Detroit Tigers, 2009, Part III: How long does it take for Leyland to screw this up?

[Hammer]

Re: Detroit Tigers, 2009, Part III: How long does it take for Leyland to screw this up?

Right now I'd trade Laird for a Happy Meal and a Slurpee, and have Avila catch next year. The Slurpee would have a higher OBP than Laird.

[The Paragon of Virtue]

Re: Detroit Tigers, 2009, Part III: How long does it take for Leyland to screw this up?

I take it you slept through Gump Laird's at bats last night.

I saw them. I'm just bewildered by the idea that someone can play everyday and have a worse SLG than Adam Everett.

[streaker]

Re: Detroit Tigers, 2009, Part III: How long does it take for Leyland to screw this up?

Right now I'd trade Laird for a Happy Meal and a Slurpee, and have Avila catch next year. The Slurpee would have a higher OBP than Laird.

Leyland played him, in hindsight, to keep the Twins from running. That's all. Doesn't dismiss him from PH with guys like Avila, Thomas and Thames on the bench. Shoot, I'd even bring back Craig Monroe if he could catch.

But, this is what plagued the team all season. Failure to score w/RISP w/ less than two outs. It was up and down the lineup, not just Laird. And Laird was pretty successful when called upon to sacrifice runners/squeeze.

And, just as a conspiracy thought, maybe my Cabrera inquisition (that you and I debated about) wasn't so offbase now that he may have a drinking issue. Don't know how many games he came to the park hungover and just took games off. Just amazing the year he had, even with that issue.

Oh, and don't let Miner off of the hook, either. He stunk in key spots this season. Rodney was victimized by the Rayburn folly in the ninth... they didn't exactly rough him up.

[MaizeRage]

Re: Detroit Tigers, 2009, Part III: How long does it take for Leyland to screw this up?

Miner was fine for what he is. He got some huge outs in the series in the series against Minnestoa at Comerica. If he was a guaranteed three outs every time he came out of the bullpen, he'd be our closer next year.

[alfablue]

Re: Detroit Tigers, 2009, Part III: How long does it take for Leyland to screw this up?

I haven't been posting for the tigers all year. For one strong reason, total lack of middle relief.

How many leads did they blow before Rodney even got in there. Find one, and that would have eliminated the need for last nights game. (on the other hand, had they lost a few middle seasons games where the middle gave up a lead only to have the Tigres come back, the opposite would also be true)

3-0 should have been good enough. It wasn't.

I'm not going to get into 5-4.

While clutch hitting and fielding need to be addressed, until they get a couple of decent middle relievers, it's pointless. Clutch isn't a problem when you hold leads from the mound.

Tigers have better than average starting pitching, decent enough closers, but horrendus middle.

The game starts as a 1-1 battle between pitcher and hitter. If the Tigers keep giving away the 6-8 innings, then there's really little hope.

[speekeasy8]

Re: Detroit Tigers, 2009, Part III: How long does it take for Leyland to screw this up?

Miner was fine for what he is. He got some huge outs in the series in the series against Minnestoa at Comerica. If he was a guaranteed three outs every time he came out of the bullpen, he'd be our closer next year.

Exactly. Before people tear into middle relievers, they need to remember that ALL middle relievers suck. If they didn't suck, they wouldn't be middle relievers!

If you look at every MLB team, the worst pitcher on the staff is the middle reliever. The only way to have a decent middle reliever is to have 6 quality starting pitchers... and even then, your GM would probably try to deal the 6th guy.

Middle relievers are only exposed when the starting pitcher doesn't get the job done. In this particular case, it's a little tricky, because the Tigers are so protective of Porcello's pitch count... but in general, if your middle reliever is pitching more than 1 inning, either your starting pitcher failed you, or the game went deep into extra innings.

[streaker]

Re: Detroit Tigers, 2009, Part III: How long does it take for Leyland to screw this up?

Miner is fine as long as he doesn't get wild. His BB/K's ratio is bad. Once runners reach base, his ERA balloons. I like the guy, sometimes he is lights out... but hanging that slider was inexcusable.

Edit: one other stat: the guy allowed 150 baserunners in 92 innings. That's about 1.5 ROB per inning. Too many, which supports my point. Only Fernando Rodney could get away with that kind of base traffic without too much damage.

Let's face it... the Tigers gagged because they went 1-5 against KC and 1-5 against Chicago down the stretch. The urgency they showed last night could have salted the division over a week ago if they applied it to those other games.

[Spartanforlife4]

Re: Detroit Tigers, 2009, Part III: How long does it take for Leyland to screw this up?

All coaches invited back except Van Slyke. Link.

I don't get it. Outfield was fine until they all decided to choke the final week.

[Kepler]

Re: Detroit Tigers, 2009, Part III: How long does it take for Leyland to screw this up?

I heart AVS. I hope the Mets snap him up and give him a lower minor managerial post.

[streaker]

Re: Detroit Tigers, 2009, Part III: How long does it take for Leyland to screw this up?

All coaches invited back except Van Slyke. Link.

I don't get it. Outfield was fine until they all decided to choke the final week.

I think it stinks, too. If anyone should have been tossed, it should have been Lloyd.

The outfielders were inconsistent because of their skills, not because of their coaching.

[MaizeRage]

Re: Detroit Tigers, 2009, Part III: How long does it take for Leyland to screw this up?

All coaches invited back except Van Slyke. Link.

I don't get it. Outfield was fine until they all decided to choke the final week.

Left field has been rotating disaster for a while now.

[Bronco]

Re: Detroit Tigers, 2009, Part III: How long does it take for Leyland to screw this up?

So is this a sign that they are giving up on this hitting thing, because it feels like it.

[Billy Blanks]

Re: Detroit Tigers, 2009, Part III: How long does it take for Leyland to screw this up?

So is this a sign that they are giving up on this hitting thing, because it feels like it.

I expect Bonderman to be traded this offseason for a bat. I've heard rumblings that Dom is looking into landing Chone Figgins and Adam Dunn. That would be a significant upgrade to our lineup from the crap that we saw this season.

[Hammer]

Re: Detroit Tigers, 2009, Part III: How long does it take for Leyland to screw this up?

Left field has been rotating disaster since Larry Herndon retired

There. That's better.

[bronconick]

Re: Detroit Tigers, 2009, Part III: How long does it take for Leyland to screw this up?

I expect Bonderman to be traded this offseason for a bat. I've heard rumblings that Dom is looking into landing Chone Figgins and Adam Dunn. That would be a significant upgrade to our lineup from the crap that we saw this season.

The only bat Bonderman would be worth to some team would literally be a wooden bat.