Shef to the Motor City Kitties

by GACTwinFan on Nov 10, 2006 6:29 PM EST Comment 14 comments

According ESPN.com, Gary Sheffield has been traded to the Tigers. I know he's a bit of a clubhouse cancer, but I think it improves the Tigers. I would assume he takes over for Casey/Shelton at first.

Hadn't really heard about the 3 guys given up, does anyone know how good they are? They are Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett. Sanchez was at AAA/AA, and the other 2 were at High/Low A.

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Ya...

interesting deal. I'm very concerned about a motivated Sheffield, returning to life with Leyland. He's going to have a monster year. They still need a good LH stick though.

But I'm also surprised at the package the Yankees got. Sanchez might be a stud in a couple of years, adding to Hughes/Wang. If they had to trade Sheff, and it seemed they did, that was an impressive haul. Sanchez was rumored to be the centerpiece of the Soriano proposed deal earlier this year.

It'll be interesting how this pans out, but for this season, our Central foes just got a LOT better. Barfield to the Indians didn't help either.

by djskilbr on Nov 10, 2006 6:55 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Depends

It depends on how Sheffield can shake of a year of injuries and looking old. Could be a case of the Tigers sinking themsevles with a long contract.

But could get lucky like WIlliams with Thome and either way, I'm not happy about seeing Sheffield so much, he's my least favorite opposing batter to watch.

"Baseball is great because you can't take a knee or kill the clock. You have to put the ball over the plate and give the other guy his damn chance." C Stengel

by AdamOnFirst on Nov 11, 2006 3:47 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I think the Tigers...

...are starting to get to that payroll level where overpaying free agents won't really kill their flexibility. I mean, if you look at Magglio Ordonez, they're overpaying him by a lot, but that's not really hurting their payroll flexibility. As long as they keep around a certain number of young, cheap players (Verlander, Inge, Granderson, Monroe, Zumaya, Rodney, etc.) then they can afford to have some overpaid players.

An extra $30M+ on top of what the Twins spend makes a pretty huge difference in payroll flexibility.

by ubelmann on Nov 11, 2006 3:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Well

I'm just hoping.

Plus, he was hurt all last year, and looked old even before he got hurt, so maybe not so much this year, but over the next couple he'll nto give them much but his salary will keep them from signing another big FA.

It'll be interesting to see how the Tigers do next year. I don't see their pitching as being a fluke as much as I did (correctly) witht eh Sox), but their defense was very lucky for the first part of the year, and it came down some.

"Baseball is great because you can't take a knee or kill the clock. You have to put the ball over the plate and give the other guy his damn chance." C Stengel

by AdamOnFirst on Nov 12, 2006 2:10 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The Tigers' second half...

...decline in defense had a lot to do with injuries to Polanco, Guillen, and the downgrade from Shelton to a not-who-he-used-to-be Sean Casey more than it had to do with luck. Bonderman's really the only starter I think is a stud in that rotation, but they don't need studs as long as their defense plays lights out.

by ubelmann on Nov 12, 2006 5:36 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

All

That is all definitely true.

Bonderman had oddly wore results than he should have based on his peripherals, it seems to me...

At any rate, I think the Tigers are a more solidly built team than the Sox of 05' and are more worrisome to repeat. Like the Sox, they've now added a big bat, but unlike the sox, they didn't have to gut the core of their team at two key positions, namely center field and high minors pitching talent, to do it.

The Tigers may have payed a price in younger arms, but they lot absolutely no one that is or would be on the major league roster this year.

"Baseball is great because you can't take a knee or kill the clock. You have to put the ball over the plate and give the other guy his damn chance." C Stengel

by AdamOnFirst on Nov 12, 2006 10:20 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

unless

he has totally lost it due to injuries that will not allow him to be his old self with the bat i see him as a Frank Thomas type of threat in the middle of the order that you don't want coming up with men on in a tight game and not be able to pitch around him. he has a respectable stick. Moto town can get guys on and over to second. myself i would have rather had him someplace other than the AL central. time will tell if it kills them with the arms they gave up. but hey they have the arms now and are in position to make there move now so it's a good trade for the Tigers as i see it. worth the risk with the extention. there ball park is packed and i'm sure the marketing revenue is way up so let it fly. hey this owner also owns the redwings and look at that success.

"hi everybody" Herb Carneal Hall of fame baseball announcer.

by firstatbat61 on Nov 11, 2006 11:44 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Hitting DH

Tigers supposedly brought him in as a DH only. Plus, he got a mammoth two-year extension, which makes Torii Hunter's $12 million seem paltry.

by twintown on Nov 11, 2006 2:58 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Sanchez?

It seems as though the Tigers gave up an awful lot to get an aged, broken down slugger. Shefazol could be a force in the middle of the line-up, and he could be a distraction on the DL. But Humberto Sanchez will be a stud starter for the Yankees next year. Sanchez is on a par with Zumaya, except he's more durable. And the two relievers the Yankees got also look like they could contribute in the near future. I just would not trade that much pitching away for a bat with no plans to use his mediocre glove. It doesn't make sense to me anyway. If Bonderman, Verlander or Zumaya go down with an injury next year, the Tigers will be wishing thay had not made this deal.

Joe Mauer for MVP (for real).

by cmathewson on Nov 12, 2006 8:42 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Sanchez more durable?

Sanchez spent time on the DL this year for his elbow, throwing only 120 innings, after only 60 innings in '05 and 120 innings in '04. In fact, 120 innings seems to be the most Sanchez has ever thrown in a professional season. He's the exact opposite of durable.

Certainly Sanchez has a lot of upside, but he's risky due to his elbow, and could soon be following the Liriano path to TJ surgery. And Sanchez wasn't all that impressive in the IL this season. Between needing more seasoning and his injury troubles, I don't see Sanchez contributing until 2008. He could contribute next year if things go well, but it seems unlikely from where I sit.

If the Tigers only had $65M/year to spend, I would say this was a bad gamble for them. However, they are starting to get the sort of payroll where they can patch holes in their pitching staff with money, whereas the Twins really can't afford to sign an expensive starter in FA or to take on a big contract like the White Sox did with Jose Contreras.

by ubelmann on Nov 13, 2006 12:34 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yup

Which makes sense when you consider Detroit is a much bigger market and they have a new stadium. The Sox don't have the stadium but they have the big market.

"Baseball is great because you can't take a knee or kill the clock. You have to put the ball over the plate and give the other guy his damn chance." C Stengel

by AdamOnFirst on Nov 13, 2006 1:22 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Detroit questions.....

The starters will either be more consistent, or break-down.

Is Todd Jones the closer -- again -- or can one of the young ahrd-throwers actually do the job.

Sheffield is a good pick-up, but aging and expensive.

Again, for $13 mill plus 2-more years...you could buy a lot of Rondell Whites.

by twintown on Nov 12, 2006 9:17 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

If

If the tigers were smart they'd take Jones' job away. he was not a solid closr. They'd be much better off with Zumaya there.

But yeah, i think the big hurdle for the Tiger next year will be the pitchers arms recovering from that workload. I feel like they did a good job of being careful not to overstress anyone though.

But the Yankees made a very good trade in this. They actually have pitching talent no, somethign they badly needed. they got more by trading Whtie too.

Honestly, what kind of a dumbass organization trades a good young pitching prospect for overpayed and hardly major league quality Jared Wright? Oh right, the Orioles...

"Baseball is great because you can't take a knee or kill the clock. You have to put the ball over the plate and give the other guy his damn chance." C Stengel

by AdamOnFirst on Nov 12, 2006 9:26 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Well...

I certainly don't like Jones, but I actually think the Tigers are better with him as closer. That allows them to use their best two relievers (Zumaya/Rodney) in more effective/varied roles. But hey, I'm always one who has believed the "closer" role is overrated.

I still think Sheff was a good move, but yes, the Yanks did get a lot. They could have a very solid young 3 in Hughes/Wang/Sanchez developing here.

by djskilbr on Nov 13, 2006 1:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs