isn't here.
Teammate Brad Penny said near the end of camp that Verlander might have had the best Spring Training he has ever seen from a pitcher. The work Verlander put in on all his pitches, the focus to avoid simply getting his work in, resulted in three, sometimes four, nasty pitches at his disposal. Verlander's ability to deliver a strong, often dominant outing almost every start kept the Tigers out of major losing streaks.
Put it this way: Recall how formidable a Tigers series against the Twins felt with Johan Santana on the mound for Minnesota back in the middle of the last decade. That's what opponents feel now when Detroit comes around on the schedule.
Signing Victor Martinez in offseason:
Last winter's star-studded free-agent class featured Carl Crawford, Jayson Werth and Adam Dunn. All of them were paid nicely. None of them had as much of an impact on a team as Martinez, whom the Tigers targeted from the outset of the Hot Stove season. His veteran bat and clutch hitting bolstered Detroit's lineup, especially the gaping void of protection behind Miguel Cabrera in the batting order. Martinez's leadership bolstered Detroit's clubhouse. He was the one proven winner among the top group on the market, and the Tigers are finding out why.
"I think he's probably one of the most contributing factors as to why we're at where we're at right now," Verlander said. "And that's not to discount what everybody else has done. But the way he fits into what we had has just been kind of like that missing puzzle piece."
Offensively, Martinez has made opponents pay for pitching around Cabrera. His influence goes virtually everywhere else.
Putting Alex Avila behind the plate:
The instinctive reaction among Tigers fans once Martinez signed was that he would end up behind the plate for a lot of his Detroit tenure. If it didn't happen at season's outset, it was bound to happen eventually once Avila fell into a slump. Thus, while Avila went into Spring Training with the bulk of the catching duties, he seemingly went in with footsteps behind him.
Nobody's hearing footsteps anymore. Avila says he never did. Leyland and others assured him it was his job, and they were sticking with him. Avila's performance since has rewarded their belief, with interest. The first-year starter almost instantly blossomed into one of baseball's best backstops, both at the plate and behind it.
Re-signing Jhonny Peralta:
Unlike the more heralded moves the Tigers made this summer, getting Peralta at the Trade Deadline last year was a more subtle move. But Detroit officials saw the chance for more than just a late-season fill-in bat when they acquired him. Their willingness to shift Peralta to shortstop once Inge returned last August was the first step; their aggressiveness to re-sign him to a two-year deal before he could hit the open market was the next.
Tigers officials believed they could make Peralta work at short if they had good defense around him. They couldn't have anticipated an All-Star season from him. While Peralta has regained some lost range as the season has unfolded with help from infield coach Rafael Belliard, his offense has helped Detroit regain the production it lost when the club moved Guillen away from shortstop four years ago. Peralta leads AL shortstops in OPS, and it isn't even close.
Teaming up Jose Valverde and Joaquin Benoit for the late innings:
The Tigers remember well how the Twins commanded games in the late innings years ago with Juan Rincon, J.C. Romero and Joe Nathan in the bullpen. It took them a while, but they've built that same factor now around Valverde and Benoit. Valverde was their free-agent splash before last season, but this was the year Detroit truly felt his value, as he set a team record in saves and compiled the second-longest single-season save streak in history.
Dombrowski had never spent big on a setup man until this winter, when he stopped waiting for a healthy Joel Zumaya and took a shot on a three-year deal with Benoit. After a rough opening month, Benoit has quietly settled in to become an eighth-inning force for his new club. The numbers aren't the same as his ridiculously low stats from 2010, but the impact on a playoff team is the same.
Trading for Doug Fister:
No trade this summer has yielded better results or made a bigger impact on the playoff picture than the July 30 deal that was supposed to provide rotation depth. The Tigers thought they were getting a contact pitcher who could be a middle-of-the-rotation or back-end starter. Instead, Fister has been Detroit's best starter not named Verlander, turning a sharp breaking ball into high-strikeout performances that have left jaws dropping across the AL.
The deal for Fister was announced hours before second-place Cleveland made a higher-profile swap for Ubaldo Jimenez. In some ways, it ended up a defining point in the division race. While Jimenez struggled against Detroit, Fister became a Tribe nemesis the first time he saw them while wearing a Tigers uniform.
The Tigers went 4-16 in starts from their fifth starter before Fister arrived. They won five of their next six starts after they got him.
Trading for Delmon Young:
The Tigers felt pretty good about their offense going into the non-waiver Trade Deadline on July 31, aside from the Wilson Betemit trade, and they decided against a larger swap. But Detroit has always held Young in high regard -- it would have drafted him in 2003 had a rainout not cost the club the AL's worst record. So when the Twins put him on trade waivers in mid-August, the Tigers put in a claim. When they had a chance to work out a deal, they pounced.
Young's arrival in Detroit changed the look of the Tigers' offense, and it changed the season for him. Batting third in front of Cabrera, a guaranteed spot to see strikes, proved the perfect fit for the aggressive hitter. Young's extra-base power, meanwhile, added more punch. Once Brennan Boesch fell to a season-ending thumb injury, Young's offense was vital.
Moving Phil Coke back to the bullpen:
Coke's conversion to a starter entering the year came with the right intentions, giving Detroit a power lefty in its rotation while Jacob Turner and Andy Oliver learned a little more in the Minors. And Coke had his moments, including a mid-May duel in Boston that gave the Tigers a chance before they fell late in the game. But the longer it went, the less encouraging the results. In a situation without a playoff race at stake, Coke might've had the time to develop, but this wasn't it.
As it turned out, the Tigers needed Coke in the bullpen more, especially once they lost Al Alburquerque for a couple weeks with a forearm strain. It took a while for Coke to get back into his relief mindset, but he was back to his 2010 form by late August, just in time to bolster the bullpen for the stretch. He turned at least two late-season games in Detroit's favor, including a low-scoring duel at Tampa Bay.
Moving Ramon Santiago to second base:
The Tigers have had five players spend a stint as the regular at second base in 2011. Santiago was the fifth through the revolving door, but he has been the best all around. His reliable fielding and strong arm gave Detroit's infield a much-needed infusion of consistency. Santiago's bat, especially during an unexpected power surge from the middle of August on, proved valuable.
Santiago is now sharing starts with Ryan Raburn, but he doesn't have to take it as a fallback position. When the AL Division Series comes around, Santiago figures to be in the middle of it.
Signing Alburquerque:
It was such an obscure move that it was a footnote on the heels of the Martinez deal. All that stood out about Alburquerque was the name. Six months later, his slider was a headlining pitch nobody wanted to see.
The right-hander with the nasty breaking pitch and the high-90s fastball needed a while to find some polish on the mound, but once he did, he became the high-strikeout power reliever the Tigers lacked with Zumaya on the disabled list. Teaming Alburquerque with Coke, Detroit eventually found the tandem to handle the seventh inning before Benoit and Valverde go to work.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller
-- Bob Feller
Re: Just Baseball: Major League teams OTHER THAN the Tribe
216While Peralta has regained some lost range as the season has unfolded with help from infield coach Rafael Belliard, his offense has helped Detroit regain the production it lost when the club moved Guillen away from shortstop four years ago. Peralta leads AL shortstops in OPS, and it isn't even close.
You can teach a player to regain lost range !?!?!?!?
I did not know that
You can teach a player to regain lost range !?!?!?!?
I did not know that
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller
-- Bob Feller
Re: Just Baseball: Major League teams OTHER THAN the Tribe
217Have him lose 20 lbs...instant range improvement
Re: Just Baseball: Major League teams OTHER THAN the Tribe
218The Miserable Sox are down 5-2 to NY in the 6th. Wakefield lasted 4 innings. Sox have 1 more hit, 3, than errors.
I recalled that Boston started the season terribly and checked out their win/loss success
Open the season 2-10
Turn it around for 81-42
And since Sept 1: 5-17
I recalled that Boston started the season terribly and checked out their win/loss success
Open the season 2-10
Turn it around for 81-42
And since Sept 1: 5-17
Re: Just Baseball: Major League teams OTHER THAN the Tribe
219OMG. I can not believe I am rooting for the Yankees. Go Tampa.
Re: Just Baseball: Major League teams OTHER THAN the Tribe
220I sure as hell ain't rooting for the Yankees.
Re: Just Baseball: Major League teams OTHER THAN the Tribe
221Ozzie Guillen traded to The Marlins tonight.
Really.
Really.
Re: Just Baseball: Major League teams OTHER THAN the Tribe
222Remember back in early April when Tampa and Boston both started 0-6?
The talk was that "only two teams in MLB history" had started 0-6 and subsequently made the post season.
Either Tampa or Boston will make it three....but not both.
The talk was that "only two teams in MLB history" had started 0-6 and subsequently made the post season.
Either Tampa or Boston will make it three....but not both.
Re: Just Baseball: Major League teams OTHER THAN the Tribe
224Hawk just read a statement from the Chisox that says Ozzie has been "released" from his contract. Guys on MLB channel say that doesn't sound like a trade.Tribe Fan in SC/Cali wrote:Ozzie Guillen traded to The Marlins tonight.
Really.
Re: Just Baseball: Major League teams OTHER THAN the Tribe
225First story I saw said he was traded for two minor leaguers. Now ESPN2 has changed the screen sidebar to say "White Sox Release Manager From Contract." Earlier the same place did say "traded." Not that either way makes a difference to Indians Fans......unless we face The Marlins in the World Series some year soon....