SB Nation - Chris Lambert

Non-Tendered is the Night

DanUpBaby — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:39:12 -0000

More photos » by Julie Jacobson - AP

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NON-TENDERED IS THE NIGHT

A VIVA EL BIRDOS PLAY IN ONE ACT

CHARACTERS

ANTHONY REYES, ex-Cardinal, ex-Indian

CHARON, or at least a man with a boat

SOME FELLOW TRAVELERS, washed up on the shores of this same strange place

???, a mysterious liaison between the worlds hither and beyond

DAVE DUNCAN, a prospective hauntee

SCENE

At some point the place Anthony Reyes stands may indeed have been the afterlife—certainly it has all the trappings. The lighting, punctuated by the sensible desk-lamps that stand atop each of thousands of desks, arranged on a grid, occasionally reaches eerie; someone, every so often, moans and wails. These were once the moans and wails of the damned.

But it is non-tender season, and until it is time for the afterlife to renegotiate its contract with Major League Baseball a loophole has allowed it to become crowded with souls in limbo on the night after baseball's non-tender deadline. One such soul is ANTHONY REYES—he stands at one end of an unattractive little stream, playing with the bill of his cap, watching the office workers of the damned as they deal efficiently with a flood of new paperwork. Finally a boat reaches his side—a man, who is very obviously working overtime, waves him hastily on.

CHARON: Mr.—Mr. Reyes, then?

REYES: Yes, that's me.

CHARON: I apologize for the delay, I had Jack Cust in here and he fell off the side. I'm kidding, but he almost did. But that's my joke.

REYES: Where am I?

CHARON: Right now it's an open question, but you're in the process of being in hell. Don't worry about the connotations, we're doing contract work. You weren't tendered a contract. What's the last thing you remember?

REYES: Well, we'd just beaten the Tigers, and I'm explaining to this reporter that don't really iron my cap, and... I don't know, the rest of it's a blur.

CHARON: Well, you didn't yadda-yadda the best part.

REYES: What?

CHARON: It's from Seinfeld, it's a joke—look, I'm sorry—it's a TV show—I'm sorry. I'm just a little nervous having to make small-talk. It's not what I normally do. In between 2006 and 2009 you've been sent to the minors ten or fifteen times, traded to the Indians for a guy who was later handed off to the Padres in exchange for their vague interest, had six pretty good starts in 2008, and undergone a serious elbow surgery.

REYES: I thought I felt a little sore.

CHARON: I have another joke, where I'm like, "I ferry you across, but not your fastball," because it's funny and then it's spooky, you know? But I thought maybe that would be too close to home. Anyway, we're here, thank goodness. I've got Garrett Atkins on the other side. You think the Cardinals'll go after him? He can't play defense, but he hit for that year or so.

REYES: You're saying they let the guy they traded me for go in the Rule 5 draft?

CHARON: That's what it says on your chart.

REYES: Yeah, I hope they do.

REYES is deposited in the main office floor of hell, where he is seated by the secretary of hell in the waiting room of hell. SOME FELLOW TRAVELERS, each with a numbered ticket in hand, are sitting in his row.

REYES: Oh, wow, you're Jack Cust, aren't you?

CUST: Is he still telling that joke? Yeah, I am.

REYES: Why are you here?

CUST: Well, I can hit a fastball as well as anybody you've ever seen, and I'll hit it 400 feet to any part of the field. But they don't throw me any fastballs. And I can't play defense. If you were a team with a hole in left field, and you had a young right-handed hitter to platoon with me, and a fleet-footed fifth outfielder—no, probably not. To be honest. But I'll DH somewhere. Anyway, I'm here so that they can tell me which Greek philosophical allegory best represents the whole fastball hitter/no fastballs thing. I can see you're here representing an NL team, so I'll stop talking now.

CUST stumbles out of frame. Across from REYES are several pitchers, most with one or both arms in slings, as precautionary measure. REYES feels a particular and immediate bond with CHIEN-MING WANG, a late twentysomething non-tender with serious arm problems.

REYES: I think we have a lot in common, you and I. We both had some great moments and some bad ones. We were both dumped pretty unceremoniously by a team that had spent a while waiting for our big breakout. I'll tell you, if I had your sinker and you had my change-up we might not be in this mess right now, you know?

WANG: 我不會說英語，但我喜歡你的滑稽的帽子。

REYES: Oh.

CUST: Excuse me—I'm sorry to interrupt, but I speak a little Mandarin... Wang agrees with you, for the most part. He's worried about his shoulder, but he thinks either of you would make a fine pick-up for a team with low expectations and a full but marginally unsettled rotation. There's also Scott Olsen, he notes, but he's rumored to be a headcase, and injured besides; he's lost even more velocity than you did last year. And he likes your cap; do you iron it?

REYES: No, it's simple, really, I cut—

CUST: Sorry, that's my number coming up. It was nice talking to you. (他絕對是整燙.) You should talk to those guys over there—it looks like they've already received their allegorical judgment. [Down the hall behind CUST walk a reliever in black and a reliever in white. They are holding a pair of new-looking scripts.]

MACDOUGAL: "I am the Spirit of Nibbling—and the, and not enough contact! I am alpha!"

CAPPS: "I am the Spirit of Going After Hitters—and too much contact! I am omega!"

MACDOUGAL and CAPPS: "If we were one pitcher, getting groundballs and going after hitters, we would be your ideal pitcher. Now we are... Now we are..." [CAPPS, his head down, runs into REYES.]

CAPPS: I'm sorry, we're running our lines. See, Mike is an extreme groundball hitter with a serious control problem, and I'm an extreme flyball hitter with a serious home run problem, and I guess we're here to haunt Dave Duncan, because there's a non-zero chance he has to deal with one of us.

REYES: Dave Duncan? He's behind that door?

Suddenly the last three years snap into focus for ANTHONY REYES. La Russa and DAVE DUNCAN's unimpressive record with young pitchers sharpens in his mind. A sinker, a horrible sinker, plays across the memory of his arm's tortured muscles. He bursts through the door to find DUNCAN's face projected onto white drywall, and —

Hey man, I knew you'd find us eventually. In hell! I got a winter job here.

REYES: Oh, no! The Ghost of Chris Lambert!

DUNCAN: Oh, for god's sake, is this a party line? Reyes, did this clown bring you here?

LAMBERT: This ghost clown! Liaison between hither and beyond! Licensed astral-projector operator!

REYES: You, Dave Duncan. You're the reason I'm here, aren't you? I remember it all now. I destroyed the minor leagues, I did pretty well in the major leagues, but that wasn't enough, was it? I had a K:BB ratio over seven one year! In the PCL!

DUNCAN: That seems like you're oversimplifying things a bit. After all, your velocity was pretty consistent both years, wasn't it? And you're—well, your arm hasn't exactly held up in the meantime. Look, Reyes, I like you—

LAMBERT: Man, you were just telling me about how stupid that stupid ironed cap looked—

DUNCAN: Look, Reyes. I like you more than I like this guy. And I'm biased, obviously. But as wrong a turn as we might have done you, this whole thing might have been a confluence of you struggling to adapt to the majors at the same time your elbow slowly came unglued. See what happens this year, or next year. There's still plenty of time to be Al Leiter, or somebody.

REYES: I guess you might be right. But Luis Perdomo? Was that the best Mozeliak could do? I'm a fun guy to watch! I have an interesting wind-up, cool socks, an awesome hat. All I want now is a make-good contract. Give me a Matt Clement deal and see what happens, you know?

DUNCAN: Lambert, can you get Mozeliak on this thing?

LAMBERT: Oh... look, I don't really know that guy that well, can you call him? Tell him it's a long distance call—a really long distance call. From hell!

REYES: Okay, you know what? It's not worth it. I'm going somewhere else.

LAMBERT: From hell!

Friday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:00:28 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

New Mariner Bill Hall congratulates teammate Kenji Johjima on hitting a home run last night.

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Some things to read while writing a scouting report.

All told, it was a pretty boring off day, so the biggest news might be Bill Hall's comments upon joining the Mariners this week. Hall said he tried too hard to live up to his big contract. He gave this quote to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, and it's halfway between laughable and sad:

"I can still hit righthanders," Hall said with a laugh. "I can hit anybody. It's one of those things where, if you say something so long, you might even start believing it yourself."

Since the start of the 2007 season, Hall has faced a righty 683 times and hit .206/.271/.353. If he doesn't recognize a problem there, how is he ever going to figure it out?

Meanwhile, the picture in this Miller Park Drunk post raises what might be the greatest unanswered question regarding Hall: How does a guy who constantly has a giant wad of chew in his mouth keep his teeth that white?

Now that we know Bill Hall will never reach the 200 mark as a Brewer, this streak may live on for a long time: Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes that it's been 18 years since a Brewer had 200 hits, with Paul Molitor being the last to get there in 1991. Since then, 28 other teams have had at least one hitter do it. Ryan Braun enters play today with 145, so he'd need to play every day the rest of the way and hit roughly .327 to get the 55 hits he needs to get there. Braun, Fielder (134) and Mike Cameron (102) are the only Brewers with 100 hits on the season.

Of course, if Felipe Lopez (hitting .333/.398/.459 as a Brewer) was able to stretch his performance out over a full season, he'd easily reach 200. Jorge Says No! has a profile of Lopez, who can become a free agent after the season, and thinks he'll get a four year deal worth around $30 million from someone.

It's possible Prince Fielder could get there someday too. He credits improved patience at the plate for the impressive season he's putting together.

How ugly have things gotten for the Brewers? Casa de Machado threw in the towel on the 2009 season yesterday...on an off day.

And, as it turns out, getting Jeff Suppan back might not make things any better. Suppan was lit up again in AAA last night, allowing five earned runs on eight hits in just 3.2 innings. If he can make it through five innings in his big league return without pitching the Brewers out of the game, I'll be shocked.

The Brewers' second half collapse has turned up the heat on Doug Melvin, with a small but vocal percentage of fans calling for his head. If things stay this ugly, he might decide to look for a new opportunity, and Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun wants him to be the next President of the Blue Jays.

Adam McCalvy spent the day off on the farm, and has a great story on Mike Jones and Mark Rogers, as the two former highly touted prospects continue their rebound from injuries that have devastated their early careers.

On power rankings and playoff odds:

Yahoo moved the Brewers down a spot to 20th in their rankings.
Even though they were off yesterday, MLB Playoff Odds downgraded the Brewers to a .4% shot at making the playoffs.

Around baseball:

Mets: Designated Livan Hernandez for assignment.
Orioles: Claimed pitcher Chris Lambert off waivers from the Tigers.
Padres: Traded reliever Scott Patterson to the A's for cash, and signed reliever Rocky Cherry to a minor league deal.
Red Sox: Released outfielder Chris Duncan.

With the Reds out of the playoff hunt for 2009, the youth movement has come on in full force: At one point last night, the eight Reds position players on the field combined to make $3.235 million, just $35,000 above the minimum possible. They beat the Giants 2-1.

One by one, every team in baseball is getting an opportunity to learn why the others have been so happy to be rid of Gary Sheffield. Sheffield requested a contract extension from the Mets yesterday, and when they declined to offer one he asked to be taken out of the lineup for last night's game. Adam Rubin thinks the Mets should bench Sheffield until September 1, then release him when it's too late for him to make a postseason roster.

I doubt there's any other long-standing matchup in baseball that's this close: The Dodgers beat the Cubs last night, and now lead them 1015-1014 in their all-time series. (h/t True Blue LA)

The Dodgers found a way to win last night without Claudio Vargas, but you can add Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness to the list of Dodger fans who wish they hadn't traded him for Vinny Rottino.

Add Major League Baseball to the list of sports working to take concussions more seriously. Brian Costa of the Newark Star-Ledger has a great read on some of the advancements in treatment of concussions, and the steps being taken to protect players who have had one.

Without the internet, we probably never would have known: Plunk Everyone says Brendan Ryan's grand slam last night was the only slam in 2009 hit with two men on base who reached via HBP.

On this day in 1982, Rollie Fingers pitched the last two innings of the Brewers' 3-2 win over the Mariners, becoming the first pitcher ever to record 300 saves. If Trevor Hoffman sticks around for one more season, the Brewers could also have the first pitcher to reach 600.

Happy birthday today to Craig Counsell, who turns 39, Lou Collier, who played in 138 games for the Brewers between 1999 and 2001 and turns 36, and John Henry Johnson, who appeared in 29 games as a Brewer in 1986 and 1987 and turns 53.

Drink up.

Morning Prowl: Missing Miner, Magglio's Contract, Outfield Defense, and Grandy's Slump

Ian Casselberry — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:30:12 -0000

So as it turns out, the Detroit Tigers weren't one man short in their bullpen on Tuesday and Wednesday. They were down two relievers. The relief corps was already at six, as you know, after Eddie Bonine was sent down to Toledo to make room for Aubrey Huff.

But Jason Beck reported yesterday that Zach Miner also wasn't with the team for the first two games of the Seattle series because his wife was giving birth to their second child. Miner was back yesterday, of course, and pitched two key shutout innings that allowed the Tigers to eventually overtake the Mariners in the ninth.

Over at The Spot Starters, Blake is worried - very worried - about Magglio Ordonez being less than 80 plate appearances away from triggering that $18 million option for next season. And I understand the concern about that contract potentially crippling the Tigers next year and beyond, especially when they have future paydays for Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson to consider.

But amidst all the hand-wringing, it seems to me that Jim Leyland had no choice but to play Ordonez. In mid-July, Ryan Raburn and Marcus Thames were both slumping. Josh Anderson was playing so poorly that he was eventually released. Meanwhile, Maggs has been hitting. In August, his batting line is .396/.420/.646. No, he's still not hitting for power, which is troubling. But can the Tigers afford to sit him down, at this point?

Take 75 North's Matt Wallace is now a featured columnist at Bleacher Report (joining our good friend Kurt Mensching). His latest piece laments the Tigers' bad match of outfield defense with its pitching staff. (Jarrod Washburn could tape this inside his locker.) Unfortunately, Jim Leyland has to make some concessions to offense, with as much trouble as the Tigers have scoring runs.

And if you don't think outfield defense matters, did you see what a difference Franklin Gutierrez and Michael Saunders made for Seattle over the past three games? How many doubles did those two take away?

Matt cited UZR in his column, and if you're not entirely familiar with that defensive metric, Newsday's Ken Davidoff recently spoke with the man who created it, Mitchel Lichtman.

It's Just Sports interviewed Tigers' TV analyst Rod Allen. Has Rod really been doing Tigers games for seven years now? Wow. Topics discussed include Allen's schedule during the season, what he likes to convey during a telecast, and what led him from coaching into broadcasting.

With Curtis Granderson likely to sit out his second straight game tonight (due to Oakland starting the left-handed Gio Gonzalez), Tiger Tracks looks at Grandy's recent slump. He's been terrible against lefties this year, after making some improvements last season. So what are the Tigers' options at this point?

Rob Neyer writes about the Yankees' plan to monitor Joba Chamberlain's innings once again, noting that their big lead in the AL East affords them the luxury to sit him down, if necessary. Neyer compares that to the Tigers, whose close race with the White Sox might force them to use Rick Porcello more than planned.

While explaining the process of putting players on waivers, Danny Knobler shared an interesting Tigers-related nugget. It's ultimately irrelevant, but some of you might be interested in the name he mentions.

Roar of the Tigers complains about FOX Sports Detroit's choice of programming during yesterday's one-hour rain delay. And I have to agree. I'm biased because I don't play golf, but was running "Michigan Golf Live" really the best choice in the second half-hour of that delay?

Sam also has a, shall we say, passionate description of Brandon Inge's stellar play in yesterday's 6-5 victory.

FOXSports.com's Dayn Perry pokes holes in the notion (apparently ignited by the NY Times' Tyler Kepner) that the Yankees' Mark Teixeira is a more worthy MVP candidate than Minnesota's Joe Mauer. How much might Mauer be hurt by the Twins likely not being a playoff team? And how much does Teixeira benefit from playing in Yankee Stadium, while also batting in a lineup that gets plenty of guys on base for him?

The aforementioned Neyer and Posnanski both weighed in on this debate a few days ago. (Neyer, by the way, thinks Miguel Cabrera has to be in the discussion.)

Oh, and Chris Lambert - recently designated for assignment to accommodate Jacob Turner and his new major league contract - was claimed by the Baltimore Orioles.

Did the O's management see Lambert pitch against the Red Sox last Tuesday? They remember that's a division opponent of theirs, right? Maybe they thought they were getting this guy.

Lunchtime Prowl: D-Train's Hip, Lambert DFA'ed, Brawl Photos, and Lots of Huff

Ian Casselberry — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:20:36 -0000

Dontrelle Willis's rehab assignment is stalled before it could even get going. He was originally scheduled to pitch last night for Toledo, only to have it pushed back to Wednesday because of a sore hip. But that was soon nixed, as well. Until that hip feels better, the D-Train won't be pitching.

(via Jason Beck)

Other roster moves that were made in response to yesterday's transactions: Chris Lambert was designated for assignment so that Jacob Turner (and his new major league contract) could be added to the Tigers' 40-man roster. Joel Zumaya was moved to the 60-day DL to make room for Aubrey Huff.

However, there's no word yet on who will be moved from the 25-man active roster to accommodate Huff. (Could Ryan Raburn be the odd man out, as Tigers Tracks speculates?)

Fire Jim Leyland tries to determine Aubrey Huff's value to the Tigers from here on out. What position would he actually make the biggest contribution at? And if you combine his offense, defense, his Type A free agent status (and the draft picks that yields), along with what Detroit gave up in trade (Brett Jacobsen), what is Huff's total dollar value? It's a very interesting way to look at a trade.

Remember when we knew Huff more for kicking dirt in Brandon Inge's face during a home run trot?

For all the talk about Huff helping the Tigers in their playoff chase, Danny Knobler notes that the Tigers will also be helping Huff. The man hasn't played very many meaningful games in September over his career. He's only played for one team that didn't hit 90 losses in a season.

Huff also doesn't think it'll be a problem to play some outfield in Detroit, despite not playing out there since 2006. "It's like riding a bike," he said yesterday. "If you can play the infield, you can play the outfield." My softball career disagrees with him.

Jon Paul Morosi thinks Huff is ideally suited to the #3 spot in the Tigers' lineup. Hopefully, Jim Leyland agrees.

Can we abide by the nickname "Huff Daddy"? I imagine the BYB Bunch will have something to say about that. Of course, that's a far more family-friendly nickname than the one Camden Chat gave Huff after talking to Bubba the Love Sponge.

It's been a week since The Brawl between the Tigers and Red Sox. And Samara has her pictures from the scene at Fenway Park (in addition to a beautiful illustration that's a testament to the wonder of cross-hatching). She snapped a great shot of Kevin Youkilis getting hit by that pitch. There's also fun stuff from the pre-game warm-ups in her photo gallery. Roar of the Tigers, indeed.

Over at Mack Avenue Tigers, Kurt goes on a bit of a rant about the hype surrounding high school and college players these days. Is it a product of the Scott Boras machine? Additional coverage from MLB.com and MLB Network? Increasing niche outlets on the internet?

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:12:04 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Ronny Cedeno was one of three Pirates to homer last night. Before the game, it had been 53 innings since any Pirate had hit one.

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Some things to read while building two forts.

The Brewers allowed nine runs to the Pirates last night, the 25th time in 41 games they've allowed an opponent to score at least five runs. Some pther notes:

The Pirates home run in the second inning last night was their first in 53 innings.
As Tom H. notes, the Pirates had gone more than 400 innings without scoring five runs in an inning, and 699 innings without recording seven hits. They did both in the third last night.

With that said, the Brewer offense has improved a bit. After getting a few games and a nice small sample size, management is evaluating the results of the pitcher batting eighth. Here's some quick analysis, if they need the help:

When the pitcher bats eighth and Mike Rivera starts: 2-0
When the pitcher bats eighth and Jason Kendall starts: 1-3

Speaking of Kendall, Tristarscoop has found a good use for the Brewers' complaint line. Kendall did not, however, make Miller Park Drunk's list of reasons to leave early.

The deadline for signing 2009 draft picks has come and gone, and the Brewers agreed to terms yesterday with Supplemental pick Kentrail Davis, 4th round pick Brooks Hall and 16th round pick Scooter Gennett. The Brewers went over slot on all three picks, spending roughly $2.2 million on the three players, but managed to sign each of their top 23 picks from the June draft. I'll have a little more on the draft later today. In the meantime, here's a hometown paper story on Brooks Hall.

Is it too early to start looking ahead to free agency? Maybe, but Eli Greenspan of MLB Daily Dish thinks the Brewers should pursue Jason Marquis and Jarrod Washburn this offseason.

On Power Rankings and playoff odds:

WhatifSports moved the Brewers up from 20th to 17th in their rankings.
CoolStandings has the Brewers' playoff chances at 2%.
MLB Playoff Odds has the Brewers at 1.1%.

Around baseball:

Braves: Placed Nate McLouth on the DL with a sore hamstring.
Mets: Alex Cora will undergo surgery to repair torn ligaments in his thumbs and miss the rest of the season.
Nationals: Designated pitcher Logan Kensing for assignment.
Rangers: Released Vicente Padilla.
Red Sox: Released John Smoltz.
Tigers: Acquired Aubrey Huff from the Orioles for a low level pitching prospect and designated pitcher Chris Lambert for assignment.
Yankees: Russ Ortiz exercised a clause in his contract allowing him to become a free agent.

As the draft signing deadline passed with several picks receiving major league contracts, it's time for another note on baseball roster rules: U.S.S. Mariner has a primer on what it means for a prospect to get a major league deal.

One of the prospects receiving such a deal was Stephen Strasburg, which is why the Nats had to clear a roster spot yesterday. Obviously, Strasburg's deal is being covered ad nauseum elsewhere, but here are notes about it I found interesting:

Prince Fielder is on Sam Mellinger's list of players making less than Strasburg in 2009.
The Biz of Baseball estimates that Scott Boras, agent for Strasburg and four other first round picks who signed yesterday (and one who didn't), took home over $2 million in commission on yesterday's deals.
Thankfully, the Nationals won't need this jersey.

His last name is Gwynn so many won't notice, but Ducksnorts points out that Tony Gwynn Jr. has regressed to the mean a bit in San Diego, hitting just .252/.310/.299 since the All Star Break.

Do you live in Atlanta and like pancakes? Then you might be interested in the guest speaker at Atlanta's Fellowship of Christian Athletes breakfast on August 29th. Get there early if you want coffee.

On this day in 1997, the Brewers were one-hit by future Brewer Rick Helling. Fernando Vina picked up the only hit, and was caught stealing. In 1999 Dale Sveum, in the last season of his major league career, had one of the best days of his career, homering from both sides of the plate as the Pirates beat the Reds, 12-6.

Happy birthday today to Jayson Durocher, who appeared in 45 games for the Brewers between 2002 and 2003 and turns 35 today.

Oh, and I'm thinking of changing the site name to Brew Crew Ball and Sons. Your thoughts?

Drink up.

Fight Night at Fenway: Red Sox 7, Tigers 5

Ian Casselberry — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:15:24 -0000

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

Rick Porcello will not be intimidated. Rick Porcello will not be attacked on his pitching mound. He was, however, ejected, which ended up helping the Boston Red Sox.

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So how often is the outcome of a ballgame the secondary story?

Of course, the big, flashy thing from the Tigers' 7-5 loss to the Red Sox last night is the fight between Kevin Youkilis and Rick Porcello. The Tigers felt they had to stick up for themselves after Miguel Cabrera was hit on the hand in the first inning, and Porcello threw a purpose pitch inside to Victor Martinez during Boston's turn at-bat. (Martinez took exception, and tried to stare the rookie down. That was the first attempt to intimidate Kid Rick.)

Cabrera's hand was painful enough that he came out of the game after fouling a pitch off in his next at-bat. (He was later diagnosed with a bruised hand, with his status listed as day-to-day.) And that lit the fuse.

Porcello hit Youkilis with his very first pitch, and it was on. Youkilis charged the mound, throwing his helmet at Kid Rick, and then attempted to tackle him. But Porcello used his attacker's momentum against him, and hip-tossed him to the ground. (Obviously, there are going to be different accounts of this, depending on which team you root for. But if you look at it objectively, I think it's pretty clear who got thrown to the ground.)

After the benches cleared, with Tigers and Red Sox either sticking their chest out or trying to keep peace, both Porcello and Youkilis were ejected from the game. Unfortunately for Detroit, this is pretty much where the game was lost. Porcello looked like he had the stuff to beat Boston, but didn't really get a chance to show it. The Red Sox lost Youkilis, but his replacement, Mike Lowell, came in and smacked two home runs.

And in easily the worst trade-off, Chris Lambert replaced Porcello and proceeded to pitch batting practice. Maybe it's because he had to come in quickly, and didn't have time to warm up properly. Maybe Lambert was overwhelmed by pitching in Boston for the first time since college. Maybe playing in Fenway Park was just too much for him to handle. Whatever the reason, Lambert was awful. The kind of awful that makes you wonder if we'll ever see him in a Tigers uniform again.

Lambert served up three home runs, leading to five Boston runs, and walked four batters. If there's one good thing you could say about the outing, it's that he pitched five innings and prevented Jim Leyland from further tapping out his bullpen. But I don't know how much credit Lambert actually deserves, since I think he was basically left out there to hang. The Tigers needed someone to make up Porcello's innings. (After the game, he was sent back down to Toledo, and Freddy Dolsi was recalled.)

In the end, the Tigers ended up losing a game they probably could've won. And the repercussions from the brawl could ripple out for a few days. Armando Galarraga may be too sick to make his start tonight. But Lambert won't be taking his place. Zach Miner probably isn't available, either, after pitching two innings on Monday. So unless an emergency call-up is made, Galarraga might have to pitch while feeling ill. (And if you thought he was bad before...)

Will Porcello get suspended? It sure seems likely, but I think you could make a pretty strong case that he wasn't throwing at Youkilis. For one thing, he had a 3-0 lead and looked to be in command of the game. Why jeopardize that? But if you watch the pitch in question, Porcello didn't aim the ball right at the batter. He threw a two-seam fastball that ran inside. (Compare that to the pitch he threw to Martinez.) Given what happened, however, it might all be elementary.

Looking at this through Tiger-striped glasses, you could say that Porcello truly became a major league pitcher last night. He wasn't intimidated. He stuck up for himself and his teammates. And when a crazy, hulking bald man ran at him with intent to fight, he didn't back down. That will go a long way toward earning Porcello some respect around this league. (And, of course, within his clubhouse.) As if his stuff wasn't already getting him that respect.

You could also pull out the cliche card and say this is the sort of thing that can bring a team closer together. (Though that seemed to work more for the Red Sox immediately after the brawl.) We'll see about that. After triage is performed on the pitching staff, and some aching sluggers get healed up. Maybe the Tigers can still salvage something from the remaining two games of this series.

Comment of the Night:

So they lose Rick tonight, plus there will probably be a suspension somewhere

that’s one way to limit the innings

by murrajo

Todd Wellemeyer, or, Chris Lambert Returns to Discuss Todd Wellemeyer with Viva El Birdos from Beyond the Grave

DanUpBaby — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 06:36:24 -0000

It's been a month and a half since the Cardinals last had the brooms out, so for each game against the Pirates I've been building in a little room for the obligatory let-down game; it didn't help that the last two began with the Pirates, a board-certified Team We Should Beat, jumping out to an early lead.

But these are the new Cardinals. Objectively speaking, Holliday and Lugo will not continue to post a combined MLVr of 1.549 runs per game. Subjectively, I no longer get listless and irritable toward those around me when the Cardinals fall behind early or line up against a young pitcher with bad stuff.

You rang?

Oh, for God's sake! Don't just pop up like that. Aren't you busy pitching bulk innings in Detroit? At least busy enough not to haunt a website?

Don't look a gift-me in the mouth, danup, baby! I'm here for the object lesson.

I'm not looking forward to this. Let's hope he doesn't know how the jump works.

So danup, it goes something like this. You guys—and God only knows why, right? You guys keep trading away all your rotation depth for, I don't know, Mike Maroth.

Right. I don't know why or how, but that's a basically rational explanation of what the Cardinals have done. And I guess you could implicate that way of thinking, indirectly, as the prime mover in the chain of events that have led to Todd Wellemeyer making another start. The Cardinals' seeming nonchalance toward rotation depth both in and out of the system has led to Todd Wellemeyer's continued faux-relevance.

Prime mover? What a pseudointellectual thing to say! Anyway, this object lesson requires a table, and ghosts are far too sinister to use WYSIWYG editors! That means...

Oh... oh no—I feel different. I feel like, like I could almost get Major League hitters out on a regular basis. Something is compelling me to feed numbers into an MLE spreadsheet... something terrible...

Rotation depth... *of terror!*
NAME	GS	IP	K/9	BB/9	HR/9	MLE PERA
Mortensen	17	96.1	5.2	3.3	2.4	6.63
Hawksworth	12	71.2	4.9	2.6	1.0	4.00
Boggs	14	70.1	5.0	4.2	2.4	6.53
Walters	15	89	6.4	3.0	1.1	5.18
Lambert	21	122	5.6	2.4	1.1	4.67
Lynn	18	97.1	5.6	3.4	1.1	4.92
Wellemeyer	20	108	5.1	3.5	1.5	7.13

Does it... does it scare you?

It does, a little, but mainly because I was possessed for the sole purpose of producing a table. I don't even remember opening Excel.

But all things considered, Chris--and I hate to alter our relationship like this--I'm inclined to agree with you. I still think you should have been traded--I mean, do I ever--but it's obvious that the Cardinals, in remaining bound and determined to have Todd Wellemeyer to kick around anymore, are passing up a number of options that can if nothing else be just as bad as he is.

Wait, what? Did I get Viva El Birdos? Ghost travel is a little sketchy.Bone-chillingly sketchy!

No, I'm serious. Tony La Russa's most infuriating flaw, and it's one common to most managers, is his reluctance to demote certain regulars in-season. Kip Wells and Brett Tomko have had this exact same season before--a pitcher with a patchy but occasionally impressive career gets beaten into the ground but not out of the Cardinals' rotation. In situations like this the Cardinals' field management seems to have little idea of the concept of a replacement level, and without that they don't realize that guys below it can easily be replaced.

Here, I think, is what it finally comes down to: For Tony La Russa, Proving Yourself is something that happens once. Anthony Reyes didn't do it, and when he struggled he was removed from the rotation. Mark Mulder had already done it, some time ago, so he was sent back out again and again until he had to be wheeled off. Todd Wellemeyer proved himself last year; more specifically, he had several uninterrupted good stretches, something Reyes never managed, something his possible replacements haven't had the chance to manage yet. The proven switch is on.

The good news is that he might have somehow managed to unprove himself, which would be a Cardinals first:

As for Wellemeyer possibly staying in the rotation after Tuesday, La Russa said, "He needs to prove that he's the best of the candidates for that spot. If there's somebody, in our opinion, who's better than he is, then (that person) will pitch... There's other guys out there."

If La Russa really does see that--and I have a high enough opinion of him, even in the face of his flaws, to believe it a possibility--it's a blessing for the Cardinals, who still have a lot of meaningful baseball left before the fifth starter won't matter. But Wellemeyer's already made several starts too many, and as long as Tony La Russa manages the Cardinals--realistically, as long as the Cardinals have a manager--having in-season depth at a Proven position is never going to be quite as valuable as it could be.

Well, anyway... while I'm here, can my friend say hi to his family? His ghost family?

I--I guess so. Good behavior should be rewarded, is what I always say. Is he a long-time reader, first-time caller?

Good, good. Just as I planned.You've stumbled headlong into my trap once more, you contemptible snark-jockey! Creature of the night, attack!

W-what?

so do i jus talk into the ghost microphone?

No!

It explains those 71 walks, doesn't it, Dan? He works for me now!

ima scary ghost man, watch out or ill scare you

Pavano the Tiger Killer

Jesse — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 08:27:51 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

4 months ago: Minnesota Twins' Michael Cuddyer, right, scores from third base past Detroit Tigers catcher Gerald Laird on a sacrifice fly ball hit by Alexi Casilla in the fifth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009 in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

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Twins 11, Tigers 0

While Justin Verlander certainly wasn't on his game, it was Detroit reliever Chris Lambert who let the game get completely out of hand. And for that, Twins Territory thanks him. Between those two pitchers the Twins tee'd off like it was batting practice, knocking out 17 hits en route to their 11 runs. Watching highlights of this game was sort of like watching highlights of what happens every time the Pinball Wizard shot another ball off a bumper.

Everybody on the Twins side of the ball picked up at least one hit. Denard Span multiplied that by five, leading off the contest with a double. Joe Mauer followed that up with yet another home run to left field, his 20th of the season, to give the Twins a 2-0 lead to set the tone before the Tigers even came to bat. Span added four singles the rest of the night, getting his batting average back up to .300 for the first time since he went 2-for-4 against Seattle on June 7.

Nick Punto's initiation of a double play in the fifth, from his knees, was one of the defensive highlights. With runners on the corners and one out he threw onto Alexi Casilla at second base, who threw hard across his body to first. Justin Morneau made the scoop to convert the double play and keep the Tigers off the board. Morneau made a couple of key plays in the field Saturday night, including the snag on a high throw from Carl Pavano early in the contest. Justin is tall, and it's a good thing.

Naturally the star of the night was Pavano. He's destroyed the Tigers four times this season, and last night's seven-inning, zero-run performance was just another gem. It was interesting watching him. Pavano's a big guy, and he looks a little strange in a Twins uniform. When he uncoils from his windup it's almost like you expect him to be a little wild, yet he's still aggressive. He did a good job of keeping Detroit off-balance, getting them to swing at multiple pitches in the dirt or otherwise out of the strike zone.

It was great to get back into the win column. Now we have to do it again to close that gap. We'll see you this afternoon for the game!

The Alex Avila Era Now Begins

Ian Casselberry — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:30:32 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

If it wasn't captured in a photograph, would you have remembered that Dusty Ryan actually played in an occasional game for the Detroit Tigers?

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The Detroit Tigers' 8-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles quickly became the second story of the night, as the team announced several roster moves following the game. Hello and goodbye, Wilkin Ramirez. He was sent back down to Toledo, along with catcher Dusty Ryan.

Pitcher Chris Lambert takes the bullpen spot that opened up when Casey Fien was demoted earlier today. But the big surprise is who's taking over for Ryan as back-up catcher. Alex Avila, probably the top prospect in the minor league system right now, is being called up from Double-A Erie.

This season with the Seawolves, Avila batted .264/.365/.450 with 12 homers and 55 RBIs. From all accounts, his left-handed bat is major league ready, but it's his defense that needs work. (Unfortunately, I can't really find any numbers to support that.) So is playing back-up to Gerald Laird really going to help him with that? Or is this an indication that Laird is about to lose some playing time? Another theory is that Avila could see some time at DH, if Carlos Guillen is ready to play left field.

But doesn't this feel like calling up Cameron Maybin in 2007? Too soon? And probably too desperate, as well?

(demondeaconsbaseball has more thoughts on Avila in the comments of our last post.)

Lambert, meanwhile, compiled a 6-7 record and 3.55 ERA, adding 106 strikeouts and 31 walks in 126.2 innings. But in his last 10 starts, he's 4-2 with a 2.07 ERA, which is probably why he got the promotion. (And it's probably a temporary one, until the Tigers figure out what they can get out of Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson.)

When these roster moves were announced, my initial thought was that I didn't understand calling up Ramirez at all. What was the point? But if you thought he was in the Tigers' lineup tonight solely to face a left-handed phenom, then you're probably correct. I mean, isn't it completely obvious after another one-and-done big league appearance?

I'm guessing that Detroit was ready to swap Fien for Lambert, but saw an opportunity to go with a short-handed bullpen with Jarrod Washburn presumably set to pitch deep into the ballgame. And with an unfamiliar Brian Matusz pitching for the Orioles, why not bring in another right-handed bat? Unfortunately, Washburn gave up six runs and Ramirez went 0-for-3, so neither move ended up working out for the Tigers.

And where exactly does Dusty Ryan stand in the Tigers' organization? (Billfer doesn't see much of a future for him.) He was supposed to give Detroit some more punch in the back-up catcher role, right? Hitting .160/.276/.200 hardly provided that. Yet Ryan only played in 11 games since joining the team in mid-June. Did Jim Leyland just not trust his defense? Did he think he could turn Laird's bat around by keeping him in the lineup? Instead, Laird wore down and Ryan become a non-factor.

So what do you think? Is the air thick with desperation around Comerica Park? Would you have liked to see Ramirez remain with the big league club? Is calling up Avila too hasty a move, or does the excitement of getting to see the Tigers' top prospect overshadow that concern?

Tigers Reassign Six Players to Minors

Ian Casselberry — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:00:12 -0000

Per Jason Beck via Twitter, the Detroit Tigers passed out minor league assignments to six players this morning.

Catcher Alex Avila and shortstop Cale Iorg were reassigned to minor league camp. Pitcher Chris Lambert, infielder Michael Hollimon, and outfielder Casper Wells were dispatched to Triple-A Toledo. And pitcher Zach Simons was assigned to Double-A Erie.

The cuts leave the Tigers with 49 players remaining in major league camp.