Tigers Land the Big Punch

by AdamOnFirst on Dec 4, 2007 7:42 PM EST in News Comment 11 comments

The Tigers are jumping in and making the first big blockbuster of the offseason, and what a doozy it is. Not only Miguel Cabrera, but also Dontrelle Willis will be Tigers. Wow.

Going to Florida will be now less than 6 prospects, headlined by young lefty Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin, as well as catcher Mike Rabelo.

That news, coupled with this related news is a scary thought for the Tiger's cohabitants of the AL Central.

I'm not a big fan of Willis, but his ERA last year was very likely the cause of some terrible luck as his peripheral stats changed very litter (his HR rate went way up, but his GB rate stayed steady) and he is likely to help the Tiger's staff. Cabrera is obviously a monster, and with repors of him working on his physical conditioning, much more likely to stay at third.

The question for the Tigers, where will Brandon Inge play? Perhpas Cabrera will play first so as to not lose Inge's superior defense.

The question for the rest of us is how do we deal with a batting order containing Curtis Granderson, Ivan Rodriguez, Gary Shefield, Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen, AND Miguel Cabrera, all along with no real below average hitter. That is a fearsome offensive team, and with Verlander, Rodgers, Willis, and Bonderman in the rotation....

The question for the Twins is, how does this effect the Santana talks. The Angels deny being in the conversation, but they were trying very hard to land Cabrera, so does this push the Angels in harder? Haren really isn't an option for the in their division, I and I really don't see Erik Bedard ending up anywhere but Baltimore.

We'll see how this plays out.

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It's quite amazing that the Tigers were able to

pull this off. Kudos to them. As an aside, having an owner willing to spend has its advantages...

...and note that it's not only the willingness to pay the major league roster. The Tigers have been VERY aggressive the last few years in drafting guys who fell because of signability issues and getting them signed. Andrew Miller, one of the pieces the Marlins coveted, was acquired this way.

The Twins are obviously way behind the Indians and Tigers now, with or without Santana. Really, I think you have to be thinking 2009-2010 now, even more than you were yesterday.

One interesting thing is that one way to view the American league in 2008 is that 5 teams have clearly separated themselves for 4 playoff spots:

Detroit, Cleveland, Boston, New York, and Los Angeles.

You got to figure that both LA and Boston must feel a bit more pressure to improve for next year to compete with the rest of the group. It's brutal.

by Eric in Madison on Dec 4, 2007 8:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yankees

Amazingly, I'd say among the 5 teams, the Yankees are the most likely to get left out.

Baseball is great because you cant take a knee or kill the clock. You gotta put the ball over the plate and give the other guy his damn shot E Weaver abridged

by AdamOnFirst on Dec 4, 2007 8:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Highway robery

I like Maybin and Miller, but they might never be as valuable as Cabrera and Willis are right now. And it doesn't look like any of the other prospects were much to get too excited about.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Dec 4, 2007 8:27 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

agreed

Just checked out the minor league numbers for all six of those guys, and while Maybin and Miller certainly seem like the real deal, the other four are classic spare parts. Role-players if they ever make it to the show; maybe (unlikely) one of them will be league average during his prime.

For freaking Cabrera and Willis. Sheesh.

by ravenfly on Dec 5, 2007 11:45 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Q

How was this deal better than the angels offer for Cabrera alone?

by doofus04 on Dec 4, 2007 8:31 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

dot dot dot

was there any whiff of this sort of deal before 3pm this afternoon?

by DedicatedFollowerOfFashion on Dec 4, 2007 8:36 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Dodgers

Does this mean the Dodgers will turn their attention to Santana, now that they can't get Cabrera? That would be good.

by by jiminy on Dec 4, 2007 10:59 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Bedard/Haren

We need the Dodgers to lose the Bedard and Haren sweepstakes (unlikely), in order for them to upt Kemp and Broxton on the table.

Question. I guess he's got a great reputation, but do we really want a relief prospect? I really want a #1 type starting prospect, but outside of that, other picthers only provide us depth of options and trade bait. Relief prospects only take spots in the pen that could be used to get a look at starter prospects.

I strongly believe that the twins should stock ther bullpen with the prospects that don't make the rotation. This gives them experience, practice with the MLB coaches, and since so many starters are young, we will need a lot of long relief options. I'm pretty comfortable with pulling young pitchers after 5 innings, put another in for 3, and go to the closer if you're winning a close game.

by snolls on Dec 4, 2007 11:32 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Inge

Looks like the pundits are penciling in Guillen at first base, with Cabrera obviously on third. Where does this leave Inge. Is he going to be out there? Should the Twins be interested?

by BAIT956 on Dec 5, 2007 9:19 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Should the Twins be interested?

yes.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Dec 5, 2007 10:24 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know...

I actually don't mind this too much. While obviously Miggy is an absolute stud, I see some problems with this for the Tigers:

Willis in the AL doesn't scare me in the slightest. He might do well for a half a season as teams adjust to his deception, but geez, Delmon Young is going to MURDER him when he pitches against us.
Maybin is an absolute stud himself and the Tigers have pretty much given away all their prospects this offseason. That team is getting VERY old VERY fast. Pudge/Guillen/Renteria/Polanco/Maggs/Sheffield are all on the downsides of their career right now. Only Miggy/Granderson/Bonderman/Verlander are "building blocks" now.

This trade might be bad in the immediate future, ie THIS year, but I actually like how this looks for the future of the Twins now. We have now become the best future team in this division in my mind. Only the Indians are REAL competition for me now looking towards 2010 or so.

by djskilbr on Dec 8, 2007 1:15 PM EST reply actions 0 recs