A snowy link roundup
posted in 2006-07 offseason, Site News, link roundup |I was shoveling up here today. Sounds like Detroiters had some snow of their own to contend with. Here’s a few links to warm you up.
Toledo and Detroit have extended their minor-league development agreement through 2010. (That seems to be the magic year for everything). At this point, it would be weird to picture the Tigers with any other minor league organization, wouldn’t it?
(Via Infinite Dia(b)logue) comes this link to Baseball Analysts, which looked at what minor league stats were predictors of major league success. They found having above average strikeouts and an above-average ground ball rate were good forecasters. ID has a look at some Tigers prospects, but the Baseball Analysts also singled out Dallas Trahern for mention.
(BA:) Dallas Trahern is a classic groundball pitcher who throws strikes and keeps the ball in the yard. A 34th-round draft pick out of high school, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound righthander throws a sinking fastball in the low-90s and a hard slider. He’s been moving up one level per year and is likely to be assigned to Erie in the Eastern League (AA) as a 21-year-old. Like most of the pitchers in this group, Trahern suffers from a lower-than-desirable strikeout rate.
Jon Paul Morosi did a nice article on Nate Robertson in the Freep. I’ve been a fan of Nate since he was a bottom-of-the-rotation guy who seemed to keep coming through in the crunch during the pre-2006 years. I may even have dabbled with him on my fantasy team at some point out of loyalty and some strikeouts. Given he lives in Michigan year-round, by choice(!), it just makes the success story even better. I think he’ll keep improving and hope he remains a Tiger for while.
New: Justin Verlander and other major league stars filmed a commercial for a new version of the MLB hat, the NY Times reported. Jose Reyes (Mets), Johan Santana and Justin Morneau (Twins), Jonathan Papelbon (Red Sox), Robinson Cano (Yanks) and David Eckstein (Cards) were in it. The best line came from Morneau.
“I got an idea about how to stay warm,†said Morneau, the 2006 American League most valuable player, as he shuffled between the street and a dressing room at the back of the store. “I could find all the White Sox hats and light them on fire.â€
Finally, as a site note, below this paragraph you’ll notice I’ve added a link to Sphere, which brings up related content. I’ve found this to be pretty interesting at times, so hopefully it’s of use to you, too.
Sphere It
I also have had a strong rooting for Nate Robertson since he has been a Tiger. I always kind of liked him, but then a buddy of mine met Robertson through the gym he worked at. He said that Robertson has time for everyone, and is an all around great guy. It sure makes it easy to root for a guy when you hear things like that about them.