How They Got Here

Now that the 40 man roster is officially set (pending any free agent signings or trades, of course), I thought I would examine how each of those 40 players became part of the organization.  I flat-out stole the idea from True Blue LA, who did a very good job diagramming the current Dodgers and how they got to LA.  So with my apologies and many thanks to Eric Stephen for the idea, here goes.

Of the current 40 man roster, the breakdown is fairly simple, 19 players were drafted by the Tigers and have remained in the organization throughout their careers, another nine players were signed as free agents, be it minor league, amateur, or otherwise, one player was a rule five selection, and the remaining 11 players were acquired via trade.  Here’s the particulars:

Drafted Players

• Jacob Turner (1st round, 2009)
• Ryan Perry (1st round, 2008)
• Rick Porcello (1st round, 2007)
• Justin Verlander (1st round, 2004)
• Jay Sborz (2nd round, 2002)
• Brandon Inge (2nd round, 1998)
• Brennan Boesch (3rd round, 2006)
• Curtis Granderson (3rd round, 2002)
• Ryan Strieby (4th round, 2006)
• Alex Avila (5th round, 2008)
• Scott Sizemore (5th round, 2006)
• Jeff Larish (5th round, 2005)
• Ryan Raburn (5th round, 2001)
• Clete Thomas (6th round, 2005)
• Brent Dlugach (6th round, 2004)
• Joel Zumaya (11th round, 2002)
• Casper Wells (14th round, 2005)
• Casey Fien (20th round, 2006)
• Dusty Ryan (48th round, 2003)

Free Agents

•  Don Kelly (signed 1/16/09)
• Fu-Te Ni (signed 1/13/09)
• Ramon Santiago (signed 1/4/06)
• Bobby Seay (signed 11/22/05)
• Alfredo Figaro (signed 3/7/05)
• Audy Ciriaco (signed 2/16/05)
• Magglio Ordonez (signed 2/7/05)
• Freddy Dolsi (signed 5/12/03)
• Wilkin Ramirez (signed 2/5/03)

In addition to those above, Eddie Bonine was acquired via the minor league phase of the rule 5 draft of 2005, selected from the San Diego Padres.

Trades

The following players were brought in by trade, we will take a look at what had to happen to bring each player in to Detroit, and how the Tigers got the players that were dealt away to get the current players.

Armando Galarraga

• 3/17/06- Detroit signs OF Micheal Hernandez as non-drafted free agent.
• 2/5/08- DET trades Hernandez to TEX for Galarraga

Clay Rapada

• 2/1/02- DET claims OF Craig Monroe off waivers from TEX
• 8/23/07- DET trades Monroe and cash to CHC for player to be named later
• 8/30/07- CHC sends Rapada to DET to complete trade

Zach Simons

• 2/10/05- DET signs RHP Jason Grilli as free agent
• 4/30/08- DET trades Grilli to COL for Simons

Edwin Jackson

• 6/7/05- DET selects OF Matt Joyce in 12th round of draft, player signed 6/16/05
• 12/10/08- DET trades Joyce to TB for Jackson

Gerald Laird

• 1/16/03- DET signs P Guillermo Moscoso as amateur free agent
• 7/11/07- DET signs P Carlos Melo as amateur free agent
• 12/8/08- DET trades Melo and Moscoso to TEX for Laird

Carlos Guillen

• 7/28/98- DET signs SS Ramon Santiago as amateur free agent
• 1/29/99- DET signs INF Juan Gonzalez as amateur free agent
• 1/8/04- DET trades Santiago and Gonzalez to SEA for Guillen

Jeremy Bonderman

• 6/7/98- DET selects RHP Jeff Weaver in 1st round of draft, player signed 8/1/98
• 7/5/02- DET trades Weaver to NYY as part of three team trade, NYY sends three players including Ted Lilly to OAK, OAK sends 1B Carlos Pena, RHP Franklyn German and a PTBNL to DET
• 8/22/02- OAK sends Bonderman to DET to complete trade

Miguel Cabrera/Dontrelle Willis

• 6/5/01- DET selects C Mike Rabelo in 4th round of draft, player signed 6/20/01
• 9/6/01- DET signs RHP Eulogio de la Cruz as amateur free agent
• 6/7/04- DET selects P Dallas Trahern in 34th round of draft, player signed 7/10/04
• 6/6/05- DET selects OF Cameron Maybin in 1st round of draft, player signed 9/1/05
• 6/6/05- DET selects P Burke Badenhop in 19th round of draft, player signed 6/13/05
• 6/6/06- DET selects LHP Andrew Miller in 1st round of draft, player signed 8/8/06
• 12/4/07- DET trades de la Cruz, Rabelo, Trahern, Maybin, Badenhop, and Miller to FLA for Cabrera and Willis

Zach Miner

• 12/5/00- DET signs 1B Randall Simon as free agent
• 6/4/02- DET selects 3B Scott Moore in 1st round of draft
• 6/4/02- DET selects OF Bo Flowers in 5th round of draft
• 11/25/02- DET trades Simon to PIT for Adrian Burnside and PTBNL
• 12/16/02- PIT sends P Roberto Novoa to DET to complete Simon trade
• 2/9/05- DET trades Novoa, Moore, and Flowers to CHC for RHP Kyle Farnsworth
• 7/31/05- DET trades Farnsworth to ATL for Miner and RHP Roman Colon

Nate Robertson (this one is fun)

• 1/80- DET selects 1B Mike Laga in 1st round of January draft
• 2/14/85- DET signs P Ken Hill as amateur free agent
• 8/10/86- DET trades Laga and Hill to STL for C Mike Heath
• 6/1/88- DET selects C Rich Rowland in 17th round of draft, player signed 6/4/88
• 7/5/89- DET signs P Jose Lima as amateur free agent
• 1/22/91- Heath signs as free agent with ATL
• 6/3/91- DET selects P Trever Miller in 1st round of draft as compensation pick for losing Heath to free agency, player signed 6/6/91
• 6/1/92- DET selects INF Chris Gomez in 3rd round of draft, player signed 6/6/92
• 4/3/93- DET signs P David Wells as free agent
• 4/1/94- DET trades Rowland to BOS for C John Flaherty
• 6/7/94- DET selects 1B Daryle Ward in 15th round of draft, player signed 6/14/94
• 7/31/95- DET trades Wells to CIN for Dave Tuttle (minors), LHP C. J. Nitkowski, and a PTBNL (Mark Lewis)
• 6/18/96- DET trades Flaherty and Gomez to SD for Russ Spear (minors), C Brad Ausmus, and SS Andujar Cedeno
• 12/10/96- DET trades Ward, Ausmus, Lima, Miller, and Nitkowski to HOU for cash, SS Orlando Miller, OF Brain Hunter, RHP Doug Brocail, and RHP Todd Jones
• 6/2/99- DET selects RHP Jarrod Fuell in 10th round of draft
• 7/28/01- DET trades Jones to MIN for LHP Mark Redman
• 1/11/03- DET trades Redman and Fuell to FLA for P Rob Henkel, P Gary Knotts, and P Nate Robertson

See, now wasn’t that fun? As you can see, all the ire that is normally directed at Nate Roberston (I’m looking at you, Rogo) should in fact be aimed squarely at Mike Laga and his .199 career average.  If the Tigers had simply passed on Laga, perhaps Nate would never have donned the Old English D.  Neither would Gary Knotts for that matter.  Geesh, who’s crappy idea was it to draft Laga anyway?