SB Nation - Daniel Worth

Morning Prowl: Sizemore's Rise, the Passion of Ilitch, All-Star Inge, and Roster Suggestions

Ian Casselberry — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:11:12 -0000

Thanks to everyone who participated in The BYB Introduce Yourself Open Thread yesterday. That was an impressive response, and it's been fun to learn a bit more about everyone. If you haven't introduced yourself yet, click on over and say hello to your fellow BYB'ers!

Take 75 North (which now also offers a newsletter) explains why it's a big deal that Scott Sizemore was promoted to Triple-A Toledo over the weekend. (Daniel Worth, on the other hand, seems to be taking the opposite career track in the Tigers' organization.) What could this mean for the Tigers' second baseman situation for next season?

This season, Sizemore is hitting .309/.405/.539 with nine homers and 33 RBIs.

Tigers owner Mike Ilitch told the Freep's Drew Sharp that he'll do "whatever we have to do" to keep the Tigers in first place and get them to the playoffs.

The Detroit Tigers Weblog makes the All-Star case for Brandon Inge. Is he Detroit's most likely representative, and the one Tigers fans should be throwing their voting support behind right now? And just how good has he been, compared to other AL third basemen?

Lynn Henning notes that Interleague Play is keeping Marcus Thames out of the lineup. I think it was crazy not to have started him on Sunday, regardless of lefty-righty match-ups. And he can always be replaced in later innings, if there's concern about his defense in left field. Thames is swinging a hot bat. Keep him in there.

Always a Tiger would like to see the Tigers make two roster moves: First, call up Dusty Ryan from Toledo to back up Gerald Laird (not only to give Laird some rest, but to bolster the depth at catcher). Secondly, put Zach Miner in the starting rotation. (Kurt's been driving that bandwagon for a while. Jump aboard! There's plenty of room.

BigJP actually has two additional suggestions for the starting rotation, one of which probably wouldn't be popular with many fans.

Blake has a photo slideshow of his Sunday trip to Pittsburgh at The Spot Starters. (I really regret not trying harder to make the drive to PNC Park last weekend.) There's a curious lack of pictures capturing the horror - the horror! - of Dontrelle Willis's eight-walk performance. (Blake opted to walk around the ballpark, instead.) I was hoping for at least one shot of a grown man shrieking in terror.

Big League Stew gives a fashion critique of the 1909 throwback uniforms the Tigers and Pirates sported on Sunday. I enjoyed Duk's post even more when reading it out loud in my best Heidi Klum voice.

The Jason Tyner era is over in the Tigers organization, as he was released by the Mud Hens. (In the same notebook, it's mentioned that Cameron Maybin was suspended for bumping an umpire during an argument.)

(via MLB Trade Rumors)

Ervin Santana really did give everything he had when holding the Tigers to one run a couple of weekends ago. 10 days later (and shortly after getting bombed by the Rays), he's missing a start because of a strained forearm.

Aaron Gleeman passes along a quote from a scout who doesn't appear to think very highly of Delmon Young's skills as a hitter with the Minnesota Twins. (Young is batting .252/.282/.286 with one homer and 18 RBIs this year.)

If you're among those (and I really don't know how many of you there are) hoping Bobby Valentine might be the replacement for Jim Leyland if he doesn't come back next season (interesting that both Tom Gage and Jason Beck wrote about his contract status over the past couple of days), maybe you don't want to know that Bobby V could end up with the Washington Nationals next season.

(via ShysterBall)

Morning Prowl: Looming Cuts, Yesterday's Injuries, and Ticket Sales

Ian Casselberry — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:00:10 -0000

Should we expect reliever Scott Williamson to be among today's cuts, after giving up five runs on five hits and one walk in just one inning of work yesterday? If so, I still hope he sticks around in Toledo. He could be useful later in the year.

Mack Avenue Tigers watched yesterday's game, and has blow-by-blow descriptions of Nate Robertson's thumb injury and Adam Everett's sprained ankle.

Lynn Henning thinks Danny Worth could be the Tigers' shortstop for years to come - if he hits. But isn't the shortstop of the future supposed to be Cale Iorg?

Perhaps you were like me and wondering why the Tigers' WBC quartet wasn't in the lineup yesterday against the New York Mets. (I mean, it was on TV and everything!)

Simma down now, says Jim Leyland. With a two-and-a-half hour bus ride to Port St. Lucie, Leyland thought it was better for his hitters to stay in Lakeland and get work in.

At the end of her latest post at Roar of the Tigers, I think Samara puts this uproar over Detroit's Opening Day being scheduled during Good Friday services in proper perspective.

Take 75 North takes a look at the PECOTA projections for the Tigers' minor league prospects, and interprets some of the scores.

Looking at decreased season ticket sales (something we mentioned earlier this month - toot!), the Freep talks to a couple of fans who didn't renew and examines how the expected loss in revenue affected the team's offseason.

Three Tigers bloggers chimed in for a season preview for the Philly Sports Post. With a couple of exceptions, I think we were all pretty much on the same page. The Tigersosphere can be so agreeable. I might try to start a fight.

Some Tigers trivia questions have been posted for you in a FanPost. Five of them, to be exact. (And thank you for doing that.) Take a crack at 'em.

Today's non-baseball note: If you're a fan of Mixed Martial Arts, SB Nation's Bloody Elbow entered a partnership with USA Today to create Top 25 rankings for fighters in each weight class.

This Week's Jack Wilson Post

Ian Casselberry — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:00:06 -0000

Okay, we know the Detroit Tigers don't want Edgar Renteria to be their shortstop. The team wouldn't even offer him arbitration, even though the San Francisco Giants' rumored interest in Renteria likely means he would've passed on it. We now also know, thanks to Jon Paul Morosi, that Detroit is no longer interested in making a deal with the San Diego Padres for Khalil Greene. And Morosi thinks the $6.5 million Greene is owed next season might be a big reason for that.

Yet the Tigers are still apparently circling around Pittsburgh's Jack Wilson. (Though Blake wonders if his $7.25 million salary for next season is now considered too pricey, as well.) Morosi reported yesterday (before the Greene news, it should perhaps be noted) that the Tigers and Pirates are in "ongoing" talks about a trade.

Our SB Nation broham Bucs Dugout wonders if Detroit's minor league system has the sort of prospects that the Pirates are looking for. But one of their commentors pointed to Jennifer Langosch's mailbag at MLB.com, in which she suggested several players the Tigers might be offering in a deal:

There is young depth at short in Detroit's system. The Tigers might be willing to part with Brent Dlugach since he's probably the organization's No. 3 shortstop right now. Trying to pry away the organization's No. 2 shortstop prospect -- Danny Worth -- would likely require the Pirates to offer more than just Wilson. But it is a possibility.

The Tigers have plenty of Minor League outfielders that they could offer, including Brent Clevlen, who the Pirates have shown interest in before, and Matt Joyce, a left-handed-hitting corner outfielder. But really, the Pirates already seem pretty set in terms of young outfield prospects.

As for pitching prospects that Detroit possibly would be willing to offer, Luis Marte, a young power arm, and Guillermo Moscoso were names that came up in discussions I had with someone in Detroit.

After all the pitching Detroit gave up last offseason, the idea of giving up more in a trade for a one-to-two-year stopgap might make some cringe. But it's also difficult to imagine the Tigers getting Wilson without sending over a young arm in return.

Meanwhile, Baseball Prospectus's John Perrotto says the Dodgers are cool on dealing for Wilson now. (Hat tip to MLB Trade Rumors) But the Baltimore Orioles may have taken their place in the competition for making a deal. However, Bucs Dugout wonders if the O's want to give up prospects at this point. (Baltimore might be saving its younguns for a potential Jake Peavy deal, too.)

So Pittsburgh might be facing a one-team market for Wilson. Does that help the Tigers' chances of getting him or lessen the Pirates' willingness to to deal him?

What Do the Pirates Want For Jack Wilson?

Ian Casselberry — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:00:06 -0000

On his blog, Pat Caputo of the Oakland Press writes that Jack Wilson would be a nice fit for the Detroit Tigers next season:

He is solid defensively and still has above average range. He’s a pretty good hitter. Wilson had some injury issues last season and missed a lot of games, but there is no reason to believe they will linger. He is not cheap, but not necessarily overpriced. A lot of issues would be solved for the Tigers if they were to acquire Wilson. The question is the cost to trade for him.

If Pittsburgh asks for Cale Iorg, that would obviously be a deal-breaker. But they might be looking for that type of prospect in return for Wilson. FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reported that the Dodgers are also interested in the Pirates' shortstop. (As Zappatista wrote to me, it's nice to see another team mentioned in trade rumors with Wilson.)

However, it appears any potential deal may have fallen through because the Dodgers didn't care for the PIrates' asking price. According to Rosenthal, Pittsburgh wanted Chin-Lung Hu (a shortstop prospect ThaWalrus9 touted in a recent post), along with two other young players, and the Dodgers thought that was way too much to give up for Wilson. So instead, they might move onto pursuing Edgar Renteria.

Rosenthal also acknowledged that Detroit doesn't have a shortstop prospect in its system that could likely start in the major leagues next season. (Could Danny Worth be that guy, if his shoulder was fully healed?) But since the Pirates also wanted Delwyn Young as part of that package from the Dodgers, maybe the Tigers could make one of their young outfielders the centerpiece of a deal?