Comments on: 2013 Preview: Detroit Tigers

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 03:35:03 +0000

timmmah, you are being too generous with that .220. Try .180…and injured his groin doing it. Inge was inconsistent as hell and overrated. He was the classic example of people being enamored of his “grit” and being oblivious to how he sucked. Yeah, yeah, he worked hard. Whatever. He still wasn’t good…and it didn’t matter what position they put him in. Ask the A’s how well that worked out for them. There was a reason we couldn’t even trade him away.

There’s being a homer and then there’s being disconnected from reality, right?

By: timmmah10

timmmah10 — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:41:57 +0000

LOL – oh yes, it’s the front office’s fault! I could I miss that?!?

He was moved around because he said he didn’t want to play catcher anymore, bro. So they had to find a place for him on the diamond. There was a time where I viewed Inge as a good soldier, and that time ended years ago. After that he was just a guy making wayyy too much money to be a .220 hitter.

IF you’re the type of fan that loves EVERYTHING that your team does just because it’s your team, then I consider you on the lowest tiers of fans. You sir, are the classic Detroit Lions fan. Expect nothing, pay anything and even in a historically poor 0-16 season, fans like you still sell out the stadium.

If you’re OK with a guy hitting .590 OPS when the league average for 3B is around .780, then you celebrate mediocrity. Inge is to the Tigers as Rudy was to Notre Dame, the only problem is that Inge played more than a snap or two.

By: unclemosesgreen

unclemosesgreen — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:03:46 +0000

Brandon Inge was too busy playing CF and then catcher to be the best 3B he could be because an incompetent front office was incapable of filling those positions. I may not be a Tigers fan, but at least I remember what was actually happening during Inge’s time there. All he ever did was play 3 of the 4 hardest positions on the field to the best of his ability and never ever whine about it.

I’ve been a Boston fan since I was born, and I’m a big Billy Buckner fan. Being a fan means you root for your team, and against the other teams. It doesn’t mean you get to slag your good soldiers like that.

There are plenty of players who deserve that sort of enmity from fans, Inge is most certainly not among them.

By: xjokerz

xjokerz — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:50:09 +0000

Hey timmmmay guy, really you think you could land porcello Garcia and castalennos for some prospect in Texas ? You must be high

By: Minoring In Baseball

Minoring In Baseball — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 02:45:46 +0000

It should be a really fun year for Tiger fans. As a Detroit fan, of course I hope they win the WS, but there’s no guarantee in a season this long. There should be a lot of great moments this season from individual players and the team as a whole. Let’s get this season started!
-Mike
http://minoringinbaseball.com/

By: tc4306

tc4306 — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 02:27:41 +0000

Pretty much agree except that I’d include the A’s and the O’s on your list of legit contenders.

By: joerymi

joerymi — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 01:30:13 +0000

The difference is that the 4 other teams in the Central are all closer in talent to eachother than they are to the Tigers.

All of the other legit AL contenders (Rangers, Angels, Blue Jays, Rays) would love to be in the Central.

The Tigers would probably still be favored if they were in the East, but it would be a breakdown for them not to win the Central.

By: kindasporty

kindasporty — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:15:32 +0000

He’s been mostly overlooked because he hasn’t started the season off strong the last two years. By the end of the year, people who don’t know, only see an ERA inflated largely because of early season struggles. I think it’s kind of a fluke and I wouldn’t be surprised if he breaks out this year and everyone starts paying attention.

By: asimonetti88

asimonetti88 — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 20:22:57 +0000

Angels’ shortstop is Erick Aybar not Kozma. I believe you’re referring to the Cardinals.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:27:03 +0000

You need to change your handle to trollycanadian, PC.

Boooo!

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:24:16 +0000

Sigh! I for one will miss Inge.

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:22:21 +0000

This is an interesting team. Their batting order will have 3 DH types in the muddle. Even if they have a Fielder in the infield, defence will be problematical. As a pitch to contact guy, Porcello is doomed. Still, I can see them winning a couple of more games this season than last year and should win their division.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:42:56 +0000

Re: Inge –

2 errors, 1 play 2006 WS (led the AL in errors by 3B three times)
completely whiffing in the HR Derby — and Robbie Cano’s dad wasn’t pitching
>128 SO/season FIVE times
made $40mil for all that

If you don’t hate him, you’re not a Tigers fan.

By: unclemosesgreen

unclemosesgreen — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:26:38 +0000

Boo – Brandon Inge was a true professional. Not truly good or anything, but not a worthy target for that kind of hate.

By: unclemosesgreen

unclemosesgreen — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:25:18 +0000

Austin Jackson was indeed, covered in wonderfulness last season. Even though 2011 was an off season for him in many regards, he began to make some gains in batting eye, and last season he extended those gains without sacrificing aggression. Having a player reform his hacking ways at the major league level is extremely rare, and it will be fun to see if he can hold onto or even add to those gains this season.

By: danaking

danaking — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:23:42 +0000

I think the Tigers will win, too, but citing the unbalanced schedule as among the reasons is questionable. The teams they have to beat also play the majority of their games in the Al Central. Except for the fact the other teams have to play Detroit and the Tigers don’t, the unbalanced schedule is moot for divisional play, but may be key for wild cards.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:09:10 +0000

Clearly, I don’t miss him. he he

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:05:26 +0000

Firstly, I think you mean the Cards rather than the Angels, but we don’t need Boggs like that. If we pick up a pitcher for a WS run, it should be an experienced closer.

Secondly, you are giving away the farm for Profar, and there’s no sense in that. The Rangers won’t part with him anyway, and it would be a waste for us. SS is not our greatest weakness. Jhonny is ohkay — not our most serious issue. Meanwhile, Garcia and Castellanos have strong potential for the outfield which we need (Hunter is older and meant as a short-term option and Dirks isn’t totally reliable at this point), and I would prefer they hang onto Porcello as a chit for a closer later, if needed (after we know what’s gonna happen with Beard Wilson).

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:53:04 +0000

Oh, yeah! How could I forget Inge! That jackass!

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:51:52 +0000

I’m really optimistic that he is finally coming into his own.

By: timmmah10

timmmah10 — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:46:11 +0000

“Essentially the same team”

Please reread the article. They explained how this isn’t the same team pretty damn well.

Infante, Sanchez, VMart, Hunter IN (since the struggling team from the first half of last year)

Boesch, Raburn, Valverde, Delmon, Inge OUT

I guess adding in 3 All Star players and removing Quad A players isn’t improving the team in your world?

By: spudchukar

spudchukar — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:45:58 +0000

Not sure I buy into the “easiest path to the play-offs” scenario. I agree that the Tigers are loaded for bear, but both the Indians and Royals are much improved, and the Twins are better. Actually, this may be the most intriguing division in MLB.

For whatever reason the Tigers have under performed when heavy favorites, the past few years, and while it is hard to see how this team won’t win 95 games, they may still be challenged. The White Sox certainly surprised me last year, and while I believe they are the 4th best team in this division, they proved last year they can contend, making this arguably the only division with 4 legitimate teams (talking about you New York, Boston, Seattle, and Houston.)

By: watchfullhose

watchfullhose — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:44:46 +0000

link to other previews?

By: beelza

beelza — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:42:50 +0000

I have the same thoughts today as I did last November. Can the Tigers hit left-hand pitching consistently. I heard, “Tigers threaten do not score” way too much last season. (RISP) Jim Leyland is 1-8 in world series games with Detroit. Detroit turned in the third worst offensive performance in world series history. That screams small ball and stealing bases. No excuse for Leyland’s line-up not being able to bunt, especially coming off a world series sweep.

By: timmmah10

timmmah10 — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:41:23 +0000

If you’re going to reply, explain your no.

Do you think:

They won’t go for it.

It doesn’t help the Tigers.

Because you’d be wrong if it’s the latter. Defensively, offensively, and pitching help. Some remember history, others look to create it.

By: timmmah10

timmmah10 — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:38:30 +0000

I could have sworn the during that opening game against Boston, Scherzer was pitching like he was a member of the Red Sox and it was batting practice. Are you sure he was a Tiger that game?

His 180 last year hopefully is the trend, and the roller coaster numbers aren’t the trend for the rest of his career…

By: aiede

aiede — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:34:23 +0000

in 2012, the Tigers gave a combined 1,200 plate appearances to Delmon Young (-1.2 WAR), Brennan Boesch (-1.4 WAR) and Ryan Raburn (-2.0 WAR). Simply removing them from the roster is an upgrade, even if Victor Martinez, Torii Hunter and Omar Infante don’t have career years.

By: sdelmonte

sdelmonte — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:34:04 +0000

Remember how sure we all were that the Tigers would win the Central going away last spring? Yeah, they did win out in the end, but it was far from a sure thing. On paper, they should win and win big. But I have the tiniest of doubts after seeing essentially the same team struggle so much early on last year.

That said, the Tigers are the closest thing to a sure thing this year.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:33:33 +0000

Uh, no.

By: timmmah10

timmmah10 — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:30:39 +0000

Only Porcello trade I would want to see happen:

-Peralta to the Angels (who are running with Kozma now at SS) for Mitchell Boggs.
-Porcello, Avisail Garcia, Bryan Villarreal, and Nick Castellanos to Texas for Profar (They take Castellanos in the OF instead of moving Kinsler there)

Defense improved, Bullpen gets a arm in his prime, and other teams get pieces they need.

I know it’s a pipe dream! It would be selling the farm, but with the only piece on the team needed to be replaced in the next 4 seasons due to age being Torii Hunter and V Mart, they can stomach that. Especially with Tuiosopo looking like a decent OF/DH option in the minors, Hernan being the 2B of the future, and lots of James McCann love…