(For idle observations about the MLB off-season while M-net is
down.)

26 responses total.

I got kinda sentimental as the unexpected news of Tony LaRussa's 
retirement broke.  Not that I followed his career all that closely,
except for the 2006 World Series, but from the press accounts it 
sounds like he had a really magnificent managerial run. 
Kind of elegant to decide to go out in the glow of a World Series win.
 
He doesn't look like he's in his late 60s, but watching his 
Letterman appearance, it seemed clear that he's been dyeing his hair.  
 :-)

Interesting that so many of the most-winning managers are from 
what I think of as "the modern era":  #3 La Russa, #4 Bobby Cox, 
#5 Joe Torre, #6 Sparky.    La Russa could have taken John McGraw's 
place at #2 by just showing up for the 2012 season -- La Russa is 
just 40 wins behind McGraw's total -- but I could see where La Russa
would look at where he was in his journey through life and decide
that a year home with his family was more important than another 
notch in the record books.  

"The Void", for those who are not familiar with it, is the interminable 
period between baseball games from October to April.

Good idea, Ken.  We really ought to mirror the sports conference between 
M-Net and Grex.

Dave Dombrowski spoke with the media yesterday, and outlined some of the 
changes he expects over the off-season.

He's not expecting Carlos Guillen or Magglio Ordonez to return.  Or Brad 
Penny, either.

He thinks Joel Zumaya might be a non-roster invitee.

He'd like to bring back Ramon Santiago, but Santiago might be in for a 
big contract and a starting role with another team.

He didn't seem to refer to Wilson Betemit at all, from anything I've 
read.

Phil Coke will be solely in the bullpen.

The priorities are 2nd base, 3rd base, and a starting pitcher.  Jacob 
Turner could be in the mix for starter but isn't guaranteed a starting 
job.  A backup catcher is also important.  The Tigers don't expect 
Victor Martinez to be the backup catcher any more.  They want him to be 
full-time DH.

Johnny Peralta is not expected to be moved from shortstop.  That means 
it's unlikely the Tigers will pick up Jose Reyes.

Austin Jackson might not bat leadoff next year.

Signing Delmon Young to a long-term contract is not a priority.  

Frank McCourt is finally going to sell the Dodgers.  Hooray!  He's looted 
that team as much as he can, I think.

With 3rd base being a priority, I wonder if we've seen the end of 
Brandon Inge's days in Detroit?  Eating Inge's $5 million contract 
for 2012 would be less painful than the decisions which were made to 
eat the contracts of Gary Sheffield and Dontrelle Willis.  
(And then there was Guillen's contract, which might as well have 
been eaten, as the Tigers only got about one month of good playing
time from the poor guy.)

Aramis Ramirez is touted as the top free-agent 3rd baseman available
this year, but at 33 Ramirez is only one year younger than Brandon Inge
-- Ramirez is at the point where the body could break down really fast.

Signing Victor Martinez at a similar age worked, but V-Mart got gimpy
over the course of the season just from fancy baserunning -- he wasn't
asked to be a full-time fielder.

My guess is that Inge will be the starting 3B for the Tigers in 2012,
and that he will platoon with Danny Worth.  Inge is already signed.  He
played well in September and October.  Also, the Tigers are waiting for
Nick Castellanos, and don't want to commit to someone else when they
expect him to be ready in another year.

Inge could start for the Tigers, but if he has another bad season, the
Tigers could make a mid-season trade for someone else.  Or Castellanos
could have a monstrous 1st half in AA ball, and come on up to the Tigers
in 2012.

If they signed Aramis Ramirez, or another good hitting 3rd baseman, it
would take a multi-year contract.  If that happens, it probably means
Castellanos gets traded.  I don't want that to happen.

I'm more concerned about Ramirez's defense than injuries.  He's terrible
with the glove.  If he's backed up by Delmon Young in left, the results
could be frightening.

I agree, Ken, he's at risk of falling apart.  He played in just 82 games
in 2009, and 124 in 2010.  He did play in 149 games this year.  He's not
a guy I'd want to have for a 4 or 5 year contract, but that's probably
what he will want.  And at a high cost, too.  He turned down a $16
million player option to return to the Cubs next year, so he thinks he
can do better than that.

Great hitter, though.

Alex Avila received the Silver Slugger award as the best-hitting catcher
in the Ameircan League for 2011.

He was a finalist as the Gold Glove catcher, but was beat out by Matt
Wieters from Baltimore.

Austin Jackson was also a Gold Glove finalist, at center fielder, but
Jacoby Ellsbury from Boston got the award.

Justin Verlander won the Player's Choice Player of the Year award this
evening.  He's the 2nd pitcher ever to get it.  The other was Pedro
Martinez in 1999.

It's considered a good sign with regard to his chances of winning the
American League MVP for 2011.

I would say it's likely Inge will be back at 3B next spring, and the job
is his to lose.  Toledo seemed to clear his head a bit, and hopefully
he's fully recovered come Spring. I don't think we've seen the last of
him, and I still pull for him.  It's unfortunate he had the 2011 that he
did.  I don't think anyone, even jep and others who aren't fans,
expected him to be as bad as he was in 2011.  I'll always pull for a guy
with a work ethic like Inge (and Willis before him) willing to
essentially get fired for a chance at recovering and getting another
chance.  He could have taken a release and gone elsewhere for a starting
job, but he chose to go work on the issues he knew were present with no
guarantees that he'd be back.

I like that we're looking to keep Zumaya around, and signing him to a
minor league deal with a spring training invite seems like the right
thing to do.  He's said he wants to stick around, and knows he's got an
uphill battle.  I think Zumaya also feels he owes us (as he does) since
he's been injured pretty much his entire career.  It'd sure be nice to
see him return to form.  Sadly, he seems to be headed the way of Matt
Anderson.

Good riddance to Carlos Guillen and Brad Penny. I'm sad to see Ordonez
go, he was a major part of our turnaround.  He's clearly fading as a
player, but he sure was exciting to watch play.

Wilson Betemit did his part, but he was little more than insurance in
case Brandon Inge couldn't come back or didn't find his defense or
offense and was let go.  With Inge's improvement it doesn't make much
sense to keep him around.

It'll be interesting to see what we do for a leadoff hitter.  We'd
probably need to find that in an infield position player, probably
whoever we get at 2B.  As long as Boesch is healthy and we keep Delmon
Young, our Outfield is pretty much set.  I'm not sure where Raburn is
going to go, but I'm fairly certain it won't be an everyday 2B position.
 Maybe he'll be the fourth OF.  We'll definitely have to find a Vance
Wilson or Gerald Laird to be backup C.  We need a left-handed starter
too.

I don't think there is a really appealing, does it all 2B that the 
Tigers can sign as a free agent.  They need good infield defense, speed, 
on base percentage, and durability.  Has Joe Morgan got any kids who 
play ball?

Looking at the 2Bs who qualified for the batting title, and there are 20 
names.  Sort them by OPS (on base percentage + slugging percentage) and 
the top names aren't even possibilities in your dreams.  They are 
Robinson Cano, Dustin Pedroia, and Ian Kinsler.  Those guys aren't going 
anywhere.

Then there's Ben Zobrist from Tampa Bay, and Brandon Phillips from 
Cincinnati.

If a team like the Tigers really wants someone from Tampa Bay or 
Milwaukee, they can get him.  Phillips will make $12 million next year, 
and that's the end of his contract.  You could send Porcello, Scherzer 
or Jacob Turner down there and probably get him.  Or Zobrist.  Those 
teams don't spend money.  If you send them a competitive young player, 
they'll give up a higher priced star.

They're both pretty good on-base guys.  They both have a little bit of 
speed.  I think Phillips is a little better defensively -- it's hard to 
judge, but that's my impression.

They're the guys I'd want to see from the majors.

I'm not saying the Tigers will do this, but it would be interesting if 
they did.

It also seems possible the Tigers will try someone from the minors.  I 
have no idea who'd be good for the Tigers, either via trade, or to get 
via Rule 5 or some such.  

Seeing this second base supply situation makes me wonder why
the Tigers decided to trade away Scott Sizemore for a handful
of beans.  

The Tigers traded Sizemore because they gave up on him as a likely major 
league 2nd baseman.  I think they've given up on Will Rhymes, too.

Dave Dombrowski has said in years past he doesn't consider Ramon Santiago 
as the kind of guy who can play regularly.  I think he's viewed as having 
stamina problems.

If there's no move, the Tigers probably are left with Santiago and Raburn 
as a platoon for 2nd base.  That's a hole.  I think anyone would agree 
with that.  

I understand that the Tigers might have concluded that Sizemore would
not have developed into a "real" major-league 2nd baseman; the problem
is that right now "real" major-league 2nd basemen are in critically
short supply, and given that unavailability maybe you keep the 
mediocre guy you've got until the future reveals itself.   

There's no guarantee the Tigers are
keeping Ramon Santiago: he might go elsewhere for a chance to 
be a starter, as Santiago is also a free agent this year.
 
Raburn is clumsy in the infield and he doesn't hit really well
until the second half of the season.  :-/
 
Ugh.

Lynn Henning of the Detroit News, the most knowledgeable of the Tigers
beat writers, thinks the Tigers will target 2nd basemen Aaron Hill of
Arizona, Kelly Johnson of Toronto (a Type A free agent, so he'd cost a
1st round draft pick), or Chris Getz of Kansas City.

Hill is good defensively, according to Henning.  He was also the 3rd
worst hitter in the majors among 2nd basemen who were eligible for the
batting title.

Henning says the Tigers have a minor league 2B named Hernan Perez who
could be ready for the majors in 2013, so they won't sign a free agent
to a long-term contract.

Considering noone has ever heard of Hernan Perez, I won't put much stock
in that.  If they can lock someone up at 2B they probably won't hesitate
to do so just because they happen to have a random 2B in the system. 
Sizemore was once a highly valuable prospect. It made sense to believe
he'd turn into an everyday 2B then.  This Perez guy doesn't seem to be
the same type of player.

I hadn't heard a lot about Perez.  I do try to follow the top minor
league prospects in the Tigers system.

Hernan Perez has spent the last two years in A ball at West Michigan,
and checking his stats, they don't jump out as dazzling.  He batted .258
with 8 homers last year.  He's 20 years old, so he certainly has time to
develop.  I am not sure why Henning thinks he's the next major league 2B
for the Tigers.

He also thinks Dixon Machado, a 19 year old who played for the
Whitecaps, is that kind of player, too.  He's a shortstop.  He hit .235
last year with no homers.  Henning has written of him as arriving in the
majors right alongside Nick Castellanos.  

Both of Perez and Machado have some speed, but you have to get on base
before speed means anything.  

Now, Castellanos is another thing entirely.  He's a legitimate clear
choice to make the majors in 2013 or 2014, and is expected to stand out
when he gets there.  He hits for average, and plays terrific defense. 
I'm really looking forward to seeing him play.

Castellanos should be fun to watch.  But other than that, Henning seems
to be throwing a lot of guys names out there that noone but he sees
anything in.  It'll be interesting if they actually develop into real
players.

I did some further reading.  I think Henning picked Perez and Machado
because the Tigers sent them to the Arizona Fall League, a developmental
league for prospects who have a chance to play in the majors.  I don't
know if he had other knowledge.

I'm hearing there are complaints about a bad call on a touchdown play
for the Michigan loss to Iowa.  I guess there were two calls that went
against Michigan, late in the game.  The other was what some thought
should have been a pass interference call.

It reminds me of the first time I ever heard of the Big Ten apologizing
for bad officiating.  That day, Michigan won; they beat Purdue or
Minnesota or someone.  I watched the game that day, and saw two of the
most egregiously favoring calls I've ever seen.  One took a touchdown
away from the other team, keeping the score close for Michigan.  The
other allowed Michigan to score.

There was not the slightest hint of a controversy in the Ann Arbor News,
for several days.  The Big Ten apologized for the errors in officiating,
and the story appeared on about page 5.

The comments from U-M fans on M-Net were, "Well, bad calls happen." 
Some added, "Most of them go against Michigan."  I didn't agree with
that part.

Those were the people who screamed the loudest over "Spartan Bob" and
the 26-24 loss on November 3, 2001.  Jeff Smoker to T. J. Duckett.  I
have a walking stick named Duckett because of that game.  

I didn't see the Michigan-Iowa game over the weekend.  I watched
Michigan State beat Minnesota instead.  I didn't hear about this week's
controversy until yesterday in the papers.  I've never managed to have
much sympathy for Michigan over such things.

Hm.  How odd, I don't recall touchdown plays being a part of Baseball
when it ended last month.  When did this start? It should bring some
added challenges.

Oops.  I'll move it.  Backtalk crashes if I try to use either "Hide" or
"Erase".

Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos was kidnapped from his home in 
Venezuela by four armed men.  I haven't seen any messages about demands 
from the kidnappers.

It reminds me of former Tigers pitcher Ugueth Urbina, whose mother was 
kidnapped in Venezuela in 2005.  The kidnappers demanded a ransom of $6 
million, but never got it.  She was rescued after a few months.  Later 
that year, Ugueth Urbina attacked several farm workers, and was convicted 
of attempted murder.  He's still in prison.

Ahem.  That's maybe an unnecessary aside.  Hopefully Ramos will be 
released or otherwise get out of his situation soon.

You've probably never seen the blog entries "Where in the world is 
Ugueth Urbina?" unless you read the Roar of the Tigers blog.
Somewhat silly and tasteless...

I have not, I admit.

Wilson Ramos, the Washington Nationals catcher who was kidnapped by
gunmen a few days ago, has been rescued, according to ESPN.  He's fine.

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