Lost in all the excitement was the trade of Jose Capellan to Colorado for Danny Bautista.

Bautista is a hard throwing reliever who spent a lot of time in AAA. He’s also the kind of guy I hoped Dave Dombrowski would look for. Just take a few stabs in the dark and one of these relievers will turn out.

Bautista, 27, was 2-1 for the Rockies in 2007 but spent most of the year at Triple-A Colorado Springs, where he was 3-2 with a 2.92 earned-run average in 51 appearances. Pitching this autumn in the Dominican Winter League, he was 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA, and had 18 strikeouts in 13 innings. (Detroit News)

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Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski just emptied the minors for 2008.

The Freep (among other) is reporting Detroit is sending top prospects SP Andrew Miller and OF Cameron Maybin, along with pretty good prospects SP Eulogio dela Cruz and SP Dallas Trahern, young prospect SP Burke Badanhop, along with backup catcher Mike Rabelo — come up for breath — for Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera.

That is a VERY high price to pay. My initial thought is we’re gonna have a whale of a 2008. My followup thought is “Oh man, I’d have really enjoyed rooting for Miller and Maybin as Tigers.” And my final thought is “There goes the minors. All that’s left is Rick Porcello.”

Here’s the thing. The Tigers can restock by trading one or both of those guys in 2009, depending how the season is going and signability between now and then. So it’s not a total mortgage of the minor league system even though it appears like that now.

Anyway, I gotta get back to work. I will give more details thoughts after 11 p.m.

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Dave Dombrowski had a productive day at the office.

The Tigers GM sent Omar Infante off to join Alan Trammell and the Cubs organization in return for left handed outfielder Jacque Jones. The newcomer will play left field, but can sub in all outfield positions. He won’t tar the ball, or play Gold Glove defense, but he does bat lefty and should be a capable starter. I’m guessing he’ll platoon with Marcus Thames some, but I would expect he’ll see a majority of the time in left.

Jones saw action in 135 games with the Cubs in 2007, batting .285 (129×453) with 33 doubles, five home runs and 66 RBI. He hit .332 (79×238) in 66 games following the all-star break for the Cubs this past season.

“We are excited to add a quality major league outfielder like Jacque Jones to the Tigers organization,” Tigers President, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager David Dombrowski said. “He is a proven lefthanded hitter at the major league level that fits our club well in left field.” (team release)

Reportedly Jones costs $5.5M (Cubs places say $6.3M) and the Cubs are chipping in some amount of cash, Jon Paul Morosi reports.

The second Jones move of the day was re-signing closer Todd for $7M. Not the most glamorous move, obviously, but he did the job effectively and, really, looking at the way he pitches, it’s hard to picture him “losing” all that much from his stuff. (What stuff!?) Of course, his success depends on his defense. So lets hope that holds up. I doubt they’ll pursue a closer any more, but hopefully Dombrowski can find some viable middle relievers, because it still feels like the team needs to do more it if wants to get back to the playoffs.

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Tigers motto: Win NOW.

I’m probably the last Tigers blog to get a post up, so there’s no facts I can add. The Tigers traded SP Jair Jurrjens and CF prospect Gorkys Hernandez to Atlanta for SS Edgar Renteria, a move I hoped they’d make.

Obviously, it’s a pretty hefty price to pay from the future. Imagining a 2010 outfield of Cameron Maybin, Goryks Hernandez and Curtis Granderson will have to stop. But that doesn’t really bother me much. He was always trade bait.

I was just getting used to having Jair Jurrjens around. He’s a good young kid at 21. Doesn’t get stressed on the mound. He was part of the Tigers reloading their young staff.

I would have been happier if say, Dallas Trahern was the pitcher selected for the trade. Just sorta throwing potential toward the Braves, not throwing a proven major league guy.

For any Braves fans who might be stopping by, I’ll say this: I think you finally got a trade with the Tigers that won’t blow up in your face. I’d feel pretty good about receiving those two guys if I were you.

So how do I feel as a Tigers fan? Pretty good to have Renteria. Pretty optimistic overall, because I really can’t think of too many times a Dombrowski trade has cost the Tigers. Maybe the players didn’t work out great every time, but you know what? I can’t think of any times Detroit ended up on the losing side of a trade.

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Busy day in Tigertown. Busy day for Mr. Knobler, the reporting star so far.

Muy rapido after Craig Monroe was sent to the Cubs for a player to be named later, AAA-Iowa pitcher Clay Rapada seems to be that guy, Knobler writes. Rapada may be called up after the AAA playoffs, in which Toledo will again play.

A relief pitcher with a good K9, good WHIP, decent rate of BB9, Rapada has an ERA in the 3s.

And now I really must get some work done…

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Reports are the Tigers completed the trade with St. Louis by taking former first-round pitcher Chris Lambert.

He was taken 19th overall and had a good year in A ball. Otherwise, the past two years, he has been stalled at AAA-Memphis with unremarkable stats. He’s only started three times this year, but had been a starter in the past. In AAA, he has a decent strikeout rate, nearly 9 K9. But that’s about it. A large amount of hits and walks gives him a WHIP of 1.86.

Pretty uninspiring. I guess Dave Dombrowski hopes a fresh start will help.

Given Mike Maroth has performed poorly for St. Louis, the trade looks like a wash.

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Monroe traded

Craig Monroe was traded to the Cubs. I believe the Cubs and Brewers (along with Mets?) were all thought to be possible trade partners for Monroe, who was DFAd Friday after hitting a seasonlong wall. The Tigers will receive a player to be named by Oct. 15.

Just a reminder, Tigers management still gets to select a Cardinal by Sept. 15.

Indians 11, Tigers 8

In action Wednesday, the Tigers led 3-1 when Carlos Guillen hit a towering home run to right field. Then Justin Verlander self destructed in the fourth and fifth frames. It was hard to watch. Cleveland just kept putting hit after hit after hit after hit on the board until the score was 8-1. I thought it was over. (Well, it was over). But the Tigers battled back to 8-6 thanks to homers by Magglio Ordonez and Marcus Thames.

And then the bullpen (cough Tim Byrdak) allowed the game to get out of hand. … Wait a minute. This game is following the same plan every loss does, wasn’t it? Until the ninth inning when Detroit battled back to 11-8 in the ninth inning with two runners on for Pudge Rodriguez. Well, by now you’ve heard, he so hates to be walked, he prefers to lose and important pennant race game to a division rival. So he struck out by swinging at balls 4 and 5. And that was that.

Up, down, down, up, these Tigers just keeping finding the same ways to lose. They obviously miss a healthy Gary Sheffield, and not only is he taking the home series off, it sounds like he may need to rest longer than that. Just my guess, but he is not the same player the rest of the season that he was before. The injury stems from a collision with Placido Polanco.

Also, Cameron Maybin made his first start at Comerica Park. Defense, eh. Offense, two doubles. He’ll come around. He runs so funny though. He looks like a race horse with a long stride and he’s at first base in what seems like 3 leaps. And we thought Curtis Granderson was a triple threat, wait for this kid to find the gaps at Comerica Park in a year or two!

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The Freep is reporting Toledo infielder Jack Hannahan was traded to the A’s and will fly back with the club today. He played briefly with the Tigers last year.

In return, the Tigers are getting who-knows-what. Hopefully it’s someone wearing an A’s uniform today and that’s why the other half of the deal hasn’t yet been announced. Mike Piazza cleared waivers, I believe. He has done nothing that resembles being a catcher this season. I don’t know if that’s much of a draw. I doubt they would trade any infielders. And even if they prefer Donny Murphy and washed their hands of the oft-injured Bobby Crosby, it’s nothing to be excited over, I don’t think. **update: Crosby may be out until early September, anyway. ** Personally I’d take Marco Scutaro but I highly doubt he’d be moved.

Pitching? Who knows. The A’s have battled injuries and have little bullpen help that I could see missing. **Update: The A’s did call up a pitcher Sunday night**

So I’m guessing this is just a minor deal. But who knows, maybe I’ll be surprised.

NEW

The Freep now adds the player is Jason Perry.

Perry, who will turn 27 this week, has batted .268 with 18 home runs and 58 RBIs in 78 games at Triple-A Sacramento this season. Perry, a left-handed hitter, has fared much better this year against right-handers (.288) than left-handers (.208).

Perry is an adequate defender with some power who will add depth at Triple-A. He’s not expected to play in the majors for Detroit this season, but could receive an invitation to big-league spring training in 2008.

This deal was an utter waste of time for all involved.

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The Tigers apparently have made no trades at the deadline. This is most disappointing.

The Tigers must be banking on the health of Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya. I would not want to make that bet, myself. You cannot bank on a player rebounding successfully from injury during the course of a season, especially from an injury such as Zumaya’s tendon tear.

You really can’t say, but the view from here looks like the Tigers are going to have to really fight to hold on to the playoffs. I think they’ll do it, but I would not select them as the American League favorites at this time.

Were there any deals out there that would have helped? Maybe. Maybe not. I’m sure Dave Dombrowski would have found something to help if there was. And yet, maybe he was scared off by the price. Who’s to say?

Eric Gagne went to Boston, the new World Series favorites in my mind. You kind of think the Tigers could have matched that offer, but he may have went where he wanted to go. He waived the no-trade clause. There were rumors of Jack Wilson to Detroit, possibly for Brent Clevlen. I’m glad that did not come to fruition. I would not have wanted Jack Wilson if the Pirates paid half his upcoming salary.

So it was a mixture of relief that deal didn’t happen, but disappointment the Tigers failed to better themselves. They’re good, but won’t be good enough.

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I didn’t know Mike Maroth had a blog until there was a link on Motown Sports today. On it, Mike posted his going away message to Tigers fans. It’s still kind of sad to see the longtime Tiger and fan favorite go, of course, and his blog post just confirms why.

And my life the past six years in Detroit have been something I will never forget. This team gave me my chance in the big leagues and you helped carry me through some very difficult times. So many people doubted me and our team during the hard times a few years back but the Tiger fans never lost hope. You stood by us and cheered for us to go back out on the field and just keep fighting. That’s what Tiger fans do, they don’t quit. I was strengthened and inspired by your words of encouragement in the letters you sent me over the years and I will never forget your loyalty to Detroit.

And it goes on.

Mike is scheduled to pitch on ESPN2 for the Cards Monday.

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