Tigers Offseason Suggestions and College Rivalries

Todays post is sponsored by the phenomenon of getting a song stuck in your head for days at a time. If you can successfully do this there is no need for an Ipod...how do ya like that Apple???

Instead of heading into the playoffs leading the AL Central, the Tigers are wavering somewhere between third and last in the division. Instead of scoring over 1,000 runs this year like Jim Rome predicted they are currently 12.5 games out of first in their league and its the Texas Rangers scoring the most runs in the league. Baseball, such a predictable sport huh? The truth behind the season is that the Tigers still did score a ton of runs, but as all of us know they also have given up even more. Even though I predicted the Tigs to win the world series (absolutely no homerism in that choice) I would beg to argue that this type of season was somewhat predictable.

Heading into the year Curtis Granderson was injured and that proved to be a far bigger problem than anyone of us could ever envision. The starting pitchers were Justin, Kenny, Jeremy, Dontrelle, and Nate. Justin really is the only solid pitcher of the five and that was obvious from the beginning, on top of that I personally am not to keen of him being the Ace. Kenny is getting old, Jeremy is soooo hit or miss, Dontrelle was a huge mystery (even more so because Florida basically gave him away to us), and Nate is a fifth starter who never should have left the bullpen. Not exactly a recipe for a great pitching staff. Don't even get me started on the bullpen...if ANYONE has seen a Tigers game this year I am certain you all are well aware of their "struggles."

So how does Dave Dombrowski go about fixing this beautiful mess? I would like to propose a few options. First, keep Curtis, Miguel, Polanco, and Justin; everyone else should be tradeable. See exactly if you can pick up a second starter from a team who needs some pop in their lineup. I would certainly trade Maggs at this point for a pitcher in the likes of A.J. Burnett or Joe Saunders. Second, I would take a look at my payroll in comparison to where it was at a year ago. Jonesy will be gone (take away 7 mill), Pudge is gone (10 mill), Edgar hopefully will be gone (6 mill). Just with those three players alone roughly 23 million dollars is off the payroll. Now if my observations are correct and that the Tigers have ZERO reliable lefthanded pitchers on staff (this assumes they have to resign Kenny which I feel is VERY unlikely) there is obviously a HUGE hole to fill in that rotation. Maybe Dave should try to find a HUGE type of left handed pitcher to fill that void and make a serious run at C.C. Sabathia. This guy is just a freakin' stud and is a free agent at the end of the year. You know the Brewers can't afford his new contract and we are losing a very large chunk of our payroll. This IS a serious option, but out bidding the Yankees is a minor problem. Not only would we pick up an Ace relieving Justin of that spot, we wouldn't significantly alter the payroll from a year ago. This would give us C.C. as one of our lefties and the other spot would go most likely to Dontrelle or Nate, maybe not the best option but they would be a fourth starter and the other could find a nice home in our bullpen significantly bettering that department. If all else fails, Derek Lowe is a free agent and from Michigan. He would also be a great addition.

The other problem which will still exist is the role of closer, which I think is the most over-rated position out on the baseball field. Again this could be addressed by trade but most likely not. Unfortunately I don't have a great answer to this simply because I truthfully believe that ANY major league pitcher should be able to get three outs fairly easily. If a trade is not possible I reluctantly wish to stay the course here. This years draft was specifically geared toward the bullpen and the Tigers picked up some really good players here including a kid who can throw "103" and has 3 different pitches. Blaine Neil, our AAA closer had a heck of a season this year and was the closer on the olympic team. And, lets not forget just how dominant Zumaya and Rodney were in that 2006 campaign.

So, what would the team look like offensively? Ramon Santiago would most likely start at short and really thats all that would change from right now saying no trades were made. Our pitching staff would be FAR ahead of where it is now and contending for the AL Central crown would be a far more fiable option based on the newly acquired offensive and pitching balance.

So put this in stone, without offensive and pitching balance, the Tigers will never contend and staying the course keeps them WAY behind the curve set this year by the White Sox and Twins.

As you also know Michigan has three main rivals: OSU, Notre Dame and Michigan State. Local radio was talking about ranking them in order of "importance" to Michigan fans. Obviously OSU is far ahead of the other 2 so the real debate is which one is second most important. Notre Dame or Michigan State? Right now in the present day I would say that Notre Dame is more important for a few reasons: State just hasn't been competative, I hate Charlie Weis, I hate Jimmy Clausen, and Notre Dame has actually beaten us a few times in recent history. In these two rivalries, to me, competativeness is the deciding factor. If State was more competative lately I don't think for a second that anyone would rank Notre Dame ahead of them but that just hasn't been the case. Home state bragging rights and just a 45 min. drive away is what sererates the two schools (other than a history of winning and national respect.)

Michigan is the only school in the nation with three ligitimate rivals and the really tough part of it all is that the three schools involved don't really have another rival. Notre Dame kinda does with USC but lets face it that hasn't been competative since the late 80's when Lou Holtz was still coaching. Fast foreward twenty years and there is now a statue of Lou even though the golden domers basically ran him off their property all but tarred and feathered. Every State and OSU fan completely despises Michigan strictly because they have no other rival.

Michigan has to bring their absolute best for three games a year, take three times as many massive hits and try to come out victoriously in all three just to retain bragging rights for the year. Simple task huh? What does this mean for this year and for RR's first go at these teams? I think it means to win one. Wolverine fans have accepted this years fate as to not be up to par with years past, but we all have too much pride to be able to sit well with an 0-3 record against our rivals this year. Thanks to turnovers, poor officiating, and inclimate weather ND is out of the picture. So please Rich, beat one. Just for me?