The Detroit Tigers have come out of no where and swept up one of the most eligible members of the free agent market, first baseman Prince fielder. The Tigers reportedly will commit 9 years and $214 million to bringing the slugger to Detroit.

Fielder, 27, hit .299 with 38 homers, 120 RBIs and a .415 on-base percentage for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2011. In his seven-season major league career, he is .282 hitter with 230 homers, 656 RBIs and a .390 on-base percentage.

Albert Pujols signed a 10-year $240 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels in December.  It was assumed that Fielder who is younger and just as accomplished would field about the same offer.  For the entire off season it seemed as if it wasn’t going to happen and that interest in Fielder and his huge financial commitment were scaring away most suitors.  His agent, Scott Boras, was always convinced that a deal was right around the corner.

After losing DH Victor Martinez for the 2012 season because of an ACL injury, the Tigers may have decided to get into the mix.  They originally had little interest in Fielder.

The Tigers already have a first baseman in Miguel Cabrerra, but sources say that they will be moving him to third base.  Fielder was unlikely to commit to a team where he couldn’t play first base.

Interestingly, Fielder will join the franchise with which his father, Cecil Fielder, hit 245 homers over seven seasons.

The Washington Nationals had been considered the front-runners for Fielder.  The Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles, Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs also had been reported to have varying levels of interest in Fielder.

Do you think Prince Fielder is worth $214 million dollars?

The Detroit Tigers Win The Prince Fielder Sweepstakes is a post from: The Inquisitr

“Not even in my wildest dreams had I thought of this,” Verlander said Monday, according to the Detroit Free Press. “I want to say it’s a dream come true. I can’t say that, because my dream had already come true — it was winning the Cy Young. The next dream is to win a World Series.”

Verlander, who helped boost the Tigers to the AL Central title and a trip to the league championship series this past season, went 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts to capture the AL pitching triple crown. He also pitched the most innings (251) and finished with the best WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) at 0.92.

According to Reuters, Verlander said he hoped his selection might pave the way for other pitchers to get the consideration they deserve.

“Pitchers should not be written off just because they’re pitchers,” Justin said. “I think this set a precedent. We do have a major impact in this game and can be extremely valuable to our team and its success as an individual.”

Over the course of his 7-year career, Justin Verlander has accumulated a win-loss record of 107-57, an ERA of 3.54, struck out 1,215 batters, and thrown 2-no hitters. At only 28, he’s just now entering his prime and should be a force in the AL Central for years to come.

Check out a video of Verlander’s 2011 highlights below:

via USA Today

Justin Verlander Named 2011 American League MVP is a post from: The Inquisitr

As the New York Yankees’ season came to an end last night after a game five loss to the Detroit Tigers, Jorge Posada contemplated his future with the team. Posada is at the end of a four-year contract, which means that the Yankee stalwart could have just played his last game in New York.

After the team’s playoff loss last night, an emotional Posada only managed to answer a few questions from reporters. Posada said:

“I don’t want to look at it like (I’ve played my last game with the Yankees.) We lost, and we’ll see what happens in the off-season… They have been awesome. The fans have been unbelievable to this team and to me.”

The New York Times reports that an emotional Posada spoke for a little over three minutes before tears came to his eyes and he cut the media session short.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who was also emotional when talking about Posada, said:

“He was awesome. He’s had a tremendous career and I’m sure he’s going to play, and I don’t know what’s to happen.”

This was the final year in Posada’s 4-year, $52 million contract, and according to ESPN, it is unlikely that Posada returns.

ESPN writes:

The Yankees want “to open up the DH position as a place to rest Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and others… the expectation is that Posada will not be offered a contract for 2012.”

In 344 at bats during the regular season Posada hit 14 homers and 44 RBIs. During the five game stretch against the Tigers, Posada was the Yankees best offensive weapon. He went 6 for 14 for a .429 average.

Do you think the New York Yankees will say goodbye to Jorge Posada?

Has Jorge Posada Played His Last Game As a Yankee? is a post from: The Inquisitr

Jim Thome became the 8th MLB player to hit 600 career home runs last night. He did so against my Detroit Tigers, and he did so by actually hitting number 599 earlier in the game. Thome has made his living, for the most part, in the American League Central, he has always been a rival so having him reach a career milestone in my city against my team puts me in a strange place. There is a number of takes I could do on this story, but much like the Detroit baseball fans I am going to choose to stay classy.

Thome is one of the few players to reach this milestone recently and to appear to do it relatively clean. Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Alex Rodriguez all cheated, or we strongly suspect they all did it the wrong way. Thome did it the right way, much like his contemporary 600 HR club member Ken Griffey Jr. So far Jim has played 21 MLB seasons and beyond three years with the Philadelphia Phillies, and a year with the Los Angels Dodgers he has been with AL Central team starting with the Cleveland Indians, then the Chicago White Sox, and now with the Minnesota Twins.

I think he has hit 60 some of his 600, or just over 10%, of his home runs against my Detroit Tigers. I tell you I have watched this cat for a long time and it certainly feels like more. For years he ahs been one of those Tiger killers, and while I hated competing against him, I am glad he got this honor and punched his ticket straight to Cooperstown.

Jim Thome becomes 8th baseball player to hit 600 home runs is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Detroit Tigers announced yesterday that they had signed General Manger Dave Dombrowski, and Manager Jim Leyland to contract extensions. Dombrowski and his senior staff were all given contracts through the 2015 season, while Leyland was given a one year re-up through the 2012 season. This comes mere weeks after Tigers owner Mike Illitch told the local Detroit media that he expected his team to win the division in 2011. All of us local Detroiters assumed that meant they needed to win the division this year, before contracts would be extended.

As a life long Tigers fan I can go back and fourth on this one. In fact I spent a good portion of my Detroit Sports Authority podcast this week doing just that (that podcast will air on mtrradio.com Thursdays and Sundays at 3am, 11am, and 7pm all times are EST). Dombrowski came to the Tigers prior to the 2012 season, and I can begrudgingly say he has done an adequate job rebuilding the big team. Including constructing the team that reached the 2006 World Series. However, when I look at this team’s farm system I see a virtual wasteland and that means at some point this team will collapse onto itself. To accomplish this Dombrowski has spent over half a billion dollars on payroll. Mostly spent on expensive free agents and misplaced loyalty to aging players.

Leyland was hired by Dombrowski before the 2006 season, and was an instant hit in Detroit for his blue collar mentality and a speech he gave to the team early in that season that motivated them all the way to the World Series. However, I think we can effectively argue that the players (and really this town) have grown tired of his act. In a little over five years he has averaged a third place finish in a somewhat weak division, and made the playoffs just once.

As you can see I am very skeptical about this decision. Had this team won the division, or ran away with an extremely weak division this year I would be happy. However, I do not think what these two men have done a good enough job, and that Detroit fans should hold the Tigers to a higher standard.

The Detroit Tigers extend Dave Dombrowski, and Jim Leyland is a post from: The Inquisitr

Detroit Tigers Starting Pitcher Justin Verlander is scary good. He is in his seventh year with the Tigers, and he has really stepped into his own this year. Granted he had thrown a perfect game (before 2011) and won nearly 20 games in each of the last two seasons, but this year he has been nearly unhittable. He has added another no hit game to his resume and today lost another no hit bid in the eight inning. That is the second time he has lost a no hit bid late in game in the 2011 season.

When today began he had a 2.34 ERA, and that number will be coming down. He just won his 15th game, and looks to be a sure lock to win 20 in 2011. He has pitched 173 innings for the Tigers and has 169 strike outs to just 34 base on balls (those numbers do not include today’s spectacular performance against Jared Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels).

The good news here for Tigers fans is Verlander has cemented his position as a true Ace for this team. As a lifelong Tigers fans I can attest to the fact that many Tigers fans, before this year, viewed Verlander as a very good pitcher but not a true number one. His performances this season have been a bright spot on a team that has had plenty of issues. To Verlander’s credit every fifth day he goes out there and gets it done.

Related Links:

•Detroit Tigers news and notes
•Joshua Lobdell.com

How good is Justin Verlander? is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians are both vying for an American League Central division title in 2011, up until today they were both also vying for the services of Colorado Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez. Detroit Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski decided that the cost for Jimenez was too high and pulled a separate deal with the Seattle Mariners. The Indians stuck to their guns and traded for a legit ace and now have to be looked at as the favorites to win this division. Of course the Tigers will go down fighting all the way to the last out of the season.

The Tigers added Starting Pitcher Doug Fister, and Relief Pitcher David Pauley. They gave up Charlie Furbush (who never worked out as the fifth starter), Casper Wells (an extra outfield player on the big team roster), and prospect third baseman Francisco Martinez (who was expendable because of the presence of Nick Castellanos). Fister will fit nicely at the back end of Detroit rotation of Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, and Brad Penny. Pauley will be a nice addition to the bullpen that could use an influx of talent.

The Indians gave up prospect pitchers Drew Pomeranz, and Alex White who were both ranked in the top five prospects for their organization, and another minor league player of little consequence. It is a heavy price to pay especially considering this team already added Kosuke Fukidome a few days ago to help fill in a depth issue in their outfield. Jimenez is a pretty good pitcher who has bad numbers because of the team and stadium he played in. He is a front line starter that should give the Indians a number of wins in their stretch run.

In the end these are two strong teams that made pretty good moves to counter each other in search of an AL Central title.

Related Links:

•Detroit Tigers news and notes
•Cleveland Indians news and notes
•Joshua Lobdell.com

AL Central front runners trade moves is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Detroit Tigers made a trade today, and two things are now very clear for fans of this team. They are pretty serious about contending for an American League Central title this year, and Brandon Inge’s time with the team seems to be coming to an end. Inge is the longest serving Tiger player (on the active roster), but his recent antics have not endeared himself to Tigers fans, and his performance at the plate hardly justifies his 5.5 million dollar salary for the 2011 season.

Inge is an above average defensive player at third, and a below average hitter. If he were the only subpar hitter in the Tigers’ lineup each day it would be very easy to hide him in the nine hole, and justify his salary with his defensive abilities. Even though I am a Tigers fan, I have grown tired of Inge’s act recently and that was before he went on Local Detroit TV and Radio and said that Tigers fans are not true fans if they choose to boo him.

The simple fact here is third base in today’s MLB is a power position and Inge is hitting just .177. They acquired William Betemit who has lost playing time at third for the Kansas City Royals, and is hitting .281. He is on a one year contract so this is clearly a move to win a division title now, and worry about later, well later.

The Tigers gave up two prospects for Betemit. Since I cover the Detroit Tigers for mtrbaseball.com I can tell you, they gave up two guys (C Julio Rodriguez and LHP Antonio Cruz) who had not risen above the Tigers low level farm system teams. If Betemit works out, I can envision them resigning him the future. That has been the M.O. of this team in recent years.

Related Links:

• Detroit Tigers news and notes
• Joshua Lobdell.com 

Detroit Tigers trade for a third baseman is a post from: The Inquisitr

I don’t know abut this one. Before we start debating about what teh Detroit Tigers should do, let us examine what exactly Starting Pitcher Derek Lowe is. He is a 38-year-old starting pitcher with a 2011 ERA of 4.30. He is due to make the balance of 15 million dollars in 2011, and another 15 million dollars in 2012. For the Tigers, he has some added value, as he is a native ofMichigan, and attendedEdselFordHigh School(inDearborn,MI). What he would actually give them on the field is very debatable.

The Tigers could probably get him on the cheap. The Atlanta Braves have done very well and would likely get the same production from one of their prospects in Triple A ball as they are getting from Lowe. In that sense a trade like this makes some senses. Bringing in a hometown kid, to help make a stretch run.

On the plus side Lowe’s 4.30 ERA would be the second lowest among the Tigers starting rotation. That says a lot about this team in of itself. They could use a fifth starter as Phil Coke has been moved back to the pen, and suitable replacement is currently on the roster (many Tigers critics would also say a suitable replacement does not reside in the Tigers system either).

With that being said this cat is due to make a ton of money, and the Tigers are already a team loaded with bad contracts. I don’t see how adding another one improves the team enough (in this case) to justify the expense.

Related Links:

• Detroit Tigers news and notes
• Joshua Lobdell.com

Should the Detroit Tigers pursue Derek Lowe? is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Detroit Tigers have a 45-40 record and sit just barely out of first place in the American League Central. They have a fundamentally flawed roster, but Manger Jim Leyland is getting the most out of it. Even though they fired their pitching coach this week, due to some less than stellar performances by the starting rotation. The Tigers went just 7-11 in interleague play, and have a 20-7 record against the other teams in their division. Even with that they have not been able to seize control of this division.

The offense has scored 390 runs on 771 hits. That hit total is fourth best among the AL teams. As a team they are hitting .268 and that is the second highest team BA in this league. They are accomplishing all of that by all star performances by Catcher Alex Avila, near all star performances by shortstop Jhonny Peralta, and C/DH Victor Martinez. All three of these players are hitting better than or slightly below .300.

When we start to look at the pitching we see that this staff is severely depleted. Ace Justin Verlander has been lights out, and earned an all-star birth. However past him in the starting rotation we see nothing but question marks. This staff has given up 392 runs, and the staff ERA is 4.39, which is the third worst staff ERA in the AL. Verlander’s ERA is 2.32 so that really speaks to what is going on with the rest of the starting pitchers. The bullpen is very good, and closer Jose Valverde has converted 20 saves and will be on the All Star roster.

While it may seem like a divisional crown is within this team’s grasp, as a lifelong Tigers fan I can effectively say they are more than one player way from being a legitimate playoff contender.

Related Links:

• Detroit Tigers news and notes
• Joshua Lobdell.com 

2011 Detroit Tigers mid season review is a post from: The Inquisitr

Far be it from me to give any credence to nay of Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt’s argument that MLB has treated him unfairly. However, Hardballtalk.com is reporting that 9 of 30 MLB teams are in violation o MLB debt rules. Those teams are of course the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets as well as Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, and Washington Nationals.

The basic rule here is MLB franchises are not allowed to have more debt than ten times their annual earnings. It is not clear if earnings means total revenue or profit, but my guess here it is total revenue. Let’s take a moment to spell this out. Say Team A has total revenues of 1 million dollars a season. That means the MLB rules would limit that team to 10 million dollars of total debt. Of course in each of these cases we are talking about much higher figures.

Since the Tigers are my team, I can say that this team took on a lot of debt in cost overruns during the construction of Comerica Park. They have also had a large payroll that has failed to deliver a ton of post season success. The absolute best way to increase revenues is to have multiple deep post season runs. The Tigers have not made the playoffs since 2006.

A couple of the teams on this list surprise me a bit. The Marlins have been notoriously cheap with their payroll so that situation may speak towards mismanagement of other revenue streams. The lack of regular season attendance is surely playing a role there as well. However, we do not know if this is long term debt, short term debt, or any other particulars, but this much debt is not a good thing for the MLB as a whole.

9 MLB teams are over the debt limit is a post from: The Inquisitr

What do you do with a guy who your team owes 106 million dollars over the next five years, and apparently is hell bent on throwing away all of his god given talent on the baseball field by continually drinking too much and getting himself in trouble? That is the predicament the Detroit Tigers find themselves in with their star first baseman Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera has now had two alcohol fueled incidents during is time in Detroit, and both have caused serious concerns over how this guy can put all of this behind him, and help the Tigers win a World Title.

While the first incident happened during a must win game against the Chicago White Sox, and may have involved a marital dispute. This second incident is a little more troubling as a drunken Cabrera drank openly in front of a police officer and pulled a don’t you know who I am routine. Then a drunken Cabrera got into a scuffle with some police and truth be told if he were not Miguel Cabrera he would likely be in jail for quite some time.

With that being said the Tigers are not in a very uncomfortable position. Cabrera’s contract is guaranteed, and recent attempts by MLB teams to switch a contract to a non guaranteed one have proven fruitless. So the Tigers are essentially stuck with him. However they may feel the need to try and get him into some kind of treatment program or hire a security/driver/mentor person to help watch over Cabrera and stop incidents like this from happening in the future.

In my mind the team should help Cabrera into a treatment program and in the short term he should not report to the team, and definitely not be in the lineup for the opening of the 2011 MLB season. This guy has got issues and for the long term success of the team and Cabrera the person something needs to be done.

Related Links:

• Detroit Tigers news and notes
• Pride of the Tigers
• Joshua Lobdell.com

What to do with Miguel Cabrera? is a post from: The Inquisitr

At 81-81 the Detroit Tigers season ended up a lot better than most of us want to give them credit for. Once again the Tigers played excellent baseball through June. However once this team gets to July and the All Star break they break down play bad baseball, and go 11-15 in July and 13-16 in August. In a weak division that is just not going to get it done and the worse news is this is the fourth of fifth year in a row Tigers fans have seen their team fade down the stretch.

The Tigers offense is led by 1B Miguel Cabrera and he did his job. He hit .328, with 180 hits, 38 home runs, and 126 RBI. However there is no one else in this lineup that is capable of producing over an entire 162 game season. Sure Magglio Ordonez was a great #3 hitter, but he is old and went down for the season with an injury. Simply put the Tigers had the fourth amount of hits (1515) amongst the American League clubs, and the fourth highest team batting average (.268) but only scored the 8th amount of runs at 751 and hit the 8th amount of home runs at 152. This seems to indicate the Tigers lineup is missing something.

The pitching staff is led by Justin Verlander and most baseball people would say that he is more of a #2 guy, then a true ace. Of course he did go 18-9 with a 3.37 ERA so those are ace like numbers. The staff ERA was 4.30, and they struck out 1056 batters while walking 537. In all the Tigers pitching staff gave up 1,445 hits. Closer Jose Valverde racked up 26 saves and had a 3.00 ERA.

All in all the Tigers lineup defiantly needs something, but in today’s MLB it is pitching that rules the day and the Tigers rotation is in the bottom third in every major statistical category. If they want to compete, especially in the park they play in, the starting rotation must improve.

Related Links:

• Detroit Tigers news and notes
• The History of Detroit Sports
• The Business of Major League Baseball
• Joshua Lobdell.com

2010 Detroit Tigers season in review is a post from: The Inquisitr

Many people out there think the Detroit Tigers will be big players in the free agent market this coming off season. In cruising around the blogosphere today I saw a number of discussions about what the Tigers may spend, what they feel they can spend, and what they really should spend on payroll in 2011. We have to remember that baseball is a business and the bottom line is important at least to the owners. However Tigers owner Mike Illitch is no spring chicken and he may want to construct a club that can win now.

Since we have no way to really know what goes on inside of Mr. I’s head, we have to go through the numbers. In 2008 they spent 137 million dollars on payroll that fell to 115 million in 2009, and rose to nearly 134 million in 2010. Some 65 million have come off the books. In looking at the contracts it appears the Tigers right now have around 66.5 million already committed to payroll for 2011. We have to figure the end number for the 2011 season is between 100-120 million dollars.

Of course from a business standpoint we can effectively argue that the Tigers should shed more payroll dollars. In 2008 they had 3.2 million fans come out to Comerica Park. In 2009 that fell to just north of 2.5 million paying customers, and in 2010 the attendance was down yet again to just north of 2.4 million. Detroit is still in economic quicksand so we don’t really know what they will do.

Many would argue that they cannot afford to tie up 15-19 million/season dollars in Carl Crawford. Even though they have 46.75 million dollars of payroll tied up in Miguel Cabrera, Jose Valverde, Justin Verlander and another 18.5 tied to Carlos Guillen and Brandon Inge, they could easily afford 15-18 million for Crawford even if the payrolls was to drop to the 100 million dollar level. Especially all that he can bring to this club, and considering Guillen’s contract will come off the books following 2011.

Related Links:

•Detroit Tigers news and notes
•The Business of Major League Baseball
•Pride of the Tigers
•Joshua Lobdell.com

Interesting Detroit Tigers payroll numbers is a post from: The Inquisitr

The might be the dumbest headline I have ever written in my sports writing career. Currently the Detroit Tigers have only one legitimate outfielder on their roster, CF Austin Jackson. They have a hole in right, and it looks like the plan might be to platoon a couple of younger players in left. They also have 45-55 million dollars coming off the books so of course they would be interested in one of the hottest free agent to be prospects out there.

The simple fact here is Crawford is a perfect fit for what the Tigers need most. Far beyond an everyday right fielder, Crawford has enough power to hit third in front of 1B Miguel Cabrera, and is fast enough speed to leg out a number of triples in the spacious confines of Comerica Park. Think about it Crawford is already a guy who has legged out double digit triples in five of his 8 MLB seasons. He is fast, and the Tigers could use an injection of speed into their lineup.

It is really too bad that the Tigers let 2B Placido Polanco walk away last winter. Besides being an excellent everyday second baseman, Polanco played a key role as the 2nd batter in the Tigers lineup. Could you imagine a Tigers lineup of Jackson, Polanco, Crawford, Cabrera, and possible Brennan Boesch or another high power free agent hitting fifth? That is the kind of stuff Tiger fans dream of and it would make the Brandon Inge resigning and attempted resigning of Jhonny Peralta much easier to swallow.

So what will it take for the Tigers to sign Crawford? Well he is coming off a 10 million dollar salary year, and the Tigers will likely have to overpay for him a touch. My best guess right now would be 15-20 million a year, and four to six years in length. The financial commitment would likely be right around 100 million dollars. Tigers owner Mike Illitch will have to dig deep into his pockets for that kind of money, but Crawford is about as much of a can’t miss free agent as their is ever likely to be.

Related Links:

•The Business of Major League Baseball
•Joshua Lobdell.com
•MTR baseball
•Pride of the Tigers

Detroit Tigers pursuing Carl Crawford is a post from: The Inquisitr

Say what you will about the 81-81 2010 version of the Detroit Tigers. While we wait for the post season plan to come together we can definitely say that they have one piece of the puzzle. That piece is first baseman Miguel Cabrera who also happens to be their clean up hitter. For this team to be successful in 2011 General Manger Dave Dombrowski will need to find a bat for the three hole, and a big bat to help protect Cabrera in the five spot of the lineup.

That likely means a couple of free agent singings as currently the Tigers do not seem to have those kinds of bats on their roster. Magglio Ordonez was a pretty good three guy, but he is old and may not be back with the team. On top of that it does not look like last year’s break out player (at least in the first half of the season) Brennan Boesch figures into the Tigers long term plans. Cabrera was at his best with Maggs in front of him and Boesch behind him and that makes finding new players for these roles critical to the Tigers success.

Since they have already offered third baseman Brandon Inge a contract extension. And are looking to platoon Jhonny Peralta and Ramon Santiago at short. With a similar plan for Will Rhymes and Scott Sizemore at second this help has to come in the form of a designated hitter and/or corner outfielder.

In my mind what the Tigers need for these two spots is Carl Crawford and Adam Dunn. That of course would not leave any room for Maggs since his days of playing the outfield are at an end. If the Tigers has the left handed hitting Crawford at three, the right handed hitter Cabrera at four, and the left handed hitting Dunn at five this lineup would look very good indeed.

Related Links:

•Pride of the Tigers
•MTR baseball
•The history of Detroit Sports
•Joshua Lobdell.com

Detroit Tigers need to add a bat, if not two is a post from: The Inquisitr

Overall I think the four of the five general mangers in this division did a poor job. The Cleveland Indians did what we expected them to do, and made a few minor deals here and there and tried to improve their roster and farm system. The Detroit Tigers get a pass as injuries have sunk their 2010 season, and they have 50 some million bucks coming off the payroll hading into 2011. That leaves the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins who did not land any big time players.

Let us look at what each team did:

•The Tigers brought in Jhonny Peralta to play third as Bradon Inge will miss significant time with a injury
•The Indians traded Peralta, and added a prospect in a very complicated deal involving two other teams
•The White Sox did add SP Edwin Jackson, but failed to land a big bat
•The Twins added Matt Capps to their bullpen, but will not get anything for him when he bolts after the season
•The Kansas City Royals, who went overlooked because they are the Royals, were sellers and rid themselves of Rick Ankiel, and Kyle Farnsworth for prospects

In the end I think all of these teams did a poor job. The Indians and the Royals are well the Indians and the Royals. The Tigers are in a bad situation with aging veterans and a number of injuries. The White Sox and Twins will battle for the division title, but the Sox failed to land some more offense. That might hurt them as the Twins are a very good baseball team, and it feels like the Sox have played above their heads so far.

Related Links:

•Minnesota Twins news and notes
•Chicago White Sox news and notes
•Detroit Tigers news and notes
•The Business of Major League Baseball
•MTR Baseball.com

American League Central trade deadline moves is a post from: The Inquisitr

Yes this is my team, and use I cover them for MTR Media.com, but I want to take a little time to try and explain the ins and outs of what is going on with this team. So what we have here is a very old owner, Mike Illitch who is 81 years old and he has owned this team since 1992. Team President and General Manger Dave Dombrowski’s contract is up after the 2011 season, and he has been on the job since 2002. Manger Jim Leyland’s deal is also up following the 2010 season, and he has been on the job since 2006.

Even though there are significant flaws on this team, they sit just 2.5 games out of first place in the American League Central. This is a bad division and no team has taken control of it. Now starting 3B Brandon Inge, whose contributions lay more on the defense than at the plate, is injured and will be out for 4-6 weeks. That means the Tigers need a suitable replacement for him, and if they really want to win this division they need a starting short stop, second baseman, and at least one if not two more starting pitchers.

That is a lot to try and add at the trade deadline, so the Tigers who are trying to win now look to be buyers at the trade deadline. The main problem with that is they are mortgaging the future by trading away prospects for an attempt to win now. Even as a life long Tigers fans I see no way they can win this division, and even if they do I see no way they can make a deep playoff run.

So The Tigers find themselves wanting to win now, and possible being able too but the cost is the future of this team. Through the 1990′s this was the worst team in baseball an entire generation of fans in this city have been lost. If the Tigers continue to operate in this manner, they risk losing another generation of fans and that would be tragic since my son counts among that generation.

Related Links:

•Detroit Tigers news and notes
•MTR Baseball.com
•MTR Michigan.com
•The Business of Major League Baseball
•The History of Detroit Sports

The Detroit Tigers are in a very intersesting situation is a post from: The Inquisitr

I am not a big believer in how this team was put together, but with a 46-37 record they are somehow over coming their flaws to lead the American League Central division by a half game over the Chicago White Sox and two full games over the Minnesota Twins. It is pretty amazing when we consider that one of their starting five pitchers, starting second baseman, and starting short stop or not on this team anymore. They are relying on a lot of very young talent, but somehow they continue to find a way to win. they often get a key home run or hit, or have a dominating pitching performance get them to a win and in the end that is what it is all about.

Their offense is not over powering, but they might have one of the best hitters in the game today in first baseman Miguel Cabrera. As a team they are hitting .276, and have scored 384 runs. They have collected 787 hits, 175 of which were doubles. They have added 14 triples and 72 home runs to that total.

It is the pitching staff that is chief among my concerns. They have given up 377 runs; have a staff ERA of 4.29. They have given up 64 home runs, and struck out 532 batters while issuing 286 walks. the good news here is the have a great closer in Jose Valverde.  He has converted 18 saves and has an ERA of 0.97.

This is a team that still has a lot of needs, and that is relying on a lot of rookie talent. They need a bottom of the order bat, as their 3 through 5 guys are doing very well, but the 6-9 guys are struggling. If they think they can win their division they must add a starting pitcher, a starting shortstop and another bat to the roster. If not they can wait till 2011 when more than 50 million bucks falls of the payroll.

Related Links:

•Detroit Tigers news and notes
•Pride of the Tigers
•The Business of Major League Baseball
•MTR Baseball.com
•The History of Detroit Sports

Detroit Tigers mid season review is a post from: The Inquisitr

Detroit Tigers set up man, Joel Zumaya, has fractured his elbow and his lost for the balance of the 2010 MLB season. On top of that, given this is the fourth straight season where he has gone down due to injury, his career may be in jeopardy. In the eighth inning of last night’s game against the Minnesota Twins, Zumaya delivered a 99 mph fastball to Delmon Young and immediately grabbed the elbow and fell to the field in a great amount of pain. This is a huge blow to the Tigers as a team, who with the win took possession of first place in the American League Central.

How big a blow is this? Well the last time Zumaya made it through an entire season unscathed, the Tigers found themselves in the World Series. While we kind of expected an injury Zumaya he has excelled in his role as the Tigers set up man. His stats so far in 2010 were very encouraging with a 2-1 record, 2.58 ERA. He has struck out 34 batters while issuing just 11 walks. All in all about what you would expect from a top tier set up guy.

It seems to me that Zumaya’s problems stem from his violent arm motion in his pitching delivery. Human beings just are not meant to throw as hard as this kid has over the past few years. He regularly delivers the baseball over 100 mph. That is a pretty big change from what he was when he was drafted, and the kind of pitcher he was in the minor league.

When he was first drafted, and through the early part of his minor league career Zumaya topped out at around 91 mph on average. A few years ago, after being a starting pitcher, the Tigers moved him to the bullpen and something clicked and he found tremendous velocity. It now seems that this change has ruined his arm, and it seems very unlikely that his career will continue.

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Joel Zumaya out for the season is a post from: The Inquisitr