Odds And Ends: Crow, Willis, Bay

Release Willis. It' not a close call. He's been awful since 2007, never should have been acquired, certainly shouldn't have been extended, and hasn't belonged in the major leagues the whole time. He's a guy that everyone roots for, but he'll never again be a consistent pitcher in the major leagues.

Since the Tigers are going to have to eat his salary anyway, why not make Willis into a LOOGY. At least that's some value out of him. He still could get lefties out even in '08 and '09, if I recall correctly.

I really wonder if it ends up being worth holding out one year, Mr. Aaron Crow. With the economic climate, and his position (I'm sure he doesn't want to pull a Matt Harrington), he doesn't have much leverage; I would imagine he gets a smaller bonus than what Washington proposed last year. Furthermore, he's one more year away from free agency, and who knows what will happen, injury-wise, thanks to that one year. What happens if he gets injured in that extra year?

Willis hasn't even been getting lefties out this season. He can't find the plate at all. If anything, send him to the minors, let him work on some things and report next spring. Not another silly DL stint, with a rehab that will only bring the issue back, but an assignment to a minor league team for the summer.
Lynn Henning, not one of my favorites, writes what all Tiger fans have known all season here:
http://www.detnews.com/article/20090615/SPORTS0104/906150324/1129/sports0104/It-s-time-for-Tigers-to-address-Willis-saga

As a tiger fan and a Willis supporter i hate to say this but its true. Willis is done. He had 1 good outing and has walked like 16 batters in his last 3 outings

$15m is hardly elite compensation. While prices have come down they haven't dropped that much. An outfielder that is coming off a 1000 OPS season and has a career number close to 900 (while playing for crap teams) carries a lot of weight. His fielding is poor. Baserunning is really bad. But still, he is thriving right now playing for a good organization that is fighting its way to the playoffs.

I don't see how Tex is worth $22m and Bay is worth less than $15m?

"Hell even Michael Phelps has shown a willingness to screw it all up. "

Yeah, a guy in his early 20's, who has already accomplished more in his field then anybody before him in the history of the world takes a bong hit. What a degenerate. Some of you guys crack me up. You act like you know Bryce Harper based on one article you read about him like 2 weeks ago, where most of his quotes are probably taken out of context. That is what the media does. It is like when Kobe says I couldn't have won without Shaq. He couldn't have won with out me. We both couldn't have won without Phil. We couldn't have won without Horry, Fox, Fisher and whoever else. Yet ESPN cuts it out so all you see is Kobe saying "Shaq wouldn't have won without me". We think we know Bryce Harper and Michael Phelps, based on nothing. So Michael Phelps smokes pot from time to time. Is he really "throwing it all away"?

My sentiments exactly, nrmax88. The comment about phenoms cracking under pressure and turning to drugs was pretty lame, too. When you take into consideration all of the high draft picks that have not turned to drugs, I'm sure it's similar to the % of people who do the same in society as a whole.

"Umm, that would be stupid on many, many levels. He's. Having. A. Career. Year. He's on the wrong side of 30 and his defense is not that good."

I can't see the Boston FO doing it either. Maybe 4/50M tops and only with the 4th year as a club option. Boston would have to find a replacement bat for sure next year, but does have OF bats in Reddick and maybe even Daeges coming along soon.

sadly the book has already been written on Harper because of this article. An Arrogant teenager? Wow what a shocker. Baseball and sports in general are really out of control. Everyone is constantly looking for the "next big thing" and this kid is already considered a disappointment if he doesn't put up triple crown numbers by the time he is 21. I feel bad for the kid. The kids who make it to the bigs and thrive when they are that young are once in a lifetime talents. I've heard the phrase "can't miss" so many times it makes me sick. This is baseball, you have NO idea what a player is supposed to be until he plays some games on a major league diamond. This kid is the best in high school, but what happens when he faces the best of the best in college? and than the best of the best of the best in the minors? and than the best of the best of the best of the best if he ever makes it to the majors. Surrounding this kid with this kind of hype is ridiculous when he hasn't even seen a college or minor league pitch yet. Wow this disgusts me.