RedRamage

Hey all, Tigers fan here, visiting from Motownsports.com. First of all, let me apologize for the lateness of this thread. I'm sure the Cabrera/Willis trade was discussed extensively here when it first happened, but my life was VERY busy at the time and I barely had the time to keep up with threads on my 'home' site, let alone think about visiting others. Plus, we've all had a number of month to contemplate the long term ramifications of the trade and a chance to see the new names in their new uniforms. Let me start by giving you my perspective as a Tigers fan: It essentially comes down to this: If we can sign Cabrera long term, I'd say there is a 95% of the trade being good for the Tigers long term. If we can't, I'd say there is a 95% of the trade being bad for the Tigers long term. I feel that the Tigers gave up a LOT of good prospect. Don't get me wrong... we got a fantastic player in Cabrera in return... no question there. But we only control his destiny for the next two years. If all we've done is 'rent' him for two years it isn't worth what we gave up. I think most Tigers fans, like myself, feel that Willis is a wild card. We might get a lot of good games from him, or he might just be serviceable, or he might be worse. We just don't know what to expect at this point. Cabrera = very good or great. Willis = ???? Now, as for your guys: I'm sorry to see Miller go most of all. He's got a lively arm and many compared him to a Randy Johnson type guy. Obviously it's all potential at this point has his brief time in the majors has been a mixed bag. But I think he has the potentially to be a really good guy... top of the order at least. And the fact that he's a lefty certainly doesn't hurt things! Maybin was considered the best hitting prospect in the Tigers org. But that probably says more about the Tigers farm system than it does about Maybin. Certainly he's got lots of talent, but the Tigers don't have a lot of great hitters on the farm. I'm sure you're all aware of Dombrowski's method of operations: Stockpile good young arms and trade 'em for whatever else you need. De La Cruz is also a guy I hate to lose. He didn't have as much hype as Miller, and probably won't end up as good, but he was certainly someone I expected to see in the rotation with the Tigers in the not too distant future. Rabelo seems like a decent guy at Catcher, but I never saw him as the starter. He's a solid guy, but not a star. The other two guys, Trahern and Badenhop, I don't know enought about to comment on. So, that's my thoughts... again I repeat what I said at the top: If we sign Cabrera long term, good trade. If not, probably bad trade. Obviously a lot of other things could happen that might have a major impact on the trade, but that, to me, looks to be the biggest so far. I've really like to hear your thoughts on thr trade and how Marlins fans are view the players involved. Thanks for any insight you can provide.

Howdy, Tiger fan visiting from MotownSports.com. I'm curious what your opinions are reguarding Leyland. Most of Tigers fans felt that this was the year we would make a significant stride towards becoming a good or great team. Most seemed to feel we would be well over .500, and perhaps even pushing for a wild card playoff spot. As y'all know, that didn't happen. Part was because of the White Sox... no one anticipated they would be nearly as good as they turned out to be. Part was also due to injuries... we lost Ordonez and Guillen for very significant portions of the year. A lot of other little facts came into play, and of course, Alan Trammell is there as well. The conventional wisdom seems to be that he wasn't getting the most out of his players, that he lost their respect and that they quit on him. Everyone has their opinion on how much of that is true and how much is conjecture, but I think most will admit that Tram, at least to some extent, did not seem to have total control of his players. In my opinion, the reason the Tigers have had their 12th losing season in a row is due more to the injuries than to Trammell, but I also believe that Tram isn't the greatest discipline guy. He loves the Tigers, no question. But I think he tended to be a bit too easy going on the players and not demanding enough that they give their all and play as hard as possible day in and day out. So, my question is: What kind of manager is Leyland? Is he the kind of guy who can whip a team into shape? Can he force his players to give their all for the team? Can he get and retain the respect of the players, rookies and veterans alike? What is Leyland 'style' of managing? Does he concentrate on defense and good pitcher? Does he prefer to have a slugging lineup or does he like to play 'little ball' with stealing, lots of hit-n-runs and such? Does he 'follow the script' in terms of the pitching staff? ie, The setup man pitches the eighth, the closer pitches the ninth no matter what. Any info/opinions you can give us Tiger fans would be appreciated. Thanks!

Where's the love?? Okay, okay... so the Tigers stunk it up pretty bad last year, but the way some of your guys are talking you'd think the Tigers haven't won a thing ever! To refresh some of those memories, Detroit still holds the record as the best team through 40 games (35-5 in 1984). Sure, we've stunk for the last 15 years, but we still have a number of WS rings from the past. The Tigers are been pretty meek kitties the last few years, but that doesn't mean we will never have teeth! DD has made some nice off season moves I think, and Pudge would be a great pickup. We'd really need to overachieve to make it even to the AL Central, but I do expect some real improvement this year. When looking at the pickups we've made, you need to realize that even average level MLB players are improvements over those whom they are replaceing. Here's how things have changed: LF: Rondell White replaces Craig Monroe While Monroe showed a some nice bat and glove work, he still needs some seasoning. White will be an improvement offensively. CF: Alex Sanchez -- No change RF: Bobby Higginson -- No change Hopefully Higgy will be back to 100% as he was nursing a sore hammy pretty much all of last year. He could also see some platoon time with Monroe, especially if his hammy is still a problem. 3B: Eric Munson -- No change Munson was a question mark defensively... he never played 3B until he was moved there last year to replace the oft injuried Dean Palmer. Munson will likely be manning the hot corner again unless Palmer is a MAJOR suprise in SprTrn. Munson was pretty good for a rookie offensively...needs to improve defensively. SS: Carlos Guillen replaces Ramon Santiago Guillen has been reported as a slightly above average SS offensively and defensively. This is a HUGE upgrade over a VERY weak offensive position for us last year. And while Santiago was adequite defensively, Guillen should be better. 2B: Frenado Vina replaces Morris Vina isn't a very big upgrade offensively, unless he starts to return to his 2001 type offensive form. He also isn't a huge upgrade defensively, but hopefully he'll be a little of both. He will certainly bring more experience. 1B: Carlos Pena -- No change There is hope that with better performers around him, Pena will improve offensively... that he won't feel like he needs to carry the whole load on his shoulders and can relax at the plate. Pena has a lot of potential and needs to start showing it this year. C: Pudge replaces Brandon Inge This would be a MAJOR offensive upgrade for the Tigers. Inge is extremely inconsistant offensively...occasional weeks of fantastic bat work followed by months of dribbling ground balls and weak fly outs. DH: Dmitri Young -- No change Young had a career year last year. Hopefully he'll continue it this year, but it's likely he'll slip a bit. We'll have to see. Now, while it doesn't seem like there's is that much of a change, the important thing to realize is that two of the upgrades have changed from worst to near first... Last year's lineup: 1. Sanchez 2. Morris 3. Higginson 4. Young 5. Pena 6. Monroe 7. Munson 8. Santiago 9. Inge Now, this years possible lineup (assuming Pudge signs): 1. Sanchez 2. Vina 3. Higginson 4. Young 5. Pudge 6. White 7. Pena 8. Munson 9. Guillen That's just one possible lineup... it's hard to say with so many new people what the lineup will be. But the important thing to look at is that we get new legitimate 4-6 hitters in White and IRod. That means that Munson and Pena, who were barely holding their own as hitters in that 4-6 range get bumped to 7-9 stange, where their MORE than average. Our 1-3 range improves (slightly) 4-6 range improves (nicely), and our 7-9 range improves (substantially). Okay, this turned out to be a MUCH bigger post that I originally intended, and I didn't even touch on the pitchers, which is a whole different story. But I hope I've identified why Tigers fans are a bit more excited by this year, and how Pudge will be a bit help for us.