Kuzul

On January 24th the Detroit Tigers traded Armando Galarraga to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a couple of low level prospects.  This is a risky move that officially ends the Tigers‘ rollercoaster relationship with the occasionally talented, soft-throwing righthander best known as the poster boy for good sportsmanship following Jim Joyce’s blown call on his almost perfect game last summer. 

He and Joyce were a great story about forgiveness and understanding in a sports world that is flooded with too many bad stories and will be an answer to trivia questions for years to come.  Apparently he’s not Dave Dombrowski’s answer to the Tigers pitching questions.

Galarraga was acquired from the Rangers prior to the 2008 season and burst onto the scene with a solid rookie campaign for a very disappointing Tigers team.  He finished with 13 wins, a sub four ERA and a fifth place finish in the AL rookie of the year voting.

He regressed greatly in 2009, eventually losing his spot in the rotation.  In 2010, he stepped back into the rotation when Rick Porcello, Jeremy Bonderman and Dontrelle Willis all struggled as starters.  Although he was far from great, Galarraga was an adequate fifth starter who was on the wrong side of several pitching duels.  He finished the season with a 4.49 ERA but only 4 wins.

Going into the season the Tigers rotation will be Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, Phil Coke and Brad Penny.  Justin Verlander is a sure thing and I’m going to go out on a limb and say Scherzer turned the corner as a quality #2.  However, the other three all bring question marks.  Rick Porcello struggled mightily the majority of last year before finally hitting a groove over his last ten or so starts, Phil Coke is a valuable bullpen guy being transitioned back into a starter, his role coming up in the Yankees system and Brad Penny is coming off a back injury that kept him out of nearly the entire 2010 season. 

If all three of those guys pan out, keep your October open because the Tigers are going to the playoffs.  Conventional wisdom will likely prevail, though, and at least one of those guys won’t last in the rotation.  Porcello will continue to regress, Coke will flame out as a starter or Penny will fulfill his durability concerns.  Even if they all pitch well, there will be injuries or skipped starts that will require a 6th starter.  Additionally, the Tigers two most effective long relievers (Eddie Bonine and Zach Miner) the last two seasons were lost in free agency so that role is needed as well.

In my opinion, Galarraga would have been perfect for a long relief/emergency starter role. At the very least, Galarraga has proven to be a capable end of the rotation guy who can give you innings.  In 2010 he only let up more than 5 earned runs in 2 of 24 starts and only went less than five innings in seven of his starts.  With the Tigers improved offense, I could see the Detroit scoring more than five runs on a lot of occasions and they just need an emergency guy who can keep them in games.  With this move, the Tigers lost a lot of insurance.

Currently, the contingency plan would be one of the Tigers heralded young arms: Jacob Turner, Andrew Oliver or, to a lesser extent, Charlie Furbush.  There is no evidence that any of these three is ready to contribute this year.  Oliver looked lost in his brief stint with the Tigers last season, Turner has only one season of pro experience and Furbush has only been a middle tier prospect.

Dombrowski and Leyland don’t see Galarraga as a long relief candidate so it appears their answer could be another dose of Bondermania as a minor league deal for the righthander might be a possibility.  The fact that Bonderman has had no offers and little interest and the fact that the Tigers had supposedly high interest in Galarraga, further points to the fact that trading Galarraga was a bad move. 

I’m not saying that Armando Galarraga is a Cy Young candidate, but for a team with a  high scoring offense, he’s capable enough to give them a shot in most starts.  Unless there is something behind the curtains with the relationship between Galarraga and the front office, this move makes little sense to me.  I hope the starters all pan out and this move becomes a blip on the season’s transactions, but I don’t see that happening and I believe that Dombrowski, Leyland and company will regret this move in the long run.

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With the off season of baseball, there is a lot of time for introspection, fact-finding and fooling around.

I chose the latter of these three and decided to delve into some of the more obscure MLB stats. Baseball is heavily centered around stats and so, without further ado, here they are:

Ounces of Coke per Nostril (OCN)

This stat first came to prevalence in the mid 1980′s. Legendary cocaine addict, Willie “Scarface” Jenkins still holds the all-time best with a whopping lifetime average of 2.31.

Cup Adjustments per Inning (CAPI)

This stat is nearly as old as the game itself. Bill “Fire Down Below” Barkins was the first, and currently only, player to lead this category in back-to-back years in 1996 and 1997.  This feat has yet to be topped.  Barkins, grabbing his package an astounding 6.24 times per inning, was such a prolific junk-grabber that his then-manager Jim Leyland once quipped, “He grabs his crotch more than that Michael Jackson fella.” Barkins’ cup is currently enshrined in Cooperstown in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Largest Wad of Chewing Tobacco (LWCT)

This statistic was put nearly out of reach by minor league outfielder Guthrow Cancerton.  He once famously held 4 bags of Redman in his lower lip while going 1-4 in a 1979 game. He lead the league in this statistic for 8 years straight, starting with that fabled night in 1979. He now tours the United States with the Ringling Bros. as “The Man Without a Lower Jaw.”

Rastafarians Bonged In (RBI)

Commonly mistaken for the more well known “Runs Batted In” statistic, this stat was far more commonly kept before the standardization of drug testing in the MLB. Bob “Marley” Gustafson, not-coincidentally, the league’s most stringent anti-drug-testing activist in league history. Gustafson lead the league in this category an unprecedented 11 years straight and gained a moderate level of fame after once having the munchies so bad that he stole home merely to hit up the hot dog stand.

‘Roid Rage Incidents Per Game (RRIG)

This stat, first unofficially kept in 1994, was only recognized by Baseball’s governing body for the first time in 2005.The career leader is Lloyd “The Incredible, pimply-backed, balding Hulk” Aaron, who controlled the statistic in 1995, 1998 and 1999. Many experts believe he would have won more individual titles in this category but he was summarily kicked out of the MLB after, when in a fit of violent rage, he chewed through 3 of his teammates bats, head-butted a hole in the side of the stadium and broke the team bus over his knee.

Times Defected from Cuba (TDC)

Originating in 1981, this stat is considered out of reach by many experts as the bar was, perhaps, set to an unreachable height by Phillies shortstop Alberto “Damn-I-Hate-Fidel” Castro.  Castro achieved a certain level of notoriety after defecting from Cuba a staggering 8 times in 1983 alone.  Famous for pulling his hamstring in an attempt to doggy-paddle to Miami Beach’s shore.

Sunflower Seeds Chewed while Pitching Left Handed Against the Phillies on a Tuesday in a Nationally Televised Game in June (SSCPLHAPTNTGJ)

This stat, only kept because baseball keeps stats on everything, is still pending MLB approval.  However, it appears that the league and the owners association will both approve it’s official recognition in the 2011 season.

(*Author’s Note: I really, really hope that I do not have to make sure you guys know this–but all of these are, of course, fake.)

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Jim Leyland is the manager of the Detroit Tigers for 2011. That much we know. After that, only time will tell.

You want more job security than that, if you’re a baseball manager, or a basketball, football or hockey coach?

Then get out of the business. Become a Supreme Court Justice, or a mortician, or a marriage counselor.

The contract on file with Major League Baseball says Leyland is bound by the written, legal word to be the manager of the Tigers through the 2011 season.

Coaches’ contracts in sports, though, have about as much integrity as Kwame Kilpatrick, and hold as much water as a sieve.

I’ve used this quote a lot, but it will be true for infinity. It’s from Butch van Breda Kolff, the old basketball coach, uttered after he signed a renewal to lead the Pistons, circa 1971.

Butch said of the worth of coaches’ contracts, “Hell, they can always fire you. Or you can quit.”

Care to argue?

So Leyland will manage the Tigers for 2011, the final year of his two-year extension.

Get ready for the talk of Leyland being the Tigers’ “lame duck” manager.

Bull-you-know-what!

Leyland works for Mike Ilitch, one of the kindest, fairest owners in all of sports. Ilitch awards his people, sometimes to a fault. If he feels Jim Leyland deserves more years added to his already-added-to contract, then the owner will give his manager those years. Simple as that.

That Ilitch hasn’t yet done so, leaving Leyland’s future with the Tigers beyond the final pitch of the 2011 season undetermined, is going to cause lots of folks consternation.

The hand-wringers will tell you that Leyland’s not having a signed contract beyond 2011 automatically means he’s a leper, and his players will look at him cockeyed and not take it so hard if they leave a man on third base with less than two outs or throw wildly to first base or walk the bases loaded.

Again, bull-you-know-what!

Is Leyland managing for his baseball life next season? Sure, but aren’t they all, all the time?

You think it truly matters if a manager or a coach has years left on his contract, if the owner gets it in his head to make a change?

The country is dotted with coaches being paid not to coach, enjoying their checks until their contracts expire. Just ask Pistons President Joe Dumars what it’s like to pay multiple coaches.

Leyland is a big boy. He knows the drill. He knows that his owner has, once again, opened his wallet and spent big money to bring players to Detroit and to keep them here. Leyland knows that in five years on the job with the Tigers, he has but one playoff appearance to show for it.

That playoff appearance is the only one Ilitch has enjoyed in his 18-plus years of owning the Tigers—which is not what Mike was expecting when he bought the team in 1992.

Leyland also knows that his team faded badly in 2006 (but still made the playoffs), in 2007, in 2009—including a history-making choke job in the season’s final week—and last year. He should also know that the 2008 team, which had been predicted to waltz to the World Series, never got out of the gate, ill-prepared for the expectations.

So it’s not so outlandish that Leyland isn’t extended to manage the Tigers beyond next season. In fact, it’s probably just.

Not that it matters, because they can always fire you, and you can quit.

Ever hear of Walter Alston?

Alston managed the Dodgers when they were still in Brooklyn, and continued after the move to Los Angeles. For 23 years, Alston managed the Dodgers.

In all but the final few years, Alston did so working on one-year contracts that were renewed every winter, pending the O’Malley family’s approval.

Eventually, the O’Malleys tried to sign Alston to multiple-year deals. But the manager refused, maintaining that he should be evaluated annually.

Finally Alston agreed to sign two-year deals.

Leyland isn’t the perfect baseball manager, but he’s probably good enough for the Tigers, with their revamped roster and more experience under the belts of their younger players.

It’s a job that Leyland adores and feels honored to perform. His beginnings with the organization date back to the early 1960s, when he was a scuffling player. He managed for years in the Tigers’ minor league system, before graduating to third base coach with Tony LaRussa’s Chicago White Sox.

Earlier this month, at the winter meetings in Florida, Leyland was asked about the team, and how he feels—both physically and about his roster.

“I feel OK. I smoke too much,” he said. “But this is a good team. We have a great owner. The city is special. The Tigers are special. I love managing.”

There are plenty of fans who aren’t so enamored with Leyland. Familiarity breeds contempt. You stick around in a city long enough, you’re going to make your enemies.

If you go 1-for-5 in baseball, you’re batting .200. Leyland is batting .200 as a manager, with that single playoff appearance in five years.

So why should Mike Ilitch be obligated to Jim Leyland beyond this season?

This is probably all moot anyway. I suspect that, unless the Tigers get off to a God-awful start, Leyland will be extended another two years, through the 2013 season—and that will likely occur sometime before the All-Star break.

Nowhere is it written that a baseball manager must be signed beyond the current season, or else there’ll be a mutiny.

Hey, what about the players who like Leyland so much—and there are plenty of them on the Tigers roster—that they may be inclined to play even harder for him, so that he may be rewarded with a new contract?

Jim Leyland is the manager of the Tigers for the 2011 season. Twenty-nine other men have the same designation for their teams, regardless of their contract status. They are their team’s manager—for now.

By the way, van Breda Kolff only lasted ten games into the 1971-72 season with the Pistons, after signing his contract extension.

He quit.

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Though it was mostly Jason Heyward grabbing all the rookie headlines this season for Atlanta, Jonny Venters was the team’s true freshmen MVP. Often times, the players that fly under the radar and have the least amount of pressure put on them become the major contributes to their team.

For Atlanta, an organization with so much depth, some of the least known prospects often become the ones that most contribute to the big league club. Who are some candidates to be the Jonny Venters of 2011? Take a look inside, where likely at least one of these players will have a chance to state their case in the coming campaign.

Begin Slideshow

(Satire) Less than a week after declining his $7.25 million option for 2011, the Detroit Tigers relieved many angry fans by announcing they had locked up do-it-all shortstop Jhonny Peralta to a new two-year, $11.25 million steal of a deal.

“I’m very excited to stay here in Detroit,” Peralta said.  “Actually, I’m just very excited to actually still have a job in the majors.”

Peralta was acquired before last year’s trade deadline from the Cleveland Indians, where he was batting a putrid .246 in 91 games.

However, after the trade he lit the Motor City Kitties on fire with a whopping .253 average and .314 on-base percentage that nearly rallied the Tigers to an above-.500 record in the bloodthirsty American League Central Division.

Detroit general manager Dave Dombrowski couldn’t have been happier with Peralta’s second-half performance.

“The scouting report coming out of Cleveland was that this guy had a hole in his glove,” Dombrowski said.  “We sent our best scouts to investigate, and despite the 19 errors he had last year, we were unable to locate an actual hole.”

Peralta acknowledged that, while he is incredibly happy to be in Detroit, he would always call Cleveland home.

“It’s where I broke in, where I grew up,” he said.  “Where I complained about switching positions, where I put on forty pounds, where I continued to swing and miss at the low outside breaking ball…”

Tigers skipper Jim Leyland is also a fan of Peralta’s.

“It’s not often we can add a player of his consistency to our lineup,” Leyland added.  “He was so close to averaging a strikeout a game in Cleveland, and I feel like, with a little work, he can finally accomplish that here.”

The extension no doubt pushes the Tigers into the World Series discussion, now with such an intimidating bat in the middle of their order for the entire season.

So look out Giants, Jhonny Peralta and his lifetime .263 average is roaring to take a bite out of you.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Tigers did pretty much as expected in 2010. Maybe not the way it was expected or with the intangibles (*cough* UMPIRES *cough*). 

Looking ahead to 2011, it is very promising. Millions and millions of dollars are being freed up and we could have a lot of fun these coming months.

This is a preview of the 2011 Offseason tied in with my prediction for it. The format will go as follows…

Page 1: Introduction

Page 2: Payroll Check

Pages 3 – 13: A look at each position and it’s 2011 preview

Page 14: Payroll Check

Pages 15 – 20: Free Agent and Trade possibilities for each position of need

Page 21: 2011 Offseason Predictions and Explanations

Page 22: 2011 Opening Day Predictions

Page 23: Final Payroll Check

Page 24: Conclusion

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Sparky Anderson has been placed in hospice care with complications stemming from dementia, his family announced in a statement Wednesday.

The 76-year-old Anderson won three World Series titles and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.

His sparkling managerial record speaks for itself. 

In the end, he will undoubtedly be remembered as one of baseball’s all-time greats.

Let’s take a look at where Sparky Anderson ranks among the best managers in Major League Baseball since 1960.

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With the expansion of the roster on September 1, Detroit Tigers catcher Max St. Pierre finally got the promotion he has been waiting for since he started playing baseball. St. Pierre, a native of Quebec, grew up speaking French and did not begin playing baseball until he was 10 years old. In 1997, St. Pierre was drafted in the 26th round of the MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers. Since then, St. Pierre has traveled around the minor leagues. He has spent every year of his career in the Tigers organization except for 2007, when he played in the Brewers farm system. 

St. Pierre has had many ups and downs in his minor league career, especially with his hitting. St. Pierre had struggled as a hitter for his first 13 years in the minors, but something clicked in the 2010 season. Before his promotion, St. Pierre was hitting .300 with five home runs and 22 RBI in Tripe-A. St. Pierre’s defense was what has kept him around for so long in the minor leagues, but with upgraded hitting, the 30-year-old catcher finally got called up to the MLB.

St. Pierre said that when he heard of his promotion, he got the chills and his goosebumps lasted for about an hour. “It’s never been about the money,” he told MLB.com. “It’s always been about a dream. I want to get there, and I want everybody back home to see.”

St. Pierre is yet to get into a game and is not in the lineup for tonight’s game against the Royals, but Tigers manager Jim Leyland promised that St. Pierre would play before the end of the season. 

Follow Jesse Kramer on Twitter for more sports news, or reach him by email at jessekr@heschel.org.

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For the past two seasons, 162 games were not enough to crown the AL Central Division Champion.

In 2008, the Chicago White Sox hosted game 163 at U.S. Cellular Field, defeating the Minnesota Twins 1-0 on a Jim Thome home run. 

In 2009, the Detroit Tigers were leading the division by three games with a mere 10 games remaining, including a four game against the second place Twins.

After splitting the series with the Twins, Detroit only needed win two of three from the Chicago White Sox ensuring them the AL Central title. Even if they only won one of the three, Minnesota would have to sweep the Kansas City Royals to tie the Tigers.

The Tigers failed. Game 163 was played at The Metrodome, where nine innings were not enough to decide the division.

The Twins ended up winning in the bottom of the 12th.

What are the chances that the Minnesota Twins are heading for a third straight game 163 to decide the AL Central?

The Twins currently hold a three-and-a-half game lead over Chicago, and a nine-game lead over Detroit.

At this point in the season in 2009 the Tigers had a larger lead at four-and-a-half games over the Twins, and a five-game lead over the White Sox.

Detroit finished the 2009 season 18-17.

The Twins went 22-12.

Both teams ended up at 86-76.

Here’s a look at the remaining schedules for the Twins, White Sox, and Tigers. All three teams have 11 series remaining in the season.

Minnesota Twins

On the road (15 games): Seattle, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, and Kansas City.

Current road record: 32-33

At Target Field (19 games): Detroit, Texas, Kansas City, Oakland, Cleveland, and Toronto.

Current home record: 40-22

For the Twins, only four of their remaining series are against teams with a winning record, and only Chicago and Texas are in the hunt for the playoffs.

The Twins will continue to play well at home, while playing .500 baseball on the road.

Prediction: 20-14 down the stretch finishing at 92-70 overall.

Chicago White Sox

On the road (16 games): Cleveland, Boston, Detroit, Oakland, and Los Angeles.

Current road record: 32-33

At U.S. Cellular Field (19 games): New York, Kansas City, Minnesota, Detroit, Boston, and Cleveland.

Current home record: 36-25

The White Sox have 10 games remaining against the Yankees and Red Sox, both with better records than any team in the AL Central currently.

They have the advantage of hosting the Twins in their final three meetings of the season, although Minnesota has already won the season series, and would host the tie-breaking game, if necessary. 

Like the Twins the White Sox struggle on the road, and with trips to Boston, Oakland, and Los Angeles, even a .500 record will be difficult. 

Prediction: 18-15 to finish the season at 87-73 overall, four games behind the Twins.

Detroit Tigers

On the road (22 games): Toronto, Minnesota, Kansas City, Texas, Chicago, Cleveland, and Baltimore.

Current road record: 20-39

At Comerica Park (13 games): Chicago, Baltimore, Kansas City, and Minnesota

Current home record: 43-25

The Tigers have the best home record in the AL Central, and the worst road record of the three teams competing for the division.

There are just not enough home games for the Tigers, and with the toughest remaining schedule, there is no way they climb back into the race.

Prediction: 15-20 to end the season at 78-84, 14 games behind the Twins.

There’s no need for an extra game, as the Twins give manager Ron Gardenhire his sixth division title in nine years.

Although, anything can happen, just ask a Detroit Tiger fan.

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Earlier Today following the introduction of Mike Modano to the Red Wings, Mike Ilitch confirmed that both Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland will be back in 2011.

This might come as a disappointment to some but, at least in Dombrowski’s case I support the decision.

Without a doubt Dave Dombrowski has made his share of blunder, but do I need to remind you where this team was before he was brought on as Team President?

In case you have forgotten the Tigers, led by General Manager Randy Smith, were pitiful. 

On any given night you couldn’t find more than a few thousand fans at Comerica Park.

It seemed like the only moves Smith was willing to make were to either trade with the San Diego Padres or do something involving Catcher Brad Ausmus.

As the major league team struggled, the farm system was in even worse condition.

Part of this was bad luck as many pitchers that were drafted in the early rounds suffered major injuries.

Still injuries could not be blamed for all the failed draft picks. Some were simply players that did not develop.

The Tigers bottomed out one year into Dombrowski’s tenure, 2003; as they went on to lose 119 games. The fact that three years later they were in the World Series speaks volumes of the job Dombrowski did.

Many expected 2010 to be a year of transition, but expectations were raised by the early success the team had.

The collapse after the all star break has been brought on by a combination of injuries and the struggles of Brennan Bosch. This is what has led many fans to ask for someone’s head to roll.

The mistakes Dombrowski has made with the Tigers were that he overvalued his own players, and at times traded for a name player that was no longer the star he was.

This has led to some ridiculous contracts that have handcuffed the Tigers. As has been frequently mentioned, many of those contracts will expire this year.

I think Dombrowski has learned from those mistakes.

The fact that he didn’t throw ridiculous money at Placido Polanco is proof of that.

I know Polanco is once again batting over 300 but he has missed some games this year due to injury.

Could the Tigers have used,Polanco this year, of course but let’s see how his body is holding up in the last year of the three year contract Philadelphia signed him to.

Jim Leyland on the other hand has botched many things this year. While I am sill inclined to say he deserves another year, I believe he needs to make some changes, especially in how he handles his pitching staff.

There a couple of things that have stood out to me lately as questionable moves by Leyland.

Why he repeatedly pulls Phil Coke after only one inning but insists on leaving Jose Valverde for two is something I just don’t understand.

It was working really well when he was doing the opposite early in the year so I really don’t know why he has gone to this setup.

The other thing, and I have written about this before, is his handling of Brennan Bosch and his insistence on leaving him in the fifth spot in the batting order when it was obvious that he was having trouble handling it.

The repercussions of this could be long lasting and really affect Bosch’s career.

At the end of the day only one vote matters and that is the vote cast by Tigers’ owner Mike Ilitch.

Today Mr.Ilitch voted yes on Dombrowski and Leyland and fans of the Tigers are going to have to hope he made the right call.

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