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Granderson Trade
Sunday, November 15th, 2009
According to Phil Rogers of the Tribune, GM Jim Hendry says he is "absolutely" interested in offering a prospect laden package to the Tigers for Centerfielder Curtis Granderson. Rogers' sources say that the Cubs plan an "aggressive push" for Granderson.
In another article, Rogers says that, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America, the Cubs have the talent to land Granderson, even more so than the Yankees or Angels.
What kind of talent are we talking about? Well, currently the names being thrown around include minor leaguers Starlin Castro, Josh Vitters, Hak-Ju Lee, Andrew Cashner, Jay Jackson or Chris Carpenter, as well as major leaguers Jake Fox, Micah Hoffpauir, Tom Gorzelanny, Aaron Heilman, Mike Fontenot and Aaron Miles.
Scouting Reports on 3 key Cubs players who could be involved
in any deal for Curtiss Granderson:
Cubs Andrew Cashner 1st round pick in 2008. Closer in college
Cubs have converted him into a starter.
6 foot 6 flamethrower is his history in the pen, where he can run his fastball up to 98-99 mph to compliment his great slider. Ideally he'll be a top of the rotation starter, but worst case he'll be a good MLB reliever.
Josh Vitters (3B)was the third overall selection in the 2007 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs He has great power potential combined with fairly advanced plate discipline considering his age. He clearly projects as being capable of hitting 30+ homers with a .300+ average.
Starlin Castro. (SS) This kid is making a major push to make it to the big leagues in 2010. He is leading the AFL in hitting with a .424 average and made the AFL's All Star team, which was played last night, and went 2 for 3 in the game. He could soon surpass Josh Vitters as the Cubs top prospect (if he hasn't already)
Scouts say Castro plays like a young Hanley Ramirez.
Guillen the DH
It sure looks like Guillen is headed for DH with Huff and Thames gone. The man simply cannot run any longer.
Good job, Lynn. Hope this turns out better than your opinion that the Huff acquisition had no downside (other than JL stubbornly defending the acquisition by putting him down as DH and sending Carlos out to LF).
rayburn sucks
what is this henning must be blind rayburn shouldnt even be on the team if he wasnt on the team in 2009 tigers would of been in the playoffs
Thoughts on Guillen, Raburn ...
I have thoughts on Carlos Guillen too. One is, the man should never, ever wear a glove. He is a liability anywhere you put him. He is perfect for DH because he hits from both sides of the plate. He was awful at SS. Terrible at 3B. Could not play 1B either, and LF, forget it. Carlos, if you will DH, welcome aboard. If you insist that you need to play the field somewhere, please do it anywhere but Detroit.
Next manager
I like Brookens, but Trammell was universally liked also, and that didn't work out too well. If the Tigers still have a top payroll, they should invest in a manager with more than a minor league track record.
Andrew Miller
If the Marlins think, as your colleague does, that Miller is "awful" they should be amenable to a trade offer for him. With the dearth of talented lefties in the Tiger system I would think it a good idea to make the Marlins an offer to re-acquire Miller and turn him over to Rick Knapp.
Disapointed and hurt tiger fan
Ridiculous comment putting the blame on Miggy. Sure, it was stupid, but if you honestly think ballplayers don't drink and get drunk, you are delusional. This team killed me because of Jim Leland and his godawful mismanagement of the team.
The next Tigers manager
What about Larry Parrish?
tiger hitting woes
the most important move the tigers must do is get a hitting coach. they have not had an acceptable hitting coach since leyland has been here and you sport writers have let him off the hook. Is it bacause the hitting coach is black that you will not critize leyland and mcclendon? The tiger hitters go up to the plate like they don't have a clue on what to do. Every hitter goes thru periods when they get out of wack on how to hit. Those times, they need a coach who can see what the problem is or just suggest a change that can bring the hitter out of the dumps.
last year someone told leyland that he must change pitching coaches and he did. Look at what that move did this year. Now someone must tell him to get a competent hitting coach.
Disapointed and hurt tiger fan
I used to think that when the Tiger management spoke about there commitment to the fans, they meant it. I went back and read the article in Sports Illustrated about the Tigers in September. Jim Leylands commitment about putting the fans first, how much it hurts the tigers to see people struggle to buy a ticket to a game due to the economy in the D. How the players are giving 100 percent everyday to show the fans there comitted to them. That's all hogwash, Cabrera's incident wasn't the first,he's just the first to get caught. No sincere apology to the fans of this team from Leyland for playing Cabera, or from Cabrera himself. The drinking incident was bad enough, drinking with the opposition during our opportunity to stay in a playoff race makes it worse, and the poor handling of it by the management was just the icing on the cake. Now there just glad the season is over so they can high tail it out of here,and go spend the money they make from our hard earned paychecks. As a fan for 50 years, I feel they just walked on my grave. I will always be a fan, but this incident will never be forgiven by me.
Leyland
I'll say it again, Leyland is a mediocre manager. He's a lifetime under .500 manager. With the exception of the first half of 2006, he's under .500 with the Tigers. His teams regularly collapse in the second half. We're supposed to credit him for doing better this year with a team that was "predicted" to finish last, however, he received no blame from the lapdog media for finishing last in 2008 with a team that was "predicted" to go the World Series. He got the lion's share of the credit for 2006, however, now when the team performs poorly, it's on the players. Other teams place their best hitter's in the number three spot. Leyland bats Clete Thomas there. Other teams put their best players on the field in must win situations, Leyland rests players in the last week of the season. It's really not difficult to understand why he does these things as the Detroit media have served as his apologists and biggest fans since he got here. Even going so far as to basically ignore his lie about Miguel Cabrera's facial injuries. Leyland said, "he didn't see them." End of story. And finally, the argument that, "well, who would replace him?" So, the fans who pay good money can't ask for him to be dismissed, UNLESS they have a candidate in mind. Got it. There's no accountability for Leyland in this city and as long as the media continues to serve as his fawning fan club and defender, there never will be.
JIM LEYLAND
THE MOST IMPORTANT TALENT THAT ANY BASEBALL MANAGER MUST HAVE IS HOW TO BRING A TEAM THRU A LENGTHY SEASON OF 162 GAMES IN BASEBALL AND HAVE THE TEAM PLAYING THEIR BEST AT THE END OF THE SEASON. THIS REQUIRES A MANAGER WHO CAN DETERMINE WHO ARE THE MONEY PLAYERS WHO CAN PRODUCE WHEN THE PENANT RACES REALLY GET STARTED. LEYLAND IS A COMPLETE FLOP IN THIS REQARD. LOOK AT HIS TEAMS EVERY YEAR HE HAS BEEN WITH THE TIGERS. THEY ALWAYS FADE DOWN THE STRETCH. ON THE OTHER HAND, RON GARDENHIRE IS THE BEST AT TAKING LESSER TALENT AND HAVING HIS TEAM PLAY BETTER AS THE SEASON UNFOLDS AND HE DOES IT EVERY YEAR. WHAT WAS LEYLAND DOING PLAYING MARCUS THIS YEAR INSTEAD OF RAYBURN DOWN THE STRETCH? WHY WAS HUFF THE DH WHEN HE SHOWED HE COULD NOT HIT ANYTHING WHEN GUILLEN SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE DH WITH RAYBURN IN LEFT FIELD EVERY DAY. THESE ARE JUST 2 OF THE MORE DUMB THING S THAT LEYLAND DID TO CAUSE THE LOST OF THE DIVISION TITLE. WHY DIDN'T HE DEVELOP PERRY TO BE A BIG PART OF THE PITCHING STAFF DOWN THE STRETCH? HE SHOULD HAVE KNOW BETTER THAN TO PUT MINOR IN THE BIGGEST GAME OF THE YEAR BECAUSE HE CANNOT PITCH WHEN THE SITUATION IS A HIGH PRESSURE SITUATION.
other lineup issues
Clete Thomas has hit in the 3rd hole what, 39 times this year. He proved months ago that he can't handle it. Raburn has 16 homers in a part-time role and he hits leadoff.
I would really like to know how Leyland decides these issues.Is he completely ignorant of modern baseball metrics, like OB % and so on?
I admire him as a person and his human resources skills, but I wonder if the game has not in some ways passed him by.
I am 60 and know how such things happen.
Leyland
homer writers like you have kept this mediocre manager on the job--it is not only his line-up choices but his pitching choices that are screwed up--lose today and Figaro tomorrow!!!
No downside, huh?
The Detroit News, Aug 17, 2009:
"I don't see any minuses to Monday's Aubrey Huff pick-up. None at all.
The Tigers got help that they needed on all fronts: a left-hand bat with pop, and a guy who can play a variety of positions. That's a significant pick-up and at an affordable price."
-- Lynn Henning.
There has been little pop and no evidence he can play any position in the field.
Most of the time you're right, Lynn, and I like your stuff. But you might have mentioned you were wrong about that one once it became apparent.
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