Trots
07-06-2003, 05:18 PM
Here is today's piece from Lynn Henning. I'm not exactly sure I like the thought of trading away Maroth, but I guess I could accept such a move if the right players came back this way. Henning mentions throwing in Walker, I'd also toss in Pena.
Firstbase can be played by Witt, Young, Halter or Munson. It also gives them more flexibility in shopping for free agents this off-season. Depending on who they would move, the Tigs could buy an OF, a 3B or a 1B. Of course, they need to buy several players, but that's a different thought.
Dombrowski cannot afford to recoup some A level prospects. Maroth will have to bring higher potential kids in return. Someone along the lines of Tracy (AZ), Morneau (MIN), Teixiera (TX-why can I not spell his name right?), or maybe Sanchez (BOS). Rule V caliber players a going to bring a hailstorm of criticism. They need some new blood capable of producing right now or, the latest, next season.
Anyway, here's is Henning's column courtesy of the Detroit News, 7/6/03:
Trades and times: On the one-year anniversary of Jeff Weaver going to the Yankees, via the Athletics, the terrible Tigers again need to trade a pitcher or two, this time for some batting-order protein.
It would not be surprising to see a major deal wrapped up before the July 31 deadline.
And neither would it be a shock if whatever happens features Mike Maroth.
He can be a quick fix for a contending club itching for another starter. Maroth is effective, he is inexpensive (salary: $309,000), he is left-handed and he stands the best chance of bringing to the Tigers, at the most affordable price, a hitter or two for an emaciated lineup.
It might not stop there. The Tigers have a single asset in their organization: pitching. Adding good arms is as necessary for a bad team (Texas) looking to 2004 as it is for a contender (Toronto, Boston, Minnesota, St. Louis, etc.) that wants to stick in the playoff chase.
It figures that something will happen. This month.
"Basically, beginning this week -- the last five days -- there's been a different tone," Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers' general manager, said Thursday. "Phones have begun to ring. And I've called a few clubs myself.
"A lot of people have specifically called about a lot of our young pitching. They've all mentioned that pitching is very deep in this organization."
Deep enough, anyway, to permit trading someone such as Maroth.
The Tigers already are pondering a possible starting rotation in 2004: Jeremy Bonderman, Matt Roney, Wilfredo Ledezma, Nate Cornejo, and maybe Rob Henkel, an impressive left-hander at Double-A Erie who was part of last winter's Mark Redman trade.
If Maroth still is in Detroit, he, of course, is part of the mix. But the Tigers simply look at reality and figure they can compensate for the loss of a starter such as Maroth, who is not a power pitcher.
He is a craftsman hurler and absolute clubhouse Boy Scout who can fill a third or fourth spot in a good club's rotation.
What the Tigers might get for Maroth -- or for a package involving, say, Jamie Walker -- is anyone's guess. But as long as the Tigers aren't asking a club to take on heavy payroll (Walker, for example, makes $360,000), they can get a catcher, outfielder, up-the-middle infielder or multiple prospects, as they try to put some batters and position talent into a hitting-starved organization.
Tigers pitching, a long-range look: Unless something bizarre occurs between now and Sept. 28, the Tigers will parlay their worst record in baseball into the second pick in next June's amateur draft.
We already can hear the groans, but it won't surprise if the Tigers take a pitcher with that first selection. Pitching appears overwhelmingly to be the strength of 2004's draft crop -- much more so than position players.
The Tigers believe, correctly it would seem, that you take the best player possible and either make him a contributor to your own club or trade him for what you need. Weaver last year, maybe Maroth and others this year -- it can be a good strategy.
Shane Loux is having a terrific season at Toledo and probably will be pitching in Detroit soon. Henkel will be working at Comerica Park in September en route to what could be a regular job with the Tigers next season.
Kyle Sleeth, the Tigers' first-round pick last month, probably will sign this summer and be ready by 2005. West Michigan, the Class A stop where some of the Tigers' lone position prospects seem to be blooming, also is home to three more pitchers clubs other than the Tigers have been noticing: Joel Zumaya, Jon Connolly and Humberto Sanchez.
If the Tigers have lucked out on a few arms along the way, that's fair. Losing three first-round draft choices (Matt Wheatland, Kenny Baugh and Matt Anderson) to arm injuries of varying degrees of severity means this club deserved a break.
The free-agent forecast for Detroit: Partly cloudy for now, clearing by autumn. Alan Trammell, the Tigers' manager, implied last weekend that his team could be adding a couple of hitters this off-season, presumably through free agency.
Dombrowski was careful last week when asked if the Tigers would be shopping.
"It's much too early for me to make that kind of statement," he said. "Those are the types of decisions you make at the end of the season."
The Tigers' commitment to guaranteed contracts takes a dive after this season -- from about $58 million to a little less than $40 million. It doesn't mean the Tigers can suddenly bid for Vladimir Guerrero or Miguel Tejada, who aren't going to be enthused about Detroit at any price.
But it does allow a team that absolutely must better its offense to make a couple of modest additions that could help patch a lineup. A free-agent bat or two and a solid trade would help fix a problem or two and guard against next season becoming another embarrassment.
Buy this book: A nice choice if this current club makes you pine for the Tigers' baseball past is "The Detroit Tigers Encyclopedia," written by Dan Ewald and Jim Hawkins. It has all the stuff you would care to read about the Tigers' past 100 years of baseball, and avoids irrelevancies.
Nicely arranged, well-written, absorbing--it's worth it at $39.95.
You can reach Lynn Henning at (313) 222-2472 or lhenning@detnews.com.
Firstbase can be played by Witt, Young, Halter or Munson. It also gives them more flexibility in shopping for free agents this off-season. Depending on who they would move, the Tigs could buy an OF, a 3B or a 1B. Of course, they need to buy several players, but that's a different thought.
Dombrowski cannot afford to recoup some A level prospects. Maroth will have to bring higher potential kids in return. Someone along the lines of Tracy (AZ), Morneau (MIN), Teixiera (TX-why can I not spell his name right?), or maybe Sanchez (BOS). Rule V caliber players a going to bring a hailstorm of criticism. They need some new blood capable of producing right now or, the latest, next season.
Anyway, here's is Henning's column courtesy of the Detroit News, 7/6/03:
Trades and times: On the one-year anniversary of Jeff Weaver going to the Yankees, via the Athletics, the terrible Tigers again need to trade a pitcher or two, this time for some batting-order protein.
It would not be surprising to see a major deal wrapped up before the July 31 deadline.
And neither would it be a shock if whatever happens features Mike Maroth.
He can be a quick fix for a contending club itching for another starter. Maroth is effective, he is inexpensive (salary: $309,000), he is left-handed and he stands the best chance of bringing to the Tigers, at the most affordable price, a hitter or two for an emaciated lineup.
It might not stop there. The Tigers have a single asset in their organization: pitching. Adding good arms is as necessary for a bad team (Texas) looking to 2004 as it is for a contender (Toronto, Boston, Minnesota, St. Louis, etc.) that wants to stick in the playoff chase.
It figures that something will happen. This month.
"Basically, beginning this week -- the last five days -- there's been a different tone," Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers' general manager, said Thursday. "Phones have begun to ring. And I've called a few clubs myself.
"A lot of people have specifically called about a lot of our young pitching. They've all mentioned that pitching is very deep in this organization."
Deep enough, anyway, to permit trading someone such as Maroth.
The Tigers already are pondering a possible starting rotation in 2004: Jeremy Bonderman, Matt Roney, Wilfredo Ledezma, Nate Cornejo, and maybe Rob Henkel, an impressive left-hander at Double-A Erie who was part of last winter's Mark Redman trade.
If Maroth still is in Detroit, he, of course, is part of the mix. But the Tigers simply look at reality and figure they can compensate for the loss of a starter such as Maroth, who is not a power pitcher.
He is a craftsman hurler and absolute clubhouse Boy Scout who can fill a third or fourth spot in a good club's rotation.
What the Tigers might get for Maroth -- or for a package involving, say, Jamie Walker -- is anyone's guess. But as long as the Tigers aren't asking a club to take on heavy payroll (Walker, for example, makes $360,000), they can get a catcher, outfielder, up-the-middle infielder or multiple prospects, as they try to put some batters and position talent into a hitting-starved organization.
Tigers pitching, a long-range look: Unless something bizarre occurs between now and Sept. 28, the Tigers will parlay their worst record in baseball into the second pick in next June's amateur draft.
We already can hear the groans, but it won't surprise if the Tigers take a pitcher with that first selection. Pitching appears overwhelmingly to be the strength of 2004's draft crop -- much more so than position players.
The Tigers believe, correctly it would seem, that you take the best player possible and either make him a contributor to your own club or trade him for what you need. Weaver last year, maybe Maroth and others this year -- it can be a good strategy.
Shane Loux is having a terrific season at Toledo and probably will be pitching in Detroit soon. Henkel will be working at Comerica Park in September en route to what could be a regular job with the Tigers next season.
Kyle Sleeth, the Tigers' first-round pick last month, probably will sign this summer and be ready by 2005. West Michigan, the Class A stop where some of the Tigers' lone position prospects seem to be blooming, also is home to three more pitchers clubs other than the Tigers have been noticing: Joel Zumaya, Jon Connolly and Humberto Sanchez.
If the Tigers have lucked out on a few arms along the way, that's fair. Losing three first-round draft choices (Matt Wheatland, Kenny Baugh and Matt Anderson) to arm injuries of varying degrees of severity means this club deserved a break.
The free-agent forecast for Detroit: Partly cloudy for now, clearing by autumn. Alan Trammell, the Tigers' manager, implied last weekend that his team could be adding a couple of hitters this off-season, presumably through free agency.
Dombrowski was careful last week when asked if the Tigers would be shopping.
"It's much too early for me to make that kind of statement," he said. "Those are the types of decisions you make at the end of the season."
The Tigers' commitment to guaranteed contracts takes a dive after this season -- from about $58 million to a little less than $40 million. It doesn't mean the Tigers can suddenly bid for Vladimir Guerrero or Miguel Tejada, who aren't going to be enthused about Detroit at any price.
But it does allow a team that absolutely must better its offense to make a couple of modest additions that could help patch a lineup. A free-agent bat or two and a solid trade would help fix a problem or two and guard against next season becoming another embarrassment.
Buy this book: A nice choice if this current club makes you pine for the Tigers' baseball past is "The Detroit Tigers Encyclopedia," written by Dan Ewald and Jim Hawkins. It has all the stuff you would care to read about the Tigers' past 100 years of baseball, and avoids irrelevancies.
Nicely arranged, well-written, absorbing--it's worth it at $39.95.
You can reach Lynn Henning at (313) 222-2472 or lhenning@detnews.com.