Here’s the latest from the AL Central on a quiet Saturday night:
- Tigers owner Mike Ilitch was a big reason why Justin Upton decided to sign with Detroit, writes Terence Moore of MLB.com. Ilitch has repeatedly shown a willingness to invest in his club, this time blowing by the luxury tax threshold for the first time in club history. Upton had this to say at his press conference, “I think what sold me mostly is Mr. Ilitch is a guy who wants to win ballgames, wants to win a championship.” The club has seemingly improved across the board by adding Upton, starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, and closer Francisco Rodriguez (among others).
- Bruce Rondon is expected to join the Tigers in Spring Training, reports Aaron McMann of Mlive.com. Rondon is currently suffering the aftereffects of chikungunya virus, a mosquito-born illness. He’s made headlines a couple times in the last half year. The team sent Rondon home prior to the end of the season due to a lack of effort. Rondon was serving as the club’s interim closer for much of the preceding period. More recently, he was a part of a large bench clearing brawl in the Venezuelan Winter League.
- Infield prospect JaCoby Jones is also expected to report to Spring Training on time, per McMann. Jones has 38 games remaining on a 50 game suspension for a “drug of abuse.” It was his second such offense. Jones was acquired at the trade deadline in exchange for Joakim Soria.
- The Indians have another uphill battle in the AL Central after the Tigers signed Upton, writes Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Even after the deal, Cleveland is projected to win the division by FanGraphs. However, it’s expected to a wild ride with just six wins separating the Indians (84-78) from the last place Twins (78-84). Incidentally, the Indians are expected to spend about $100MM less on their ball club than the Tigers (82-80). Pluto wistfully wishes the club would dedicate a few more dollars to improving their playoff odds.
I’d let Bruce Rondon just rot in the minors for his crappy behavior but that’s just me.
chikungunya virus – that is some bad stuff – they have people in S.A. dropping dead left and right because of this.
Won’t be long before they spread it here.
Unless someone is injured, the Tigers will likely start Rondon in Toledo. He’ll need more than a good spring to get back in the Tigers good graces.
“Illich has repeatedly shown a willingness to invest in his club, this time blowing by the luxury tax threshold for the first time in club history”
Tigers went over in 2008.
A hard fact to get wrong considering only 6 teams have gone over it in its existence
To be clear, they did go over it once before, but just barely. They blew by it for the first time this year.
Hard to say. Their current payroll is only about $7 million over. But that doesn’t account for average yearly salaries and the other costs. But the tax is also calculated based on where a team ends up at the end of the season. Some teams have gone over early then unloaded enough salary to end up under for the year. “Blowing by”, to me, would be spending like the Dodgers.
Given how close the Tigers have come to going over in 2014 and 2015 it’s not like the current increase is a huge surprise.
Ilitch. Mike Ilitch. I love this site, but between the overuse of the word ‘obviously’ and the misspelled names, it’s annoying.
Not to mention getting simple facts completely wrong.
The Indians need an impact bat at 3B. Freese & Uribe are still available. Outfield depth due to Brantley’s injury. Austin Jackson is still available, and probably would become starting CF. The Indians should be targeting one of these free agents to improve the everyday lineup.
Shouldn’t the Indians upgrade their offense?
The AL Central standings in that article are wrong…
Last year they were:… (from Baseball -reference.com)
Kansas City Royals—95–67
Minnesota Twins —83—79
Cleveland Indians —81—80 .
Chicago White Sox –76–86 .
Detroit Tigers DET —-74–87
The Indians have no chance of winning the division
If there was a way that they can improve on their offense to go with their pitching staff they have a chance.
The Indians can absolutely win the division. The AL Central will be a very competitive division, and the Indians have arguably the best rotation with an offense that last year was decent enough (18th in runs scored, more runs than the Dodgers, Angels, and Cardinals). They had the second highest run differently in the Central last year (5th in the AL).
On a related note, the Tigers had the worst run differential (-114) in the AL last year by a wide margin, (the WSox were next with -79). So while they picked up two big names, they also had the farthest to go based off last years rosters.
The Tigers could still improve their lineup at centerfield if they trade both of their center fielders for one good one. Tyler Collin could be the main backup center fielder which I think he would appreciate
More than anything, we still need bullpen depth. One or two more arms.