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Monthly Archives: February 2007

Joey Eischen is no Jamie Walker

I’m all for feel-good stories in the spring time but I thought Tom Gage at the Detroit News was stretching a bit for this one: Eischen just the right kind of dog for the Tigers’ pen. Eischen is vying for a spot on the roster this off season but he is truely a long-shot here. [...]

Is this the last year for Kenny Rogers?

And should it be? Yes and Yes.
A few people that I’ve spoken with today have made the assumption that a recent article in the Free Press is Kenny making a statement that he wishes to continue his career in Detroit beyond 2007. This is not how I read it at all. Below is really the [...]

A chink found in Leylands armor

I woke up this morning, after spending some of last evening reading articles about how Jim Leyland isn’t allowing the players to look back on last season. How he is taking control of the team as he did last year with his own unique no-nonsense style of coaching. But this morning I found out that [...]

2007 MLB Rule Changes & D-Town Improvements

Baseball Musings has a summary of some MLB rule changes for the 2007 season. There is nothing earth shattering but a few of these got me thinking about current Tigers tendencies. The main rule that got me thinking about Tiger pitchers was:

With no runners on, a pitcher will be required to pitch within 12 seconds, [...]

Detroit Rotation Tops BP ‘Stat of the Day’

I always enjoy reading the ‘Stat of the Day’ over at Baseball Prospectus. Today the statistic is ‘Top 5 2006 AL Rotations, by SNLVAR‘. I’ve reproduced it below as it will change tomorrow.
Two other AL Central teams also make the list; Indians and Twins. Buster Onley also points out that the Indians are set to [...]

Cleveland closer Foulke retires

For an AL Central note; Cleveland closer Keith Foulke has retired. Keith Foulke has been battling injuries the last few years and was about to enter a battle to keep the closing job against Joe Borowski. Both were signed this off season to one-year contracts; Foulke for $5M and Borowski for $4M. Detroit did not [...]

Will Mike Maroth make a successful comeback?

Reading through the latest Peter Gammons blog entry ‘Top 20 comebacks to watch‘ (subscription required); I was disappointed to see one name not on the list: Mike Maroth. The list was filled with some big names (Barry Bonds), players who didn’t have major injuries or played through the season (Coco Crisp, Keith Foulke), and a [...]

Detroit Bullpen Projected Strikeout-Walk Ratio

Below is a look at the Tiger bullpen’s strikeout-to-walk ratio from 2006 as well as from the different statistical projections. I’ve always liked this statistic and was curious as to what next year might hold in store after reading Lee’s look at the relievers projected ERA’s.
A few things of note:

Todd Jones’s projections vary quite [...]

Zumaya: Starter or Closer?

On my long, snowy drive home today from work I was listening to Pat Caputo on 1270XYT talking Tigers baseball. Now, I usually avoid listening to Pat. Nothing personal but I really cannot stand the rambling on for hours that goes on. I rarely agree as well but for most others I enjoy the different [...]

Is Tony Giarratano the Tigers future at shortstop?

Carlos Guillen has been a great shortstop for the Tigers for the past three years and I’d love nothing more to see him continue to perform at that position moving forward for many more years. For the Tigers he has consistently batted above .318, garnered an All Star berth and is, as Leyland says, one [...]

Sunday AL Central News & Notes

While it has been pretty slow this past week there has been a number of goings on around the AL Central and here in Detroit.

Ozzie Guillen believes his Chi-Sox rotation is ready for action. It’s good he has faith as most off season reviews are not good for Chicago. Last years slide by their rotation [...]