Detroit Tigers Still Waiting for Closure on a Closer

It’s no secret that the closer role is currently vacant in Motown. Although GM Dave Dombrowski has made it clear that “there is no fire sale going on here!”

(sigh)

It’s becoming crystal clear that our “closer” will more than likely be a committee compiled of in house relievers.

Brandon Lyon has signed a three year $15 million deal with the Houston Astros. The roller coaster also known as Fernando Rodney is drawing interest from many teams not named the Detroit Tigers. Draft picks from 2008 Robbie Weinhardt and Cody Satterwhite could possibly find there way into a relief role next season. However, neither of them are remotely close to being “closer” ready yet.

With that being said, let’s evaluate some of our in house candidates.

Joel Zumaya :
If, and may I be very clear on this, IF Zumaya stays healthy he could be a very effective closer. While I realize that his health has hindered him since 2007, he still is a very solid option. Hide the guitar hero and get serious Joel. You have wanted this opportunity for a long time. Silence the haters and become the Zumaya that we all know you can be!

Ryan Perry :
I believe Perry is Zumayas biggest competition. With minimal minor league expirience he logged 61 2/3 innings, striking out 60 and posting a 3.79 ERA last season. If he can keep the walks down he could get the ball often in save situations.

Bobby Seay :
Last season Seay went 6-3 with a 4.25 ERA in 48 2/3 innings. Though solid, those numbers are not to impressive. However, considering his final 5 1/3 innings he surrendered 7 earned runs, it’s not to shabby. Though Seay is mostly known as a situational lefty, he held right handed batters to a .239 average. Though unlikely, with an abundance of lefty relief pitchers perhaps Seay gets a chance.

Daniel Schlereth :
Schlereth was tagged future closer material before even throwing a single pitch in professional baseball. His minor league numbers (though brief) do a pretty good job of backing that theory up.

After logging 39 2/3 innings down on the farm, Sclereth left an impressive 1.15 ERA behind. Although he was walking batters at a clip of 5.3 BB/9, his strikeout numbers were almost insane at 13.8 k/9.

In Arizona however his numbers were less than impressive. In 18 1/3 innings he posted a 5.89 ERA and issued 7.4 BB/9.

Throwing him into the majors last year was obviously a mistake. Throwing him into the closer role next year would be an even bigger mistake. Let the kid get his feet wet!

Jeremy Bonderman :
Alright, I’m only talking about Bondo in a relief scenerio because many folks are all in on this idea. My opinion, not going to happen and for all the right reasons. Jeremy is in  the final year of his contract. He will start and impress us all (being optimistic).

Although it’s much too early to tell right now, one thing is certain.

These days us Tigers fans are still waiting for closure on a closer.