SB Nation - Magglio Ordonez

Evening Prowl: Still Roaring, D-Town Baseball, Kelly Johnson, and Those in Favor of the Grandy Trade

Ian Casselberry — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:00:18 -0000

With the demise of MVN, many have wondered what will happen to Roar of the Tigers, Samara Pearlstein's fantastically illustrated blog. Thankfully for us all, Sam will keep on trucking, and has moved RotT to a Wordpress site. You can find the new address here, and check out the Floating Head Raft of Tigers.

(I also feel the need to point out - whether Sam would prefer me to or not - that her self-portrait is less than flattering. I always admire an illustrator/cartoonist willing to portray themselves as flawed, but Sam isn't being fair to herself, as funny as the image may be.)

As the smoke still clears from last week's roster upheaval, Tiger Tales' Lee Panas looks at where the Detroit lineup, rotation, and bullpen stand right now. Left and center field are question marks, as are the final two spots in the rotation.

Whenever the Tigers make a deal involving Edwin Jackson, D-Town Baseball is on it. After a year-long absence from the Tigersosphere (since the Tigers acquired Jackson from the Rays), Eric Jackson (no relation, I assume) posted some thoughts on the big deal. Eric's in favor of the trade, and lists four reasons why.

Kelly Johnson is one of the non-tendered players that's drawn much interest among Tigers fans. Dan Wade took a look at him for Baseball Digest Daily, and expects his batting average to bounce back in 2010. His walk rate and defense are concerns, however.

(Hat tip to The Detroit Tigers Weblog)

Tigers Tracks' "By the Numbers" series has reached Number 9. And with that comes the first current Tiger on John Parent's list. Next year's presumed left fielder, Carlos Guillen, gets profiled.

Also liking the Granderson-Jackson trade is Blake VandeBunte of The Spot Starters. While Blake thinks Dave Dombrowski has some more work to do, he likes that Brandon Lyon was let go and that most of the roster has been shopped around this offseason.

It kind of snuck out there over the weekend, but the Tigers are apparently not going to be making a serious bid (perhaps we can assume that means no bid at all) on Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman.

One more in favor of the Grandy trade: Rogo at DesigNate Robertson wonders if the Tigers got some value for a player on the decline while he was still marketable.

It's almost a week old now, but if you missed it, The Dugout responds to Jim Leyland's expressed belief that managers and players shouldn't be able to argue out-safe calls at first base. Who would've guessed that Magglio Ordonez was such a skilled debater?

Well, Those Latino Players Look So Similar

Ian Casselberry — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:00:30 -0000

Little bit of an oopsie at ESPN.com's SportsCenter blog yesterday, with their "developing story" report of Placido Polanco signing with the Philadelphia Phillies. Just in case the problem is fixed by the time you click on that link, we captured a screen shot for posterity.

Hey, it happens to the best of us, right? At least they got the team right. I mean, that could've been a picture of, like, Marco Scutaro.

Besides, Polanco and Magglio Ordonez look so similar. Especially when they have their batting helmets on, so you can't distinguish big head from curly locks. I'm sure the two are mistaken for each other all the time.

Hopefully, the Phillies realize they got Polanco, not Ordonez. I have a feeling, however, that they do.

Lunchtime Prowl: Dombrowski In-Depth, Granderson Rumors, Centerfield Options, and Magglio's Homer

Ian Casselberry — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:00:21 -0000

This week at Mack Avenue Tigers, Kurt Mensching takes an in-depth look at Dave Dombrowski's work as general manager since he's been in charge of the Tigers. How does he approach his work? How has he remade the franchise in his eight years with Detroit? How has he developed the minor league system? What is his approach to making trades?

Dombrowski's taken quite a bit of criticism so far this offseason, so this "big picture" look at his tenure as Tigers' GM comes at the right time. And maybe it clues us in as to what can be expected in the weeks to come.

The Chicago Tribune's Phil Rogers had three Tigers-related notes in his Sunday "Whispers" column: 1) The Brewers were interested in Curtis Granderson before they dealt J.J. Hardy to the Twins, but Detroit wanted more than a shortstop in return. 2) The Cubs want Granderson, but not at the cost of Carlos Marmol or Starlin Castro. 3) The Tigers are one of several teams scouting Jake Fox (11 homers in 241 plate appearances this year).

If Granderson was traded, who takes over in centerfield? Jason Beck addresses this question, and eliminates Wilkin Ramirez from consideration. Mostly because he's played all of two games in center during his minor league career.

Beck also says signing a veteran centerfielder, such as Mike Cameron, would be another possibility. (I wish Detroit would sign Cameron to play left field.) But Cameron made $10 million this season. Even if he took a pay cut, he'd probably cost more than Granderson.

One more note from Beck: The Tigers received $590,731.18 in postseason shares for their second-place finish in the AL Central. (The Twins got $1,772,193.48 for winning the division.)

Big League Stew ranked the 10 best "big moment" home runs of the past decade. Magglio Ordonez's 2006 ALCS-winning homer is on the list. But would you have ranked it higher or lower, or did 'Duk get it just about right?

Top prospect rankings are en vogue this time of year. Lynn Henning takes a crack with his top 20 Tigers prospects, and it's interesting to compare his list to others. Casper Wells, for example, rates higher with Henning than Kevin Goldstein.

If eight teams are interested in reliever Takashi Saito, as NPB Tracker says (I'm going to trust their translation), could the Tigers be one of them? This year with the Red Sox, Saito struck out 52 and walked 25 in 55.2 innings. He posted a 3-3 record and 2.43 ERA, all for $1.5 million.

(via MLB Trade Rumors)

This isn't Tigers-related, but Big Al's our buddy, so we link to him when we can. His explanation of the most annoying types of Lions fans is spot-on. And unfortunately, it hits a little close to home with me. I often talk about how the Lions have broken me as a fan and I intend to switch my allegiances elsewhere.

In my defense, however, as much as I talk about becoming a Seahawks or Jets fan, to name a couple of dalliances, I never actually follow through. I wish I could quit the Lions.

The Mets' Advantage

Sam Page — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:00:15 -0000

More photos » by Tom Gannam - AP

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The local papers have come to their yearly consensus about the Mets offseason--it's a gap year. While the prospects of 2011 remain bright, the puppet Minaya regime are prisoners of circumstance, trapped in their bailout-funded stadium, recently painted red and blue in their latest failed attempt to appease fans. The evidence is irrefutable. The good free agent hitters won't sign because the park is too big. The good pitchers won't sign because the park isn't actually that big at all. Groundball pitchers are seeking teams with better infield defense, while the flyballs pitchers are just seeking employment. Unfortunately none of that matters, as the Madoff scandal has left the Mets with no budget at all. But we could only be that lucky, as the Wilpons actually made money off the ponzi scheme, and are prepared to invest considerable funds in the aforementioned "good" free agents, actually landmines--likely to fizzle out the second they cash their signing bonuses.

Fortunately, as is their nature, these writers have made the solution equally clear. The fundamental weaknesses remain minor league depth and fielding, so all the minor the leaguers should be sent post-haste to Toronto in a package for a pitcher who will likely walk after the season's end. Whatever money remains will be divided equally between paying-off some unwitting team to take our defensively-challenged secondbaseman and committing another four years to his similarly inept replacement.

In reality, however, the Mets have considerable advantages in this market. Many teams are still looking to shed payroll after sub-par attendance. Several talented free agents have been forced to hit the market after disappointing seasons. The Mets have payroll room and two more years of criminal-underpayment of Wright and Reyes to play with. Instead of signing Jon Garland for upwards of $10MM, they should be inquiring on Bronson Arroyo, a pitcher with better stuff and even more durable track-record, who the Reds are trying desperately to give away. The advantage here is that the Mets get their "innings-eater" on a one-year deal, while gaining leverage in a trade for a player they'd actually want to build around, like Brandon Phillips. Potentially, the Mets could even get Aaron Harang, a solid starter, not quite the caliber of John Lackey--but close enough, for little additional cost. That's $30.25MM dollars to solve their rotation issues and add another "core" player, with a cheap talent cost and without the uncertainty of negotiation, or temptation to overpay.

Or maybe the Mets will just notice that pitchers better than Jon Garland and Jason Marquis are being desperately ditched by other teams, and get the hint that multi-year, multimillion dollar commitments to pitchers with marginal stuff rarely--if ever--end well. In the never-ending myopia of the Mets brass (and some of their fans), though, the injuries of last season will create a premium on durability. Undoubtedly some nightmarish, Oliver-Perez-part-deux scenario will develop where Jeff Wilpon and John Ricco conference call with "Scott Boras," who is really just Omar Minaya in the other room, forging fake term-sheets between Jon Garland and the Brewers, which he might "accidentally" leave in the fax machine on his way out.

Get Doug Davis, Claudio Vargas, Odalis Perez, Todd Wellemeyer, whomever. They'll give you the desired 200 generic innings at virtually no cost. Get Brandon Knight back from Korea. Livan. What? Yea, Captain Rubber Arm himself. Pop quiz: who had better peripherals last season: Jon Garland or Livan Hernandez? The answer may surprise you.

Alternatively, the Mets could take Magglio Ordonez and his $18MM salary off Dave Dombrowski's hands for the inside track in negotiating a Edwin Jackson or Curtis Granderson trade. Same basic idea: rightfield is hardly a sure thing, whether you believe in Jeff Francoeur or not, and the Mets get to leverage their financial advantage to add a player for the long-term.

Both of those scenarios fill the Mets "holes," both now and in 2011-12, with a little extra cash to burn. Some have speculated that the Wilpon's budget for this season is closer to $20MM, but with so many contracts finally expiring and the luxury-tax threshold rising closer ~$160MM, they can really spend up to $50MM, if they so choose. Let's just take the first trade-scenario, the Reds one, and kind of speculate on a possible team. $31MM leaves $10MM, for the sake of being realistic, which the Mets can use to sign Rick Ankiel and Troy Glaus. Those two are solid complements to Pagan and Murphy, who have middle of the order power, when healthy. If the Mets traded for Magglio and E-Jax they could add a Sheets/Harden tandem to the rotation, which gives them four players with ace-potential. Or they could negotiate a backloaded John Lackey contract, not my favorite idea, but definitely an improvement.

Ordonez, Harang, and Arroyo are basically solid-role players with ripcords for 2011. Adding another cheap "core" caliber player also seems more necessity than luxury with Wright and Reyes' costs rising. The Mets added many high-risk, high-upside players in the 2009 offseason, but did so without accounting for the risk. Oliver Perez has no buyout. Francisco Rodriguez will destroy the payroll in 2012. J.J. Putz had an buy-out, but was a waste of talent. Now faced with high-upside free agents available on the cheap, they seem resolved to do the only thing worse: invest long-term in high-risk, no-upside players. In the year 2011, the Mets graduate their best hitting prospects in 8 years, Ike Davis and Reese Havens, but are unable to complement them with a decent leftielder or bullpen, because no one will take on Jason Marquis' contract. Wait, I know how this ends. I'll take the gap-year, please.

Bill James Handbook 2010 Projections

Al — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:11:01 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

Will Magglio Ordonez be a Cub in 2010?

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With a day off before game six of the ALCS -- and this series has the chance to go down in history as one of the better league championship series, having already produced at least three "instant classics", let's spend today looking toward next year.

As most of you probably already know, ACTA Sports publishes, each year, the Bill James Handbook, which in addition to having complete stats for all players active in 2009, publishes projections for the following season based on a projection system that they are continually tweaking to attempt to make it as accurate as possible.

The good folks at ACTA sent me an advance copy of the projection pages from the handbook, in which Bill James first runs down the projections they did for 2009; some of them were missed badly (mostly due to injury -- Eric Chavez and Troy Glaus, for example), others (Mark Teixeira, Orlando Hudson and Evan Longoria are the examples they give) were pretty darn close. They projected Mike Fontenot to have 9 HR and 43 RBI -- exactly what he did have, except they thought he'd hit .288, instead of the .236 he actually hit. For Geovany Soto, they missed badly -- the James system had him at .289, with a .499 SLG, 35 doubles, 23 HR and 89 RBI. I think you can imagine how much better the Cubs' season would have been if they had been right about Geo.

Continue after the jump to find some of their projections for 2010. I'm not only going to post a few of the projections for Cubs players that they sent me, but also some projections for some of the possible acquisitions we have discussed here at BCB, mainly some of the hitters that have been talked about in potential Milton Bradley deals. (Note: doing this doesn't mean I'm endorsing any particular acquisition, simply posting some numbers for players we've speculated about.)

Let's start with a few players we know are going to be Cubs in 2010:

Derrek Lee: .291/.378/.516, 40 doubles, 30 HR, 98 RBI, 94 runs
Aramis Ramirez: .292/.364/.514, 32 doubles, 26 HR, 97 RBI, 76 runs
Alfonso Soriano: .263/.320/.487, 35 doubles, 30 HR, 77 RBI, 85 runs
Kosuke Fukudome: .265/.365/.427, 39 doubles, 13 HR, 61 RBI, 76 runs
Geovany Soto: .273/.361/.469, 31 doubles, 20 HR, 79 RBI, 58 runs

Well. If those come true, the Cubs will score a ton of runs in 2010; that's 389 runs from just five players. Now, some of the starting rotation -- acknowledging, as James points out, that pitcher projections are done very differently than hitter projections due to the nature of pitching statistics:

Carlos Zambrano: 29 starts, 180 IP, 80 BB, 151 K, 12-8, 3.60
Ryan Dempster: 30 starts, 195 IP, 81 BB, 167 K, 12-10, 3.83
Ted Lilly: 25 starts, 170 IP, 56 BB, 144 K, 11-8, 3.76
Randy Wells: 30 starts, 188 IP, 60 BB, 147 K, 10-10, 4.16 
Carlos Marmol: 74 games, 73 IP, 45 BB, 84 K, 5-3, 3.45, 34 saves

And, apparently, give up a ton of runs and finish barely over .500. For some reason, they also project Wells to have 14 HBP and 19 other major league pitchers to have 15 or more -- that seems way off, considering that only one pitcher (Dave Bush) had 15 in 2009 and that Wells himself had only 6 HBP in the season just ended.

Now, here are some projections for some -- not all -- of the players we have discussed here as possible 2010 new Cubs, enough to get some discussion going:

Magglio Ordonez: .311/.376/.476, 32 doubles, 17 HR, 84 RBI, 70 runs
Curtis Granderson: .275/.353/.491, 30 doubles, 11 triples, 27 HR, 76 RBI, 106 runs, 17 SB
Michael Young: .299/.352/.443, 37 doubles, 16 HR, 80 RBI, 88 runs
Vernon Wells: .271/.327/.443, 33 doubles, 19 HR, 77 RBI, 77 runs
Aaron Rowand: .267/.327/.423, 37 doubles, 17 HR, 72 RBI, 74 runs
Carlos Beltran: .282/.375/.490, 33 doubles, 24 HR, 91 RBI, 92 runs
Mark DeRosa: .260/.335/.418, 27 doubles, 17 HR, 71 RBI, 76 runs

And, because you'll ask:

Milton Bradley: .276/.384/.450, 25 doubles, 18 HR, 64 RBI, 74 runs

James' system projects Bradley to play 133 games and have 467 AB; both of those would be the second-highest totals of his career. Note also that (presumably) the projections for players who the Cubs might acquire are based on their current home parks; playing with Wrigley Field as their home park would likely result in different projections.

There are complete projections in the book, which is available November 1 and which you can pre-order at the link at the top of this post -- we can discuss whatever players you want in this post, but I'm not going to spend a lot of time typing out projections for others, so don't ask. Full disclosure: ACTA Sports is sending me a copy of the book.

10/19 - There May Not Be Stupid Questions, But There Sure Are Some Stupid Answers

bs.uf15bosox9bears23 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:00:27 -0000

Debuting the header today, folks - still a work in progress, probably always will be. Any suggestions would be great.

Well, since that's the balloon boy of the post, let's move on to ACTUAL news.

Miguel Tejada Is Right Answer, But Not to Biggest Question - NESN.com

Put down the bottle, Mr. Beattie. Seriously, Tejada is probably plan G for Theo at the SS position, right before a 4 man outfield.

Big-Name Free Agents on Menu for Red Sox This Offseason - NESN.com

So many issues with this link - a few big ones:

Marco Scutaro: Along with Figgins, he's one of the best possible solutions to the Red Sox' shortstop dilemma. No one's paying attention, but Scutaro had a season to remember in 2009 -- with 35 doubles, 90 walks and an OBP of .379, he quickly vaulted to the top of the heap among the AL's best offensive shortstops. If the Red Sox can get Scutaro to scoot into Boston this winter, he'd be a huge boost to their offense.

1) They never mentioned Figgins helping the SS situation at all in his little blurb, most likely because he doesn't. 2) He's not one of the best possible solutions - he had a huge outlier of a career year, is getting close to NG's age cut-off, and he's not going to be cheap either. 3) I love when the Mainstream Media accuses us of ignorance, when they're the ones who decide what the majority of people hear and see. Besides, Scutaro's gotten quite a bit of recognition around the blogosphere.

Continuing the breakdown after the break, along with some more links.

Orlando Cabrera: If nothing else, there's sentimental value.

Johnny Damon: Perhaps he's Cabrera's opposite sentimentally, but the 24 homers and 36 doubles in 2009 are hard to ignore. If Jason Bay doesn't end up back in Boston, maybe Damon should.

Matt Holliday, Vladimir Guerrero, Carl Crawford, Magglio Ordonez, Jermaine Dye, Hideki Matsui and Bobby Abreu: All of a sudden, heavy-hitting corner outfielders are a dime a dozen. The Sox would love to have Bay back in Boston, but if they can't get a deal done, there are many contingency plans in the works. Any one of these guys would be a serviceable, if not ideal, replacement for Bay next season.

OCab - no "if."

Damon - get off the bottle.

Holliday - sure, if he's cheaper than Bay.

Vlad - MAYBE.

Crawford - if the Rays let him go, sign him immediately and then call up Friedman and laugh your asses off.

Maggs - hell no, we weren't going to take him in exchange for getting rid of Lugo, fool.

Dye - again, MAYBE, but only if there's no one else decent left.

Godzilla - short LF =/= no need for knees.

Abreu - sure, if he's WAY cheaper than Bay or Holliday and they're both gone.

NESN's reporters are really disappointing me of late - let's see if the independent press is less dumb.

The Blue Sox: Why Boston's Boys Are the Democrats Of Baseball Bleacher Report
Oh...kay... Umm... I'm going to move on, because I'd really rather not start up a flame war (although, I will say that it is weird to be a conservative* and like the Sox). The article is well-written, and describes the parallel better than most could. It also shows the weird connection that baseball and politics has always had.

*Yes, conservative. Not Republican. Right now, I need that difference to exist, because the GOP is being way too stupid for me to support them.

Looking back, looking forward - Chad Finn's Touching All The Bases

Mattingly may be ready to step up to the plate in managerial position - The Boston Globe

2. Stephen Drew, SS, Diamondbacks - He is expected to be shopped by the Diamondbacks, and there should be discussions with the Red Sox. Stephen is not the OPS machine that big brother J.D. is (.748 this season) but his other numbers weren’t bad for a shortstop: .261, 12 homers, 65 RBIs (only three fewer than J.D.). He also made only 11 errors. Who knows if hitting in a more patient lineup will help his OPS?

3. Victor Martinez, C, Red Sox - If he is the full-time, 100- to 110-game catcher next season, scouts believe he needs to shorten his release to be better at throwing out runners. Martinez, according to one scout, "long-arms his throws. It just takes him too long to get the ball down to second base. In order to combat that, you either have to have pitchers who can hold runners on base, which the Red Sox don’t, or have them do slide-steps and things of that nature, which they don’t like to do, either.’’ Gary Tuck supposedly is one of the best catching instructors in the game, so one would think he’d improve this with Martinez.

5. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, Padres - This is the fellow I suspect the Sox will go after. They would then move Kevin Youkilis to third, with Ortiz and Mike Lowell sharing DH duties. Gonzalez came very close to getting traded to the Mariners at the deadline in a five-for-one (Seattle wouldn’t give up a certain fifth minor leaguer). Only question is, do the Sox have enough players to give San Diego?

6. Ron Mahay, LHP, Twins - He would love to re-sign with the Twins but wouldn’t rule out a return to Boston, where he was a replacement outfielder in 1995 (.200 AB in 20 at-bats) and a pitcher in the late ’90s. "It was a long time ago, but I loved that place,’’ said Mahay. "I’ve played a lot of places in my career and lasted a long time, but I’ll never forget Boston.’’ Mahay appeared in 16 games for the Twins after being released by the Royals and had a 2.00 ERA. Among the hitters he dominates: Eric Chavez (0 for 17), Raul Ibanez (3 for 18, 9 K’s), Ichiro Suzuki (3 for 13), Joe Mauer (2 for 13), Justin Morneau (2 for 12), Alex Rodriguez (1 for 7), Jorge Posada (1 for 8), Ramirez (0 for 6).

Too tired to give this link the same service as the NESN one. Anyone else want to give it a shot?

2009-10 Do-It-Yourself Offseason Trade/Free Agent Post

Al — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:01:23 -0000

More photos » by Mark Avery - AP

Some guy named Brian Roberts. Ever heard of him? Me, either.

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This morning, wrote that the Cubs are interested in acquiring . Cubs GM Jim Hendry . Meanwhile, Hendry said that Milton Bradley would be traded to the . Hendry also said that Rich Harden , and that Carlos Zambrano . Former Cub Mark DeRosa while Bradley was offered to the . The Cubs tried to get the to take Aaron Miles' contract, but they refused because . In the upcoming Rule 5 draft, the Cubs are going to select . The Cubs' plans for Sam Fuld in 2010 include Brian Roberts was located and had this comment on his possible trade to the Cubs: Finally, manager Lou Piniella's comments about the rumors included:

Pride in Defeat: Twins 6, Tigers 5

Ian Casselberry — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:45:49 -0000

More photos » by Jim Mone - AP

There was no champagne in the Detroit Tigers' clubhouse on Tuesday night, but high-fives, forearm bumps, and handshakes were much deserved.

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In the days and weeks to come, the collapse will probably be the story. Post-mortem examinations will be performed on the 2009 Detroit Tigers, and plenty of people will point to what they see as the cause of loss. And we have nothing but time in which to go over that stuff.

But for now, hours after Carlos Gomez glided across home plate and then jumped in the air just before his Minnesota Twins teammates swarmed him in celebration, the game should be the story. And maybe, just maybe, the game will be a determining factor in how this season is ultimately perceived. Maybe the little picture deserves to overtake the big picture. Just this once.

Because this game was that good. It had drama. Suspense. Triumph. Despair. Anger. Jubiliation. And unfortunately, for the Tigers and their fans, defeat.

Years from now, many people might still be talking about where they were on October 6, 2009, and the five hours they spent watching the Tigers and Twins fight it out for a division title. And though there is most certainly disappointment in the final result among Tigers fans, there's no need for shame. Under the big spotlight, the Tigers showed what they were made of.

Roar:

Miguel Cabrera took out four days' worth of humiliation on the baseball, crushing it to right-center in the third inning. After weeks of waiting for him to come up big when his team needed him, he did so. Magglio Ordonez continued the revival that looked all but improbable during the summer, hitting a game-tying homer in the eighth inning.

Rick Porcello showed everyone that he grew out of rookie status months ago, striking out eight batters in less than six innings, while allowing only one earned run.

Ryan Raburn became the latest victim of the optical illusion that is the Metrodome roof, losing sight of Michael Cuddyer's sinking liner to left and letting it get past him for a triple. Yet in that very same 10th inning, Raburn redeemed himself by throwing Alexi Casilla out at home plate after he tagged up badly on Nick Punto's shallow fly ball.

Fernando Rodney - the guy who shouldn't ever pitch in a non-save situation, and is never used more than one inning - pitched three innings of relief, throwing 48 pitches. Yes, he ended up allowing two runs, including the game-winner. His name gets the "L" next to it in the boxscore, but when he was the best pitcher the Tigers had in late innings, he gave the Tigers the chances they needed to win the ballgame.

Whimper:

You could feel Tiger Town's collective cringe when Zach Miner took over for Porcello in the sixth. Yet the man had pitched 12 straight scoreless innings before Tuesday night. No one's going to remember that, though. Not after he gave up four hits in less than one inning. Not after Orlando Cabrera's drive to left just snuck over the left-field wall for a two-run homer to give the Twins a 4-3 lead.

The game went far beyond that, but those looking for a scapegoat have a convenient target in Miner.

Jim Leyland will also surely receive plenty of criticism for how he leaned so heavily on Brandon Lyon and Rodney. (Or choosing Miner to take over for Porcello.) Not pinch-hitting for Gerald Laird in either the eighth, 10th, or 12th innings (especially in the 12th, with the bases loaded) is worth revisiting, also. (Laird went 0-for-6, with 10 men left on base.)

And home plate umpire Randy Marsh ought to be a favorite target of Tigers bloggers for years to come. Calling Placido Polanco out on strikes on a pitch in the ninth inning that was almost a foot inside? Or how about refusing to acknowledge that a pitch grazed Brandon Inge's jersey in the 12th? With the bases loaded, that would've forced in a run. Even the Minnesota writers focused on that play.

Perhaps such a game shouldn't have been decided on such a call. But it stinks that Marsh's interpretation was so pivotal.

Okay, that might be a little bit of the bitterness bubbling up. And really, there shouldn't be any of that today.

Comment of the Night:

I've gone from loving baseball to hating baseball to loving it again in a very short amount of time

It’s very confusing

by Dberg

And your runner-up. What an amazing night. You guys really, really brought it. Eight overflow threads! More than 4,600 comments! And that's not even including the 480 comments posted after the game. The BYB community made a spectacular showing of itself, and your grace in defeat was noticed.

Congratulations. And thank you.

Let's Pretend The Cubs Are In The Postseason! - Tigers vs. Twins Preview, Tuesday 10/6, 4:07 CT

Al — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:00:45 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

Thomas Hook prepares the 3B line early Tuesday in Minneapolis as they switch the Metrodome from Monday's Vikings vs Packers game to the Twins vs Tigers tiebreaker.

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So what are we going to do around here for 181 days until the next Cubs regular season game? I figure many of you -- I know I am -- are interested in the postseason, and it begins today with the AL Central tiebreaker game between the Tigers and Twins in Minnesota. So I figured I'd post a game thread in the same format that I use for Cubs games. Below the fold you'll find the usual pitcher box, preview and links. Throughout the postseason I'll post game threads for those of you who want to discuss the playoffs -- though probably not with as much detail as this post.

The baseball punditocracy talks about today's game:

Rob Neyer @ ESPN: Twins all the way.

Tim Brown @ Yahoo: the Metrodome refuses to die.

Jon Paul Morosi @ FoxSports, who grew up in Michigan: history favors the Twins.

Chris DeLuca of the Chicago Sun-Times downplays the teams involved and instead whines that the White Sox should have been in it. Ugh.

From Detroit: Rick Porcello's brother talks about him.

From Minneapolis: Scott Baker is a big-game pitcher.

And finally, just to wrench this back somewhat on topic, here is Bruce Miles' analysis of the 2009 Cubs position players. Enjoy the game. My pick: the Twins; they're hot (16-4 in their last 20 games and 9-1 in their last 10 home games) and they always seem to know how to win the big ones -- notwithstanding their 1-0 loss in last year's tiebreaker with the White Sox.

Today's Starting Pitchers


Rick Porcello Tigers	vs.	Scott Baker Twins

14-9	W-L	15-9
4.04	ERA	4.36
81	SO	160
50	BB	46
22	HR	27
vs. Min	--	vs. Det

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Rick Porcello	14-9	30	30	0	0	0	0	165.0	172	79	74	22	50	81	4.04	1.35

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Scott Baker	15-9	32	32	1	1	0	0	194.0	184	96	94	27	46	160	4.36	1.19

Scott Baker is probably the Twins' most consistent starter, but he is only 1-1, 6.75 in four starts vs. the Tigers this year. He faced the Tigers last Thursday in Detroit and gave them only five hits and an unearned run in five innings. As a pitcher in the AL Central for several years, he's faced most of the Tigers many times. Curtis Granderson and Marcus Thames have both homered off him four times. Magglio Ordonez is 18-for-39 (.462) off Baker with a a pair of homers.

If the Tigers win today, Rick Porcello won't even legally be able to enjoy the champagne after -- he won't turn 21 until December 27. He has had a fine rookie year in which he has posted a 3.09 ERA vs. the Twins (but just a 1-2 record). He faced the Twins last Tuesday in Detroit and got a no-decision in a game the Twins won in extra innings. He should fear Jason Kubel, who is 8-for-11 (.727) against him; Kubel is red-hot right now, too (11-for-26 in his last seven games with 3 HR and 12 RBI).

Today's game is on TBS. Chip Caray and Ron Darling will be the announcers. Here is today's MLB.com Mediacenter.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Tigers site Bless You Boys and Twins site Twinkie Town.

I'm not posting any overflow threads today; if this one gets too slow during the game, feel free to post an overflow in the FanShot section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Midday quick hits: Cubs, Derek Lowe, Giants, Twins vs. Tigers

Eli Greenspan — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:09:59 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

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Here are some links making the headlines on this Tuesday afternoon:

The Cubs have some issues they plan to address early this offseason, which start with moving Milton Bradley. The Cubs may look to swap bad contracts, but could look into trading for Jeremy Hermida, who the Marlins plan to shop. After that, the Cubs may dangle Jake Fox on the open market. Fox dominated Triple-A hitters and put up impressive numbers with the big league club. He could draw interest from an AL team looking for a cheap DH option. The Mariners come to mind, and the Orioles could emerge if they fail to find a replacement at third base.
Speaking of the Orioles hot corner, MASN suggests that the Orioles could make a strong push to land infielder Chone Figgins. Figgins would give the Orioles even more speed at the top of the order, while also giving them a legitimate run producer. They would have to overpay to lure him to Baltimore, but he could have an impact on Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, and Matt Wieters.
The Braves plan to shop Derek Lowe this offseason, who regressed this season in his first year with the Braves. His sinker wasn't as deceptive, which hurt the effectiveness of his other pitches. He has three years and 45 million dollars left on his contract, so finding a taker may be difficult. The Braves could look to swap bad contracts, contact the Tigers about Magglio Ordonez or even the White Sox about Alex Rios.
The Giants would not go as far to rule out trading Matt Cain, but at the moment appear reluctant to make a move. The Brewers' Prince Fielder has been talked about before, and it is possible they could explore that avenue again this offseason.
Who is going to win the Twins vs. Tigers one game playoff tonight? Focus in Detroit has been shifted to Miguel Cabrera's off the field incidents, which could have an impact on tonight's game. Playing at home, riding a lot of momentum, and following an impressive Vikings win on national television, it seems like the Twins have the advantage. What do you think?