SB Nation - Will Rhymes

Bondo to the DL; Three More to the Minors

Ian Casselberry — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:11:01 -0000

Massively overshadowed by Gary Sheffield's release this morning were four other roster moves the Detroit Tigers made. Jeremy Bonderman, who yesterday admitted that he was weeks away from joining the starting rotation, was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sore shoulder. The move is retroactive to March 30, which means Bondo could rejoin the Tigers on April 14.

Clete Thomas, who had to be thrilled about that Josh Anderson deal yesterday, was optioned to Triple-A Toledo, where he'll likely start in centerfield. The Cult of Clete understands, but is rightfully disappointed.

Also assigned to minor league camp were infielder Will Rhymes and outfielder Timo Perez. Both of them will probably join Thomas on the Mud Hens' roster to begin the season.

Which of those three do you think we'll be seeing in Detroit the soonest? I wonder if it might be Rhymes...

Morning Prowl: Guillen Plays Third, Not Fab Freddy, Tales from Lakeland, and Love for Relievers

Ian Casselberry — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:00:11 -0000

Who was that at third base for Team Venezuela last night? Carlos Guillen? Didn't he say he'd only play left field in the WBC? Giving his country what it needed, Guillen agreed to fill in for the injured Melvin Mora. (Mora!!!)

How do you think Jim Leyland is liking this World Baseball Classic right about now?

If you're still thinking that the Tigers should've brought back Freddy Garcia for this season, consider that the New York Mets are reportedly about to release him. He's apparently lost out in their fifth starter competition.

(via MLB Trade Rumors)

Lee just returned from Lakeland and has some Tiger Tales to share. I was soaked in envy reading his post. I have to break my Spring Training seal in the next year or two. Also heading down to catch some Grapefruit League play is Tiger Geist.

For those who have been to Spring Training, is it better to go earlier or later in the schedule, or does it really not matter?

Leyland continues to be impressed by Casey Fien, the strike-throwing machine. (A bit much to fit on a t-shirt, but I'm putting my mind to it.)

Over at Viva El Birdos, the red baron was impressed by Ryan Perry and feeling pretty good that he was right about him in his draft preview last year.

From the "nice problem to have" department, the Tigers could be facing some tough decisions in the weeks to come about which relievers to keep, with three spots to fill and quite a few guys throwing well.

DesigNate Robertson has a shot-in-the-dark candidate for the Tigers' fifth starting pitcher. I agree that it won't happen, but I like where Rogo's head is at. We like moxie here.

The Freep's John Lowe volleyed some questions and answers with second baseman Will Rhymes. Is he the best position player story for the Tigers this spring?

With the NCAA basketball tournament opening today, Jesse Spector talked to some baseball players about their picks, including two Detroit Tigers.

Morning Prowl: Degrees of Ludwick, the Top Tiger, Dissecting Frogs, and Raburn Love

Ian Casselberry — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:00:14 -0000

TigerBlog points out two interesting connections that Cardinals outfielder Ryan Ludwick has with two current Tigers. You may now return to lamenting that he was in the Tigers' organization three years ago.

Who is #1 on The Spot Starters' Top 100 Tigers list? Maybe it won't surprise you, but hopefully you enjoyed the journey more than the final destination.

Jon Paul Morosi notes an underlying problem with Joel Zumaya, even if he manages to come back healthy. Will he be able to pitch on back-to-back days? And if not, how much can he really help the Tigers - even if he's throwing well?

Will Rhymes continues to light up Jim Leyland's life. (And who knew dissecting frogs impressed him so much?) Could he be Placido Polanco's successor at second base next year?

Who has "the least valuable system in all of baseball"? According to Beyond the Box Score, it's your Detroit Tigers.

If you're interested, Keith Law has some thoughts on two forrmer Tigers prospects - Guillermo Moscoso and James Skelton - in his latest blog post at ESPN.com.

Blake also reports what several former Tigers - those not still working in the team's organization - are up to these days. If you've found yourself wondering "What is Chris Truby doing now?" this is the post for you.

In the FanPosts, Boney has a thing called Raburn Love. (Free Ryan Raburn!)

You have two days (and a morning) left to enter your NCAA Tournament picks in the BYB Bracket Blowout. Don't you want your shining moment? (Or a "Free Ryan Raburn" t-shirt?)

Morning Prowl: Tigers Corner, C-Mo, Rhymes, and Cordero

Ian Casselberry — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:00:08 -0000

Some of you may have noticed there's no "Tigers Corner" annual this year (as there was in 2007 and 2008) - and believe me, those of us who wrote something for it notice - but the editors of what would've been the 2009 edition have started a website (now in beta) that will run some of the articles that unfortunately didn't see print this spring.

Several Tigers bloggers that you're familiar with contributed material, and hopefully you'll get to read it online soon.

Say that again? Who hit three home runs yesterday? Craig Monroe?

Post-Gazette Pirates beat writer Dejan Kovacevic mentions that Monroe is two homers away from the team Spring Training record. (Craig Wilson hit eight in 2005.)

Matt Watson previews the 2009 Detroit Tigers over at Fanhouse. We love his description of Nate Robertson's 2008 season.

Will Rhymes let Jim Leyland's recent compliments get into his head. He seems to have shaken that off, however, and gotten back to business. (Leyland has a couple of funny quotes in the article.)

I don't think there was much need for the Tigers to pursue Chad Cordero anymore, as the bullpen looks pretty full (along with prospects ready to step in, if needed). As it is, he's now off the market, after signing a minor-league deal with the Seattle Mariners.

Here's a follow-up story on Monroe in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Working with Rudy Jaramillo to get rid of his leg kick is apparently paying dividends with his swing.

Morning Prowl: Fingernails Yanked, Piling on FOX Sports Detroit, and Buh-Buh-Buh-Billups!

Ian Casselberry — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:00:09 -0000

If you think you're having a bad day, put yourself in Michael Hollimon's shoes. Dude might be getting his fingernail yanked out after getting it bent back by a throw in yesterday's game.

While we're talking about Tigers second base prospects, Jim Leyland thinks Will Rhymes is a dirtball. And he meant it as a compliment. Leyland also takes a funny shot at Sparky Anderson in the article.

(via The Cutoff Man)

How tricky can it be to play center field at Comerica Park? Curtis Granderson has some thoughts on the matter and is working hard to get better at it.

I'm with Old English D. How could the Tigers-Venezuela exhibition game have not been televised? (When 'Duk heard how long it was before any Tigers spring action was on TV, he was flabbergasted.)

Tiger Geist saw plenty of positives in the boxscore of that game, by the way.

DesigNate Robertson piles onto FOX Sports Detroit for not showing any Tigers Spring Training games thus far, especially considering that Sports Time Ohio has already shown quite a few Indians games.

Meanwhile, I'm mad that FSD put Chauncey Billups's return to Detroit on FSN Plus Tuesday night. (I was trapped in a place without digital cable.) Fortunately, Need4Sheed has video of Chauncey's introduction to the crowd. Buh-buh-buh-buh-Billups!

(Is there now any doubt now that that was a terrible trade by Joe Dumars?)

With the onset of spring, all things begin to bloom again. And so does Beefshower return with a post at Mickey Tettleton Memorial Overpass. The journey he's taken since October - physical and emotional - is epic... at least in terms of word count.

And don't forget to stay up late or set your DVRs, as the aforementioned Mr. Granderson will be part of the Team USA gang reading the Top Ten list on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight.

Morning Prowl: Left Field or Else, Sidearmers Rule, and 100-Pitch Limits

Ian Casselberry — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:00:08 -0000

Carlos Guillen says he won't play in the World Baseball Classic if he's not playing in left field. That's reassuring, as I was a bit worried he'd be playing shortstop or third and miss out on valuable repetition this spring.

(Blake applauds Guillen putting the Tigers ahead of Venezuela.)

Jim Leyland was "very impressed" with Rudy Darrow yesterday, and gave him some one-on-one face time after he threw.

Last year, Darrow struck out 57 batters in 62 innings, pitching for West Michigan and Erie. And if you want to see his funky sidearm motion, Kurt posted a link to some video from the Arizona Fall League.

Motor City Bengals takes a look at Will Rhymes in his ranking of Detroit's Top 30 minor league prospects. With Placido Polanco in the last year of his contract, will he be in the second base mix for 2010?

The Tigers' subdued offseason puts them in the "non-winner" category, according to SI.com's Jon Heyman. I don't know about you, but I'm just fine with him thinking that. (In fairness, he also says they could be a contender.)

(via The Cutoff Man)

Baseball Digest Daily takes a look at Justin Verlander's 2008 season and tries to determine if his struggles after the 100-pitch mark were due to fatigue or statistical anomaly.

Tigers Announce Non-Roster Invitees

Ian Casselberry — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:00:09 -0000

The Detroit Tigers have invited 13 players from outside their 40-man roster to join the team for Spring Training in Lakeland. Here's the list, broken down by position:

Pitchers: Rudy Darrow, Casey Fien, Jon Kibler, Ryan Perry
Catchers: Alex Avila, Jeff Kunkel, Dane Sardinha, Max St. Pierre
Infielders: Cale Iorg, Don Kelly, Will Rhymes, Scott Sizemore
Outfielders: Alexis Gomez

Only two of the invitees were outside of the Tigers' system last season. Alexis Gomez was in the Marlins' Triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque, and Don Kelly played with Arizona's Triple-A team in Tucson. Both, however, were in the organization previously.

As Tom Gage notes on his detnews.com blog, there's a noticeable lack of "has-beens" from the list of non-roster invitees. Perhaps that's an indication that the team wants to get as long a look at prospects like Darrow, Fien, and Perry as possible. And if there are open spots on the major league roster to be had, the preference is for one of the younger players to win a job.

Notable Omissions From the 40-Man Roster

Ian Casselberry — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:15:05 -0000

I'm behind my fellow Tigers bloggers on posting something about the 40-man roster that the team officially released yesterday. Fortunately, a few of you took it on yourselves to discuss in the comments of yesterday's last post. (Thank you for that.) As it turns out, however, being slow may have worked out, since more information has since been released and one player's status needed to be clarified.

Presumably, the big news was the five players the Tigers added to the roster: Starting pitchers Guillermo Moscoso and Alfredo Figaro, reliever Zach Simons, and outfielders Wilkin Ramirez and Casper Wells.

Those additions put 38 players on the roster, which leaves some wiggle room for any transactions or signings to be made in the next few weeks.

Of course, the natural impulse is to focus more on the snubs, the players left off the roster and thus eligible to be taken by another team in next month's Rule 5 draft. I thought Will Rhymes was a surprising omission, given how well he played last season (.307/.363/.392 average) and his participation in the Arizona Fall League. But since pitching often seems to be at a premium in the Rule 5 draft, perhaps Detroit thinks a small infielder with not much power will slide through without being claimed.

That's why the Tigersosphere was up in arms when Luis Marte wasn't listed on the 40-man roster. Starting pitchers who throw 78 strikeouts in 103 innings (along with 22 Ks in 17 1/3 innings in winter ball) aren't in abundance throughout the Tigers' organization. After further review, however, Detroit didn't need to protect Marte. He isn't eligible for the Rule 5 because he was 18 years old before signing with the Tigers.

But the one omission that's raising the most eyebrows in the Tigersosphere is catcher James Skelton. Skelton is perhaps the most intriguing Tigers prospect, not just because of the dearth of catchers in the minor league system, but due to a small body type (5'11", 165 lbs.) not normally associated with that position.

Perhaps his physical measurements are the reason Detroit left him unprotected, thinking the other teams in baseball would look at Skelton's height and weight and write him off. But Skelton has shown a gift for throwing out basestealers (28 of 73) and getting on base (.416 OBP in five minor league seasons), two skills that should be coveted. He also bats left-handed, which makes him a possible platoon partner with Dusty Ryan, if the Tigers felt they could go young at that position next season.

Leaving Skelton unprotected is a decision the Tigers could end up sorely regretting if he's drafted by another major league team and ends up as their starting catcher down the line. For an organization in need of young catching talent, it's a curious, almost baffling maneuver.

Hollimon Out For Half of 2009?

Ian Casselberry — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 11:45:04 -0000

Yet another Detroit Tigers prospect will miss both Arizona Fall League play and at least some of next season due to an injury that requires offseason surgery.

The Freep's Jon Paul Morosi reports that infielder Michael Hollimon had a torn labrum in his left (non-throwing) shoulder repaired by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, AL on Thursday. Rehabilitation for such a procedure is typically six to nine months. As a result, Hollimon is expected to miss half of the 2009 season.

Hollimon originally dislocated his shoulder in Spring Training while diving for a ball. The injury kept him out until late April.

In 11 games (25 plate appearances) with the Tigers this season, Hollimon batted .261/.280/.565 with one home run and two RBIs. Defensively, he played at second base, shortstop, and third base.

William Rhymes will replace Hollimon on the Tigers' Arizona Fall League roster. Playing mostly at second base with Double-A Erie, he batted .307/.363/.392 with three home runs, 62 RBIs, eight triples, and 17 stolen bases.

With Triple-A Toledo, Hollimon had a .211/.306/.420 average with 15 homers and 33 RBIs in 91 games (385 plate appearances). After returning to the Mud Hens following his major league stint, he batted just .154 in 40 games.