Category Archives: detroit tigers

Who Will the Cubs Get In Return for Ryan Dempster?

Going into the season, Matt Garza was predicted to be the prize of the trading deadline. He is still a major prize, but Ryan Dempster is the belle of the ball.

Dempster, who currently leads the Majors with a 1.86 ERA, is on the trading block and nearly every team has contacted the Chicago Cubs about acquiring him. He has the right to veto any trade and wants to pitch for a contender.

He is owed nearly $6 million for the rest of the season and the Cubs have said they would pick up most of the money if they receive an upgraded prospect in return.

Dempster has a short-list of teams where he would like to end up. Which teams are on that list and what are the Cubs looking to get in return for him?

FOX Sports is reporting that Dempster pinpointed the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves as his top destinations. He is rumored to be open to other destinations, which is good for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, and Washington Nationals.

The Cubs have made it clear they want young pitching and/or a third base prospect. These teams will be renting Dempster, since he’s a free agent at the end of the season. If they miss out on him, they will include many of these prospects in hopes of landing Garza.

Who can those teams offer? Let’s take a look at who may be involved.

Detroit Tigers
The Cubs would LOVE to trade Matt Garza, Darwin Barney, and Dempster in a package to Detroit. They would ask for third base prospect Nick Castellanos, top pitching prospect Jacob Turner, and a few other young pitchers from the group of Bruce Rondon, Drew Smyly, Casey Crosby, Andy Oliver, and Brenny Paulino.

Detroit has all the right pieces to trade for any player currently on the Cubs roster.

Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers have been very proactive on trying to acquire Dempster. They are rumored to have a deal currently on the table. No one knows which prospects are in the deal, but pitching is definitely the centerpiece.

The pitching prospects rumored in the deal begins with 20-year old Garrett Gould. He is the prospect most likely to be in the deal. Zach Lee, Nate Eovaldi, Allen Webster, and Chris Reed aren’t as likely to be included, since L.A. thinks too highly of them to part ways.

A group of secondary pitching prospects that could be thrown in could include Aaron Miller, Angel Sanchez, Matt Magill, Chris Withrow, and Ryan O’Sullivan. The Dodgers are also trying to acquire Aramis Ramirez from Milwaukee and Shane Victorino from Philadelphia, so this group could all find new homes by August 1st.

Atlanta Braves
Even though Dempster would like to pitch in Atlanta, I don’t see this deal happening. The Braves were looking hard at Zack Greinke, but Milwaukee’s asking price was too high.

Atlanta is in a bad situation in the present day. They are finding it hard to trade for a veteran pitcher, since every team is asking for their stud pitching prospects in return. The group of Julio Teheran, Arodys Vizcaino and Sean Gilmartin are asked about in nearly every deal. If the Braves want Dempster, they would need to part with someone from that group. Using that reasoning, they could focus on cheaper talent, like Francisco Liriano or Jason Vargas.

Washington Nationals
Washington is in need of a veteran pitcher to fill-in for Stephen Strasburg, since he’s on a innings limit this year. Their farm system isn’t what it used to be. They have already called up most of their top-tier young talent.

Third base prospect Anthony Rendon is the only Nationals prospect in the Top 100 list that the Cubs would be interested in. The only pitching prospects they could include would be second-tier. Alex Meyer, Matt Purke, and Robbie Ray are those pitchers.

Boston Red Sox
The rumor out of Chicago is that Boston is scared to trade with Theo Epstein, because he knows their farm system so well. I would assume that Ryan Lavarnway would be asked about right away. Epstein isn’t sold on Geovany Soto as the long-term catcher for the Cubs. There are big question marks about Lavarnway’s defensive ability behind the plate, but he could be worth the risk.

The pitching prospect cupboard is pretty bare in Boston. Matt Barnes is the best pitcher in their farm system. If the Cubs trade with Boston, Epstein will get the most out of the trade. They may not get the young arms they covet, but other holes will be addressed.

If a mystery team ends up with Dempster, they will have given up a lot to leapfrog these teams.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Guest Post: Should Ballparks Move in Outfield Walls?

I love being able to having different voices on this blog. It enhances what we are trying to do, to give interesting takes on sports and entertainment. Rebecca Wilcox is the latest person to guest blog on our site. Her take on major league ballparks is an opinion that we both share.

She takes aim at PETCO Park, the new Marlins’ stadium, and Comerica Park. She points out how a team could benefit and gives statistics to back up her opinion.

I know you will enjoy her take. Do you agree with her opinion? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Over the past few years there have been several new Major League Baseball ballparks constructed and opened. The New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins and Miami Marlins have all opened new stadiums in the past few seasons. Some of these new stadiums have come under scrutiny due to how far from home plate the outfield fences were built. Some, however, have gained reputations as too home run friendly.

Ballparks, such as Comerica Park in Detroit, have shortened the fences, while others, such as Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia have lengthened theirs. Are Major league Baseball park fences not friendly to theHomeRun Monkey? If Giancarlo Stanton has his way, Marlins Park’s outfield fences would be moved in. “Balls that you feel should go out are barely scraping by,” Stanton told ESPN. Yet there has been only a slight decrease in home runs per game from the old stadium, 1.56 in 2011, to the new stadium, 1.24 through May 1, 2012.

Weather could have just as much a factor as the warmer more humid summer months tend to help balls travel further. Another notoriously difficult park for the HomeRun Monkey is PETCO Park in San Diego. With some of the deepest fences in MLB, PETCO Park has averaged at or near the bottom of MLB in home runs hit per game for four years running and in 2012 PETCO has by far the lowest count, averaging only one home run per game played in the stadium.

However another recently built stadium has seen a sharp rise in home runs, the new Yankee Stadium. In 2008, the last year the Yankees played in old Yankee Stadium, hitters averaged 1.98 home runs per game. That average leapt by almost a full point, to 2.93, in the first year of operations at new Yankee Stadium. So far this year Yankee Stadium is by far the most home run hitter friendly park with an average of 2.95 dingers per game. It seems to stand to reason that shorter fences make for more home runs.

The top ten stadiums with the shortest fence dimensions in right and left fields are among the top 15 stadiums each year in home runs per game. However, other factors do contribute to those numbers. Indoor versus outdoor stadium, number of power hitters on the home team, number of slowpitch pitchers versus fireballers faced are all factors that need to be considered. However, empirical evidence certainly seems to support Mr. Stanton’s position.

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The Tigers’ Season Rests On A 20-Year Old

The Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins are going to play in a one-game playoff to see who wins the AL Central on Tuesday. The Twins are going to send out Scott Baker (15-9) who could be considered their ace and the Tigers are sending out 20-year old, Rick Porcello (14-9). The Twins are smart to send out Baker, but the Tigers are stuck in a tough situation with Porcello coming in next in their rotation. They have no other options but to start him, do the Tigers have a chance?

Rick Porcello started out the season very nicely for a 20-year old. He was a darkhorse to even make the team coming into spring training, but he pitched himself into the rotation. The Tigers have rested him quite a bit in the 2nd-half and he has already pitched more innings than he did in the minors last season. He has pitched against the Twins three times this season and has an ERA around three against the Twins. This is the biggest game that he has pitched in his career, but with Jarod Washburn going down with a knee injury, the Tigers have to use the young man in this position. He could be their best option, since Edwin Jackson has been inconsistent and Nate Robertson has had a horrible season.

Scott Baker started the season on the disabled-list and had a bad April/May this season. His best month game in August, when he had a 3.18 ERA, but he had an average September. Baker has been groomed to be the Twins ace, since he has dominated at every level that he has pitched. It was only a matter of time before he would start pitching up to his ability in the Majors. He has set personal records this season in games started (32), strikeouts(160), and wins(15). Baker has had trouble against Detroit this season, he has pitched in four games against the Tigers, pitching 20 innings and giving up 15 runs. He did do well last week against the Tigers by pitching five innings and giving up no earned runs.

The games will be played in Minnesota on Tuesday and I give the Twins an edge in this contest. They have been playing for their lives the last two months and the Tigers have been sliding during that time. The Jarod Washburn trade was supposed to send them to the next level, but it has had the opposite effect on the team. The way Edwin Jackson has been pitching lately, they would probably like a mulligan on that trade too and get Matt Joyce back in return. The Twins have been swinging the bat very well and it’s nice to see Delmon Young playing up to his potential.

The winner of this game goes on to play the New York Yankees in the ALDS and if the Twins win, Carl Pavano will be a scheduled starter against his old club. Can you imagine the backlash that would happen if he would win the clinching game? I’m just saying….

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The Biggest Choke Jobs of 2008

Since the year is winding down, we can look over the past year and put certain things in context. Some teams were supposed to have monumental years, but fell short. Some teams have better excuses for their lack of success. Injuries, arrests, or suspensions can lead to a team not fulfilling their potential, the following teams didn’t have any of those reasons for not living up to their hype by failing to win a championship.

6. 2008 New York Yankees – With a payroll of over $200 million dollars, this Yankess team was supposed to make the playoffs, if not win a championship. They were so cocky about their chances of have a good team, that they didn’t pull the trigger on a deal that would have landed them Johan Santana. The Minnesota Twins wanted either or both of the Yankees top pitching prospects, Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes. The Yankees wanted to keep their young guns and it ended up hurting them in the end. Johan Santana had a Cy Young caliber season and the Kennedy/Hughes tandem struggled to stay in the Majors. The Yankees didn’t win the AL East and failed to win the Wild Card, making this the first season many of the Yankees players didn’t see a pitch in the post-season.

5. 2007-2008 NBA Western Conference – The Western Conference was the superior conference in the NBA last season. The Western Conference owned the Eastern Conference in head-to-head competition and looked like they would come out with the NBA Championship at season’s end. The only team that stood in their way was a team from Boston. The Lakers, Suns, Rockets, Hornets, Mavericks, San Antonio, and Utah had great seasons and looked like championship teams. After a long season of beating on each other, the Western Conference team that would make the Finals, had a long run. The Lakers finally won the Western Conference, but lost in seven games to the Boston Celtics. A few calls here and there would have changed the outcome, but the Western Conference definitely fell short of expectations in the end.

4. 2008 Detroit Tigers – With the move that brought Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to the Detroit Tigers and getting Edgar Renteria in another deal, Detroit was a lock for a World Series ring. The addition of Cabrera and Willis would have added to the depth of talent Detroit already had on their team. Magglio Ordonez, Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Verlander, and Gary Sheffield were already leaders on the team and could only perform better with the addition of more All-Stars. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out as expected in Motown. Verlander’s ERA rose to around 6.00, Renteria couldn’t handle AL pitching, and Willis ended up in A-ball and struggled with command. The Tigers ended the season under .500 and started blowing up the team by trading Rodriguez mid-season.

3. 2007-2008 UCLA Men’s Basketball – After making the Final Four in the two previous seasons, the UCLA Bruins had their eyes on an NCAA Championship. Darren Collison, Russell Westbrook, and Josh Shipp were all coming back and they would add top recruit, Kevin Love, to an already great team. UCLA coasted into the NCAA tournament with a top seed and made another Final Four. The other teams in the Final Four were some of the best teams in the country, but UCLA was the only team with players who had Final Four experience. UCLA lost in the National Semi-Final game to a much younger Memphis squad.

2. 2008 Chicago Cubs – The Chicago Cubs have a history of letting their fans down, but 2008 seemed different. They had the pitching and offense to finally end the curse and win a championship. The Cubs didn’t stand pat and even improved their team by adding Rich Harden in a deadline trade. They had a great season and won the NL Central in a close race. The finished the regular season with the best record in the National League and faced the NL West champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the first round of the playoffs. The Dodgers were red hot going into the post-season and beat the Cubs in three games. The Cubs pitching and lack of left-handed bats were too much to overcome. This may have been one of the most disappointing ends to a Cubs season since 1984.

1. 2007-2008 New England Patriots – The New England Patriots played like they had something to prove during the 2007-2008 season. They won every game during the regular season very easily. The Vegas odds makers even started to fall for the Patriots dominance by throwing up point spreads in the 20s, something usually only seen in college games. New England used their 16-0 momentum by winning both the divisional game and AFC championship game and punching their ticket to the Super Bowl. The NFC champion, the New York Giants, was a team that barely made the playoffs and had to win on the road three times to just make the Super Bowl. Even though the Giants nearly beat New England in the final game of the season, no one gave them a shot at winning the Super Bowl. New England had trouble with the Giants from the start of the game to the finish. The Giants defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, had the perfect gameplan, he blitzed Tom Brady and caused chaos for the New England offense. The New York Giants, thanks to an insane catch by David Tyree, ended up ruining the Patriots perfect season. 18-1 is usually as good as it gets in the NFL, but 19-0 was so close, but the Patriots couldn’t finish.

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Oh God, Dontrelle Willis Is Pitching

Dontrelle Willis is having a terrible year, even by Vin Baker standards. Coming into tonight’s game, he has allowed 16 walks and only 3 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched. He has spent most of the season on the DL and after tonight’s outing, the Tigers should look into having Willis head to the minors.

He started tonight against the Cleveland Indians and only lasted 1 1/3 innings, gave up 5 walks, allowed 8 earned runs on 3 hits (two of them being home-runs). After striking out two batters tonight, his BB:K ratio is 21:5, which Jose Canseco could do as a starting pitcher in the major leagues.

I’m not sure what is wrong with Dontrelle, he came into the majors with lightning stuff and a deception with his release that makes the ball hard to pick up for the batter. Questions about his performance started to appear last season when he went 10-15 with a 5.17 ERA for the Florida Marlins. Willis was then traded to the Detroit Tigers in the Miguel Cabrera for Cameron Maybin/Andrew Miller trade in the offseason.

Willis could end up being another tragic figure like Mark Prior. Willis has not had the extended trips to the disabled list like Prior, but I believe that his arm could be tired. In his first five seasons, Willis amassed 15 complete games and averaged 200 innings a season. He was a big part of the magical 2003 season in which the Marlins came out of nowhere to win the World Series, but ever since, his teams have been playing for nothing important and using his arm as much as possible.

The Tigers are in need of pitching, so they could end up using Willis a few more times before they become cautious. They just found out that Jeremy Bonderman, the staff’s #2 starter, will be lost for the season due to blood clots, but Joel Zumaya will be back soon from various injuries. Their farm system isn’t very deep, since they traded their best prospects to obtain Willis and Cabrera. Brandon Inge could become expendable, but it looks like their pitching woes will not be cured by an addition of one starting pitcher.

I wish the best for Dontrelle Willis, but it looks like this season will be a long one.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Mike Jacobs Is The New Chris Shelton

The Florida Marlins have been waiting patiently for Mike Jacobs to turn into the power-hitter they thought he would become. When Jacobs was a rookie with the Mets, he was brought up at the end of the year and hit the cover off the ball. Jacobs has hit 6 home-runs so far this season and the everyone in the Marlins clubhouse is happy. ESPN could have ended the happiness with an article that ran today. Jayson Stark. a poor-man’s Peter Gammons, reported that a very knowledgeable scout said that Jacobs is this year’s Chris Shelton. For those who don’t remember Shelton, he hit 9 home-runs in the fist 13 games of the season for the Tigers a few seasons ago. Not only did Shelton’s power come to a screeching hault, but he found himself in the minors by the end of July.I don’t think Stark thinks that Jacobs will end up in the minors this season, just Jacobs has an upper-cut swing that has a huge hole in it. He doesn’t think his power will last an entire season. My question is that if Richie Sexton and Adam Dunn can hit 40 home-runs in a season with an upper-cut swing, why can’t Jacobs do it? I’ve seen worse swings in my time. I don’t think Jacobs will hit 40 dingers, but I think he will have a decent year on a not-so-good team.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Eminem Will Start To Wear Royals Gear

The Kansas City Royals started off the season with the dubious task of trying to tame the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers are favored to win the World Series this year. They added a lot of offense to their already prolific line-up. The Royals are projected to be basement dwellers in the AL Central and possibly lose 100 games.

The Royals made the Tigers look horrible! Kansas City completed the sweep yesterday and surprised everyone. The Tigers couldn’t hit the ball, their pitching looked juvenile, and they looked completely lost on the diamond. I know the Achilles’ Heel of the Tigers is their relief pitching, but it appears to be ruptured. The Royals starting pitchers (Meche and Bannister) made Gary Sheffield and Magglio Ordonez look like….Royals! Alex Gordon was actually living up to the hype and looking like George Brett.I know it is really early to predict the Royals to have a decent season, but I think everyone could be wrong about the Tigers. I know they will score runs this season, but if they give up more than they score, you can’t win. The Tigers need to look to the clubs that have deep bullpens and offer up what’s left of their depleted farm system. The Tigers could end up struggling for the Wild Card in a very tough AL Central or staying home from the post-season and looking like kittens.Congratulations Kansas City, you actually made me stop and write a blog about the Royals. I’d be really surprised if I mention them again, but if they keep it up, I will gladly join Royals Nation. *Population is slightly less than Red Sox Nation* I would probably think it would be considered “Royals Town.”

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.