Comments on: Cabrera, Guillen Beat Down the Tribe

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:07:48 +0000

Granderson this year has actually been what we should have expected from him all along – with maybe a little bit of regression or bad luck. He has power and speed, walks a fair amount, plays great defense, and that makes him an asset to the team. He strikes out too much to hit for high average, always has, and probably always will. He also has typically had awful splits against lefties. I wouldn’t blame everything on him, even if he ought to bat fifth or sixth instead of leadoff. His dropoff from the first to second half has only been on the order of 50 points of OPS. Inge, Everett and Laird have done much, much worse. Everyone would be better off with a true leadoff man, but they’re as rare as catchers that win batting titles. What options do we have – aside from a platoon?

By: John Parent

John Parent — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:10:30 +0000

Chris- I would bet that Laird is back next year, but will split time with Avila behind the plate, as for Everett, I assume he will not be back, as the Tigers have Cale Iorg and Brent Dlugach in the minors, both of whom are highly regarded defensively. One could assume that either of those guys could probably hit as much as Everett has this year. I think the offensive failings in the second half can be largely blamed on the lead off hitter. Granderson has been brutal in that spot all season, as worse lately. His home runs are nice, but he doesn’t get on base much. I feel the Tigers need to find themselves a true lead off man this offseason.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:23:40 +0000

Guillen has been pretty spectacular since the All-Star break…. and Maggs has somewhat quietly hit .352. We were really counting on these guys to carry the offense with Sheffield cut, and “defensive specialists” installed at catcher and short. Over the first half of the season those two were the primary reason that the Tigers offense was near the bottom of the league. Now the Venezuelans are hot, and their final numbers won’t be all that terrible come October. But… the Tigers as a team have been even worse offensively since the All-Star break than before it. Guillen and Ordonez can’t take all the blame anymore, and they should be playing every day to pick up the slack offensively, whether they have any defensive range or not. If somebody should be benched, bench Huff. The reason the offense has been so terrible is clear, no team can score many runs if they are carrying THREE defensive specialists, arguably four if you count Polanco. Polanco and Inge do just enough offensively (barely) to justify their failings offensivly. Laird and Everett really don’t, and I think have to go come 2010.