LaQuinton Ross going NBA, Sixers keep losing, and Community: While We’re Waiting
March 25, 2014Video: Johnny Manziel has a personal dunk contest on Instagram
March 25, 2014The slogan from 2007 says everything about this season – “It’s Tribe Time NOW.” The 2014 tagline is even better and goes hand in hand with it; “Unfinished Business.” The Indians have a golden opportunity to seize the division from the Detroit Tigers. The time is now. They finished just one game behind the mighty Motor City Kitties last season. The one game Wild Card was an tease. Hence the unfinished business. I held no illusions that the Tribe would be able to catch the big spending, big armed, big power of the team from up North just after the 2013 season ended. But today, I have a different feeling.
As much as I would like to sit here and say that the Indians off-season moves were the key to overtaking the Tigers, I can’t. We all know that is not the case. David Murphy, John Axford, and Elliot Johnson aren’t exactly needle movers. However, if you want to talk about an odd off-season, the Tigers are your team.
First came the trade of All Star first baseman Prince Fielder, who was essentially run out of town after a horrific postseason where he played the goat. Out went Fielder and $168 million owed until 2020. In came Ian Kinsler and $57 million over the next four seasons. The Tigers thought they were saving themselves money that could be used to extend pending free agent Max Scherzer and eventually, Miguel Cabrera. The trade made fiscal sense, but how much were the Tigers losing on the field? Rookie Nick Castellano would be taking over at third with Cabrera moving back across the diamond to first. Kinsler is an improvement from the now departed Omar Infante at second, but this comes down to Fielder vs. Kinsler. Who would you rather have?
Left field was a hole the Tigers were supposedly desperate to fill, but instead of doing what they normally do – throw money at the problem – GM Dave Dombrowski bypassed the likes of Carlos Beltran and Shin-Soo Choo and went to Rajai Davis, a speed and defense right-handed bat to platoon with Andy Dirks. Consider this the Detroit version of Jason Michaels and David Dellucci. Oh, I forgot to mention the fact that Dirks injured his back in early March, requiring surgery that will keep him sidelined for three months.
But still, the Tigers were loaded, right?
Then almost out of the complete blue, Dombrowski, one of the best if not the best GM in the game, traded away starting pitcher and Tribe killer Doug Fister for an odd collection of young players – utility man Steve Lombardozzi, left-handed reliever Ian Kroll (he of 32 Major League appearances), and a AAA starting pitcher named Robbie Ray, who in 2013 was not even listed amongst the top 10 prospects in the Washington system by Baseball America.
“We think this guy is a premium, young, left-handed pitcher on the verge of pitching in the big leagues,” Dombrowski said in December of Ray. “They’re not easy to find.”
But if the Tigers are in “win now” mode with an older roster, why would they deal one of the better fourth starters in the league who comes at a $7 million price tag and is still arbitration eligible next season? Dombrowski said at the time the move was necessitated by lefty Drew Smyly’s run to the rotation. Except by moving Fister and putting Smyly in his place, the already weak bullpen has gotten weaker. Smyly was the late inning lefty last year.
The closer “issue” was solved when the Tigers gave 39-year old Joe Nathan a two-year, $20 million deal with a club option for a third year. Nathan was the best closer available on the market, but really, was Joaquin Benoit that awful last year? The real problem was not the closer, but rather the set up core.
Dombrowski remade his bullpen with Nathan as closer, fire-balling righty Bruce Rondon and Kroll as the key set up men from both sides with holdover Al Alburquerque in the mix. Former Yankee Joba Chamberlain was given a one-year deal as well. That group seemed a little shaky to begin with, then the news of last week made things even more dicey. Rondon’s elbow issues were worse than originally feared and he will be lost for the season after needing the dreaded Tommy John surgery. Albuquerque, known for his power stuff and his control issues will now take over the eighth and suddenly Chamberlain has become an extremely important part of that Tiger pen. Joba hasn’t been good since his breakout 2007 rookie campaign.
But it didn’t stop. Things just kept getting worse. Jose Iglesias, who the Tigers acquired to be the shortstop of the future, was diagnosed with a strange shin ailment that will cost him most of, if not all of the 2014 season. The best in-house candidate to replace the slick fielding Iglesias was 4A special Danny Worth. The second the injury was leaked, one obvious name surfaced for the Tigers – free agent Stephen Drew.
The former Boston Red Sox shortstop is represented by, you guessed it, Scott Boras, the man who has steered so many of his clients to Detroit thanks to his close relationship with owner Mike Illitch. In a similar spot three years ago, the Tigers swooped up out of nowhere to sign Fielder to his ridiculous nine-year contract all because our old friend Victor Martinez tore his ACL and was going to miss the entire season. A big bat was needed then, Boras smelled blood in the water, Illitch wanted so badly to win a World Series, that a marriage was hatched. Lightning had to strike again, didn’t it?
Drew is an exceptional glove man who turned down the $14.1 million qualifying offer from Boston this winter. A week away from Opening Day, he is still looking for a job. If this were any other time but right now in Detroit, Drew would already be in uniform with the Old English D on his cap. The fit is too natural. But times, they are a changin’.
Dombrowski has decided to dumpster dive, first acquiring journeyman/4A type Andrew Romine from the Angels for left-handed pitcher Jose Alvarez, a guy who made a handful of spot spots for the Tigers last year. Then yesterday, in a complete baffler of a deal, they went out and traded for 37-year old Alex Gonzalez who played just three games at short last year while playing first base 22 times. In 2012, he made just 24 appearances at short. In other words, this is a complete straw grasp. Worst of all, Dombrowski, known for fleecing others, was fleeced himself, sending Lombardozzi to Baltimore to get Gonzalez. The Tiger brass spent all winter praising the virtues of having a versatile guy like Lombardozzi on the roster, who would fill in all over the diamond and be the safety net at third should the rookie Castellanos flame out.
If you are scoring at home, the Tigers traded away Fielder and Fister essentially for Kinsler, an unproven left-handed reliever (Kroll), a so/so left-handed pitching prospect who won’t help them this year (Ray), and a 37-year old washed up shortstop (Gonzalez) that could have been had for nothing this winter. They lost their best set-up man (Rondon), their starting shortstop (Iglesius), and half of their left field platoon (Dirks) to injury.
Finally, Max Scherzer, last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner and another Scott Boras client, turned down a six-year, $144 million contract extension. Boras almost always has his players play out their contract and hit the open market, so this was not a surprise. What was the surprise came in the form of an odd prepared statement from the Tigers organization, announcing that Scherzer had rejected their “substantial contract offer.”
Wait, what?
That’s right, the Tigers released a statement that a player of their own rejected them. Talk about odd. Of course Boras released his own follow up statement, carefully worded of course. “Max is very happy with the city of Detroit, the fans, and his teammates,” it said. In other words, it’s all good with everyone but the Tiger brass.
More importantly to fans in Detroit and in Cleveland for that matter, it looks as if the long stranglehold Boras has held over the Tigers appears to be over. Are the days of deficit spending in Detroit over as well? Sure seems like it.
The dumping of Fielder, the refusal to even look at Drew with a gaping hole at short, the odd “money saving” trade of Fister, and now the veiled shot and rejected contract offer by Scherzer all add up to a team in turmoil and an identity crisis in the D. It is no secret that Illitch’s health is not great and that he has badly wanted to win a World Series before he passes away. But there is more than that. The Illitch family is working on plans to build a $650 million downtown arena for the Red Wings, the NHL team that Mr. I owns. Olympia Entertainment, one of Illitch’s holding companies is said to be investing “$200 million in developing the proposed entertainment district,” according to MLive.com’s Eric Lacy.
In other words, it looks like the Illitch money is tighter that it used to be and the baseball team is starting to feel the effects.
The Tigers still boast arguably the best top three in any starting rotation in the majors with Justin Verlander, Scherzer, and Anibal Sanchez. They also have the best hitter on the planet in Miguel Cabrera. But the club is aging, banking on big years once again from 38-year old Torii Hunter and the 35-year old Martinez. They need a big bounce back year from Kinsler as well. Austin Jackson is a nice player but really struggled at the plate down the stretch last year. What they will get from Alex Avila and the rookie Castellanos are still big questions. The bullpen in front of Nathan is a gigantic question mark. This is an old team trending in the wrong direction.
The AL Central is ripe for the picking. As I said off the top, the Indians have a golden opportunity to end the Tigers three-year reign atop the division. Our Wahoos have looked terrific this spring and the vibes coming out of Goodyear are overwhelmingly positive. It’s the Tito Effect.
Now is the time for the Tribe to take care of their unfinished business.
—
photo via getty images
74 Comments
I didn’t say ignore the draft I have long said one of the Indians biggest issues has been drafting. What I was saying was for them, since they don’t draft well, the price associated with losing a first round pick is less.
We’ll see who has a better season Cruz or Murphy. I’ll stick with Cruz.
Well, Lonnie is seemingly not going to get many chances to hit, so it will be tough to see if he can. But yeah, agree with the first part, Santana is going to get every chance to prove that he can hold his own at 3B.
Yea I agree that Bourne and Swish could have better years and most likely will. At the same time we are gonna need Gomes and Rayburn to play at the same high level as last season consistently.
Baseballs a funny game and nothing’s ever guaranteed. But pitching’s the name of the game and the loss of Ubaldo and Kazmir will most certainly set this team back.
BTW who’s Duncan? Mark Reynolds?
Last year they finally turned the corner though.
Last year they finally turned the corner though.
Wow. Surprising. I was wrong on this one. We’ll see how it goes…
Wow. Surprising. I was wrong on this one. We’ll see how it goes…
Well the idea that the Indians draft poorly, so the pick is worth less to them is still flawed logic. If they drafted well, wouldn’t even have to consider wasting a pick for a guy like Cruz.
But it’s not simply, “who is better, Cruz or Murphy?” – salary must be taken into account (and Murphy’s salary is lower and he has another year on his deal than Cruz). The pick compensation needs to be factored, as well as how the guy would be used on the team. Loved that they targeted Murphy, a guy I thought could be a nice fit here as a “buy-low” candidate. They needed a guy to platoon with Raburn, and Murphy fits this better than Cruz did.
If two guys produce similarly, you need a real compelling reason to Favour the higher-paid one over the lower one, and I’m not sure that reason will be here.
Cruz being a righty puts the kibosh on him platooning with Raburn.
It is not flawed logic it is hopefully was reality. The Indians are doing a better job drafting even though it hasn’t shown up but they still have a lot of work to do in that area especially when it comes to pitching.
They had to look for a guy to platoon with Raburn for a reason. If Cruz had been signed he wouldn’t require a platoon. I’m fine with Murphy but I personally think they overpaid for a part-time player.
I think many are vastly over-rating Kazmir’s contributions. Also, while we dominated the White Sox, we also struggled greatly versus the Tigers. I think both of those will even out more this season.
and the Tigers played amazing versus us and mediocre against the rest of MLB.
It’s not like Lonnie was Matt Williams out there, but yeah we shall see what happens. Nolasco is a RHP, so it’s not like an opening day lineup with Santana at 3B is just avoiding a lefty for Chis.
Yeah, I know it doesn’t work this way, but it’s crazy to think we ended one game behind them despite getting completely owned by them.
yeah… him too.
ahh the classic Shelly Duncan/Mark Reynolds mixup.
sorry about that!
Ubaldo and Kazmir only set this team back because we don’t know if Salazar/McAllister/Tomlin/Carrasco can fill those voids.
Who knows, maybe they do, maybe they don’t.
yeah… him too.
ahh the classic Shelly Duncan/Mark Reynolds mixup.
sorry about that!
Ubaldo and Kazmir only set this team back because we don’t know if Salazar/McAllister/Tomlin/Carrasco can fill those voids.
Who knows, maybe they do, maybe they don’t.
has anyone ever seen Reynolds and Duncan in the same room together? I’m not saying, I’m just saying.
has anyone ever seen Reynolds and Duncan in the same room together? I’m not saying, I’m just saying.
Really sounds like Santana is the everyday guy. I really hope I’m misinterpreting this. I is concerned.
I’d guess that they won’t be too hesitant to pull the string if Santana has a rough start.
It looks like that is the case and I hope it is the case. The best thing we could have is for Santana to have shown that he can play the position and lock down that spot for us along with providing backup C duties.
I don’t think I am being hopeless. I am extremely excited for this season. I love baseball. I just think if you look at last seasons roster compared to this years, you would have to say it was stronger. Couple that with a disproportionate amount of wins against a historically bad Sox team and I could see us coming up short this year. No big deal.
I would rank last years rotation as 1.Masty 2.Ubaldo 3.Kazmir 4.Kluber 5.Mcallister 6.Salazar.
I ranked Salazar last only because he came on so late. There is no question he could be the 1 on this list this year, however, that is still very much a big question.
the 2013 v. 2014 rotation comes down to if you think the guys who came out of nowhere can do it for a full season.
if we are getting 200IP from each of Kluber and McAllister plus another 150IP from Salazar and all at their 2013 clips, then the 2014 rotation is stronger. We just don’t know that today.
what we do know today is that I am much more confident in our rotation going into 2014 than I think any of us were going into 2013 (where it was considered our weakest link).
Also, bWAR says that Danny gave us more value than Kazmir despite the IP difference.