Comments on: People are calling for Jim Leyland to be fired? Um, OK

By: weaselpuppy

weaselpuppy — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 05:21:00 +0000

Strieby is in danger of being released, never made it back from wrist injury
Westlake? Nice young power hitter, wayyy too early to see if he will hit at higher levels
McCann- no bat, nice D. Brantley-Not a great defensive catcher, but can hit. Both are MLB backups at best.
Fields- 3rd year at High A and still not hitting Gibson-meh, nothing anyone else doesn’t have. Collins- could be a player, nice bat, LF only though. Garcia- If he learns any plate discipline at all (a big if) he could be a starting RF in the bigs.
Castellanos?-Stud. Looking like Bill Madlock type player/career, maybe better…natural .315 hitter with gap power
Machado and Nunez? Everyone has 5’7″ no hit all glove SS in their systems. whoopee. Suarez? 4 years away, but has skills.
Oliver?- Horrible control and no out pitch. Turner?- probably going to turn out…but we said the same about Porcello too at this stage ( 20 and in AAA banging on the door)

Meh. Rondon is the key…actually developing a late inning RP after drafting 20 some the last 6 years….

By: bethsuek

bethsuek — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 00:31:37 +0000

Gotta love it when people make statements with no concern for facts. “His teams have always underperformed other than his first season.” Have you ever actually looked at his record? Obviously not, or you wouldn’t have made such an inaccurate statement.

By: cmutimmah

cmutimmah — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:29:29 +0000

Raburn isn’t here…. The farm system has decent players. If you’re wondering where the pieces are, check trades back in 2009.

There are a lot of decent pieces in the minors currently.

Justin Turner
Andy Oliver
Casey Crosby
3B Nick Castellanos
SS Machado, Nunez, and Suarez
OF Fields, Gibson, Collins
C McCann
1B Strieby, Westlake

The problem is the Tigers have all these quad-A guys that are streaky like Raburn, Inge, Kelly, and I would include Dirks in this still. There IS talent throughout the system though, just isn’t as reported like a Bryce Harper or Mike Trout type of hype.

The fire Leyland talk is comical though. I love people that call into sports radio here in Detroit and talk about their little league teams that they coach and what they would do if they were Jim. My FAVORITE call is the “Jim Leyland has a career losing record!” UM… name the managers that are active today that have more than 10 years experience at DON’T have a losing record? Do you know how you get hired in the MLB? A team sucks, so they fire their manager to bring in a new one to run their sucky team. So… deck is usually stacked against you in year 1. As the Tigers manager, he’s 544-484 having a .529 win percentage. Everyone’s right.. he sucks for the franchise…… yawn.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 01:03:45 +0000

There’s an old adage in literary studies – harping on the difference between “showing” and “telling” in narrative. I won’t go into that in detail since nobody is paying me to teach it anymore, but let’s just say that Girardi didn’t exactly “tell” Scrooge McLoria he thought he was stupid – but he definitely showed him.

So what did Scrooge McLoria do? Why, he turned right around and showed the Macondo city commissioners how stupid he thought they were, and as we all know, he proved that assumption correct as well.

By: xjokerz

xjokerz — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 21:24:46 +0000

Couldn’t agree more , dombroski needs to be fired … Where’s the farm system Dave ? Where’s the help at all…. Redsux lost Ellsbury, Crawford, youk this year and were able to bring up some sort of help now talent and were stuck with don Kelly , Ryan raburn , and a few other scrubs. Thank god quintin berry is having a fluke ish start for the tigers or else we would have serious trouble

By: randygnyc

randygnyc — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 17:45:55 +0000

The GM is responsible for the product on the field. If the tiger’s are underperforming, naturally, he’s got to shoulder the blame. Realistically, GM’s don’t resign, they fire the manager/coaches instead, so they keep their job.

By: dluxxx

dluxxx — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 17:18:54 +0000

Nobody thought their defense was going to be any good this year, and without V-Mart’s bat, their offense isn’t going to be enough to keep them winning. Don’t get me wrong, they have some solid pitchers (Verlander, Scherzer) but they need some D behind them to turn those balls in play into outs. Their D stinks, period.

By: hisgirlgotburrelled

hisgirlgotburrelled — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:27:33 +0000

rick porcello has allowed 15 runs in the first inning this year. can’t really say ‘should have taken him out earlier.’ unless you mean porcello should be in triple-A, which he probably should be. and scherzer allowed 21 runs in 24 1/3 in April. hard to win games with such poopy pitching.

By: jimbo1949

jimbo1949 — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:26:28 +0000

That’s what happens when you tell the stupid team owner he’s stupid. All that proved was Girardi was correct.

By: rj58

rj58 — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:15:19 +0000

I agree with fusionix above – the Tigers have a roster full of guys who had career years last year and this year are playing back at their level. Hopes for an easy division title were overblown from the start and not based on a sober assessment of these guys’ past histories. Leyland may be part of the problem but what we’re really seeing in Detroit this year is just regression to the mean. So relax and enjoy the games but stop holding your breath…

By: bearsrulepackdrool

bearsrulepackdrool — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:06:24 +0000

Keep him. It’ll be the only way the Sox win the Central.

By: bearsrulepackdrool

bearsrulepackdrool — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:05:37 +0000

You miss the point where he said “I think, if the Tigers fall to 8-10 games out of first place before the end of June,” NOT NOW.

By: stringer52

stringer52 — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:04:36 +0000

Simonson is awful. He spews uninformed opinions and reactions. That being said, Leyland cannot win with the fans in Detroit. I’m no Leyland apologist by any stretch. However, if he leaves a pitcher in and the pitcher gets hammered then he gets nailed for not taking the pitcher out quick enough. If he gives the guy the hook, and the releiver gives up a run, then he gets hammered for taking the starter out too soon. It is like that with every decision he makes. He gets all the blame when his decisions don’t work out and none of the credit when they do. All the expectation has only amplified things this year.

I say this, if you want to fire Leyland, who should replace him? And please do not say Terry Francona….

By: bearsrulepackdrool

bearsrulepackdrool — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:04:26 +0000

Everyone here needs to take a step back and read the line that says “I think, if the Tigers fall to 8-10 games out of first place before the end of June,” Meaning NOT NOW. He’s got a point. The Sox are hot the Indians will make a run. The Tiggers are done for. They were planning their World Series parade in downtown Detroit before the season started.

By: rico7207

rico7207 — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:01:42 +0000

I was calling for this 3 years ago and the same fans claimed he was a Sparky Anderson. Now these idiots can have him and his old school ways, as I have stopped spending any $$$ to watch that garbage. I could care less if this bunch left Detroit entirely. I spend my $$$$$ on trips instead and do not miss this trash at all.

By: hushbrother

hushbrother — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:55:01 +0000

Also, who is there waiting in the wings who’s going to do such a wonderful job and turn the team around? Joe “Morgan Magic” Morgan? I don’t think Leyland is the greatest manager who ever lived, but he’s certainly not the problem in Detroit.

By: danielponce

danielponce — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:43:04 +0000

you fire the manager if youre the marlins

By: sabatimus

sabatimus — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:39:53 +0000

I wonder what’s going to happen to Showalter when the Orioles stop playing WAAY over their heads and come back down to earth? It’s already started (they’re 2-8 in the last 10), and when it continues (yes, WHEN), will Duquette dump Showalter? On the other hand, Showalter is nowhere near the coach Leyland is.

By: sparty0n

sparty0n — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:32:08 +0000

Fire him please! As a Tigers fan, I have wanted this for 3 years. I read an piece from one of the Detroit area papers 4 or 5 years ago. Leyland is the one that encouraged Brandon Inge to swing for the fence every time and not worry about stikeouts. I kept thinking of the movie Signs….

Lionel Prichard: Merrill’s a class-A screw-up. He just swing that bat as hard as he could every time. Didn’t matter what the coaches said, didn’t matter who was on base. He’d just whip that bat through the air as hard as he could. Looked like a lumberjack chopping down a tree. Merrill here has more strikeouts than any two players.
SFC Cunningham: You really got the strikeout record?
Merrill: Felt wrong not to swing.

Inge was never going to be a hall of famer (should have never been an all-star really). But Leyland did him no favors. I was so bummed when they renewed his contract for another year. The only good thing that could come out of this terrible season is that Leyland’s contract is finally over.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:28:55 +0000

I was pretty annoyed with Leyland re: Brandon Inge. I couldn’t figure out if Inge had good pictures on him or what. I mean, Inge was hitting for sh*t in spring training and Leyland says: well, he’s not hitting for average but he’s hitting the ball hard. WTF kind of achievement is that? I think the players respond well to Leyland because they know he supports them and is loyal, but maybe he lets his feelings cloud his judgment. All that said, I like Leyland and the way he manages generally. I think there’s been some changes this year and the team is having a hard time gelling on-field. I see it as a player performance issue rather than one with Leyland’s management.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:18:47 +0000

Another reason to fire the manager: keeping a halfassed triple-A team in contention for 70% of the season and then winning Manager of the Year. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Joe Girardi.

By: locogoddess

locogoddess — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:18:14 +0000

And who is Bill Simonson again? How many World Series rings and Baseball Manager of The Year awards does he have?

Sounds like he suffers from delusions of adequacy.

San Francisco Giants diehard who KNOWS baseball!!!!

By: dracko19

dracko19 — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:16:43 +0000

Simonson is an irrational, knee-jerk, blowhard. He reminds me of that fat guy at the bar that yells at the tv after every out the home team makes or that drunken fan at the ball game yelling at every player. If you wouldn’t listen to those type of guys giving advice about a team, you shouldn’t listen to Simonson (or be promoting his spew)

By: lrak76

lrak76 — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:12:23 +0000

As much as I like Dombrowski, he put the team together. They have a lot of holes that can’t always be worked around. I don’t llike to use the injury excuse because every teams has them but the Tigers have been hit hard early. The big problem is I don’t think they have the resources to make many improvements and the smell of desperation will only drive up the prices on mediocre players. If the Tigers get Fister, Jackson, Dirks, Laird, Avila and Al Burquerque all back healthy (at the same time) and he still can’t get above .500 then it might be time to move on.

By: lrak76

lrak76 — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:06:36 +0000

Show me a better replacement and I might agree to it. Leyland is one heck of a skipper and there are many teams that would want him. As much as I like Dombrowski,

By: hoopmatch

hoopmatch — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:45:44 +0000

And who the hell would they get to take his place at this time? Just a place-holder until season’s end. Might as well let him manage out his contract.

By: scoregasmic

scoregasmic — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:44:12 +0000

Clearly you haven’t been watching Tigers games for the past 3 years Fans have been losing faith in him for awhile now, it’s not a sudden thing. And yeah he makes a lot of dumb decisions, Dombrowski had to demote raburn so leyland would stop playing him when Andy dIrks was on fire, he makes a lot of dumb pitching switches like taking a reliever out when he’s doing well in order to have a lefty throw to a lefty and yup bad things happen when he does that. His teams have always underperformed other than his first season, it’s not a emotional thing the fans want because the Tigers are losing its been building for years and this pushed it over the top

By: churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged

churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:41:46 +0000

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2012&month=0&season1=2012&ind=0&team=6&rost=0&age=0&players=0&sort=16,d

By: churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged

churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:40:57 +0000

The Tigers were probably overrated at the beginning of the year. Look at this list of their hitters*, Cabrera is starting to heat up and Fielder is hitting well, but what about the rest of the team? Jackson won’t stay the teams best hitter, Berry’s .500 BABIP will fall off in a big way, leaving only Dirks and Avila as above average based on wRC+.

Meanwhile you have guys like Peralta (92), Young (89) and Boesch (63) getting significant playing time, and my favorite, Ryan Rayburn with a 10(!) wRC+.

Verlander is his typical overpowering self, Valverde has fallen back to Earth, and they aren’t getting much help from the rest of the starting staff.

By: ningenito78

ningenito78 — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:37:27 +0000

It would be stupid to fire Leyland. This Detroit team is going to go on a midsummer run to the playoffs. They need to relax.