El Papa Grande' heads to MoTown

I was against the Jose Valverde signing in Detroit. It was not a horrific idea by Dave Dombrowski, I just didn't like the idea of "paying for saves" when there were other holes to fill on a rather ordinary club. I would have rather seen the Tigers add depth to their rotation with the money spent or a move to get Kevin Gregg for far less money, less years, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, not having to sacrifice a 1st round draft pick.

A weak farm system like the Tigers shouldn't be giving up 1st round picks to sign Closers. Especially ones who are switching leagues.

I hope it all works out. I'll enjoy watching Papa Grande do his thing and he'll be fun to root for. I just didn't like direction. (signing Damon was different for several reasons.....shorter deal, no draft comp attached, filled a need, came at a bargain, balanced the lineup....etc)

Cheap Hockey Gold Medal for Canada

Both team have beaten the other once....nothing you can do about the format. USA gets Silver Medal in hockey.

The coveted 5th spot

If I were an MLB pitcher in need of a gig the annual battle for the 5th spot in the rotation would be a pretty huge deal. But as an observer its really an annual rite of Spring that means little.

The 5th starter in a rotation is a malleable spot. The hot hand should be ridden throughout the year.....5th starters emerge in June as often as they do in March, probably more often. So we'll just watch the battle between Eddie Bonine, Phil Coke, Armando Galarraga, and a couple of others. It helps us all chisel away the days as we await Opening Day but ultimately its totally premature to worry about who gets it first....who holds it the longest this year through effective pitching....that would fun to know now who it ultimately will be.

Johnny Damon

I spent last off-season bemoaning the fact that Tigers did outwardly appear to be pursuing the free agent bargains that emerged like Bobby Abreu and Adam Dunn. I am not a huge proponent of free agency whatsoever....but I love a good bargain! I believe passing on these deals cost the Tigers a post-season berth in '09.

So I was very happy to see the Tigers be aggressive in inking Johnny Damon this off-season. His lefty bat and solid OBP really will help the Tigers at the top of the order. While he's old....and I'm also no fan of aged ballplayers...he's on a short term deal. This will not sink the ship like some of the Tigers other woeful commitments have threatened to. I really look forward to a solid season from Damon and hope he can add some zest to the top two spots in the order that were a bit of a dead zone for the Tigers last year.

The Tigers' off-season

As we head into the 2010 season it will be interesting to see how the moves by GM Dave Dombrowski have changed the direction of the Tigers' franchise. The dead money contracts have been a bit of an anchor for some time now. Nothing could be done and mistakes become sunk-costs in MLB pretty quickly. But an off-season of moving Curtis Granderson while his value was still rather tangible and capitilizing on a solid trade market for Edwin Jackson after an All-Star berth season has yielded some young talent, that is also cheap talent, that really may become a part of a core heading forward. Detroit's dead-money will be peeling off over time and this cheaper and leaner core will be a big part of the next contending Tigers' ballclub. Max Scherzer, Austin Jackson, Daniel Schlereth, and Phil Coke. A nice influx of talent to an organization that was kind of light on emerging young talent.

Off we go

Starting a blog has been on my mind for some time now and I hope to use this space to ruminate and opine on all things. The Detroit Tigers will always be a heavy emphasis. But the entire world of baseball will be in play here. Politics, golf, college football, HBO television series, and select other topics will be fairgame as well however! Let's have fun....