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Tigers Talking Trade

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Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press has articles here and here about the possibility of a Tigers trade before the season begins.  GM Dave Dombrowski admitted that trade discussions have intensified lately.

One possible need is a second lefty reliever, but the Tigers could potentially fill that role with Nate Robertson or Dontrelle Willis.  Morosi adds that a need at catcher could surface if Matt Treanor's current injury is serious.  And he notes that the team always needs young pitching.

As far as trade candidates, Marcus Thames ($2.275MM salary) leads the pack.  Thames has big power and not much else, but the Tigers chose to tender him a contract for '09.  Morosi wonders if the Reds could be a match, though their outfield picture seems set with Jonny Gomes taking on the right-handed slugger role.  Other trade candidates: Mike Hessman, Ryan Raburn, or Brent Clevlen.

Gammons On Matthews, Teahen, Harang, Peavy

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12:07pm: John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer asked Reds GM Walt Jocketty about Gammons' Harang note.  Jocketty said, "I'm not going to comment on something when he doesn't know what he's talking about."

9:19am: ESPN's Peter Gammons had a new blog post yesterday discussing available players.

  • Gammons names Geoff Jenkins ($8MM remaining, limited no-trade), Brian Giles ($9MM remaining, full no-trade), Gary Matthews Jr. ($33.5MM remaining, full no-trade), Marcus Thames ($2.275MM salary), Nick Johnson ($5.5MM salary), Jason Repko, and Jeff Baker as players being dangled.  Gammons links Matthews to the Yankees but admits his contract will be an issue.
  • Mark Teahen has drawn interest from the Astros, Red Sox, and Yankees.
  • Gammons says the Reds "have let teams know that they will wait and see whether they need to move Aaron Harang during the season."  It'd be a shame to see the Reds break up that rotation.  Harang has about $36MM coming to him over the next three seasons if his 2011 option is exercised.
  • Brewers third baseman Bill Hall expects his team to pursue Padres ace Jake Peavy if available this summer.  Unlike C.C. Sabathia, Peavy is more than a rental.

Olney’s Latest: Willis, Zito

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Buster Olney touches on Dontrelle Willis and Barry Zito, two lefties long-struggling to make a comeback.

  • Willis may not make the Tigers rotation. Instead, "rival talent evaluators" believe he will either be sent to the minors to continue to work, or be released. Willis hasn't impressed this spring, allowing 17 H, 7 BB, and 12 ER over 8.1 IP. Olney says scouts can't think of an example of a pitcher who has regressed as much as Willis and made a successful comeback.
  • Zito is receiving mixed reviews with a fastball either in the range of either 80-82mph or 83-85mph. Says Olney, "… if he were to just give the Giants a chance to win games over the last five years of his deal, the club would be thrilled. Give Zito credit for this: He is trying like heck to make this work."

Gammons On Sheffield, Tazawa, Kearns

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ESPN’s Peter Gammons posted a new blog entry last night.  Let’s take a look.

  • Gammons sees Gary Sheffield as a "serious comeback player of the year candidate."
  • Rangers GM Jon Daniels told Gammons his team bid $7MM for Junichi Tazawa, but the Red Sox signed him for $3MM due to their presence in Japan.  According to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times, the Rangers also offered more money to reliever Chad Cordero but he preferred the West Coast.
  • Kicking Jim Bowden while he’s down: Gammons says Nationals outfielder Austin Kearns was claimed on waivers last summer but the Nationals pulled him back.

Offseason In Review: Detroit Tigers

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Next up in our Offseason In Review series, the Tigers.  Here’s what I wrote about them on September 18th.

Additions: Edwin Jackson, Brandon Lyon, Gerald Laird, Matt Treanor, Adam Everett, Juan Rincon, Scott Williamson, Alexis Gomez, Timo Perez

Subtractions: Edgar Renteria, Matt Joyce, Kenny Rogers, Aquilino Lopez, Todd Jones, Casey Fossum, Gary Glover, Kyle Farnsworth.  Midseason: Ivan Rodriguez

In September we were talking about the Tigers slashing payroll drastically, but they’re in the $125MM range to start ’09.  The club remains saddled with multiple bad contracts.

While the Tigers’ offense last year didn’t quite meet expectations, the team did rank fourth in the AL with 5.07 runs per game.  The ’09 lineup has new regulars Laird and Everett and will be without Joyce at the outfield corners.  Using CHONE projections and Baseball Musings’ lineup analysis tool, it seems that this crew can match last year’s performance.

The question mark remains on the runs allowed side of things.  Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski took steps to improve the team’s defense (8th in the AL last year according to the Fielding Bible II) by bringing in Everett and Laird.  Using Inge at third base all year will help as well.

The Tigers had lousy pitching last year, in both the rotation and bullpen.  Jackson is an improvement over Kenny Rogers, while Justin Verlander and Nate Robertson should bounce back to some extent (though Armando Galarraga should regress).  30 healthy starts from Jeremy Bonderman would go a long way toward solidifying this group, but it almost has to be better than the ’08 rotation.

I feel similarly about the bullpen.  Lyon is better than Todd Jones, and Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney are hopefully healthy.  The pen should be better, we can say that much.  It’s hard to predict, but if the Tigers are able to get to around 775 runs allowed they should be on track for 85-86 wins.

Bottom line: Dombrowski trimmed payroll but still made improvements to the Tigers’ defense and pitching.  If a few of the many wild cards in the rotation come through they’ll be in contention.

Tough Decisions For Tigers

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes about the tough decisions faced by the Tigers this spring.

First, they have to decide whether to let 20 year-old phenom Rick Porcello break camp with the team, even though he has yet to pitch above A ball.  GM Dave Dombrowski seems open to it.  He says the issue of delaying Porcello’s arbitration will not come into play.

The Tigers also have to decide what to do with veterans Dontrelle Willis, Nate Robertson, and Gary Sheffield.  Will their contracts lead to roster spots?  Robertson (4 ER in 4 IP) is owed $17MM through 2010.  Willis (4 ER in 3 IP) will make $22MM in that time.  And Sheffield (.167/.423/.500 in 18 ABs) earns $14MM in ’09.  Spring Training stats don’t mean much anyway, but these samples are especially small.  And Rosenthal says Willis and/or Robertson could be sent to the minors or bullpen if necessary.

Bonderman’s Tests Reveal ‘No Major Issues’

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5:59pm: He’s OK, according to Leyland, as told to Jason Beck of MLB.com.

An examination of pitcher Jeremy Bonderman’s sore right shoulder showed no major damage, confirming the Tigers’ expectations that he had nothing more than swelling.

“No problems,” manager Jim Leyland said early Monday evening. “No major issues at all.”

5:36pm: Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland told The Associated Press that starting pitcher Jeremy Bonderman has been sent to Detroit for medical testing because of shoulder stiffness.

Leyland said the act is precautionary, and Bonderman, 26, is expected back in Lakeland, Fla., Monday night.

Bonderman has had the trouble since he reported to Spring Training. He went 3-4 with a 4.29 ERA last year, but was on the disabled list from June 7 through the end of the season with a circulatory condition that resulted in numbness in his throwing hand.

Leyland added that the right-hander could be back to a normal routine in a couple of weeks.

Bonderman has been in the mix of names discussed in recent trade rumors.

Odds And Ends: Orioles, Bowden, Nathan

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A few links for Sunday afternoon…

  • According to MLB.com’s Spencer Fordin the Orioles used "number crunching and statistical analysis" to compare Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis to similar past and present players before locking them up to deals worth $40MM and $66MM, respectively.
  • Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports that Joe Nathan’s happy to see Jonathan Papelbon making lots of money this year ($6.25MM) because it’s good for closers in general.
  • Jayson Stark of ESPN.com points out the absurdity of the Manny Ramirez negotiations and suggests the structure of a deal that could work for both sides. It’s been nearly four months since the Dodgers made their initial offer of two years and $45MM.
  • Pete McElroy of MASN Sports reports that Dmitri Young’s "shocked" to see Jim Bowden resign. Young, who first dealt with Bowden on the Reds, spoke glowingly of his former GM.
  • According to MLB.com’s Jason Beck Jim Leyland confirmed that the Tigers had some offseason discussions about Juan Cruz.
  • The draft’s still three months away, but Keith Law of ESPN.com is already putting together scouting reports about some top amateur players.
  • MLB.com’s Lyle Spencer dreams up a deal that sends Adrian Gonzalez and Jake Peavy to the Angels for 10 players.

Today’s Signings: Sanchez, Weaver, Galarraga

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MLBTR has an update on major league signings for today based on e-mail communication with Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman. His article is here.

Florida Marlins – Anibal Sanchez, $400,000
L.A. Angels – Jered Weaver, $465,000
Arizona Diamondbacks – Tony Pena, $430,000
Detroit Tigers – Armando Galarraga, $430,000
San Francisco Giants – Jonathan Sanchez, $455,000

Odds And Ends: Royals, Zimmerman, A-Rod

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Links for Saturday…

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