Tigers shock the world!!
Tigers make some noise.
The Detroit
Tigers made headlines and shocked the baseball world on Tuesday night when they acquired Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Florida Marlins for highly-rated prospects Cameron Maybin
and Andrew Miller along with three other players.
In Cabrera, the Tigers have picked up Major League Baseball's most dangerous hitter. In his first season in 2003, Cabrera batted .268 (84-for-314), with 12 home runs, 62 RBI, 39 runs, 21 doubles, and three triples in jsut 87 games played.
In 2004, he proved that his rookie season was no fluke, batting .294 with 33 homers, 112 RBI, 101 runs, 177 hits, a .366 on base percentage,a .512 slugging percentage from the third and fourth spots in the order, while playing in 160 games and earning his first All-Star berth.
Cabrera, 24, spent the whole 2004 season playing in the outfield, with no games at third base; he showed his arm strength as a former third baseman with his 13 outfield assists. In 284 total fielding chances, he committed nine errors and made 262 putouts.
In 2005 he came in second in the National League in hits with 198, and batted .323 with 33 homers, 43 doubles, 2 triples, and 116 RBI's.
Cabrera finished 2006 with a career-high .339 batting average, 26 home runs and 114 RBI's. He was selected to his third consecutive All-Star Game and won his second Silver Slugger.
In 2007, Cabrera ended the season with career highs in both home runs and runs batted in. He finished off the year with 34 home runs, 119 RBI, a .320 batting average, and a .401 on-base percentage in 588 at bats.
Cabrera holds a .318 career batting average and will be just 25 years old when the season begins next spring. He is under contract through the 2009 season, which means the Tigers will have him for at least two years but it is unlikely that Dombrowski will let Miguel walk away.
Willis, who will 26 years old when the 2008 season opens, gives the Tigers a legitimate number-one starter and perhaps gives coach Jim Leyland the best five-man rotation in all of baseball.
Willis has a 68-54 record and has averaged 200+ innings in his five seasons in the big leagues with a 2.63 ERA.
The Tigers gave up a lot--both Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin are viewed as can't-miss prospects, but the truth is, neither player was expected to be on the Tigers big league roster on Opening Day in 2008. The Tigers gained two All-Star players in the trade, all without giving up one potential starter. As good as Maybin could be, there's no guarantee that he will be as good as Cabrera is right now.
Cabrera, who some GM's have compared offensively to Manny Ramirez, is one of the game's rising stars. And Willis, depsite a down year in 2007, is one of the game's best young left-handed pitchers. Miller has potential, but he wasn't going to break the five-man rotation this year, and it is obvious that the Tigers are playing to win right now.
Think about this for a potential opening day lineup:
1. Curtis Granderson, cf
2. Placido Polanco, 2b
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3b
4. Magglio Ordonez, rf
5. Gary Sheffield, dh
6. Carlos Guillen, 1b
7. Edgar Renteria, ss
8. Pudge Rodriguez, c
9. Jacque Jones, lf
All I can say is....WOW! That leaves Leyland with some great depth on the bench. Brandon Inge can go back to doing what he should do, playing every so often as a backup. Inge is valuable, as he can play Gold-Glove caliber defense at third base, he can back up Pudge behind the dish and he can also play outfield if need be.
Cabrera might even be moved to left field, which I don't think would make much sense since Leyland still has Marcus Thames, who could platoon with Jacque Jones in LF and with Sheffield as a DH.
The five-man pitching rotation would be Dontrelle Willis, Justin Verlander, Kenny Rogers, Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson.
Robertson is not the best pitcher in the league, but I'll take him over every other teams number five and the same goes for Bonderman at the number four spot.
The bullpen still needs help. Lost among all of this is the Tigers also made a trade for Colorado reliever Denny Bautista on Tuesday. Bautista is a solid long reliever and will give the Tigers some solid innings from the pen. We still have Fernando Rodney and Todd Jones and we might still get Joel Zumaya back before the end of next season.
This has to make Detroit one of the favorites to win the World Series. The Tigers had the third highest scoring offense last season. Add Cabrera and Renteria and Jones to the mix.....who knows how many runs the Tigers will score this season.
The Detroit
Tigers made headlines and shocked the baseball world on Tuesday night when they acquired Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Florida Marlins for highly-rated prospects Cameron Maybinand Andrew Miller along with three other players.
In Cabrera, the Tigers have picked up Major League Baseball's most dangerous hitter. In his first season in 2003, Cabrera batted .268 (84-for-314), with 12 home runs, 62 RBI, 39 runs, 21 doubles, and three triples in jsut 87 games played.
In 2004, he proved that his rookie season was no fluke, batting .294 with 33 homers, 112 RBI, 101 runs, 177 hits, a .366 on base percentage,a .512 slugging percentage from the third and fourth spots in the order, while playing in 160 games and earning his first All-Star berth.
Cabrera, 24, spent the whole 2004 season playing in the outfield, with no games at third base; he showed his arm strength as a former third baseman with his 13 outfield assists. In 284 total fielding chances, he committed nine errors and made 262 putouts.
In 2005 he came in second in the National League in hits with 198, and batted .323 with 33 homers, 43 doubles, 2 triples, and 116 RBI's.
Cabrera finished 2006 with a career-high .339 batting average, 26 home runs and 114 RBI's. He was selected to his third consecutive All-Star Game and won his second Silver Slugger.
In 2007, Cabrera ended the season with career highs in both home runs and runs batted in. He finished off the year with 34 home runs, 119 RBI, a .320 batting average, and a .401 on-base percentage in 588 at bats.
Cabrera holds a .318 career batting average and will be just 25 years old when the season begins next spring. He is under contract through the 2009 season, which means the Tigers will have him for at least two years but it is unlikely that Dombrowski will let Miguel walk away.
Willis, who will 26 years old when the 2008 season opens, gives the Tigers a legitimate number-one starter and perhaps gives coach Jim Leyland the best five-man rotation in all of baseball.
Willis has a 68-54 record and has averaged 200+ innings in his five seasons in the big leagues with a 2.63 ERA.
The Tigers gave up a lot--both Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin are viewed as can't-miss prospects, but the truth is, neither player was expected to be on the Tigers big league roster on Opening Day in 2008. The Tigers gained two All-Star players in the trade, all without giving up one potential starter. As good as Maybin could be, there's no guarantee that he will be as good as Cabrera is right now.
Cabrera, who some GM's have compared offensively to Manny Ramirez, is one of the game's rising stars. And Willis, depsite a down year in 2007, is one of the game's best young left-handed pitchers. Miller has potential, but he wasn't going to break the five-man rotation this year, and it is obvious that the Tigers are playing to win right now.
Think about this for a potential opening day lineup:
1. Curtis Granderson, cf
2. Placido Polanco, 2b
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3b
4. Magglio Ordonez, rf
5. Gary Sheffield, dh
6. Carlos Guillen, 1b
7. Edgar Renteria, ss
8. Pudge Rodriguez, c
9. Jacque Jones, lf
All I can say is....WOW! That leaves Leyland with some great depth on the bench. Brandon Inge can go back to doing what he should do, playing every so often as a backup. Inge is valuable, as he can play Gold-Glove caliber defense at third base, he can back up Pudge behind the dish and he can also play outfield if need be.
Cabrera might even be moved to left field, which I don't think would make much sense since Leyland still has Marcus Thames, who could platoon with Jacque Jones in LF and with Sheffield as a DH.
The five-man pitching rotation would be Dontrelle Willis, Justin Verlander, Kenny Rogers, Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson.
Robertson is not the best pitcher in the league, but I'll take him over every other teams number five and the same goes for Bonderman at the number four spot.
The bullpen still needs help. Lost among all of this is the Tigers also made a trade for Colorado reliever Denny Bautista on Tuesday. Bautista is a solid long reliever and will give the Tigers some solid innings from the pen. We still have Fernando Rodney and Todd Jones and we might still get Joel Zumaya back before the end of next season.
This has to make Detroit one of the favorites to win the World Series. The Tigers had the third highest scoring offense last season. Add Cabrera and Renteria and Jones to the mix.....who knows how many runs the Tigers will score this season.
Comments
Other than that, what an awesome switch of players. Red Sox, Yankees, be prepared to be challeged from Day 1. The countdown to pitchers and catchers reporting has begun.
Red Sox in 6!
WS No. 3 Baby!
GO SOX!