Leyland’s gut spurs blogging
posted in 2008 Spring Training |Jim Leyland’s gut says there will be a trade for bullpen help by the time the season starts. Not that it means there will be. Nor should we necessarily think it’s a good thing if there is (even given the Tigers’ bullpen) (Remember the kneejerk trade for say, Neifi? Yeah, me too) (is it legal to put back-to-back parentheses like that?). But he’s just throwing it out there: maybe one of those bullpen guys he’s comfortable with isn’t quite up to the challenge of pitching for a postseason-bound club and shouldn’t get too comfortable in his Olde-English D.
Freep’s Jon Paul Morosi wonders if the Cubs’ Michael Wuertz could be a reliever targeted by Detroit. According to the articles, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski is in constant communication with teams trying to make a deal and just hasn’t found one that works. I’ll be frank here: I don’t like the Tigers’ bullpen a whole lot, but I don’t necessarily know if there’s any magic bullet out there either. At this point, what the bullpen needs is not just another arm, but an arm you can trust with a one-run lead or tie game in the eighth inning. I don’t know if that reliever is truly on the market. Not anything Detroit can afford at this point, anyway. I think that kind of follows Dombrowski’s line of thinking.
As Dombrowski pointed out, however, they’re not simply looking to fill roles. They have pitchers to do that. Anything they do would have to make sense. (Jason Beck at Tigers.com)
Of course, this is a concern because we don’t really know who the setup men will be. At this point, I think one is Denny Bautista, and for all his discussed talent, that’s a pretty unproven arm to be throwing into a high-leverage situation. We haven’t heard anything concrete on Fernando Rodney — other than he’s not throwing — but the Under The Knife (free) report at Baseball Prospectus by Will Carroll is cause for concern.
he Tigers are shutting down Fernando Rodney pending some medical tests. Things don’t look good, and one observer described him as “toast” last week.
So, it’s a storyline to follow, one that has been followed. Leyland’s gut may be rumbling, but honestly, mine isn’t, not right now anyway. Even if a trade is made before the season, I am not certain how big a difference it will make.
Sphere It
I agree with whomever the observer was that said, “Rodney is toast”. I do not see him making a significant contribution to the 08 Tigers and maybe never. I think the error was with Renteria. We did not need a shortstop at his point in his career and the money could have been used going after a proven bullpen pitcher. I hope Detroit can find someone to shore-up the bullpen or this will be another 07 despite the improved line-up.