One third of the baseball season has almost been played and one assumption can be made—the Detroit Tigers appear to be frauds!
The Tigers have improved drastically since GM David Dombroski has shown the uncanny ability to lure marquee players such as Magglio Ordonez, Ivan Rodriguez, and Kenny Rogers to a franchise that has been in disarray since the late 90’s.
David Dombroski made a huge statement by plucking Jim Leyland out of retirement to steer the ship straight. Leyland had a magical season in 2006, directing the Tigers to their first World Series since 1984.
The Tigers had a great follow up in 2007, posting 88 victories and just coming up short of making the postseason for consecutive seasons.
The Tigers made plenty of noise after the ‘07 baseball season ended, quickly trading for shortstop Edgar Renteria. Shortstop was one of the biggest offseason needs, and the Tigers filled it promptly. The acquisition let Tigers fans know that the organization means business.
Left field has been a gaping hole of inconsistency since the 2007 season. However the Tigers traded for Jacque Jones.
This was a questionable trade to begin with because Jones has never lived up to expectations. The Cubs could not have been happier when they unloaded Jones and his $6 million contract. Jones has recently been designated for assignment and will not wear a Tigers jersey again this season.
The baseball winter season meetings started slow, but the Tigers wreaked havoc when they traded coveted prospects Andrew Miller, Cameron Maybin, and a few other prospects for power slugger Miguel Cabrera and durable Dontrelle Wills.
The baseball nation and Detroit fans quickly making claims of how this could be the highest octane offense for years to come.
The Tigers sold out of season tickets for the first time in franchise history. The city of Detroit was thinking about how great the Tigers could be to the plummeting automotive economy where unemployment is at an all-time high.
So far, the Tigers have done nothing but let fans down since opening day. The Tigers were swept by Kansas City in their first three games. The Tigers then faced the Chicago White Sox only to be clobbered in a three-game series sweep.
And not to mention, they took an embarrassing loss on Sunday Night Baseball, which was televised on ESPN.
Baseball analysts could not explain the slump the Tigers had embarked upon. Most analysts were thinking once Curtis “the spark plug” Granderson came back from the DL, the so-called catalyst of the team would surely be the answer.
Granderson entered the lineup assisting Detroit to five victories and a historic sweep of the Yankees.
Since beating the Yankees, the Tigers have managed to enter an abyss of losses , getting walloped by Boston and Minnesota. The daily pitching displays prove the Tigers are out of the game almost shortly after it begins. The Tigers have gotten into big run deficits quickly after the game begins.
The marquee players of the second-largest payroll in baseball can no longer hit. Leyland does not have any answers for the hapless Tigers, and he continues to shuffle a struggling lineup. The pitching staff has been absolutely odious with the worst ERA in baseball.
None of these overpriced superstars have stepped up and this team is starting to look like a bunch of players who have quit. Team chemistry does not appear, and the skipper continues to make excuses and preach patience.
Leyland appears to be out of answers and does not know how to fix this rut his team is in. There are still many games left to be played, but this team has shown no lifeline for fans to believe there is any kind of light at the end of the tunnel.
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5 months ago
The bats will heat up, so its still too early to worry about that. What is apparent is their pitching issues. I think Willis was a throw in that they had to take to get Cabrera because he has been washed up for two years. The bullpen is quite shaky due to injuries and now the starters are in bad shape as well. Nothing will uninspire fans quite like lousy pitching. I really thought they would be better than they seem like they will be, but Pecota had them at 89-73 to start with. I still think that is possible. The rest of the division will tail off. Minnesota does not have the pitching to keep up that pace all year.
Just remember, every team (for the most part) is going to win 60 and lose 60. Its what happens with the remaining 60 that make it interesting.
Sheffield and Rogers I think are both done, but the rest of the guys will bounce back. Maggs and Granderson will have a slightly less effective year than last, but others will have better years than last year.
5 months ago
The tigers record is 16-22 meaning they have played 38 out of a 162 game schedule. When I multiplied 38 by 3 I came up with 114...so what happened to the other 48 games on their schedule?
5 months ago
What do you expect when you have a guy like Sheffield on your team/ he is a constant whiner and clubhouse cancer. he infects every team he is on oh and he is'nt even hitting his weight this year.
5 months ago
Although the start has not been great, we are about 1/4 through the season, Jair Jurgens was traded to Atlanta with Gorky Hernandez for Edgar Renteria, and we were not swept by the BoSox. Get your facts straight if you want people to take your opinions seriously.
5 months ago
Wow, where do I start. Number One, this is baseball, We are not even through a 1/4 of the season. Seems you are taking some serious liberties with that generalization of of almost 1/3 played. Just like we have struggled in the beginning... do you really think Minnesota is going to finish in the top anything? Baseball is a game of numbers and we have a ton of games left. As far as all of these Overpriced Superstars. Trust me they are worth every penny. Cabrera will hit to his expectations, Renteria will also not disappoint. Your words "the Durable Dontrelle Willis?" Everyone knew what he was. Calling Cabrera overpriced and Willis anything but chump change in a major deal lends a lot of insight into your baseball knowledge. I am surprised that anyone writing a baseball column is surprised by a "shuffling" of a lineup that is completely new to a team, 1/4 of the way into the season what do you expect...Perfection? We all know we have troubles in the Bullpen, but there are injuries, Bullpen players never become available till later in the season. Finishing .500 through July is all that is necessary and then we play for October. Once our Bullpen is in shape and our lineup bats for the next guy up I see no problems as of today, If today was July 13 I would have concern. To say a team that is 4.5 games from 1st in their division is giving up on their coach is ridiculous.
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