holygoat

I must've missed the thread where Tiger fans claimed that signing Pudge would take them to the WS. Tejada turned Detroit down and Vlad wouldn't even talk to us, so getting the likes of Vina, White, Guillen, and Johnson was the best DD could do, and I support all of those moves. The 2004 Tigers are now a MLB team, albeit a below average MLB team. Last year was fricking embarrassing, and I would never wish that on any team's fans -- except the Yankees.

how stupid can someone be to think you will even be a .500 team a year after coming 1 loss from being the WORST TEAM IN HISTORY!!!!!!!!! let alone win the WS. wow! had 2 be detroit or detwa whatever you wanna call it :banghead .500 is out of the question, I agree, and I have yet to see even the most simplistic Tiger fan suggest that we have a shot at the WS. If you can find such a post, show me, but I doubt you can.

Personally, I would take Japan over Detroit. For a net difference of $1.6 after taxes, who would move to Detroit from south Florida? I would.

if pudge signs its not reely a pathetic lineup anymore... My guess.. Vina 2b Guillen SS Pudge C Young Dh White Cf Pena 1b Higginson Rf Palmer 3b (275 career HR's, and 849 career RBI's) Sanchez Cf Palmer wont start(i think he may even retire) Eric Munson would probably get the nod but the team as a whole(battingwise) aint too shabby nice offseason by double D and the Tigres Palmer's days at 3rd are long gone. Munson will be the starter there, and Palmer -- on a minor league contract -- will be fighting for a shot at DH in Spring training. The smart money says he'll retire before the team heads north.

I just don't understand this move for the Tigers. They're trying to rebuild a team, so they pick up a 32-year old catcher to a contract that could potentially keep them from being able to sign other players down the road, and what they really need is pitching because their pitchers are dreadful. Well if they want to dig themselves deeper in a hole for the sake of may be 5-10 more wins next year, then so be it. Here's why: Detroit has no catchers in their system. Brandon Inge? perhaps the worst starting catcher in MLB history. Mike Defilice? A guy you put at AAA in case your two "good" catchers get injured. Maxim St. Pierre? Another light-hitting prospect. Pudge would give the Tigers a grand total of one MLB catcher and buy them a few years to develop a young backstop. He also gives a young, anonymous team a face, not to mention credibility. He gives a young pitching staff a stabilizing force. He gives fans a reason to buy tickets to Tiger games. The Tigers were so bad last year that becoming respectable is their short term goal, and Rodriguez makes them that much more repsepctable. I'm not happy about the 4th year, but I can live with it, especially since the Tigers will see several weighty contracts for crap players (Bobby Higginson, Damion Easley, Matt Anderson) go away in the next two seasons. Those are the mill stones around Dave Dombrowski's neck right now, not the possibility of Pudge Rodriguez falling apart in 2008.

When I look at the Tigers, I see a lot more wrong than there is right, and they're obvioulsy going to be better next year because if they find a way to be worse, then they should become an AAA team, hell, in a lot of ways they already are . That's exactly what the 2003 Tigers were, and that's also why were so hyped at the idea of possibly landing I-Rod. Catcher is the last position on the Tigers that is not currently manned by a MLB caliber player -- Brandon Inge being the first stringer.

Please don't judge the knowledge of all Tiger fans by the excitement a few giddy post-whores. The overwhelming majority of us realize that Pudge will not take the Tigers to AL Central contention, much less WS contention. He's not even a Tiger at the moment, so any such talk is premature. We are understandably excited about the prospect of obtaining a premium player at a position of dire need -- especially after a decade of fielding pathetic teams. The Tigs have had a pretty nice off-season -- if they can avoid injuries I see them winning around 60 games. If Pudge accepts Dombrowski's offer they could push 70. Yes, they still suck, but they're not the worst team in the majors anymore, and that is at least a step in the right direction.