Tigers Re-sign Sanchez to 5 years/$80 Million

Wow...that's a heck of a contract for him. Hope he can live up to it.

I wasn't against re-signing him by any stretch, but I didn't think we'd go all-in with him like this. The Cubs offered about $75 million I believe and we got him at $80. This is basically our #4 starter here and he's getting paid like a #2, or a low end #1. This is actually the same deal Verlander got in 2010 so you know this is a huge deal. JV will get an extension soon I am sure. His online design business cards probably read "About to be the highest paid SP in baseball".

This leaves Porcello on the trade block now. We're still looking to replace Peralta at SS. Of course I'm not against holding Porcello as the #5, putting Smyly in the bullpen, and keeping that depth so that we aren't out a starter when we need one. We've had to trade for a rotation spot the last 2 years so it is obvious that we aren't gonna be wasting space if we kept them both around. Smyly can pitch spot starts and long relief. Eventually one of our starters will probably be out for an extended time and we can slot him right in. Texas did exactly this to us in the playoffs 2 years ago having more starters than they needed.

Anonymous Lion Calls out Suh, Team

Anonymous, anonymous, anonymous sources. everywhere. We don't need a source anymore folks. Not for sports related stuff at least. I'm sure it will keep spreading, but right now the Lions are the target of cowards this year. This time it was a player supposedly (although I've heard since that it might even be a coach) that said not just Suh, but a few other players on the team don't get it when it comes to winning.

You don't need an anonymous source to tell us that. I could have told you that just from watching this team play for 20 years. The whole franchise is a bunch of losers. They have NO IDEA how to win. That is the franchise culture. They don't get it, and that starts all the way at the top with William Clay Ford.

So...there was no need to be anonymous here. It's common knowledge this franchise is terrible. The only rings these guys will ever get they already got when they got their university class rings before they got drafted.

Fire Mayhew Blog

Yes...I'm the one that has owned firemayhew.com for the last 3 years. Being a lifelong Lions fan I think it is obvious as to why I bought it so early. Odds were that the Lions would turn into the piece of crap team they are this year eventually.

So...I finally broke the seal on it this past week. After losing a 12 point lead in the final 3 minutes against a rookie QB it was time to let loose. Frustration was no longer able to be held in. I've been a pretty big proponent of Mayhew too, but I'm just beyond that now. I think he should find a short school bus for sale and put his team of idiots on there.

Jim Schwartz Throwback: "Learn the F***ing Rules!"

It's time for Coach Jim Schwartz to take his own advice apparently. After costing the Lions a huge Touchdown today with his inability to remain in control, we have to look back at Schwartz telling the referees how to do their jobs. This is nothing new with Schwartz. He's just not a good leader, or a guy that can maintain his composure from the time I have seen him here. The team is the exact same way and is a reflection of him. The amount of mistakes and miscues this team has can be seen in their head coach as well. Someone that I would complain about having to sell real estate louisville next year instead of coaching the Lions.

Wouldn't Be Thanksgiving Without a Lions Loss

Another Turkey Day game and another Lions loss. This one was an overtime loss 34-31 against Houston in which the Lions gave up a touchdown after a guy was down and then running about 60 yards. Because of a ridiculous rule in which all scoring plays are reviewed, throwing a challenge flag makes the play unreviewable. Coach Schwartz, with his lack of composure and knowledge of the rules, threw the challenge flag on a play that shouldn't have counted. The Houston RB was clearly down, elbow and knee, but no whistle. So he gets up and runs another 60 yards for a TD. BUT...since Schwartz threw the challenge flag on an unchallengable play, within the rules the play could no longer be reviewed. Blind referees, and a coach that can't control his rage cost the Lions a TD and pretty much turned the game around after they were sitting pretty with a 10 point lead. Even the geeks in the baby phat lab coat couldn't argue that the rule was asinine. After that it was just a matter of time before OT, and a plethora of mistakes lost them the game. Officially I think you can call this season over. At 4-7 they would have to win 5 straight just to sniff a playoff chance.

Tigers Back on Roll

After getting back up to .500 a couple weeks ago the Tigers hit the skids big time against Cleveland, the division leaders to slide all the way back to a few games under .500. Then they were able to take a series from the Yankees, and the Blue Jays. Today they took the second game against the Twins to leap back up to one game over .500.

It seems that the Tigers always have a strange time with hovering around .500 the last few years. Almost always when they get there a big time slump comes on.

I'm not sure if this time will be the same. The hitting is really coming on, and the pitching in the rotation has really picked up, BUT the bullpen has been mediocre. The big signing of Benoit has turned sour recently. He has given up as many ERs already this season as he did the entire season last year that got him his big payday.

Al Alburquerque started off with a bang. Striking out nearly 2 batters per inning. HE has done this with basically one pitch. His odd slider that he has good control with. The problem is that he has a mid 90s fastball, but has absolutely no confidence in it. Shaking off the catcher anytime it is called and reverting back to that slider. Today he got wild, and ended up being charged with 3 ERs although they were let a crossed by Schlereth. AA's problem has always been control, and it was on display today with 3 BBs in 0.2 of an inning. Unless this guy can start throwing that fastball, he may end up being a very mediocre RP.

Victor Martinez has been on fire. Expected though since he is a great hitter and a career .300, ok .299 hitter so I expected him to make an impact here. He has with an 11 game hitting streak. The biggest, and frankly shocking surprise this year has been Alex Avila. This guy looked like a career .230 hitter before this season. Timid at the plate and scared of the ball for some reason. Now he looks like an All-star. I'm not sure if he can keep this up, but man it is nice to see a guy of only 24 look like he may have a future at C for us.

I think we have a team good enough to win this division at least. The Rotation I thought had a chance to be very good, and it appears that it is starting to look that way. The bullpen was a worry, and still is. Perry, Benoit, Schlereth, and even AA are all guys I am not convinced are going to be great impacts for us.

Tigers Are in Serious Trouble

All the things the Tigers do wrong are the things that are costing them games. Not to mention the Giants basically getting every break from the baseball gods you can imagine and the umpires messing about with a horrid strike zone in game 2. (see charts below).

The Giants being an NL team with little power have an array of slap hitters and guys they can use to play small ball. Detroit on the other hand is a team that lives on extra base hits and can't do any of the little things right. They are terrible bunters, they can't steal bases, they play mediocre defense, they don't take enough pitches, strike out too much, and just plain make too many mistakes. Mistakes, that teams like the Giants live off of. The Giants play a more fundamental game and make use of what they have. They move runners over, make pitchers throw and throw and throw with an excess of foul offs. Guys like Verlander and MAx aren't exactly the greatest match ups for teams like this. They can't overpower most of these guys and K 15 like they could with teams that have more free swingers.

Coming home they go to Sanchez, who actually has faced the Giants twice already this season when he was pitching for the Marlins still. 7 IP with 1 ER @SF and 5.1 IP with 5 ER at home back in May. Tonight he's already down 2-0 in the second.

The Tigers bats are bad to put it mildly. Prince just GIDP to end a 1 out rally with men on 1st and 2nd. They got shut out in Game 2. They scored 3 meaningless runs in the 8-3 Game 1 loss. Their bats are cold. Have been for a month.

IF they Tigers win this series it will be a Motor City Miracle. Actually, it would be in San Fran. The crowd sounded dead even to open this game. You weren't going to break any bone anchored hearing aid siting in the stands to start this series at home that's for sure.

Yankees Once Again

No Cinderella season for the Orioles I guess. The Yankees finished them off today, and once again we are playing them in the playoffs. The 3rd time in the last seven years actually. While I don't particularly feel that we can't beat the Yankees I wanted to see some new fans for once. Every time we make the playoffs we end up going through NY. I wanted to see a new environment and see some fans that weren't "always there" for once. Especially someone from the AL East making it out of there again other than Boston and NY. Oh well...we match up fine with them as we do anyone. Baltimore was probably a weaker team, but NY isn't exactly a young team anymore. They have Cano though, who is my #2 most feared hitter in baseball against us behind only Josh Hamilton. He loves to make us look bad, and he's a true stud. The Yankees as a team are wily vets too. Something that always causes us trouble due to them being one of those teams that works the count. While we can hit with them, we should definitely have the pitching advantage. They just are very seasoned and know how to work pitching well enough to make guys that normally go 6-7+ IP down to 5 IP and get into our very scary bullpen. GO TIGERS! Detroit in 5. SEnd the Yanks back to their swing sets raleigh nc for the off season. :P

Ndmakong Suh Still an Idiot; Take All Their Licenses

IT wouldn't have been a week off for the Lions without someone breaking some laws would it? This Lions season has been infuriating in respect to the pure idiocy of the players and their inability to live in society. I won't rehash it as the list is getting far too long, but Suh continues to be a moron.

Last year getting suspended for stomping a player's head ion the field, this week he provided a bit of road rage. This one isn't like he was stealing a belt like Craig Monroe, or some marmot down jackets here, but shows his lack of control pretty clearly.

Here is a portion of the report:

Vines was on his way into work about 6:20 a.m. Thursday when he and other drivers merged on the Rotunda ramp along the southbound Southfield. He said the driver behind him in a black Range Rover sped around him and sideswiped his car. They stopped at the light. Vines got out of his Escort and the other driver, whose taillights were damaged, started yelling."I look over at him and he started yelling at me, 'Trying to cut me off. Get out of the way.' And I just said, 'Really?'" he explained. "He just started yelling about getting the hell out of his way and cutting him off."

Vines said the guy left the scene of the accident. He called 911 and watched the man drive into the Lions' practice facility. Dearborn Police told Vines to meet them there, but when he arrived, he said the driver gave him another earful.

"That's when he said, 'I advise you to leave, now.' And I said, 'I'm not going anywhere. I talked to the police.' (He said), 'I don't care what they said. You need to get out of here.' And then he said, 'I'm advising you to leave, now.'"

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2012/10/detroit_lions_ndamukong_suh_ac.html

Hard Fought Series With A's; Verlander Dominates

We all know we are clueless as to what to expect from our Tigers this year. I personally feel like I don't see a drive in this team most nights. Just not sure what the attitude is although I hear all the time that they are all very close and have a good time playing together. Just seems like they aren't producing so often and that they get a bit preoccupied when they seem to put together some tough wins.

The A's gave them all they could handle. It really was an amazing success story for these Oakland A's too. Starting 3 rookie pitchers, an MLB playoff first, they all put up fantastic outings and held their own the whole series. Giving up very few ERs while trying to figure out the fantastic pitching of the Tigers.

The A's played hard and had what I thought a winning formula against us. With us not hitting like we have struggled with for a month at least it was tough to see us taking this series. They have far superior defense, while we have very bad defense. The writing on the wall was there for defense to play an important role in these close games. Instead of it costing the Tigers the series it probably cost the A's who had some very costly mistakes on defense. Coco Crisp especially made some huge errors, but the errors they made seemed to get taken advantage of more than ours.

Then we have them as a team of guys that can hit the ball out of the park all through the order. They never really threatened in that regard except to take out Valverde, or Benoit with some ugly innings. Valverdew blew a 3-1 lead in Game 4 to lose the clinching game. Valverde is a FA at the end of the year and I'd rather see him doing drywall anchors than re-sign with Detroit.

It all came down to starting pitching though and the Tigers rolled through the series with quality starts in 4/5 games and might have gotten 5 if the questionable call of Leyland removing Scherzer early in Game 5. Verlander after giving up a lead off HR to Coco Crisp to start the series went didn't give up a run the next 7 IP in Game 1 and pitched a CG SHO in Game 5. Racking up 22 strikeouts in 16 IP. They never had a chance in Game 5.

Now we wait for Game 5 of NY vs. BAL. Baltimore wins and we get home field. NYY win we go on the road. All 4 Division Series went 5 games this year. Another MLB 1st. So we aren't the only one that won't have our #1 in Game 1. The Tigers rotation, however is probably much deeper than anyone else we will play this year, and this is our true strength.

Tigers Back in 1st, again...

Shockingly, the Tigers tied Chicago once again for the division lead last night, and even more shocking, they won the game tonight. Something they tend to always do after getting into the top spot is to lose the next day and go on a mini-slumps. Tonight they actually won, and as of the 6th inning Chicago was still tied so they could take over 1st place for good tonight. Might just make the playoffs and keep Raburn from his new job installing best patio flooring for a couple more weeks.

So...Do the Tigers even deserve to make the playoffs?

If playing Chicago was the only test absolutely. If winning games you should win was the test they absolutely don't deserve to be there.

Only reason they are in the running still is because we have the worst division leader in baseball. Chicago hasn't taken advantage of us losing to every scrub team we face. Losing to Chicago yesterday was basically a snapshot of our season though.

Our defense was never going to be called good this year, but it has ended up costing us far more games than I expected. When the bats that are supposed to make up for it don't produce like they haven't been it is greatly magnified.

Al Alburquerque was called upon to shut the White Sox down with men on 2nd and 3rd with a one run lead and no outs after only pitching 3 IP this year. He went on to wlak his first batter to load them up. Then got a fly out that was deep enough for most guys to tag up, but Dunn didn't test it. Then he gets the double play ball and we might just get out of this inning...no. Alex Rios made a great slide to make Infante have a tougher throw, but he had a chance, and Fielder whiffed on it completely as the ball ended up bouncing between his legs even. The ball went into the dugout and the Sox scored the two runs needed to take the lead. That put the Tigers 3 games back instead of one with just 15 games to go.

OF course they face the league leading pitching staff next in Oakland so you expect the no hitting team to continue right? Not at all! The Tigers do the opposite of what you'd expect once again on the back of 2 Miggy "MVP" Cabrera HRs (one a grand slam) and 6 RBIs to put up 12 runs on the best pitching staff in baseball. Chicago beat KC 3-2 so we gained nothing.

Been saying this forever, but it actually happened last night. Put Quentin Berry in the lineup to give this team another jolt. He has played very little since Dirks got back. Boesch is out there blowing games for us every night while we are playing with no heart. Berry was in last night and I'm telling you that he gives this team energy regardless of him not being the best hitter around. I'd certainly rather see him in there than Boesch who ended 4 innings against Chicago Monday and had 3 KOs. Twice I believe the bases were loaded. That experiment should be over.

Speaking of other experiments we should end and send these guys to more deserving jobs like carpet cleaning raleigh nc, I do not want to see any of these guys ever again:

1. Raburn. Is this just the Tigers trolling us?
2. Don Kelly. Who cares if he can play mediocre defense at more than one spot.
3. Santiago. I know some people like this guy, but he has served his time here. Time to get new blood for this "role" he plays of mediocre defense and terrible hitting.
4. Delmon. This one I am 50/50 on. He's clearly an idiot. He hasn't had that great a year, but going into the season I was very high on him hitting 5th. He hasn't done well, BUT like last year has been pretty clutch when we needed RBIs. HE can't play LF and when VMart gets back he can't play DH so no reason to keep him here.
5. Peralta. What a disaster season for him. Very low end SS. Supposed to make it up with hitting, but he's having one of his years where he looked like a has been before we picked him up. This was actually what I expected when we traded for him so I'm not really surprised, but he has been awful.

I'm not going to get into the pitching. I have a feeling we'll try to get Sanchez back, but I'm undecided there. Our rotation has been good to great a lot of the time and they have pulled their weight the last couple months. The offense has blown this division. An offense that should be top 5 in the league.

If the Tigers Could Only Play the White Sox...

After the second straight time of sweeping the White Sox and taking 1st place, the Tigers go right back to their old tricks. Stop hitting, and losing to basement dwelling teams. A sweep of the White Sox was sandwiched by getting swept by Kansas City and losing 2.3 vs. the Indians. Yet, coming into today's game the Tigers are miraculously only 2 games behind Chicago for 1st place again. Tonight they lead in the 6th 3-1 so they could conceivable be 1 game back after today, which is astonishing considering that they are scoring about 2 runs a game the last 2 weeks unless they are playing Chicago. This is one of the more frustrating Tigers teams that's for sure. The starting pitching and the bullpen have been fantastic lately. All except the guy you expect to be. Justin Verlander. Scherzer, Porcello, and Sanchez have all pitched quality starts the last 4-5 times out. Sanchez gave up 3, 1, 1, and 1 ER in his last 4 starts and has ONE WIN! Porcello lost a game to a guy wit and ERA close to 6 when he gave up 1 ER 1-0 after hthis scrub went 8 scoreless. We ahve no chance at the Wildcard this year so it's division, or bust to be buying famous cigars online this year. They have a cakewalk schedule most of the way too playing KC, Cleveland, and Minnesota. All sub .500 teams. Couldn't ask for a better situation. Of course they SHOULD be up about 5 games right now playing these poor teams and Chicago losing too.

Boston Red Sox and the LA Dodgers Make an Insane Trade

Boston has basically just cleaned house. Dumping over $250 Million in contracts from their roster in a trade to the LA Dodger today. Let's see if we can understand this cobble hill puzzles. The REd Sox are getting virtually nothing of high value back in the deal. Meant solely to get rid of massive contracts they have. The Dodgers will get Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto for a bunch of prospects that aren't even their "best". Plus Boston is sending some money with them. Crawford needs Tommy John surgery. Gonzo is an All-star. Beckett is no slouch. Dodgers are living up to their Yankees of the NL namesake. Kemp, Gonzo, Hanley, Crawford...wow. Yeah...they got Hanley for garbage earlier too.

Anibal Sanchez Gets First Win For Tigers

After a rather mediocre first start, Sanchez rebounded nicely behind big bats tonight for the Tigers in a 10-2 thrashing of the Indians. Sanchez went 6+ IP without allowing a run. HE was charged an ER after leaving a man on and being removed from the game in the 7th to end up with a line of 1 ER on 8 Hits with 5 KOs. Crowd gave him a standing ovation as he left the game in his first start at Comerica park as a Tiger. Hopefully he can be good enough where he will pull off his gucci glasses in the back of a convertible while celebrating during a World Series victory parade later on.

Andy Dirks Back in the Lineup at 6th

After a seemingly extended trip to the DL for Dirks, he is finally back in the lineup batting 6th tonight and in right field. Delmon gets the day off from the corner OF to rest by his corner fireplace. Dirks was having a spectacular start to the season this year and looking like a very nice fit in the 2 hole before getting injured. He was hitting around .330 when he went down and looking like he was having a breakout year. Then he he got hurt and we had to wait on anything to start working for a good month. Fortunately, we got a big spark from Quentin Berry who brought enough speed to make up for mediocre defense to get to balls he didn't read correctly. He also was a catalyst for big rallies for many of the games and just brought a fire to the team and speed which we sorely lacked. He's still in the 2 hole tonight. After takign over 1st place last week against the White Sox, the Tigers have been utterly pathetic. Losing 2 straight series and looking like they have mailed it in after getting nto 1st place. Hopefully Dirks can bring another spark back and get this team on track because I'm guessing they have to win at least 33-35 more games.

Pistons Draft Pick Andre Drummond

Like most years, the Pistons win just enough to give themselves very little chance to hit a high lotto pick. This year they placed in at #9 overall, but we may have gotten the guy we wanted anyways. Andre Drummond. A raw and athletic big man with enormous reach. This guy is no offensive juggernaut, but is a great rebounder and good shot blocker. Putting him up front with Greg Monroe should make things a bit more of a forest getting to the rim than it has been without avery labels. Drummond is a wildcard really. He's EXTREMELY athletic for his size. At nearly 7 foot he can actually handle the ball fairly well. Watching videos on Youtube of him I was quite surprised at how agile he was and how he could actually dribble. He's no point guard with handles obviously,b ut he isn't out there dribbling it off his foot either. With very low competition in high school I actually saw a lot I liked in this video: He had a better release and shot than I thought, but what surprised me the most was his ability with the ball on the move. At one point he took a full court break end to end with the ball in his hands. He's obviously a guy that will make his points around the basket with a lot of put backs and dunks, but if he can learn a post game he could be a major pickup for us in the long run. For where we picked I was quite happy with Drummond being there. Team feels a bit more exciting now. Especially since Gordon got traded and we shouldn't have to watch 3-4 guard lineups so damn much.

Tigers Streaking into All-star Break

The way the Tigers play going into the AS break always seems to set the tone for the rest of the year. At least this is something I tend to remember about their seasons. Those years where they lose a series, or two, especially to the Royals going in, it seems like the second half is a complete collapse. They certainly have had good teams that were considered contenders for the division in the past like that 2007 1000 runs to be scored team that fell on its face. They tend to be in much better shape when they make a good push right before the break though and are starting to click in their contention years in my memory. This year we have a 5 game winning streak going in and finally are back above .500. 2 games in fact. Even Delmon Young is starting to heat up with 4 HR in the past 4 games. We have what every team needs for a special season so far. We have a guy having a career year that was unexpected in Austin Jackson. Jackson has been phenomenal this year hitting over .330 and has a mind-blowing OBP over .400 as well as an OPS in the high .900s. 9 HRs already going into the break, and as many walks as Miguel Cabrera with 100 fewer ABs for Jackson. That's the most surprising I think. The walks compared to Miggy. Then we have a surprise from a new guy. Not technically a rookie, but Quentin Berry has been a serious shot in the arm for the team and is holding steady in the 2 hole since Andy Dirks went onto the DL. Dirks was having an outstanding year to that point as well hitting in the 2 hole at around .330. Berry has had a ton of multi-hit games, but he brings a much needed ability to the lineup. Speed. He is actually stealing bases at will, and not just that. We finally have 2 speedsters in the OF together to cover the vast gaps of Comerica park . Him and AJax cover way more ground than we've seen in a long time together. Compared to having Raburn, or the god awful Delmon Young out there this is a serious defensive upgrade. Raburn may be selling standsandmounts soon since he is clearly about to get waived. We also have a rookie SP in Drew Smyly that has been great in most of his time so far. He still makes the rookie mistakes, but he has been very productive as a rookie and a great help for that final rotation spot. Pitching is up and down though. Fister hasn't been very effective since his return from injury. Max and Porcello are like night and day start to start. The bullpen on the other hand has been solid with Coke pitching well and Villareal coming in and being dominant. Still we have a lot of fat and an infield defense that would make anyone cringe. Lack of production at 2nd base may need to be remedied via trade. I am still all for going after a major SP arm as well in Greinke. I'm willing to deal off Max, or Porcello in that deal to give us antoehr Ace. Can't possibly do more in one trade than to get a SP. The answer when asked what our needs are is the answer I give every single time: pitching. It's always pitching. You can never have too much, or too good. At least we are out on a high note at the AS break. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come and we are primed and ready when VMart waltzes back into the lineup in September.

Tigers Asked about Darwin Barney of Cubs

If you know me all I care about is getting better pitching, but of course I know we need a better 2nd baseman as well. These are small moves to me and just expected with little in trade pieces needed to make them happen. I expect these to be easy trades to make and get done without much trouble. SP on the other hand I want Greinke. I want another elite SP. I always want another elite SP. At this point we have the right mix to get it done too. We have 2 MLB ready SP I am willing to deal in Porcello and Scherzer. Not both obviously, but one of them I would very likely do in a deal that got a guy like Greinke, or Hamels. Plus we have Turner our top prospect and Castellanos that can be added to any deal for an elite SP to get it done. Best of both worlds for trade partners. Porcello is a much higher value in my mind for his age and his potential still. For the Brewers I am looking at Greinke and Weeks in a deal, but I know this will never happen. As for Barney. Sure...he's better than what we have. He's a utility guy that can play all over. He can hit .270+ which is a huge upgrade. He's a good fit. Make it happen. No complaints for me to pick this guy up. I was into Garza for a while, but he has been a bit less than stellar the last year or so. I I heard Dempster mentioned as well, but consider him a waste of time. H'es really not even an upgrade and he has never pitched as a SP in the AL: before. Not worth it. The sooner we have Raburn out of here looking for a new career that requires the purchase of scrubs online, the better.

VMart Possibly Back In August

News today suggested that Victor Martinez is recovering much more quickly than was originally estimated. When he was first diagnosed with the knee injury and said to have surgery it was expected he would miss the entire season. Then a couple months back word was he may be back by September, or October. Now today it may be even sooner.

Tigers owner Mike Ilitch told the Detroit Free Press on Thursday that the Tigers have received positive reports on Martinez's knee and suggested that Martinez might be able to return in August.

"When he comes back, that will help the leadership more," Ilitch told Drew Sharp of the Free Press. "He was really our leader (last year) and he’s starting to come around again.

"We’re getting our players back. We got a good report on (Martinez’s knee injury). He’s coming along a little faster. Instead of September, maybe we’ll have him in August. And then we’ll have a lineup that’ll be really good."

See: http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2012/06/report_mike_ilitch_says_detroi.html
Also: http://www.shoppharmacycounter.com/t-phentermine.aspx

This may spell the end for some of our OFers too. VMart will be the DH everyday so Delmon has almost no place on the team. With Berry looking good he should still have a spot. Andy Dirks coming back and i he can play anywhere near where he was has got to have a spot. Boesch i, while not having much of a year is still probably more valuable than Delmon. At this point you have to assume that a trade will be in the works with some of these guys in the next month depending on how soon VMart comes back. Makes you wonder why there are rumors of the Tigers looking at Carlos Quentin the OF from San Diego and former ChiSox player. Getting him would no doubt mean that Boesch, Dirks, or even Delmon are part of any deal there.

I'm still holding out hope we use out pieces to acquire a guy like Zach Greinke. Our lineup is fine. Especially with Delmon. Using any possible trade pieces for a FA OFer that costs $7 Mil for the year is probably not worth it, although Quentin does bring more than any of those guys do.

Tiger slooking at Ryan Dempster?

Odds of making another low end pitching trade like Doug Fister last year are very low. Much more likely we get something close to the Washburn trade a couple years back. No injury of course, but talent wise this is a much riskier move I would say. We'd be pulling an NL pitcher over with little high end experience in the AL. Dempster has been around no doubt, but he's not exactly on my wish list. Still want to go after Greinke and sign him long-term so give us 2 Cy Young candidates. Nothing makes us more viable than another elite SP. If you could donate your car to charity to make this happen would ou do it?

Granderson still a thorn in our side

Scherzer not being consistent is really what has made this trade less than favorable ever since DD took the call on his vonage phone. If he wasn't such a con flip every time he went out on the mound to give up 8 ER, or strike out 10 it may still be considered a decent trade. AJax has had an up and down time of it too. No question he is a great CFer, and maybe on par, or better than Granderson in the long run there, but he certainly shares Granderson's other favorite past-time of striking out too. Unfortunately, Grandy hits about 35 more HRs every year than AJax. Then we have Phil Coke. A middle relief pitcher. This is our best and most consistent piece in that trade. A middle relief pitcher. Granderson on the other hand hit a grand slam against us last night and has probably robbed us of about 5 runs sine he got traded with amazing plays in the field when we lay NY.

Casey Crosby Stinks

I think it is about time to end some of the experiments we have going with the rotation and just go for broke. Porcello and Scherzer are about as frustrating as you can get with their coin flip production of either a quality start, or just a plain old blowup. Get Greinke out of Milwaukee, or Garza out of Chicago. Trade Turner, or Porcello, or both at the same time and get a guy we know already has dominated in the AL at one point. We're not gonna get lucky and have someone like Fister fall into our laps again. More likely we'd end up with some junk like Washburn, or Dontrelle Willis trying to save a few bucks. Get that 2nd ace and we're in the game for sure. Let guys like Crosby sell porcelain switch plate covers back in the minors.

proflowers twitter page

Never really looked at a Twitter page for a flower shop, but I imagine if you need to buy flowers on a regular basis it would be a pretty good idea. Take proflowers twitter page for example. They are going to announce deals all the time so when you get an update from them you can make sure that you make your next flower purchase when the deal is going on. May as well follow them if you need to buy flowers all the time.

If you suck, Play the Tigers

The Tigers just can't beat the basement dwellers. Team that cannot hit, cannot win, can sweep the Tigers. After losing half their games to the Inge's, and losing most of their games to lowly Seattle, the Tiggers have now been swept by last place Minnesota. We have two guys in the lineup on a daily basis hitting under .200. Everyone is slumping. Everyone. We have 2 pitchers that you can flip a coin 3 times and twice that coin will come up with BLOWN THE HELL OUT starts. This team is just awful so far. EVen with this awful team being awful they are still only about 3 games out of 1st. As long as they don't play the worst teams in the league they have a shot. Time to go looking in some real estate louisville for some new bats. Better yet give them all the pink ones for breast cancer awareness day until they decide they want to play.

Tigers Doing their best to be SEATTLE!

Tigers are 0-4 against the hapless Mariners this year. I stay up late tonight and turn on the game it is 5-0. 5 minutes later it is 5-3 in the 3rd inning. Yesterday the Tigers lead the game until t he 9th when they were up 2-0. Dotel gave up 3 ER and they lost again. tonight Verlander looks like he can't even stop this bleeding against one of the worst teams in baseball. They can't score. Except when they play Detroit. Also, Fister came back yesterday and was pulled after 73 pitches! What he hell is wrong with this team? Good thing I have some new home brewing equipment because I'm gonna need it.

Brandon Inge is Finllay GONE!

We've waited over 10 years (!) for this to happen. It has been a never ending nightmare. A guy that seemingly has no skills with the bat has been on our team for over a decade making demands as to where he will play. Even going as far as acting as if he could take a job away from Miguel Cabrera. People loved the guy for some reason. Illitch must have the most. HE in my mind has always been a selfish player though. When asked to make a move that could possibly make his career go from terrible 3B hitter, he flat out refused. Asked directly by the GM Dave Dombrowski, and encouraged for the good of his career, to go back to being a catcher he flat out refused. But guess what? He got away with it! They kept him around for a good 5 more years. At the time we had no real catcher. We needed one badly. Inge said...oh no I'm too good for that. This was Brandon Inge to me. That and Mr. Check Swing and "The bane of our existence". I see articles saying fans are too hard on the guy. I laugh. This guy has played for the Tigers for over 10 YEARS. This is a phenomenal feat for a guy who is almost always ranked as the worst hitter at 3B in MLB. It's really a miracle he made it this long. Much less having years where he made over $5 million. So...if you learn anything from Brandon Inge...know this...ANYONE can make it.

Pistons Try Too Hard

The Detroit Pistons have too much heart apparently. While dreaming of a disaster season that would finish with them in a dead heat for the top pick in the NBA Draft Lottery, the Pistons have come on in the post All-star game run and just pushed themselves allt he way back to 9, or worse. Today they had a chance to lose some groudn in the standings, but instead they, like a knife in my eye, pull out a late game victory against one of their Lottery competitors the Toronto Raptors. A season of no consequence. Not good enough to make the playoffs, but too good to get a draft pick worth a damn. The horrid continues for us Piston fans. So with 2 games left the best we can hope for is spot #9 in the lottery. You can put this season in some compost tumblers and call me again next year.

Tigers Lose 3 of 4 to Texas Rangers

Good thing we have Justin Verlander or it would have been all 4. Tigers are like everyone else right now when it comes to Texas it appears. After getting knocked out of the playoffs last year by Texas, who was clearly a superior overall team, the Tigers are still trying to figure them out. Trying to figure out why we aren't hitting too I would guess. Texas put a beating on them twice in the series, but Verlander stopped the bleeding in the 2nd game of a double header yesterday with a 3-2 win. Today they lose the 4th on a controversial bunt in 11 innings that could have split the series. Leyland immediately approached plate umpire Tim Welke and contended the ball had struck Gonzalez’s right knee off his bat while he was still in the batter’s box. By rule, a foul ball should have been called, he said. “The ball came down and hit him on the back knee. Clearly. Clearly. That’s not even a question,” Leylsand said. “The ball clearly hit him, and four guys happened to miss it.” At the time, Welke saw it different. “We called what we saw, and we didn't see him get hit,” he said. Upon further review Welke admitted the ball did, indeed, hit Gonzalez after he and his crew watched the replay afterward. Oh well...it's a long season. This happens a few times a year. No reason to get upset enough to post a yard sign calling out the umps. Not like he blew a perfect game for anyone. <_<

Enjoying the fruits of my organizational work

Guest post written by Caitlin Garris

I really hate doing housework but I have to always remind myself of the benefits of it so that I can have a clean house. It works most of the time. But then I also tend to bribe myself by letting myself work on craft projects after I finish all of my cleaning. One thing that I really love to do is crafts and little DIY things to include in my home. They're so much fun!

The latest one that I've done is to make a little DIY jewelry organizer to put on the top of my vanity. I needed it for a while and I was so happy to find a design that I knew would be perfect for me! When I looked online for the jewelry stand idea, I ran across the website http://debtcounseling.bankrupt.com/ and after I looked through it a little bit I decided to consult the services some to see what my options were to fix my finances.

I'm really quite impressed with all of the work that I did with this jewelry stand. I took an antique tiny birdcage that I can and converted it to something that looked a lot nicer and also is a great home for all of my pairs of earrings now.

More on Brandon Inge

Just can't stop posting my displeasure about this chump. Let's post a few numbers to show why it pisses me off.

Last year against LHP he hit: .245 compared to his .170 BA againsst RHP. Terrible no matter what.

2010: .254 vs. LHP against .245 vs. RHP

This is considered "good hitting LHP" by Leyland?

I will be getting my I <3 Inge t-shirt, or another few funny t shirts soon I think. It's beyond just laughable anymore.

Detroit Lions Players Suffer From "Failure to Hide Their Weed"

It would be no shock for anyone to find out that many of the players in the NFL smoke marijuana. What would be a shock is seeing them repeatedly get busted for possession of it rather than just failed drug tests. Drug tests are "typically" random so they could always fail those. Being caught with a stash of weed on you out in puublic though seems to be quite a task for anyone that smokes it. At least in my mind it would be quite idiotic to be caught with it in public seeing how it is illegal and you shouldn't be doing it out in the open.

That doesn't matter for our beloved Detroit Lions though. Particularly our draft class from 2011.

Not one, not two, but 3 Detroit Lions players have been busted with weed since the beginning of the year. 2 of which from our 2011 draft class in Mikel LeShoure, and #1 pick Nick Fairley. The other being reserve offensive tackle Johnny Culbreath was arrested for simple possession of marijuana after he was spotted on a hotel surveillance camera putting two blunts in the drawer of a hallway dresser.

Fairley was booked today while speeding. Smoking weed and speeding. How dumb can you be?

LeShoure on the other hand wins the prize for dumbest player. He wasn't caught once, but TWICE in the past 2 months. First in February for possession where he paid a fine around $500 and nothing came of it. HE was sentenced on March 1. Then just a few weeks later the idiot got pulled over AGAIN, but this time he tried to eat it all. The officer found him with weed in his teeth, all over his shirt, and on the console. 2 times in less than 3 months! I can't imagine most people that smoke have been caught twice in their LIFE, much less the same year. Charles Rogers #2 right here folks. BTW...LeShoure has never played in an NFL game. If he's not careful he'll be wearing prison flip flops soon.

Janoris Jenkins won't be a Lion anytime soon now I can guarantee that much.

Inge To Stay on Team and Play Against Lefties?

You have gotta be kidding me.

This is all I've heard about today though. Apparently Henning mentioned that Inge would still be on the team and that he would play against LHP. Something that isn't even a boost to his normal play really. This is one of the ugly PR lies that the Tigers spread in regards to Inge. Like last year when they brought him back to the team from the minors when he was put on waivers. He wasn't even hitting .200 against LHP I don't think, but he was hitting about .150 against RHP so he was CLEARLY better against LHP right?

Well..this is just how it goes with him. He';s popular and a cash cow. HAs to be making the team money somehow so they keep him around. He is a terrible hitter though and his defense isn't getting any better with all his injuries and knee problems the last few years.

RETIRE INGE> PLEASE! Go sell some pool supplies and a Pool Cover in your retirement. I mean you can't possibly be making that much in baseball right? Oh wait...they pay you like you're a real player. MUCH more than a real player don't htye. You won't need to work. Worst player per dollar I can think of ever.

Lions Re-Sign Tulloch For 5 Years

Not as flashy as say...the Jets taking our #3 QB away and then going out to trade for Tim Tebow showing off their baby Tebow maternity fashion and then putting Stanton on the trade block already, but it is actually relevant to our team. Of all the LBs we had, Tulloch was the only guy I was down with holding onto, and I wanted him for a multi-year deal last year, but we had to wait.

No idea why he went 12-year last year, but I guess everyone needed to see if it was gonna work out before they committed long-term.

Looks like 5 years/ $25.5 million with $11.25 guaranteed. Not bad, not bad at all.

WATCHING THE ARTIST

Contribution by Stevie Kirby

I had so much fun on Sunday watching the Oscars on my Satellite TV. Unfortunately, I had not seen half of the movies that were up for awards though! I was really surprised that the “Artist” racked up so many awards. I guess I haven’t seen it, and wish that I had seen it before it won all of the awards, but I am definitely planning on watching it soon! I heard that it was the first time since 1934 that a silent film has won best picture. That is a really long time! I just couldn’t believe that it had been that long! It is also the biggest award for a “foreign” film in categories outside the “foreign film” award group. “The Artisit” is a French movie. I have invited my friends to get together this weekend to watch it. I have already started making some very “French” pastries and desserts to be served. Of course, we are going to drink some good red wine! I will get a couple of good bottles, but I can guess that the rest of the evening we will be drinking box wine!

Raburn Hits 2 HRs today of the 9 the Tigers Hit

Good news for all of us who want Brandon Inge to never play again. OF course Inge picked up a couple doubles today too so he isn't completely forgotten yet. The battle for 2B certainly got helped by Raburn hitting 2 bombs though.

It's not like I would condone Inge winning this even if he did win the job. We've watched him for 10 years it feels like and we know he sucks. We also know that his defense is on a VERY steady decline, and him playing a new position isn't going to help. Inge would not be signed by another team if he were cut today I can guarantee you that. So why do people want him here? They are your grandma, or that tubby that thinks he is cute. That is no reason for him to get paid millions. HE could be a spokesman and write apidextra reviews maybe, but not play for our Tigers.

Oh Noes! Cabrera Made an Error! Season Over!

Other than signing Mr. Prince Fielder to a mammoth contract this off season, the next biggest talking point has been the move of Miguel Cabrera to 3rd base. Many have acted as if he will be so bad that we will lose 50 games from his defense alone. As I have already stated I am not worried about him at 3B whatsoever. Seeing the alternatives of Brandon Inge, or Don Kelly there everyday is abysmal, and if Miggy had an error every night I would probably still be happpy with it.

Of course, I click on MLive this evening and the first article I see is one about Cabrera having an error in a SPRING TRAINING game. Seriously...this is news apparently. Get ready for this all year. This is the kind of stuff of radio call-in idiots that you hear all the time though. Valverde doesn't blow a save all season last year and people that will talk about Miggy having an error are the same morons that would say they hate Valverde because he is "Wild", or allowed a few base runners and gave up a run. You can disregard this BS because these people don't know WTF they are talking about. They are more likely to be doing wedding photography raleigh nc and watching 2 games a year than knowing anything about baseball. I'd rather get a Silver Slugger at 3B than a Gold Glove any day.

Tigers Sign Chet Lemon's Son, Marcus Lemon

Been a long time since we saw Mr. Chet Lemon roaming the OF for the Tigers. Way back inthe immense Tigers Stadium with the mammoth LF roof and the flag pole in dead center. A classic stadium that made way for the modern Commerica Park.

The Tigers have signed utility player Marcus Lemon to a minor league contract, the Tigers confirmed Sunday.

Lemon, 23, is the son of former Major League outfielder Chet Lemon, who spent nine years with the Tigers as an outfielder, and was a member of the '84 World Series Champion Tigers.

Lemon spent last season in the Atlanta Braves organization, where he hit .254 with 21 RBIs and two homers in 339 at-bats between Single-A Lynchburg and Double-A Mississippi. HE's certainly not a major prospect, and it is unlikely he will become a major player anytime soon, but with a baseball pedigree you never know where things will go. He's not going to be putting the shoulder screw to anything and bringing much power but he may wind up as a decent utility player.

Tigers Ticket Sales Already Above Last Season

You can take a general stab at this and claim the perfect storm of Prince Fielder following a playoff birth. Easy to see where the sales have come from. The Prince Fielder signing seems to have been the major catalyst at least considering that they have picked up substantially since we heard on our bookshelf speakers that he signed on the dotted line. Much like the year we picked up Cabrera.

MLive breaks it down a bit here for the last decade. More than I want to delve into anyways. The analysis is somewhat flawed in that it claims the increase in ticket sales is paying for Prince itself, but whatever.

Like I say in every article about MLB and salaries when it comes to Illitch. HE doesn't care so why should you? He wants to win. It's not your money. There is no salary cap. Sacrifice a goat to the goat god so that Illitch can live another 50 years.

Fox News obsession

Guest post written by Jeramy Sparks

Since we got expertsatellite.com, the only thing my husband wants to watch is the Fox News channel. I don’t even know how he got so hooked on watching that channel. I understand that it keeps him informed about things that are happening in the world, and it does seem to lean toward the more conservative side with most issues they are covering. But, how much of all that can one person watch? I absolutely prefer to watch much more important things like The Bachelor, Gray’s Anatomy, Private Practice, and even those repeat shows of the Kardashians. I know it is good to keep up with the economy crisis and what everyone plans to do about all that, but don’t you want to get away from all of that sometimes. I would rather watch something that is going to make me forget about all the troubles of the world for an hour or two so I can go to sleep and dream about something lighter that doesn’t have anything to do with a recession. I am going to have to work on my husband to get him interested in other topics. It cannot be good for your health to think about all that all of the time.

A lot of talk that Miguel Cabrera Can't Play 3B

Let's just say I'm far from worried about it. I have said this for at least 2 years and our 3B defense hasn't exactly been superb over that time anyways. We are easily one of the least productive 3rd base spots in the league the last several years with Inge playing most of the time. Inge isn't even that good of a fielder anymore so this isn't a hell of a downgrade.

I found a decent breakdown discussing the situation with Miggy moving to 3rd that I agree with for the most part. Some things such as saying Miggy was a poor 1st baseman though aren't correct so I disagree there. As to why he was moved as well to 1B wasn't because he stunk but because Guillen stunk at 1B and it was the only choice. Guillen has been ready to move on to something like a unified communications platform position for a while now.

Take a look at this blog post for a bit of a breakdown and hopefully it will calm your nerves a bit. Well...it probably won't, but the overreaction as if Inge was ever the answer there certainly should be undone.

MIKE ILLITCH: I NEVER STOPPED LOVING YOU

Unless you were in a coma today you heard. Tigers swept in as the "mystery" team in the Prince Fielder sweepstakes to sign the 27 year-old slugger to an astonishing 9 year $214 Million deal.

It's not your money. MLB has no salary cap. Shut up.

Sounding more and more like Miguel Cabrera is going to go back to play 3rd as well so we can hear Inge talking shit like he matters once again. HE just loves to yap when we sign all-stars like he belongs in the conversation as anyone the team should worry about. Welcome back to Toledo, Mendoza. Put on your scrub tops. Do something for that free money they give you.

Good stat:

@jaysonst
Jayson Stark
Did some checking on Prince's HRs. RF in Comerica is 339 feet. Shortest Prince HR to RF in any park last year was 363.

Cam Newton to Replace Eli in Pro Bowl

Since Eli is going to the Super Bowl he's not playing in the Pro Bowl. Cam Newton will replace him. Thank god.

Doesn't matter that Stafford should have been there before both of them Pro Bowl, All-star games, etc. are the most worthless games there are around. Never watch them, and probably never will. Don't care if my family is in one. I'd tell them not to play because it's a waste of time. I'd rather watch durham house cleaning service clean toilets.

Stafford not being in the Pro Bowl is the best news I could have heard. We got the guy for a full season finally and he threw for 5000 yards and 40 TDs. After 2 years of injury anyone that cares he didn't make it is nuts.

Victor Matinez Torn ACL; May be out for season

As you know I was a huge supporter of going out to get VMart last year, and was so glad they did. After everyone seeing him play last year I doubt anyone was disappointed with using him as our DH, which was ultimately the biggest reason most though tit wasn't a good deal. HE did as much as you could ask for of a DH except for hit 40 HRs obviously. He is a great pro hitter, and made that offense really work. Actually, he did a lot of the things that Guillen did for our lineup when he was in his prime back a 4-5 years ago. Really made the offense go.

It appears we may be without him this year. Reports claim he has a torn ACL and that he may miss the season. A devastating blow for the lineup for sure. Only losing Miggy would hurt us more and that's not even exaggerating.

I haven't heard anything real conclusive yet other than people claiming surgery would likely cost him his season. I ham highly skeptical of claims like this since players return from injuries so much faster these days that insane predictions like that are just way too overstated without complete analysis. We'll have to wait and see, but obviously he's going to miss a lot of time, if not the whole season sitting home watching his video baby monitor.