Tigers deal Redman to Marlins

[Tigers#1]

Tigers in favor of arms proliferation
Detroit adds three hurlers in deal for lefty Redman
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

DETROIT -- Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski knows the Marlins system as well as anyone outside of Florida. He also remembers his old office number at Pro Player Stadium. So when Marlins GM Larry Beinfest called Dombrowski on Friday and offered him a chance to pluck some young pitchers from his old club for his top starter, he made an educated decision.
With that, left-hander Mark Redman became a Marlin, and Detroit took the next step toward restocking its minor league pitching. Redman and minor league reliever Jerrod Buell went to Florida for right-hander Gary Knotts and Double-A left-handers Nate Robertson and Rob Henkel.

"We're excited about all the players we received," Dombrowski said Saturday morning. "It fits with our goal of trying to add young pitching into our system."

On some level, the deal works as a smaller version of last summer's trade that sent Jeff Weaver to the New York Yankees through Oakland. The Tigers traded their ace at the time for the chance to receive three top prospects in return. Redman isn't as highly regarded as Weaver and has yet to finish a season strong, but he established himself in 2002 as one of the American League's more reliable left-handed starters. He spent most of the summer ranked among the AL's top 10 in ERA, and he led the Tigers in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts.

"I think it comes down to the same thing where you look to trade players that have value," Dombrowski said. "He's going to bring more value. I don't think it's as much [salary] arbitration as much as it is having the same type guys."

That type would be offspeed-throwing left-handed starters, of which the Tigers had three. Mike Maroth and Andy Van Hekken made their big-league debuts last year and showed plenty of promise.

With that in mind, Dombrowski had Redman on the market all offseason. He attracted plenty of interest at the general managers meetings in November, but the prospects Dombrowski wanted in return turned away most teams.

On Friday morning, though, the Marlins turned back around.

"Florida had expressed some interest about Mark all the way back to the GM meetings and the Winter Meetings," Dombrowski said, "but it really was more of just general interest. And it all happened really starting yesterday morning. We talked about Kevin Millar going to Japan and they had some funds and he wanted to see what we would want for Redman. It all happened yesterday."

In the end, an opportunity to add three above-average arms was too good to pass up.

In Knotts, Dombrowski saw the chance to add a much-needed fastball pitcher to his rotation now. The 25-year-old couldn't crack Florida's vaunted rotation and was moved to the bullpen, from where he went 3-1 with five holds and a 4.40 ERA.

Robertson, also a hard-throwing 25-year-old, made his Major League debut for the Marlins last September in a loss to Pittsburgh. Prior to that, he went 10-9 with a 3.42 ERA for Double-A Portland. He is projected to join the rotation at Triple-A Toledo.

The coveted piece of the deal, however, was Henkel, rated the eighth-best prospect in Florida's system by Baseball America and praised for his knuckle-curveball. The 24-year-old won a midseason promotion to Portland after going 8-3 with a 2.51 ERA for Class A Jupiter. Between the two levels, he struck out 150 batters in 145 1/3 innings. He's progressing at a later age after undergoing Tommy John surgery after college, having been a third-round pick in 2000 out of UCLA.

If he isn't fast-tracked, Henkel projects to become the fifth piece of Double-A Erie's stacked rotation. The Seawolves' staff is expected to include top prospect Jeremy Bonderman, former first-round pick Kenny Baugh, former second-rounder Preston Larrison and last year's success story, Jeremy Johnson.

Dombrowski still left open the possibility that Henkel or Robertson could crack the big-league staff. To do that, however, they'd have to not only battle with Detroit's entrenched young arms -- Van Hekken, Maroth, Nate Cornejo and Shane Loux -- but also beat out hard-throwing Rule 5 picks Matt Roney and Wil Ledezma.

In the case of young pitchers and the Tigers, competition is a good thing. "Those are the types of problems you want to have," Dombrowski said.

The flip side is the void Redman's departure leaves at the top of the staff. Knuckleballer Steve Sparks, whose 5.52 ERA ranked highest among AL starters and whose other opposing batters stats ranked among the three worst in the league, becomes the staff ace. His leadership ability is treasured, but his knuckler is in need of a comeback.

After Sparks' 164 career big-league starts, the other four projected starters -- including Knotts -- have a combined 46. Forty of those belong to Maroth (21) and Cornejo (19).

Dombrowski left open the possibility of adding a veteran starter. Still, it would have to be on a minor league contract with a Spring Training invitation. If that doesn't happen, whoever wins those other four starting spots could be part of the rotation for years to come -- much like Dombrowski's Marlins rotation of five years ago.

"[Redman] was no question our best pitcher at the big-league level," Dombrowski said. "The only thing for us was we had three pitchers who had the same style -- left-handed, not hard throwers. A key is going to be Steve Sparks no matter what the situation was. Then we have a bunch of young arms. We hope Gary Knotts will be one of our young starters. There are a lot of young arms. We're hoping some of them step up."

[phenom]

With the fences moved in, I guess left-handed pitching isn't much of a commodity anymore in Tigertown.

Oh well... statistically, the other two guys look promising.

I have a feeling that by August, many Trammell pitching changes will be followed by a resounding "WHO??" coming from the Copa.

Not that that's a bad thing.

[Trots]

I'm going to hold off on any judgment until I know some more about the players the Tigers got in return. In general terms, however, Redman's departure is hardly a surprise. I know Dombrowski prefers the hard throwers and Redman doesn't quite fit the mold. Also, I think he's eligible for a pay increase after the '03 campaign.

I am a bit concerned about going into the season with such an inexperienced staff, but look what a more veteran staff yielded last year. This is a complete re-building project, and it's January. I find it hard to be depressed over this move.

[phenom]

The Tigers and Dombrowski have already come out and told us not to hold our collective breath this year. That's fine, I felt that way last year, but many people aren't too patient with the organization. I have also been critical of some of what they've done with the franchise, but I'm starting to turn the corner (ahh, remember The Corner?) on this team. Again, I don't expect much this year, and if they can pull out 75 wins, I'll be ecstatic. I think, despite how it appeared early in Dombrowski's campaign, they're stepping in the right direction. I just hope Tiger fans can deal with a little more losing for the next year or two or three.

Both organizations on Woodward Avenue have started anew over the last two seasons, and I'll tell ya, I'm 100x more confident in the Tigers' direction than I am in the Lions'.

[Tigers#1]

I'm not crazy about the trade. Redman was our best pitcher last year, and there was no need to trade him. Other than Sparks, who i don't see lasting the whole year as a starter, pretty much the whole starting rotation are rookies or sophmores(Maroth, Van Hekken, Cornejo, Loux, Knotts), which will also be true about the infeild if Munson starts at third. With in the last six months, this team has lost it's 2 best pitchers, and 2 best hitters. I can't see this team taking a step forward this year.

[phenom]

That's the thing, they aren't building for this year. They're building for two, three, five, ten years from now. True, Redman was the Tigers' best pitcher a week ago, but with a focus two years out, he's probably not worth keeping. Let's see where Redman is in two or three years before making that decision. I have a hard time saying the same about Weaver, but I think that was the same mindset when he was traded. Get players that can improve and be at a strong level in 2005 while you can. This team isn't a Mark Redman or Jeff Weaver away from competing, so I don't have much of a problem with getting a couple guys that may be as talented when the team is one or two guys away.

I hope I explained that well enough.

[Tigers#1]

I understand that, but i also know their in what, year 9, of a 5 year rebuilding process? Also these young players need quality veterans to learn from. I still beleive the worst trade this team has made, is the Travis Fryman trade. They were a great young organization when they had him, then they got rid of him and didn't replace him with a veteran. Bobby Higginson and Tony Clark really struggled after that. Then when they got Juan Gonzalez, Bobby started to hit again. I just think these young guys need someone to learn from, other than the coaches. Hopefully i'm wrong, and these young guys come threw, but i still would like to see them get a quality veteran hitter and pitcher.

[Trots]

First, the "veteran" thing. I generally agree with the notion that some veteran influence is important. However, I think it's safe to say it's overrated. Some of the young teams in recent years, including the Twins last season, haven't had all that much veteran leadership. Oakland's core group isn't all that old, either. They won anyway.

Individually, Juan Gonzalez is a perfect example. He's got tons of talent. His mere presence in the lineup made Higgy a better hitter. However, he was not a veteran leader. The only thing they learned about from Juan was what a talented, moody person he was. His ability is what helped Higgy, not his attitude.

As for Redman, he did hang tough all year on a bad team that gave him zero run support. That said, he managed only eight wins. Had an ERA over 5.00 on the road. He's never pitched 200 innings before last season and his arm got tired before the year ended. He's got a history of injury problems. The odds are he's due for a setback in 2003. He's also going to be the Marlins number three or four starter. That should indicate his relative value.

Regardless of whom the Tigers put on the field in '03, they almost have to be at least as "good" as last year. Most MLB teams, and, yes, you can argue the Tigers are not one, will win 50 games just by showing up for all 162 contests. Last year, the Tigers of Fick, Weaver (half season), Redman and company compiled all of 55 wins. The odds are almost, again, almost, overwhelming that they win more this year.

The Fryman deal. Bottom line: Blame Ilitch. He chose not to pay him. However, they did get a veteran to replace him. His name is Dean Palmer.

An interesting topic came up today on the Tigers' flagship station. The true test of this organization will be in two-three years. Let's say the Tigers are on the verge of success by then. Maybe they have won something like 80+ games. Then guys like Pena become arbitration eligible. Is Ilitch going to pay the money to keep them?

The thought is yes, but that's far from a guarantee. Then if even if the team does keep their core, will they be willing to add quality free agents at the same time? Even with the prospect of sellout crowds (which seem like a distant memory now), would the team have enough money to pay both their own players market value plus add the high priced veteran free agents most feel are going to be needed to win a title?

The real question was are you going to be happy if the Tigers can only do like Oakland, Montreal and, perhaps, Cleveland, have done? Develop some quality players, have some success in terms of wins and losses for a handful of seasons, lose the best players to free agency, fall some in the standings, then start the process over again.