So all sorts of things happened while I was under the weather Friday. On top of that, Drew Sharp provided me with a topic to discuss today. Please excuse the parentheticals, I went a bit nuts today.

• Kenny Rogers re-signs for 1 year ($8M-ish)

As I’ve said all along, I like what Rogers brought to Detroit for his first season here. And his loss due to injury for most of the second season of the contract undoubtedly cost the Tigers some wins, maybe enough to separate them from the playoffs, maybe just enough to make it a heartbreaker the final day of the season. Hard to say. But we can say Detroit could have used Rogers in 2007.

The question then is, can the Tigers use Rogers in 2008? But we don’t really know that answer and it’s an $8M bet that they can. Why don’t we know the answer? Because nobody can say whether he’ll return circa 2006 (which to be fair, would be hard to match even with a healthy 2007 season). Nobody can say whether he’ll be injured like last year.

There were statements to the effect Dave Dombrowski did not look seriously at any other pitcher. (Presumably this also means Kuroda.) If I’m channeling the mind of Dombrowski, he’s really looking at this franchise (important change in terminology there) with a schism line after the 2009 season.

I think looking at the Google spreadsheet Bilfer put together helps emphasize this. (So uhm, click that into a new window, look around and return!)

Look how many guys are gone after 2008. Quite a few. Look at the guys gone after 2009. Quite a few more. And then look at the list of guys who will build the second generation of the Detroit Tigers (and hopefully, if Dombrowski has done this right, provide a seemless transition while staying in/near contention in 2009 after going for broke in 2008). Who do you see? Position players Magglio Ordonez with options (probably a DH by then). Carlos Guillen at first base. (Shouldn’t be a problem). Brandon Inge (ehhh), Curtis Granderson arbitratino eligible (I suspect they lock him up long term, he’s on his way to becoming Mr. Detroit), Cameron Maybin under club control. Then the pitchers are Jeremy Bonderman, Rick Porcello (maybe in his rookie season), Justin Verlander and Andrew Miller arbitration eligible, Joel Zumaya (hopefully back to healthy by then…!) also arbitration eligible. The committed payroll is $48M. Throw in the arbs and extentions, who knows, maybe $75M. And Dombrowski can look at the free agent pool in 2009 and 2010 and maybe find something more to his liking than in this year’s rather weak, overpriced (uhm, well, they all are) pool.

So why sign Rogers? It’s the best pitcher he could find for a year. So makes sense to me. Let’s just cross our fingers for his health. (And Joel’s…!)

• Tigers ink righty Cruceta

Francisco Cruceta’s role is in all likelihood a reliever even though he was a starter with the Texas organization. His stats, as pointed out by D-Town, are, uhm, interesting. His K/9 is better than 10. His BB/9 is a nightmare. So his K/BB is most unimpressive. (That’s Cruceta’s, not Eric’s). Eric was not excited. But here’s the thing: I (kind of) am.

Cruceta is a classic pitcher to change roles from starter to reliever.

That is, one the best predictors is a high strikeout rate. (In a Baseball-Prospectus article, Nate Silver) points these are above the expected success of these stats. Counter-intuitively, a high walk rate is also a predictor of success. Why? Silver says over six innings, pitchers who struggle with mechanics will thave their wildness will catch up to a starter. Over one or possibly two innings, it probably won’t. Finally, the best predictor is a guy who doesn’t give up a lot of extra-base his.

Well, I couldn’t find anything on his extra base hits, though he gave up a homer every six innings or so in his most recent season. In any case, at a cost of just $500k, this guy nobody has heard of is exactly the kind of move I was hoping the Tigers would make. I hope they find another one or two. Maybe he won’t personally turn out (though I think he will), but if you find a few guys like this, one might.

• In corresponding moves, OF Timo Perez and 1B Chris Shelton were designated for assignment.

What’s DFA mean? It means Detroit has two weeks to find a taker and see if they can’t get something for Chris Shelton. They probably will. Don’t expect the world. Maybe an unheard of reliever maybe though please? Timo, no. Nothing will come of Timo. The second, why did Detroit do that? The Tigers had to make spaces on the 40 man roster. And let’s face it, Timo was useless (thank god the Perez temptation is gone for Leyland!) and Shelton was not going to be a Tiger in any case.

• Finally, Drew Sharp thinks the Tigers should trade Bonderman for Johan Santana.

An intriguing idea. Everyone knows the Tigers’ motto is “2008-or-bust” not “We’ll do fine if the tires don’t fall off first” as I posit. So Sharp says, hey, why not get the most dominating pitcher in baseball (my opinion) before New York or Boston does. And hey, we can’t be trading Maybin or Miller or Porcello or anything. But we do have young Mr. Bonderman under control at a healthy price for awhile. Maybe that would tempt Minnesota better than some prospects or cash from the East Coast would.

While I am certainly not opposed to the idea, as I’m really wondering myself if Bonderman will ever turn the corner from “pretty darn good” to “great,” I highly doubt they would even sniff their nose at the deal in the Twin Cities. Makes no sense to me why they would, to be honest. Maybe if the Tigers threw in Porcello or something. But uhm, NO.

Usually it’s the fans on message boards who toss impossible ideas out. This time it was a columnist.

Nice idea, Drew. But not going to happen.

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The schedule makers last fall let the computers do the heavy lifting, but all eyes turned to the final series of the year. Chicago vs. Detroit. Two 90-plus win teams in 2006 duking it out for the division title. And now, we’re a week from the start of that series, and what do we see? The White Sox will not finish north of the .500 line. The Tigers will be grasping for the 90-win mark but most likely fall short. The result of the games have no meanings except to the history books.

Individual players still have reasons to keep going. Magglio Ordonez can bring home the batting title to Detroit for the first time in forever. (Although Ichiro caught him). Curtis Granderson has nothing in particular to shoot for, including hope at leading baseball in extra-base hits, but he can keep adding to his already historical 20-20-20-20 season. Every game Placido Polanco plays without an error adds to his major league second baseman’s record errorless streak. It all rings hollow, but at least it’s something.

• Different eulogies are up around the Tigers blogosphere. Bilfer. Samara. Ian (and so uniquely Ian!)
• Curtis Granderson was in Sports Illustrated this week. I read about half of the article to start. It’s a good read. It’s the issue with USC on the cover. Definitely pick it up. He’s also up for vote in SI’s Best Dressed poll. (That don’t look like Walmart to me!)
• Oh, and he’ll be on Jim Rome’s ESPN show at 4:30 p.m. eastern today.
• There’s some hubbub about whether Carlos Guillen will play first or short next year. Jon Paul Morosi and Danny Knobler didn’t exactly draw similar inferences from Guillen’s quotes. I’m not sure myself what to make of them. I’ll opine on the future at the position during the offseason, however.
• Speaking of schedules, the Freep has a glance at 08.
• Off the top of my head, I’ll say CC Sabathia should be Cy Young this year, although I still like Johan Santana’s numbers better.

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Some notes from around the Tigers lately.

• Jim Leyland announced the rotation for the rest of the season.

Jason Beck notes:

This Fri-Sun at Minnesota: Robertson, Bazardo and Jurrjens
Next Mon-Wed at Cleveland: Rogers, Verlander and Robertson
Next Fri-Sun vs. KC: Jurrjens, Rogers, Verlander
Sept. 24-26 vs. Minnesota: Robertson, TBA, Jurrjens
Sept. 28-30 at Chicago: Rogers, Verlander, Robertson

So, that’s not too bad a rotation against the Indians. The rotation against the Twins the first time around, well, we’ll see.

• Mike Illitch will spend money.

We just don’t know how yet. He’s not really sure either. It’s not really a concern to him. He just wants to win, win, win, win. Basically, he wants what we want. The key quotes:

“I look at it as I finally got to the higher level,” Ilitch said on Wednesday, “and you’re learning now, like I learned with [hockey], how to stay up there and some of the things you have to do in baseball to make sure that you’re keeping your eye on to make sure the team’s going to stay up. That’s going to be the secret now, to keep the club contending every single year. That’s my objective.

“I just have to prepare myself. Regardless of what happens, I wouldn’t be happy if I can’t contend every year now.”

•  The bloggers gathered at Comerica Park Tuesday.

Samara doesn’t have photos yet, but promises them soon. There’s been no real blog postings about it yet, but I’m sure we’ll get something soon.

• Curtis Granderson likes Kanye West

I don’t like to Grandy’s blog all the time, because, hey, you know where to find it. Hopefully you don’t need the reminder. But from time to time, doesn’t hurt to point it out. Anyway, he picked Kanye West in the 50 cent vs. Kanye West debate for album releases. For the record, he’s completely right. Then again, I don’t listen to 50, but I do listen to Kanye, so what else am I going to say? Of course, for some reason, I get get the page to load to link to his exact post.

• Just enjoy September

That’s what I thin. John Milton at The Daily Fungo agreed.

I do hope September is not the last month of baseball for the Tigers, but if it is, we still have some things this month we have enjoyed.

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That should be read in the voice of Charlie Brown, just as he whiffs at a football held by Lucy, because that’s how I’m starting to feel when I read about each game. I go into it thinking maybe the team won’t trick me into believing, then pull it all away as soon as the first pitch is thrown. And yet…

• Timo Perez isn’t starting in the outfield today.

This star of foot and bat is DHing and batting third today, Danny Knobler reports.

Well, gee. That makes me feel MUCH better.

• Miller was optioned to Lakeland

Knobler writes this is procedural, as Lakeland’s season ends first and he’ll be back up in September, possibly to relieve. Honestly, I wouldn’t have my feelings hurt if they shut him down for awhile. He’s in his first year of pro ball. The kids arm is probably cinquefoil by now.

• Virgil Vasquez will start Friday.

Originally, Durbin was announced as the starter. I’m not sure, I either didn’t buy it or didn’t like it, in any case, I never mentioned it. But he’s not starting now. He is needed in the bullpen after the poor penners had to pitch 8 innings due to Miller’s meltdown yesterday.

• September’s callups were announed. Pitchers Yorman Bazardo and Jose Capellan. Infielders Mike Hessman and Omar Infante are the four.

Chris Shelton,  you are the organization’s  first baseman of the future.  That’s what they told you right? Uhm. Yeah. Dude, I don’t know what you did to Jim Leyland. Hit on his daughter? Step on his dog’s tail? Buy him a carton of the wrong pack of cigs? Maybe you know. But you must have seriously pissed off Jim Leyland if a near-.400 OBP is not enough to get you a callup. Holy crap. Please, warn others what you did, because we can’t afford to lose another player to his curmudgeoness.

Actually, I’m starting to think Ryan Raburn must have done something, too, to see his playing time cut to zero despite a) playing good defense in the outfield, b) hitting the ball, c) with runners on base, and d) getting the callup first ahead of Perez.

Frankly, I don’t know what’s up with this team. I like the team, but I’m hating the decisions by the smoker more and more every day.

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1. I forgot to mention I’ll be on WTKG’s Sports Extra with Bennie and Jeff about 7:30 p.m. tonight. That’s 1230 on the AM dial. I suppose we’ll talk about the recent swoon.
2. Hey triples stats keepers, please add a “+1″ designation when a player fails to stop at third. For some reason, Curtis Granderson thought he’d rather score an in-the-park home run than add to his triples mark. No, I don’t know why he’d want to go and score a run like that. Anyway, his hit today ended up in the “HR” column, the second of his career.
3. Jair Jurrjens was injured, you may have heard. This is just the awful luck Detroit has had this year. They find a starting pitcher who steps up, and the kid hurts his shoulder in his third MLB start.
4. Sometimes, I really get the feeling the baseball god does not want the Tigers to return to the postseason.

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Indians 5, Tigers 2

You can be a bit upset that the Tigers lost, I guess. But honestly, they won Tuesday. The team is suffering from flu-like symptoms. The lineup was missing a few key figures, and present were some guys not feeling the best. Jair Jurrjens made his MLB debut. Fausto Carmona is both fun to say and spell, and a good pitcher. So I don’t know. I expected a loss. Can’t really feel too bad.

I thought Jurrjens pitched pretty well, given the circumstances and, well, that he’s 21. Given Andrew Miller’s poor outing in Toledo tonight (more later) I think he will get another start next week. Jurrjens (pronounced uhm, any way you like, from my observations of FSN, Jim Price and Dan Dickerson) threw 62 strikes in 104 pitches, walked 2, allowed 5 hits (a home run) and struck out three. He even lasted seven innings, something more starters should try. Given the Indians have several good lefties, I think the results were fine.

The bullpen? Meh. Bobby Seay walked too many. Including left-handed Travis Haffner with the bases loaded. What kinda LOOGY does that? Jason Grilli, of all people, bailed Seay out.

The offense just didn’t make much happen. The meat of the lineup, and Curtis Granderson, were present. But not much else.

Grandy, it should be noted, got his 19th triple.

Box

Bunt Singles:

• And in Toledo, Miller gave up five runs with two outs in the first inning. He had five walks and four strikeouts in three innings. So it doesn’t look like Miller is ready to come back to the MLB. To be honest, I think he shouldn’t continue as a starter this year because of putting so many innings on his arm. Maybe he can work as a reliever for the rest of the season.

• And then there’s Joel Zumaya. He was targeted to pitch 20. He only lasted seven. That’s because six pitches were for strikes and three were for outs in a perfect inning. No clue about velocity or anything else. I’ll be looking for stories, too. He’ll pitch Saturday, and then appears to be ready to return to Detroit and make us very, very happy fans.
• And finally, the deadline for signing 2007 draftees was reached. A complete list isn’t out yet, but the Tigers added Casey Crosby and Cole Iorg to the list that already included first rounder Rick Porcello.
• For more on the draft picks, see Take 75 North.
• Possibly the most interesting story on signing a draft pick didn’t come from a sports section or blog, but from a mother who happens to be the managing editor of a suburban Chicago newspaper: Denise Crosby. (hat-tip: many!)
• Finally, Kyle Sleeth and Kody Kirkland were removed from the 40-man roster to make room for Porcello, who is required to be there, and Jair Jurrjens, who needed a spot as well.
• Optimistically, the Tigers would like your postseason dollars, season ticket holders.

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Who are these people?

The Tigers seem to make roster moves on a daily basis. A refresher.

Down:

• Macay McBride
• Jordan Tata

Up:

• Yorman Bazardo
• Aquilino Lopez

Up, then Down:

• Eulogio de la Cruz

Other thoughts

• Bazardo and Lopez are both right handers. So the moves lower the number of LOOGYs in the bullpen to two from three. So that’s a positive.
• Byrdak still disappoints me. He seems to have reverted to previous form. That and he’s a LOOGY pitching to more than just lefties. So I wouldn’t mind seeing DLC or another righty reliever come back up.

Tata’s being sent down means the Tigers need a starter for Wednesday’s game. The media keeps thinking it’ll be someone from Double-A Erie. John Lowe liked Dallas Trahern. He pitched ineffectively today and won’t be ready Wednesday. So he’s out. Matt at Take 75 North shares his views.

Rehab starts

Both Joel Zumaya and Andrew Miller are going to take some rehab to try to make it back to Detroit as soon as possible. Miller will start in Toledo. His return to Detroit is not a given. He must show he’s ready, Jim Leyland said.

Zumaya is scheduled for Monday, Wednesday and Saturday for Toledo. If he feels fine and pitches effectively, he’ll return to the Tigers in about a week from now. I find it hard to believe he can come back from major surgery and take so few innings in the minors to make sure everything is working, but if so, more power to him. I’m just taking a conservative view for that now it may take a bit longer than that.

Maybin makes it look easy

Cam Maybin hit his third homer in three days at Double-A. It must be the lights are brighter than Lakeland.

Polanco makes it look really easy

I’ve almost forgot this fact twice. Placido Polanco went errorless for a 143rd game in a row at second base, tying a MLB record. He’ll go for sole possession today.

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Blase thoughts as the Tigers continue to lose

The Tigers didn’t make any trades at the deadline, disappointing me and many other fans. They obviusly needed bullpen help. But was it the right move? Two weeks later, it very well may have been.

• Injured prospective relievers. Not the Tigers. The (known) available ones. Octavio Dotel is on the DL in Atlanta; Eric Gagne is doing little in Boston. (Hat tip Bilfer)
• Uninjured Tigers. Fernando Rodney came off the DL and has looked better than all season. Joel Zumaya is throwing well in his sessions and aims to come off the DL later this month. He will take his minor league rehab as early as next week, Lynn Henning reports.
• Rest of team slumping. Let’s face it. The starters have done nothing since mid-July. They have one win. And that was Jordan Tata, the owner of the seven runs over two innings start last night. To be fair, maybe a win or two was poached by the bullpen. But otherwise, the Tigers have barely led for weeks. The offense was injured and slumping. Another arm in the bullpen would not have changed things one bit in the past few weeks. Going forward, maybe, but that remains to be seen.

Right now, my gut tells me if the Tigers miss the playoffs, they probably would have anyway, so the prospects required to make a trade would be better spent when (if) the team is healthy, or if there is that one hole to fill. But let me add, if the Tigers are healthy and making a run, they should definitely act like a megaclub and make a move, because the window on this particular club makeup is probably closing after next season.

AA ball? No problem!

Cameron Maybin homered in his Double-A Erie debut.

Draft signing enters final days

Teams have until Aug. 15 to sign players drafted in the 2007 amateur draft. For the Tigers, this means two or three of their most exciting names could return to the draft pool next season.

Jason Beck’s article states the Tigers are optimistic about their chance to sign first rounder Rick Porcello. Hopefully that’s because there’s an agreement in place and they’re just waiting until the final moments to announce it to the league.

Brandon Inge adds to collection

Ian at Bless You Boys reports Brandon Inge(’s wife) had a child. Inge should be back in the lineup soon. Whether or not that really matters, well, who knows.

Granderson triples

I forgot to mention in my gamer today that Curtis Granderson hit his 19 18h triple of the season last night. For those tracking career milestones of 20/20/20 or 20/20/20/20, here’s the update:

30 doubles. 18 triples. 16 homers. 14 steals.

Curtis is going to have to really start running a lot if he wants to hit 20 steals. He’s only been cuaght once. So the attempts need to go up some. I suspect the rest will come, but the homers may be close.

And that is why it’s a rare feat.

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Perez gone for seasonn

Neifi Perez was suspended for 80 games for testing positive for illegal substances a third time. The question mark in my subject? While I’m pretty he won’t be a Tiger again, I didn’t think he’d be a Tiger in the first place either. So there is always the possibility, small as it may be, that the Tigers could have a moment of weakness when Jim Leyland needed a smoke, and sign him next season. But I really, really doubt it.

Baseball Prospectus’ Will Carroll has more on the drug side of things. 

Zach Miner back

Miner returned today from his bereavement stay today. Jose Capellan was sent back to the minors. Does this move really make any difference? Miner isn’t that good, but Jose Capellan wasn’t either. Capellan was a short reliever. Miner is more of a starter who was asked to relieve in the late innings even though he’s not made for it. So, it’s possible the Tigers are slightly worse off for this. Break even maybe. In all likelyhood, it doesn’t matter all that much.

Oh, and Chad Durbin is away, as his wife is having a baby.

Sheff hurting still

Jason Beck reports Sheff is “day to day“.

The news is good on Gary Sheffield, whose numbness in his hand was caused by falling on his elbow making a catch July 21. His collarbone apparently popped up on the play and is irritating a nerve. He’ll take medication and physical therapy to get it back into place, which will keep him out for at least a couple days if not more.

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Angels 13, Tigers 4

While the Tigers are losing horribly — so much so I don’t think anyone will want to read a recap any more than I’d want to write it — I’ll just do an update about all the other events of the weekend for my weekday readers.

Granderson hits 17

Not content to let his home runs surpass his triples, Curtis Granderson knocked a 17th three-bagger. He’s on pace for an AL record-setting 27.

Kenny Rogers to the DL; Tata up

Rogers went on the 15-day disabled list with pain in his elbow. (Danny Knobler) Lest you wonder if Jordan Tata is being “showcased” for a deal, Knobler reported the move to the DL came too late to pull Virgil Vasquez from his scheduled start Sunday. So Tata filled the need.

Lee at Tiger Tales suspects Rogers will be back again this year, but does not expect any real contribution from him.

Matt at Take 75 North has a report on Jordan Tata.

Monroe benched?

Craig Monroe started on the bench, as Jim Leyland picked Ryan Raburn to get the start. Reading Leyland’s quotes about his decision, I wonder if this is more permanent.

“I’m trying to win a ballgame,” Leyland said, “and tonight, I think that’s the lineup that gives us the best chance.”

“You keep waiting, but you can’t wait forever,” said Leyland.

I like Raburn. I like this defense. So far, I like his bat. I’ve said it before, start him as many games as possible. Right now, he gives the team a better chance to win than anyone else (read: Monroe) in the outfield.

Fernando Rodney pitches well

Leyland had said earlier that Fernando Rodney must pitch good two showings in a row in Toledo before he could think about coming back to Detroit. I kind of wondered if he meant in back-to-back days, as Rodney will undoubtedly need to do that. But then he didn’t get the chance Saturday, due to a complete game by the Toledo starter. Friday and Sunday, he seemed to put up decent performances. (Eric has more at D-Town). Jason Beck says Rodney is scheduled to pitch again Tuesday.

Andrew Miller tired?

Miller’s velocity was down Saturday. This fact was not lost on Leyland. Nor as it lost on Ian at Bless You Boys, who was all over the story.

Leyland told reporters:

“I was disappointed in Miller’s velocity. It wasn’t good. He pitched pretty well, but for the most part he didn’t throw the ball — just OK. We couldn’t figure it out.

“Maybe he was gun shy about turning it loose because he was wild in Chicago. I’ll find out. When you throw the ball 95-96 miles an hour, you have to throw it 95-96 more than once or twice a game.

Miller says it’s nothing.

Ian wrote:

Miller’s stamina has been a concern throughout the season, as he logs more innings and pitches more frequently than he ever has before. Maybe the Tigers can skip his turn in the rotation occasionally, as they did with Justin Verlander last season, but they’re in a position now where keeping him in the rotation isn’t just a luxury, but a necessity.

Professor Farnsworth?

(Hat tip Cut-off Man) The Tigers continue to scout Kyle Farnsworth of the Yankees. They may be the front runner to take the struggling late-relief artist off New York’s hands for little more than paying his salary.

Farnsworth, who has a 4.57 earned run average, may not be around much longer. The nonwaiver trading deadline is 4 p.m. Tuesday, and the Detroit Tigers have had a scout following the Yankees in two of their last three series.

A quick review of pitching

Injured: Kenny Rogers

Not on the DL, but who knows: Andrew Miller, Nate Robertson

Not on the DL but having a bad day or two: Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman

Not very good: Much of the bullpen

A quick review of your blogger

I know that all teams go through slumps. I told myself I wouldn’t worry. But after the past three series and given the injury problems and the way the pitching staff has been throwing lately, I am at least moving in the direction of the panic button. I think this is a real crisis, not a made-up one.

About that game?

But maybe you want to know something about the game. Jeremy Bonderman got toasted for a career high in runs. And Jason Beck did some interesting research about just how bad a series this was for Tigers pitchers.

Myself, I kicked a stool in my backyard in the first inning and stopped listening.

I’ve learned: If you can’t say anything nice … let Ian say it in pictures.

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