PEPPER BASEBALL

Tiger Talk

2012-02-08T13:25:00.001-05:00

We are less than two weeks away from hearing "pitchers and catchers report today..."

The latest on Yoenis Cespedes: He has not be officially "unblocked", so he can negotiate, but not sign a contract at this time. The Tigers still appear to be interested. (MLB Trade Rumors)
However, the Tigers did sign an international prospect this week. Ignacio Valdez is an outfielder with power potential, from the Dominican Republic. He is only 16 years old, so it will be some time before (if) he makes it to the big leagues. (MLB.com)
Former Tiger Edwin Jackson has signed a 1 year, $11 million contract with the Nationals. (Yahoo!)
Could Brandon Inge vs. Danny Worth be the big camp battle this year? (Lynn Henning)

Stepping Back To 1987 ( Baseball Cards)

2012-02-06T13:00:00.000-05:00

It's been a while but I wanted to get back to posting about some of my favorite baseball cards over the years with a follow up to my 1985 & 1986 posts with one for 1987. These cards one way or another have resonated with me for some reason or another as so many had from this era. My favorite player Mark McGwire as his first card since '85 in these sets and we see star power all over these sets with players making their first regular product debut (not traded or rookies) like Barry Bonds, Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro, Greg Maddux, Barry Larkin, as well as the once "hot" Devon White, Billy Jo Robidoux, B.J. Surhoff, Pete Incaviglia, Greg Swindell, and the great Mike Greenwell. I mean, do you remember when the prvious four mentioned were hot commodities and had cards just as expensive or more then guys like Palmeiro or Larkin. Of course that was short lived like numerous other rookie busts, but cool to remember at the very least. Ok, so here are some of my more memorable cards from 1987...

Who: Will Clark
Team: San Francisco Giants
Position: First Base
Card: 1987 Topps
Number: #420
Status: Rookie Card
Beckett Hi Value: $1
Comments: Will "the thrill" was one of my favorite players growing up as he burst on to the scene and looked like a Hall of Fame type player early in his career

Who: Ruben Sierra
Team: Texas Rangers
Position: Outfield
Card: 1987 Topps
Number: #261
Status: Rookie Card
Beckett Value: $.50
Comments: Ruben was another guy that had an amazing start to his career as he hit 30 home runs in '87 and 29 in '89

Who: Pete Incaviglia
Team: Texas Rangers
Position: Outfield
Card: 1987 Donruss
Number: #224
Status: Rookie Card
Beckett Value: $.40
Comments: Incaviglia broke the home run record for a season in college (for Oklahoma I believe) and was a hot name coming in to the season where he also hit well swatting 30 home runs in '86 which ended up being a career high followed up by 27 in '87. In the end, Inky's strike outs got the best of him and he never hit more than 24 home runs in a season after 1993

Who: Mike Greenwell
Team: Boston Red Sox
Position: Outfield
Card: 1987 Topps
Number: #259
Status: Rookie Card
Beckett Value: $.25
Comments: Played his first full season in 1987 where he hit 19 home runs and compiled a .328 (career high), followed up by a 22 homer and 119 RBI campaign in 1988 where he hit .325 and it was all down hill from there...

Who: Lou Whitaker
Team: Detroit Tigers
Position: Second Base
Card: 1987 Topps
Number: #661
Status: n/a
Beckett Value: $.10
Comments: Had to throw a home town guy in here, especially in '87

Who: Bo Jackson
Team: Kansas City Royals
Position: Outfield
Card: 1987 Topps
Number: #170
Status: Rookie Card
Beckett Value: $3.00
Comments: Bo knows rookie cards and everybody wanted this back in the day as Bo dominated the sport until 1991, although his career batting average was only .250

Who: Barry Larkin
Team: Cincinnati Reds
Position: Shortstop
Card: 1987 Fleer
Number: #204
Status: Rookie Card
Beckett Value: $3.00
Comments: Had to include the Hall of Famer on this list although he didn't become a hot name until 1988 when he hit .296 with 12 dingers, and 40 steals while winning a Silver Slugger and becoming an All-Star

Who: Wally Joyner
Team: California Angels
Position: First Base
Card: 1987 Topps
Number: #80
Status: Rookie Card
Beckett Value: $.40
Comments: Wally could always hit for average, but in his second full year ('87) he knocked a career high 34 homers out of the park and added his second season of 100 RBI or more. Ironically, it was also his last 100 RBI season and he never hit more then 21 homers ('91) and ended up with 204 for his career.

Who: Rafael Palmeiro
Team: Chicago Cubs
Position: Outfield
Card: 1987 Donruss Rated Rookies
Number: #43
Status: Rookie Card
Beckett Value: $4.00
Comments: Raffy could always hit, he just couldn't hit for power until he added some "bulk" in 1991 where he hit 26 home runs (previous career high was 14) and added 49 doubles. Palmeiro had such an impressive career, it's just to bad he is tied to PED's

Who: Mark McGwire
Team: Oakland Athletics
Position: First Base
Card: 1987 Topps
Number: #366
Status: n/a
Beckett Value: $4.00
Comments: My favorite growing up, McGwire hit a rookie record 49 home runs in 1987 and was an instant success

Who: Greg Maddux
Team: Chicago Cubs
Position: Starting Pitcher
Card: 1987 Donruss Rated Rookies
Number: #36
Status: Rookie Card
Beckett Value: $10.00
Comments: Can't say I knew Maddux's name in '87 or until he landed on the Braves but the stache alone makes this card worthy of being on here not to mention he does not have standard set issue rookie for Topps or Fleer in '87.

Who: B.J. Surhoff
Team: Milwaukee Brewers
Position: Catcher
Card: 1987 Topps
Nunmber: #40
Status: Rookie Card
Beckett Value: $.40
Comments: For a catcher, Surhoff sprung up on the league with a .299 average 68 RBI's and even 10 steals in 1987. Surhoff moved out from behind the plate in 1993 and had a solid career but little back up the potential card collectors had for B.J. in '87

Who: Barry Bonds
Team: Pittsburgh Pirates
Position: Outfield
Card: 1987 Fleer
Number: #604
Status: Rookie Card
Beckett Value: $12.00
Comments: Back when Bonds had a normal sized head he was still very damn good and in '87 slugged 25 home runs and stole 32 bases. This card once booked for close to $60 but with the steroids implications has deflated in value over the years. The '87 Fleer rookie card is still one of the most sought after cards from the '80's however.

- sK

Player Spotlight: Prince Fielder

2012-02-02T13:24:00.001-05:00

Now that Fielder is a Tiger and going to be holding down first base, let’s take a look at who he is and what he’s done to this point.

Born May 9th, 1984 the 27 year old Fielder will be playing in his eighth season. Prince was a first round draft pick (7th overall) by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002 and made his Major League debut in June of 2005.

In his seven seasons, Fielder has collected 230 career home runs, 656 RBI, and 996 hits, to go with a career .282 batting average and .929 OPS. Prince’s best seasons were in 2007 when he hit 50 home runs and 2009 when he hit 46 and collected 141 RBI. Fielder has never batted over .300 in a season but been close hitting .299 in 2011 & 2009 and has never had an OPS below .831 when he has played an entire season.

For career splits, Fielder hits .294 off of righties and .257 off lefties with a similar difference in power where he has his 174 of his 230 homers off of right hander’s (then again there are more righties in the Majors). Home and away splits will change of course but Fielder did hit somewhat the same at home as he did on the road with .965 home OPS vs. .896 road. Prince will struggle with power in April and his best power month tends to be June. Fielder will also pick up in the absence of VMart as he has a career .262 batting average with runner in scoring position. With only six games at Comerica, which is to limited to make predictions, but Fielder hit .174 with 4 hits including a home run, but against American League pitching Prince had 26 home runs in 96 games and a .269 batting average, along with a .913 OPS.

As for accolades, Prince was 7th in Rookie of the Year voting in 2006, is a 3-time All-Star, finished 3 times in the top five for MVP voting (3rd twice), and won 2 Silver Sluggers.

I discussed Fielder in the first base Hall of Fame Monitor in December but his Black Ink sits at 12 (27 is Hall of Fame average), Grey Ink is 64 (144), Hall of Fame Monitor is 59 (100), and Hall of Fame Standards are 25 (50), and Prince compares most to Eddie Murray at his point in his career.

Alert: Baseball Card Geekdom
If you’re interested a 2005 Donruss Greats Prince Fielder rookie card books on the high end for $3, with his 2005 Leaf Limited autographed rookie card going for $60 (pictured)

Baseball Card Geek: Rally Squirrel

2012-02-02T11:22:00.000-05:00

Ok, the baseball card geek came back out in me today as I’ve been reading about the Skip Schumaker 2012 Topps short print (SP) of the Rally Squirrel, which is the first card in the history of baseball cards to not include a player’s face. Card number #83 has two variations to it with one being the squirrel and the other being an actual picture of Schumaker. A typical Schumaker card can be had for $.25 or less most likely but currently on the Ebay, the “squirrel” short-printed card can be found for around $100 with a reported sale of up to $600.

The rally squirrel got his name got his name when he darted across the batter’s box in the bottom of the 5th in game 4 of the NLDS which the Cardinals eventually won.

Short-printed cards have been a part of Topps sets for some times but with the recent release of the 2012 Topps product this past Tuesday, the media buzz has really pushed the value of this card upward where as SP’s normally are valued between $10-$20 on the high side of Beckett Baseball magazine.

I truly haven’t seen or heard buzz around a card like this since the 1989 Fleer Billy Ripken F*ck Face card that was revised multiple times to cover up the expletive. By the way, I pulled that card at a baseball card show, shortly after the Detroit News did a story on it with my dad.

-sK

PS - Here's video of the incident

Tiger Talk (Prince Edition)

2012-02-01T10:39:00.000-05:00

I was away at fantasy camp and pretty sure nothing really happened while I was gone, yea right. We had a discussion about this down in Lakeland, is this one of Detroit's biggest free agent signings ever (here's a link I found on greatest trades) and not just for baseball, but all sports...

Anyway, here's the latest Tiger news

It's official, VMart has microfracture surgery and will have ACL surgery in 6 weeks and is out for the season
The Tigers introduce their new $214 million dollar man as he will earn big bucks upfront
MLB makes Yoenis Cespedes a free agent, the Tigers wouldn't sign him..would they?
With the signing of Fielder, Miggy will move to third base
ESPN ranks Miggy/Fielder as the best 3-4 combo in the Majors
If you are an ESPN Insider, Eric Karabell tells you why, with the Prince signing how Miggy is now the #1 fantasy player
Again, if you're an Insider, Buster Olney breaks down the better deal: Pujols or Fielder, as well as the Cabrera "hot corner" debate
Insider Keith Law speaks to how Fielder helps now, maybe not later
With the Fielder singing, the Tigers could plug s many as 10 players in to the DH spot
I find it hard to believe but Jim Bowden says the Tigers are still bidders in Yoenis Cespedes
Fielder singing also stokes season ticket sales (I know as I need to find a 15 game package and getting shut out)
Prospect Nick C, remains in Tigers plans
Leyland, Cabrera embrace switch to third to accommodate Fielder, however MLB Scouts and Execs aren't buying it
The Tigers still see a role for Brandon Inge, but will he accept it (I hope it's as bat or ball boy)
Denny McLain rips Brandon Inge
The Tigers offered $10m 1-year deal to Oswalt who turned it down to talk to the Rangers
Jayson Starks with his "Princely" edition of Three Strikes

Detroit Tigers Fantasy Camp, an Amazing Trip Recap Part 2

2012-01-31T14:56:00.001-05:00

The "bad boys" of camp

Day 3
Wednesday started off early again with the group of us heading to the park for extra BP tossed by Ike Blessitt, followed up by getting ready and heading to kangaroo court. The couple of rookies that got hammered with fines the day before were let off a little easier on this Wednesday, although there was a tale of one of these rooks going in to the wrong dugout and hanging out with the other team without realizing where he was. Of course there’s one of our other favorite rookies, who continued to hound Mark and snatched his bamboo bat once again.

The mornings game commenced where the team continued our torrid hitting and once again got to our average of double digit runs while sending Willie Horton and John Hiller’s team to the loss and us to 4-0. This game sticks out to me as I was playing third and getting set on every pitch and John Hiller walks over to me as he was coaching third and just makes a slight recommendation on when I get set, again just another cool experience on how these guys interact with you. Back to my previous post about camp and as I mentioned Gus, our 75-year old rookie, I believe this is the game where he fielded 2 grounders at second and added a hit which had to be one of the highlights of camp for me. Gus was basically a surrogate grandfather to us down there as I think we all would have loved to been able to throw on the old English D and step on the fields with our dad’s or granddad’s. One way or another, it was pretty special.

The "hanger"

Afterward we head back to the clubhouse, change and go grab some grub in the cafeteria where we hung out Jack Billingham, one of our coaches. Jack’s a bit older but just an absolutely great guy who you can just tell enjoys the game of baseball. After lunch, Jack offers to throw us some more BP since we have the afternoon off before our night game at Henley which we of course take him up on. By this time it was pretty damn hot in the “hanger” and we got through a couple of rounds but not before Jack compliments on my swing which was another highlight for me. Everyone headed back to the clubhouse to change afterward and only our group took BP so there we are just kind of sitting around with Jack and he starts going in to stories about him and Pete Rose, the big red machine, as well as his time with the Tigers and talked about Sparky a little. Again this is just one of those times, that you sit there and say holy sh*t this cool!

We all head back to the hotel eventually to get some rest before our 8:30 p.m. game at historic Henley Field but not before I snapped this pic of Mark guarding his bamboo.

Henley Field for a night game

On to the night game but not before we stop in at Chic-fil-a in which we had our uni’s on not thinking about it and had some people asking about how we were affiliated or if some of us were players which was pretty cool. We eventually make our way to Henley where I was hoping to pitch under the lights, however our coaches had a different idea and were going to throw our normal starters (you can only throw 3 innings a game) so they could rest on Thursday before the playoffs start. Bummer, but I should get to pitch the single game on Thursday. At this point, I was pretty frustrated after the game as the strike zone at fantasy camp is liberal and was starting to wear on me as I had taken quite a few walks at this point as no one would really throw me much. Anyway, this was a tight game as we were playing Mike Heath’s team and he by far is the most competitive of the coaches out there, although some clutch hitting late put us ahead for good and we closed out to be 5-0 with one game remaining in the round robin, or so we thought…

Day 4
We all decided to sleep in on Thursday as there was only one game scheduled and we locked up the #1 spot for the playoffs so we get to the fields a little later and get ready. At this point, there was a rumor floating around of rain on Friday and that we would get the playoffs in today. This is confirmed at kangaroo court so I never got to pitch again. Anyway, we have a first round bye so we kill some time taking pics and Jack offers to throw the team BP again. BP wraps up; we head down to the fields where we find our opponents to be the “ringer” team which ends up being a bunch of good guys and play what was probably the most fun game down there as it was a lot of back and forth with our team pulling it out at the end to advance to the finals against Jon Warden’s team.

To make a long story short, we had taken the lead 1-0 early in the game and held it through three but Warden’s team had the best pitching in the camp including their "closer" who pitched at Central Michigan and in the minors. Mix that with one bad inning where we had couple errors, a few walks, and a couple hit batters and we ended up losing 5-1. I can recall coming off the field at the end of that bad inning just fuming and if you know me, you know how competitive I am so I’m pretty pissed. Next thing I know, one of teammate’s families shows up to the game with his 11-month old son, who reminds me a lot of my son Beckett, all of a sudden the world is good again as this one moment put this game, this camp, and everything else going on in to perspective for me. Game over, we lose and finish 6-1, not bad for a group of guys that didn’t know each other only five days earlier.

Darrell Evans 1984 World Series ring

We’re a little bummed but autograph night is a head of us, so we rush back to the hotel to get the things that we brought to sign (I brought a couple baseballs and a Tigers mini-helmet) and head back to the Tigers cafeteria. We make our rounds to all the players who are all very friendly and willing to take that extra moment to ask you how your camp is going or what you favorite thing was about camp, although we unfortunately missed Jake Wood and Willie Horton who had to leave early. As the night starts to dial down, we’re talking to Darrell Evans and he has interest in what we do and the five of us end up sitting down with him to talk. The next thing we knew, the cafeteria is empty and it’s just the six of us talking about the Tigers, when Darrell was on base for Hank Aaron’s 715 home run, or anything else he wanted to talk about. The coolest thing happens and Darrell takes off his ’84 World Series rings and gives us all a chance to put it on and get a picture (I actrually got to put on Jon Warden's '68 ring on Saturday but didn't get a picture of it). This may be my top highlight of the camp. We head out and Darrell needs a ride back to the hotel, sure thing, of course we gave him a ride back and heard quite a few more stories that we just ate up.

Day 5
I’ll leave out the previous night as it was a blur with us essentially having an off day so everybody dialed it up a notch at the bar. With that said, Carl, Todd, and myself head to Tiger Town where we find out the games are indeed canceled for the day due to rain and we catch the last Kangaroo court where these two rookies that I spoke about previously continued to be fined for the same things and I have to believe is some kind of record for a Kangaroo Court. Next up was a Q & A with the players, lunch, and a little rest before we head out to a team dinner with our coaches.

We head out for dinner and get the pleasure of driving Darrell to the dinner; the night consists of good food, drinks, and some great stories from both Darrell and Jack, as well as some extra time with our teammates who I enjoyed getting to know. Dinner wines down and we head back to the hotel and out to the bar where we meet teammates and other campers for a few adult beverages before calling it a night.

Day 6

Joker Marchant from the left field berm

It’s our last official day of camp and the legs and arms are getting sore, we head to Tiger Town again to get ready but no Kangaroo Court today as its “Fantasy Game” day where we step on the field for two innings per team against the former Tigers. This is actually the first time that I stepped in to Joker Marchant Stadium this trip as we played on the back fields the entire time and man is this different getting to play in an actual stadium. First up is the team that beat us in the championship game as playoff finish determines when you play the Tigers. As we watch, Rick Leach waves me over to play along side of him in the outfield as we had a four-man going as this is a long day for the former players. No plays for me but we’re up and to come up and hear your name announced could send chills, but I was just concerned with putting the ball in play and not embarrassing myself in front of the family, friends, and few spectators who wander over from Pig Fest which was happening just outside the stadium. Bang, I double down the left field line (ok, this was my ultimate highlight) off Jack Billingham and in the end my team gives the fantasy campers a 4-0 lead over the former Tigers.

I have no idea how the game ended as we did an interview with Jon Warden for our personalized fantasy camp video’s and then went out to Pig Fest for some damn good bbq. We killed a bunch a time at Pig Fest, and as we are about to leave when we run in to Rozey, Leach, and Kemp at one of the bbq stands and talk with them for a few and watch them play a little baggo (note, never bet Leach in the game of baggo). Again, this is just another one of those holy sh*t moments.

We head back to the hotel, put down a Compton at the pool and clean up before heading back one last time to Tiger Town for the banquet dinner. Now this thing ran three hours but did acknowledge all the teams, as well as those who have attended the camp multiple times (one camper had gone 34 times). We head back to the hotel bar and party the night away with Rozey and the rest of the campers before having to hop on a plane in the morning and get back to reality.

In the end, this was one of the best time’s I’ve ever had (without my wife of course) as I think our group of five got closer and have stories to tell forever, I made friends with people I would never have met, and lived a dream of being a baseball player for a week. I highly recommend this trip to anyone that can make it happen as it is an experience that you would never be able to get anywhere else.

Darrell, Brandon, myself, Todd, Jack and in front Mark, and Carl

Some quotes that we walked away with from the week:

100 Percent...It's just that easy - Lou Whitaker answering how many times he could go in to the hole and deliver a ball at Tram's chest for 2
You either got it, or you don't - Whitaker
This guy don't say sh*t, even with a mouth full of it - M1
My memory is pretty good, but only for a short period of time - M1
Make em pitch to you Chaaaaaarrrrrrr - Char's Mom
You have the half nelson (demo), the full nelson (demo), and the Father Nelson (demo) - Jon Warden during Kangaroo Court
You got that Pujoools swing - Ike Blessitt
What's Jerry got me doing now, I didn't sign up for this sh*t - Whitaker
You don't tell me what to do, you ask me, damn - Whitaker...again
Top Hand - Ike Blessitt
Hey beer b*tch - Karen
Well, who the F*ck are you - Jack

-sK

Detroit Tigers Fantasy Camp, an Amazing Trip Recap

2012-01-30T14:53:00.002-05:00

A view from the dish at Joker Marchant

Back in June 2010, my wife gave me one of the best gifts for Father’s Day (birthday and Christmas) that a baseball fanatic could receive, a trip to Detroit Tigers fantasy camp. It kind of fell off the radar for a while but excitement started to grow as a couple friends (Todd & Pepper Blogger Carl) signed up for their second camp and than a couple more friends (Brandon & Mark) signed up in December to join me as rookies. We began getting together at “Spring Training” in Sterling Heights about six weeks prior to the trip to hit in the batting cages and then the trip started to become real as the last couple of weeks we hit in the visitors cages at Comerica Park. Still I really didn’t know what to expect as it was somewhat of a surreal experience for me with little expectations. Originally I had planned to do a daily blog but didn’t want to be sequestered in my room and not enjoying camp to the fullest extent so here’s my recap of how things went down….

Well after waiting roughly seven months, the day to leave for the trip finally arrived and have to admit, I was so geeked for it that I had a bit of a hard time sleeping that Saturday night. Sunday arrives and I run into fellow friends and campers as we’re checking in and who’s on the plane with us but Rick Leach and John Hiller, a start to a good week. I crack my newest read “The Bad Guys Won” a story about the 1986 Mets and next thing I know we’re landing in Tampa and take a short commute over to Lakeland.

Now, if there is anything to complain about this trip is the hotel. We stayed at the Imperial Swan, the “home of the Detroit Tigers” and that place would have to pay to have cockroaches stay there, then again I’m reminded that it’s not about the hotel for this experience.

Brandon & Sweet Lou

Brandon, Mark & I share a “suite” and get situated in our rooms and are off to orientation where Jerry Lewis (he runs the camp) comes in and gives us his spiel and some of the rules on the field followed up by Jim Price as kind of the master of ceremonies. Next up is a huge surprise as sweet Lou Whitaker takes the podium followed by Alan Trammell and let me tell you, the two couldn’t be more different it seemed. Next up were the "coaches" who spoke a little albeit abbreviated due to football playoffs being on. The coaches included Doug Bair ('83-'85 with Tigers), Darrell Evans ('84-'88), Mike Heath ('86-'90), John Hiller ('65-'80), Rick Leach ('81-'83), Mike Maroth ('02-'07), Dave Rozema ('77-'84), Jon Warden('68), Jack Billingham ('78-'80), Jake Wood ('61-'67), and Willie Horton ('63-'77) (Steve Kemp ('77-'81) showed later). The room broke up shortly after Willie spoke and headed to Tiger Town for a BBQ in the Tigers cafeteria where we were joined at our table by Mike Maroth and the teams for the week were announced. Our coaches (Darrell Evans and Jack Billingham) announced our team for the week which consisted of the five of us plus a father who brought his two sons, two brothers, a mother and a daughter, a 12 year vet of the camp, a Tiger fan from Colorado, and our favorite…a first time camper at the age of 75 named Gus. By the way, Maroth was great. It was his first fantasy camp and was just one of the nicest guys you could meet.

From there we headed back to the hotel where we bounced around from the hotel bar, pool area, and the “Glenn Tiki Lounge” which essentially was suite that people drank in. Lou, Tram, and others were hanging out in the bar having a few beers and signing autographs where Brandon got one of the best picture of the week (upper right). We did have another cool experience in the “lounge” as we went to check it out and who’s in there but Jack Billingham and Alan Trammell. Tram was throwing a few back and giving his perspective on the game and just hanging out. What a great time and camp hadn’t even officially started yet!

Day 1

A dream come true...

Up and at ‘em so we could get to the clubhouse and get our lockers and uniforms and it didn’t disappoint as we walk in and find our lockers with our home whites hanging there which would bring a smile to just about anyone’s face. All the campers get dressed and head out to the fields for some instruction for the morning that included hitting by Tram, fielding by Tram and Whitaker, and pitching by Mike Maroth. While Maroth was speaking out of the corner of my eye, I caught Justin Verlander playing long toss which was an amazing site to see the velocity he had on the ball from a couple hundred feet away. You talk about a kid in a candy store….

JV during his dailing work out

We break for lunch in the cafeteria where we sit down with Maroth again and throw down some grub before stretching and the afternoon’s game. Things get a little fuzzy here as I get sucked up in to the emotion and competitiveness of the game and remember playing third, first, and a little outfield. We played against Mike Maroth and Steve Kemp’s team and easily handed them their first loss of the camp.

Darrell, Sweet Lou, Rozey, & Tram

We run back to the hotel and get ready for the salute to Alan Trammell dinner where a bunch of the ’84 guys spoke and Tram and Lou signed some autographs since they were leaving the following day. Tram spoke about being a Tiger for life and his fondness for the organization which is pretty impressive since they hung him out to dry somewhat in his managerial days.

Back to the hotel for some beers and a cigar and to prepare for day 2 but not before I snapped this pic outside (right).

Day 2

"Crab Warden" @ Kangaroo Court

Up and at ‘em earlier on Tuesday as Carl, Todd, and Myself headed to the fields early to get some extra BP thrown by Ike Blessitt in the famous “hanger”. BP wraps up and all the campers gather outside the clubhouse for “kangaroo court” led by Jon Warden. Oh and of course JV makes his way through the group just before it starts to get his daily throwing in. Warden comes out in his garb and levy's fine’s to people for things like missing a belt loop, going to bat without a helmet, trolling (leaving your zipper down), amongst other things; Brandon gets rung up for $4 for asking for an extra pitch in BP the previous day. We had some multiple offenders in camp, and I don’t mean just that day…these guys were a piece of work, but that’s another story.

We get done with a team photo and some calisthenics and head down to the fields for our games. We give Jon Warden and Jim Price’s team their first loss of camp winning a 10-8 game and moving to 2-0. I got to pitch the first inning of that game and is the first time I’ve thrown off a mound since I was 14 years old. I got the first out on my first pitch and turned around to my infield and said something to the effect of I love fantasy camp (minus the expletive). I then went on to give up an unearned run and survive the inning. What a rush that was!

We grabbed some lunch and proceeded to play Rozema and Bair’s team or also known as the “ringer” team since they all have been playing together for a while and have won the championship the last few years. We handed them their second loss as we move to 3-0 and I started to fall in love with playing third base again. I hadn’t played third since early on in high school and had an absolute blast playing over their again, as it became my preferred position at camp.

We head back to the hotel, introduced Brandon to Chic-fil-a, and grabbed some beers to go to historic Henley Field where Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and others have played over the years to watch the night game going on. Afterwards, we headed back too put down a few more beers and called it a night.

To be continued…

-sK

Tiger Talk (Where's the DH? Edition)

2012-01-24T11:01:00.000-05:00

While we wait patiently to find out who will be the DH for the Tigers, here's what is going on around the league:

No word yet on when Yoenis Cespedes will become a free agent, but this article suggests the Miami Marlins will outbid the Detroit Tigers for his services (MLive)
Dave Dombrowski agrees with Pepper Baseball: Alan Trammell should be in the HOF. (Freep)
Austin Jackson has been working this off season to revamp his swing. (DetNews)

Elsewhere:

The Houston Astros will consider changing their uniforms, and team name, when they move to the American League in 2013. (Yahoo!)
In news that probably won't make any Tiger fans upset, Wilson Betemit signed with the Orioles. (MLive)
Former Tiger draft pick Cody Ross signs with the Red Sox (Yahoo!)
Omar Vizquel signs with the Blue Jays. You just said out loud "How old is that guy?!" The answer is 44 (45 on April 24th). (Yahoo!)

Tiger Talk (Weekend Edition)

2012-01-20T09:46:00.000-05:00

Quotes regarding the Detroit Tigers:

Dave Dombrowski: "Of course we'd consider Prince Fielder, but realistically, it's probably not a good fit." "We anticipate Victor Martinez coming back in 2013 and playing at the level he was at last season." "I would just say that the fit is really not there at this point." (MLive)
Brandon Inge: "I love Kelly, I really do, but I'm not looking to platoon, I want to play every day." (DETNEWS)
Jim Leyland: "That was the first question I was asked yesterday, 'Who’s going to hit behind Cabrera?' " "I don’t have that answer. It won’t be a Victor Martinez, I can tell you that." (MLive)

Headlines from Around the League:

Take A Step Back Tiger Fans

2012-01-18T11:39:00.000-05:00

And just like that, the Tigers offseason has been turned upside down.

But is it as bad as the initial reactions?

OFFSEASON PLAN

The Tigers have been treading cautiously in what has been an awful offseason for free agents (Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder not withstanding). They have been investigating simple modifications that can assure them of the AL Central , although we all know there are no true assurances.

My number one hope for the offseason was acquiring an outfielder with speed. One who could leadoff and send Austin Jackson down to the 9-hole for a season or two. Quite frankly, though, that player just didn’t exist out in the marketplace.

They dipped their toes into discussions with Gio Gonzales and Matt Garza, though weren’t desperate and not willing to give up Jacob Turner and/or Nick Castellanos, and obviously won’t consider moving both. I applaud those decisions.

It’s been said on multiple articles that the Tigers are very interested in Yoenis Cespedes and that could be there splash this offseason. Teams are still waiting on his clearance and the chance to bid but he still remains a possibility. More on him later.

However, with sports’ dreaded three letters, A-C-L, and those letters being attached to the best hitter in the Tigers lineup sans Miggy, the offseason plan must now change. The question is how much and what are the Tigers willing to do?

IS THERE A BRIGHT SPOT TO THE INJURY?

Well no, of course not but let’s look at the big picture quickly. Two things to remember… The Tigers will still be favorites in the AL Central and the DH spot is the easiest position to fill.

First, the Central. I still find it hard to find any team that can challenge the Tigers for the Division title. That’s extremely important. And for all you fans touting the Royals and what they are doing, you will be touting for another 2-3 years. I have always said baseball is first and foremost about pitching, and they simply don’t have that yet.

Secondly, filling the DH spot. The one and only thing I didn’t like about the Victor signing was locking up the DH spot. It’s a position that allows a team and manager to maneuver the lineup in a variety of ways. That flexibility cannot be understated while navigating the 162 game season. However, Victor is a different DH obviously. What he provided for the Tigers a season ago was more than we could have hoped for. With that said, finding a DH can be accomplished in a variety of ways, unlike that of losing a guy in the top of the rotation, or a player who has to roam the cavernous center field of Comerica.

IS FREE AGENCY THE SOLUTION?

Just about every article I’ve read so far states the obvious, providing the list of free agents and who should top that list for the Tigers. Let’s examine:

Prince Fielder – Stop it! And I will never add more to that two word response when I’m asked about him.

Every list seems to include Vlad Guerrero, Johnny Damon, Jonny Gomes, JD Drew, Hideki Matsuii, Carlos Pena, Raul Ibanez and Derrek Lee, amongst others. Oh, and let’s not forget Manny Ramirez, who upon signing with a team will serve a 50 game suspension.

I’ve already heard people determine who is the right fit and those same fans seem to want the deal done now, a quick fix. People, there is a reason these guys are on the free agent list. There is a reason Dave Dombrowski’s phone blew up within an hour of the injury announcement. Agents who represent these guys have had nowhere to go and began salivating with a new team with a gaping hole. They are past their prime, not the healthiest of individuals but most important, as mentioned above regarding the flexibility with DH, more and more teams are valuing that flexibility than ever before.

Thankfully, Dombrowski doesn’t knee jerk so they have a bit of time to exhaust all possibilities. These free agents aren’t going anywhere any time soon.

YEONIS CESPEDES

The Tigers have been linked to the Cuban Centipede and truthfully, no one can predict what this kid might be. You either trust the Tigers front office and the scouting department and get behind the decision, or you don’t and list out past projects and failed examples.

Timing is a real detriment here. I believe if the Tigers made the highest bid on Cespedes, Delmon Young would have been cut (he agreed to a one year deal last night). Now, Cespedes could play left with Delmon getting the most time at DH.

However, Cespedes himself has said the Cubs have shown the strongest interest. Personally, I believe once that once Albert Pujols rejected the Marlins, it’s a lock Cespedes is a Marlin. The Miami Marlins are trying to build a team around the fan base and focusing on Latin players. South Florida obviously has a high Cuban population and he is a perfect fit and they have tons of money to spend. Even the Marlins President has been quoted in regards to going after Cespedes, "Aggressive right to the point of stupidity, but not quite there," reported the Sun Sentinal.

Cespedes’ free agent status has been dragging on. Many thought he would be eligible before Christmas, then it was January 15 and now, who knows. Can the Tigers wait on him and then decide a plan of action? I think they can.

HOW DOES MIKE ILLITCH FEEL

And by feel I don't mean about Victor.How is his health? As I mentioned on the Pepper Facebook page a week ago, an interesting tidbit from Buster Olney when discussing the future of the A’s.

"Question No. 2: Other than the Tigers' Mike Ilitch, what owner in professional sports willfully operates his franchise at a loss?".

That’s a pretty profound statement. I’m not suggesting Mr. Illitch is in bad health but operating a business at a loss from the outset can only mean his willingness to put together a World Series Champion right now, is of huge importance to him.

That means Illitch could potentially give Dombrowski a directive, as he has done several times in the past (Magglio, Sheffield, Miggy).

That could mean something along the lines of say, Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller for a superstar? Jacob Turner and Nick Castellanos sure look awfully similar to those two don’t they? The problem is, that superstar doesn’t really exist. So what could be options?

David Wright is the first name I’ve heard brought up. He’s definitely no Miguel Cabrera and is coming off a horrific season a year ago, and has only topped 20 HR’s once in the past three years (albeit playing in a huge ballpark for righties). He’s also no Brandon Inge at third. He is signed through 2012 with an option for 2013 so giving up the farm for potentially one year, doesn’t seem feasible.

With Albert Pujols signing in Anaheim, could first basemen, Kendrys Morales or Mark Trumbo be available? One would have to think so.

Morales singed a one year deal last night with Anaheim and has not played since May of 2010 due to an ankle injury. He had a monster 2009, finally living up to the hype, batting .306 with 34 home runs and 108 RBIs.

Trumbo could be more likely and whispers of him being shipped from his hometown of Anaheim began as soon as Pujols signed the dotted line. Trumbo turned 27 two days ago and was runner up in Rookie of the Year voting a season ago, batting .254 with 29 HR’s and 87 RBI. The only problem I see there is he’s right handed and I think the Tigers will want to fill that void with a left handed bat. They may not have the option of being too choosy though.

If Prince Fielder signs with Texas, could that make Michael Young available? I might be shooting for the stars here but I would love to have him in Detroit. He can start at 2B or 3B and give the DH spot tons of flexibility. He could also give the Tiger clubhouse a presence much like Victor did.

The problem with both of these is I believe both team believe they could face the Tigers in October and sure wouldn’t want to face their former players when it counts, unless they could get Detroit to seriously overpay.

What about re-opening the Matt Garza discussions? Forget about the lineup and just focus on making the staff as tough as possible. And perhaps not just for Garza, but the Cubs would be happy to throw in Alfonso Soriano into the deal. He’s not a player I like but I could see that discussion taking place.

BOTTOM LINE

There is no quick fix. There is no replacement for Victor in the lineup or in the clubhouse. However, there are a ton of options that exist (thankfully it happened in January rather than during the season) that can help and Dombrowski and the front office need to exhaust all possibilities and I’m sure they will do so.

They could wait and see what happens with Cespedes. If they do go after a stop gap right away, even though I think all the options are less than ideal, I would be okay with Vlad Guerrero… or.. Juan Pierre. Pierre isn’t sexy but he could leadoff and would change the dynamic of the Tiger lineup while offering some actual speed on the base paths.

Tiger fans were bummed about the news when it broke the airwaves yesterday and for good reason. However, the jump to fix the situation is already over the boiling point. This isn’t a season killer. The Tigers will still be favorites in the Division and even with Victor, most Tiger fans believe they would have no shot in the playoffs against the AL Beast and the improving Angels and Rangers in the West. That didn’t change and as I’ve always said, anything can happen in the playoffs. Results prove that.

Take a step back, let Dombrowski and team do the due diligence and let’s see what happens, because right now, no one knows what move is next.

And “no one” includes Dombrowski and the Tigers… for now.

-CV

Victor Lost for Season???

2012-01-17T15:43:00.001-05:00

The Tigers are reporting on detroittigers.com that Victor Martinez has suffered a severe knee injury where he has torn his ACL and is feared lost for the season.

Not good ladies and gentleman.

If lost for the season, the Tigers are going to be challenged to find someone to hit behind Cabrera and force opposing pitchers to throw to him.

The question now, is does DD go out and try to get David Wright or anothe impact player and mortgage the farm (system) or is this over reacting? Please, no Prince Fielder talk here...

Not one team in the AL Central has made a drastic move to improve, however this brings Detroit back to the rest of the pack without a doubt.

My final thought as I conitune to add to this, is that the Tigers should wait and see how the team plays the first half of the season and if they are in the mix in July, then trade for that impact player.

-sK

Tiger Talk (Tuesday Edition)

2012-01-17T14:00:00.000-05:00

The Tigers remain pretty quiet this off season as they wait for Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes to be granted free agency, but here is some other Tiger news you may be interested in...

The Tigers avoid arbitration and sign Phil Coke & Rick Porcelo as well as Don Kelly
Now that Ricky P is signed for the year, he's expecting more victories
For you fantasy geeks, here is ESPN's top 10 players which includes Miguel Cabrera
The Freep on how the Tigers few weaknesses have gone unaddressed
Don't get to attached to the idea of signing Yoenis Cespedes as the Marlins could go as far as offering an insane amount of money
The Tigers/Red Sox opener to appear on ESPN2
MLive on how, at this point, DD should wait to make a move
Baseball Prospectus on their fixation with Jack Morris
In case you missed JV on Conan, here you go

Other Interesting Baseball News

The window for signing Yu Darvish is closing quickly on the Rangers
The Minnesota Twins sign ex-Tiger Joel Zumaya
Bryce Harper could break camp with the big club

Hall of Fame Monitor Wrap-Up

2012-01-16T10:53:00.000-05:00

Jeter, ranks highest amongst Hall of Fame locks without PED's implications

Over the last few weeks we took a look at each position and tried to determine who’s a shoe in for the Hall of Fame as well as guys who fall outside that list that I thought would be intriguing to look at.

One person pointed out on our Facebook page that Mariano Rivera and Jose Valverde shouldn’t be mentioned in the same sentence but did you realize that Papa Grande is 41 saves behind Rivera at similar points in their career? No one is saying that Valverde or any of these players will be greats like a Rivera but should they garner Hall of Fame consideration is the real question and we’re looking at what and who that should be.

Here’s a quick recap of the last couple of weeks with Hall of Fame Monitor Index in parentheses:

Things to keep in mind, Hall of Famers are guys with indexes over 130 that Baseball Reference considers a lock, guys over 30 could be anywhere from mid-50’s to just over 100 depending on age for their index and have work left to do, and guys under 20 have an index of 30 or higher showing work to be done but potential for consideration down the road.

Hall of Famers

Pujols will bring his Hall of Fame show to the left coast & AL in 2012

Ivan Rodriguez* (226)

Albert Pujols (264)

Todd Helton (164) hmmm...

Jim Thome (156)

Alex Rodriguez* (371)

Chipper Jones (176)

Derek Jeter (304)

Miguel Tejada* (148) same as Helton

Manny Ramirez* (222)

Ichiro (206)

Vladimir Guerrero (207)
Mariano Rivera (251)

Over 30
Jorge Posada (98)

Halladay as close of a lock as there is for a pitchers

Victor Martinez (53)

Jason Giambi* (104)

David Ortiz (107)

Ryan Howard (96)

Mark Teixeira (96)

Chase Utley (74)

Michael Young (120)

Scott Rolen (83)

Adrian Beltre (56) more because he compares to Santo & Ripken

Edgar Renteria (109)

Jimmy Rollins (79)

Magglio Ordonez (112)

Matt Holliday (100)

Carlos Beltran (92)

Johnny Damon (90)
Bobby Abreu (94)
Alfonso Soriano (82) Bah
Josh Hamilton (58)
Roy Halladay (124)
C.C. Sabathia (97)
Johan Santana (82)
Roy Oswalt (62)
Cliff Lee (58)
Joe Nathan (76)
Jose Valverde (52)

Cabby, a virtual lock for the Hall with the scary part being,
he is just entering his prime

Under 30
Joe Mauer (80)
Brian McCann (26)
Miguel Cabrera (126)
Adrian Gonzalez (63)
Prince Fielder (59)
Joey Votto (48)
Dustin Pedroia (72)
Robinson Cano (72)
David Wright (62)
Evan Longoria (30)
Jose Reyes (56)
Troy Tulowitzki (34)
Starlin Castro (24!)
Ryan Braun* (80)
Jacoby Ellsbury (37)
Matt Kemp (32)
Justin Verlander (78)
Felix Hernandez (30)

*refers to PED’s admittance, Implications, or suspicion
Hall of Fame Monitor Definition

1977, An Important Year For The '84 Tigers

2012-01-13T17:11:00.001-05:00

35-5

Not sure if you caught it or not but ESPN Sweetspot had a quick article on the ‘Morris, Trammell, and the ‘80’s Tigers 'that caught my attention. I had just turned 9-years old in ’84 and favorite Tigers were Lance Parrish and Sweet Lou but really didn’t give it much thought to understand how and when the team was really starting to form. As you read in the article 1977 was magical year that things starting to come together with Morris, Trammell, Whitaker, Parrish, Kemp, and Rozema making their debuts. The article also compares the ’77 Tigers debuts to that of the ’95 Yankees which I thought was ridiculous until reading through the WAR numbers and realized that Tigers actually had a better group.

Anyway, was pretty cool article to catch and helped me brush up on my Tiger history before heading down to Tigers fantasy camp in a couple weeks. Stay tuned for that with updates and pics.

sK

Hall of Fame Monitor: Closers & Designated Hitters; Enter the Sandman, Thome, & Vlad the Impaler

2012-01-13T11:22:00.002-05:00

Rivera a lock as the All-Time saves leader with 603

Recently we discussed starting pitchers and the Hall of Fame Monitor along with the criteria for players as well as a list of player’s different points in their career. Today, we look at relievers and designated hitters, both of which will be pretty short lists. Keep in mind the closer list is somewhat short because the position has evolved over the past 30 years where closers could routinely throw the 8th and 9th to now where there is a setup man in the 8th and closer pitches the 9th. As for the DH position, these guys could have been slipped in to their original position

As a quick refresher the criteria looked at is “Black Ink” which are points given for leading a statistical category (HoF avg 40), “Grey Ink” are points given for being in the top 10 in a statistical category (HoF avg 144), Hall of Fame Standard which are points awarded for career achievements (HoF avg 50), and Hall of Fame Monitor (HoF index 100) which I place the most emphasis on and are points awarded for seasonal statistical achievements. I also list the two players that the current player seems to be following their career paths statistically (asterisk signifies Hall of Famer). These players are normally from the same position but if the fall outside that position, that player could be achieving stats that are far different from anyone else that has played that position historically. For further definitions, click on criteria above.

Here we go with the Closers…

Who’s a Shoe In?
Mariano Rivera, the best closer of all-time is a first ballot guy without any doubt. Rivera, at 42 is still going strong and had another season with an ERA under 2, and a matter of fact, the “Sandman” has only had 6 seasons of an ERA over 2 in his career (17 seasons).
Summary: 42 years old (yr), 17 Seasons (S), Black Ink (BI) 9, Grey Ink (GI) 48, Hall of Fame Monitor (HoFM) 251, Hall of Fame Standard (HoFS) 29, compares to Trevor Hoffman & John Franco

Anyone Else?
Joe Nathan, the steal of the A.J. Pierzynski trade after the ’03 season, Nathan dominated until a should injury set him back in 2010 where he missed the entire season and lost his closers role for part of 2011. Nathan’s going to have to bounce back in 2012 to gain any consideration for the hall.
Summary: 37 yr, 11 S, BI n/a, GI 23, HoFM 76, HoFS 30, compares to Tom Henke & Todd Worrell

Jose Valverde, I tossed the big potato in to the mix as the group was lacking and was a bit surprised to see a black ink higher than Rivera and Hall Monitor where it is (52). Valverde was perfect in ’11 for the Tigers and is going to have another season to rack up a bunch of saves for Detroit.
Summary: 33 yr, 9 S, BI 10, GI 13, HoFM 52, HoFS 14, compares to Troy Percival & Francisco Cordero

Jonathan Papelbon, will continue to rack up saves joining the Phillies in the offseason and has an impressive Hall of Fame Standard of 68 which is higher than even Rivera’s. With 218 saves at the age of 31, Jonathan could make a run at 500 saves if he remains healthy.
Summary: 31 y, 7 S, BI n/a, GI n/a, HoFM 18, HoFS 68, compares to Bryan Harvery & Trevor Hoffman
Brian Wilson, the beard has been one of the Majors top closers the past 4 years racking up 163 saves. At 29 years of age, like Papelbon if Wilson stays healthy, he could make a run at close to 500 saves.
Summary: 29 yr, 6 S, BI n/a, GI 3, HoFM 12, HoFS 41, compares to Bobby Jenks & Troy Percival

Vlady currently sitting on 448 homers
& a career .318 batting average

Designated Hitters

Who’s a Shoe In?
Vladimir Guerrero, Vlad will be listed as an outfielder for sure, but with his last couple of seasons being primarily at the DH spot he was lumped in here. Vlady had impressive numbers across the board and at one time was one of the top all around players in the game. If Guerrero can get to 500 home runs that would be insurance as a first ballot Hall of Famer.
Summary: 36 yr, 16 S, BI 6, GI 166, HoFM 207, HoFS 58, compares to Rafael Palmeiro & Gary Sheffield

Jim Thome, 600 home runs should just about do it for one of the most liked players in the game. Thome will go in as a first baseman. Not much left for Thome to do outside of just build on his numbers.

604 Home rums have Thome as one of
eight players all-time to cross that threshold

Summary: 41 yr, 21 S, BI 13, GI 118, HoFM 156, HoFS 57, compares to Frank Thomas & Reggie Jackson*

Anyone Else?

David Ortiz, Ortiz is a fringe guy as he racked up some huge numbers in his prime starting at 27 years old but was only a platoon guy before that. If Ortiz can stave off a significant drop off in numbers and can close in on 450 home runs than he may have a chance.

Summary: 36 yr, 15 S, BI 16, GI 97, HoFM 107, HoFS 34, compares to Carlos Delgado & Fred McGriff

Up Next: Hall of Fame Recap

Previous: Catchers, First Base, Second Base, Third Base, Shortstop, Outfield, Starting Pitchers

Tiger Talk (Hall of Fame Edition)

2012-01-10T11:29:00.000-05:00

Well it happened again, both Jack Morris and Alan Trammell missed the Hall of Fame. The good news however is that Morris share of votes grew from 53.5% to 66.7% (75% required) and Tram went from 24.3% to 36.8%. The bad news, Morris has two years of eligibility left (although all indications are good) and Tram has four years left before having to rely in the veterans committee. Now here is your latest Tigers news...

Not directly Detroit related but congrats to good guy Barry Larkin on his Hall of Fame admission
If you're an ESPN Insider you will see the Tigers as 8th in their New Years Power Ranking
Again, if you're an Insider you will see who ranks ahead of Detroit who is 6th for the best lineup in the Majors
Lynn Henning on Jack Morris's late years surge towards the Hall of Fame
As rumored on Pepper's Facebook page earlier, the Tigers are going down a path after the Chicago Cubs Matt Garza
The 1984 Tigers are one of three World Series winners without a Hall of Famer
JV to make an appearance on Conan Wednesday night
If this Garza trade goes down, lets remember DD commenting that Jacob Turner is not on the trading block
Why Tram and Jack could lose momentum in the 2013 voting with controversial first time players
Ricky P opts out of his contracts and becomes arbitration eligible
Here's 10 things you may not know about Comerica Park

Hall of Fame Monitor: Starting Pitchers; Halladay, C.C., Verlander??

2012-01-09T15:40:00.000-05:00

Doc is 188-92 in 16 MLB season with an ERA under 3
for the past 4 seasons and is and will be a lock for the Hall

Recently we discussed outfielders and the Hall of Fame Monitor along with the criteria for players as well as a list of player’s different points in their career. Today, we look at starting pitchers although I’m not sold on Baseball-References monitors for this position as you will see that there are very few that come close to qualification or even considered. When looking at guys the player compares to, remember that rotations have evolved from two- man rotations most recently five-man rotations in the ’70’s so these players will most likely compare to another pitcher from the last 30 years.

As a quick refresher the criteria looked at is “Black Ink” which are points given for leading a statistical category (HoF avg 40), “Grey Ink” are points given for being in the top 10 in a statistical category (HoF avg 144), Hall of Fame Standard which are points awarded for career achievements (HoF avg 50), and Hall of Fame Monitor (HoF index 100) which I place the most emphasis on and are points awarded for seasonal statistical achievements. I also list the two players that the current player seems to be following their career paths statistically (asterisk signifies Hall of Famer). These players are normally from the same position but if the fall outside that position, that player could be achieving stats that are far different from anyone else that has played that position historically. For further definitions, click on criteria above.

Here we go…

Who’s a Shoe In?
Roy Halladay, before Verlander’s amazing year this year, Halladay was considered the best pitcher in baseball and is still the top guy at the position as far as consistency goes. Halladay is the only starter with 3 of the 4 categories above Hall of Fame average.
Summary: 34 years old (yr), 14 seasons (S), Black Ink (BI) 48, Grey Ink (GI) 180, Hall of Fame Monitor (HoFM) 124, Hall of Fame Standard (HoFS) 44, compares best to Mike Mussina & Dwight Gooden

C.C. Sabathia, not quite a shoe in, but as close as you are going to get (97 HoFM) and he still has quite a few years left in his arm. C.C. is a top left hander in the game and with the Yankees could potentially win 20 games every year.

Summary: 31 yr, 11 S, BI 22, GI 142, HoFM 97, HoFS 39, compares to Dave McNally & Dwight Gooden

On the Cusp?
Johan Santana, injuries have slowed Santana as he did not pitch in 2011, but before that he held the title of best pitcher in the Majors. Now questions he can ever return to form are springing up, but let’s not forget Johan is 32 and playing in the National League (albeit the NL East). Johan will need to return close to form to continue his push for the Hall.

JV has many years ahead of him still but is on the right path
with a 107-57 record & 8.3k's per 9 career average

Summary: 32 yr, 11 S, BI 42, GI 119, HoFM 82, HoFS 39, compares to Roy Oswalt & John Candelaria

Justin Verlander, JV is one of two pitchers to win the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP (Don Newcombe) and now is being called the games top pitcher by some after an amazing season where he dominated hitters and won the AL Triple Crown for pitchers. JV has quite a few years left of fastballs in his shoulder being that he’s just 28 and can improve drastically on his 78 Hall of Fame Monitor.
Summary: 28 yr, 7 S, BI 36, GI 98, HoFM 78, HoFS 25, compares to Mike Mussina & Ramon Martinez

Tim Lincecum, the “freak” ranks below a few underneath him here, but at age 27 he carries a 60 Hall Monitor and has to be considered a serious threat to make the Hall as he is a perennial Cy Young candidate in the NL.
Summary: 27 yr, 5 S, BI 20, GI 72, HoFM 60, HoFS 25, compares to Doug Drabek & Bernie Boland

Need to Make a Move?
Roy Oswalt, an ace on most staffs was a bit overshadowed last year on the Phillies as their number 4 guy and is not helping his cause with injuries plaguing him the past three seasons. Oswalt however, remains a top name in the game and is looking for a new team in 2012 to reestablish himself.
Summary: 34 yr, 11 S, BI 13, GI 121, HoFM 62, HoFS 35, compares to Roy Halladay & John Candelaria

Cliff Lee, Lee really had some up and down years until his 7th season where something changed in him and he started to dominate hitters consistently. Lee pitches in one of the most hitter friendly parks in the Majors and has a 14-6 record there with a 2.06 ERA there.
Summary: 33 yr, 10 S, BI 22, GI 86, HoFM 58, HoFS 24, compares to Don Newcombe* & Kirk Reuter

Tim Hudson, once part of the magnificent three rotation in Oakland made up of Hudson, Zito, and Mulder, Tim has had injury setbacks that have cost him parts of his career and overall will limit his chances of gaining any major Hall consideration.
Summary: 36 yr, 13 S, BI 11, GI 133, HoFM 55, HoFS 38, compares to Kevin Brown & David Cone

Josh Beckett, the former number one draft pick has been up and down throughout his tumultuous career, but playing in Boston helps gain Hall consideration. At 31 years old and Playing in Boston, if he can stay healthy could win 12-15 games a season for quite some time.
Summary: 31 yr, 11 S, BI 4, GI 70, HoFM 47, HoFS 24, compares to Kevin Millwood & John Lackey

Mark Buehrle, shocking to me that Buerhle is only 32 as he feels like he’s been terrorizing the Tigers forever, but with his move to Florida we could see his numbers actually better with less talent and a bigger ball park.
Summary: 32 yr, 12 S, BI 8, SI 98, HoFM 42, HoFS 22, compares to Frank Viola & Herb Pennocock*

Jake Peavy, Peavy at one point in his career was one of the most dominant pitchers around, but injuries the past three seasons have cut in to his prime years and like Hudson limited his opportunites to be considered great enough for the Hall of Fame.
Summary: 30 yr, 10 S, BI 20, GI 65, HoFM39, HoFS 20, compares to Kevin Appier & Kevin Millwood (but maybe more like JR Richardson?)

Next in Line?
Felix Hernandez, King Felix ranks the highest for the 20-somethings with a Hall Monitor of 30 at the age of 25. More impressive is his “grey ink” at 70 which can be attributed to strike outs and ERA for sure. Barring injury, Felix will continue to dominate in that park and with his arm.
Summary: 25 yr, 7 S, BI 19, GI 70, HoFM 30, HoFS 17, compares to Dennis Eckersly* & Joe Coleman

Cole Hamels, Hamels is three years older than Felix and has one less season under his belt and although pitching at Citizens Bank Park will hurt his ERA, his win totals will remain high with the offense the Phillies back Cole with.
Summary: 28 yr, 6 S, BI 1, GI 69, HoFM 28, HoFS 21, compares to John Smiley & Greg Swindell

Clayton Kershaw, the 2011 NL Cy Young had a break out year at the age of 23 and shot up the charts. Kershaw is the youngest pitcher to make my list and is going to be exciting to watch as he learns the art of pitching.
Summary: 23 yr, 4 S, BI 16, GI 41, HoFM 28, HoFS 24, compares to Vida Blue & Dontrelle Willis (yikes!)
Jon Lester, compares very similar to Cole Hamels as far as the index go and averages 17 wins a season and a 3.53 ERA. Time will only tell if the ERA will hold but the wins should be there with the product the Red Sox put on the field on an annual basis.
Summary: 27 yr, 6 S, BI 1, GI 60, HoFM 28, HoFS 24, compares to Tim Hudson & Kevin Millwood

Tommy Hanson, one of my favorite young pitchers in the game, there’s not a whole lot to go off of yet as Hanson has not hit the BI or GI minimums but he’s worth keeping an eye on.
Summary: 25 yr, 3 S, BI n/a, GI n/a, HoFM 1, HoFS 2, compares to Rick Rhoden & Jim Perry

Up Next: Relievers & Designated Hitters
Previous: Catchers, First Baseman, Second Baseman, Third Baseman, Shortstops, Outfielders

Hall of Fame Disappointment Coming at 3p Today

2012-01-09T10:46:00.002-05:00

Morris pitched parts of 18 season and went 254-186 with a
3.80 ERA and was the winningest pitcher of the '80s

Today the 2012 Hall of Fame announcement will be made at 3 p.m. today and once again we’re sure to be disappointed with the Alan Trammell percentage; however have high hopes for Jack Morris (he goes in as a Tiger right?).

Below are some good links to get you ready for the announcement...

ESPN's ballot with only Barry Lakrin gaining more than 75% of the vote
Jayson Stark comments on his Hall of Fame ballot which includes Larkin vs. Trammell, the "steroid guys", Jack Morris, Fred McGriff and more.

Stark goes as far as comparing Trammell to Larkin but points out some offensive differences and consistency issues on Tram's side and calls him "not quite a Hall of Famer", which I disagree with
I agree with his statement however on voting for McGwire and Palmeiro based on, we just don't know who and when this all started with PED's. Remember, the "greenies" that everyone was on in the 70's and 80's would count as a PED here.
Also, his explanation of why he voted for Jack is spot on, make sure to check that out

ESPN Sweetspot on if Fred McGriff is a Hall of Famer with 493 home runs (the answer should be yes)
If you're an ESPN Insider, they have a new Hall of Fame metric (wins above all-star level replacement or WAAS) which has both Larkin and Trammell in the Hall and actually goes like this...

Jeff Bagwell, Edgar Martinez, Alan Trammell, Barry Larkin, and Larry Walker in the top 5 of players eligible for the Hall

CBS Sports has five active "shoe in" candidates, guys over-30 looking, guys under-30, and a write up on the 2012 candidates
Of course there is always Pepper's "making a case for Tram" page that will lay it all out

Shane's predictions:
In: Barry Larkin, Jack Morris
Just Missed: Lee Smith, Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines

Tiger Talk (Waiting to be dissapointed by HOF Voting Edition)

2012-01-05T08:37:00.000-05:00

Still relatively quiet with the Tigers. Here is the latest and greatest:

Coco Crisp is no longer a candidate to lead-off for the Tigers, he signed with the Athletics for 2 years, $14 million.
Former Tiger Fernando Rodney signs a 1 year $2 million deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. Relief pitchers seem to have a couple of good years followed by a couple of bad years and then rebound. This could be a really savvy move by the Rays.
The Tigers made a minor league signing, 2b/OF Eric Patterson. .217 BA and 10 home runs in his career.
Alan Trammell will get at least one vote for the Hall Of Fame, from SI.com writer Joe Posnanski. In this article he explains who he voted for this year. Comparing Barry Larkin and Alan Trammell he points out that both have almost identical career statistics except Larkin has an MVP (that Trammell should have won in 1987) and Larkin played in a decade that saw more offense overall. He also presents this breakdown:

Barry Larkin - Last year: 62.1% of the vote
Alan Trammell - Last year: 24.3% of the vote
Barry Larkin - 68.9 WAR (Baseball Reference)
Alan Trammell 66.9 WAR (Baseball Reference)
Barry Larkin had 70.6 WAR (Fangraphs)
Alan Trammell 69.5 WAR (Fangraphs)

Hall of Fame Monitor: Outfielders; Ichirio & Manny??

2012-01-04T18:14:00.000-05:00

Without a doubt Ichiro is a Hall of Famer, it just leaves on
wondering what he could have done playing a full career in the US

Recently we discussed shortstops and the Hall of Fame Monitor along with the criteria for players as well as a list of player’s different points in their career. Today, we look at outfielders who have over 20 elected Hall members for each position or in the mid-60’s when looked at aggregately. This list can go many ways so I chose to pick a cross section of players that include the controversial Manny Ramirez all the way down to a younger guy like Mike Stanton.

As a quick refresher the criteria looked at is “Black Ink” which are points given for leading a statistical category (HoF avg 40), “Grey Ink” are points given for being in the top 10 in a statistical category (HoF avg 144), Hall of Fame Standard which are points awarded for career achievements (HoF avg 50), and Hall of Fame Monitor (HoF index 100) which I place the most emphasis on and are points awarded for seasonal statistical achievements. I also list the two players that the current player seems to be following their career paths statistically (asterisk signifies Hall of Famer). These players are normally from the same position but if the fall outside that position, that player could be achieving stats that are far different from anyone else that has played that position historically. For further definitions, click on criteria above.
Here we go…

Who’s a Shoe In? 

Manny Ramirez, it’s shame that I have to start out another list with the caveat of taking being caught using performance enhancing drugs out of the picture but this one does in fact start that way. With that being said, Manny was once considered one of the five best right handed hitters of all-time, that will no doubt come in to question and although I doubt he will ever make the Hall of Fame it is worth bringing up that his Hall of Fame Monitor is tops among active outfielders.

Hard to believe Manny will be elected to the Hall after being nailed for PED's

Summary: 39 years old (yr), 19 Seasons (S), Black Ink (BI) 21, Grey Ink (GI) 154, Hall of Fame Monitor (HoFM) 222, Hall of Fame Standard (HoFS) 69, compares to Frank Thomas & Ken Griffey Jr.

Ichiro Suzuki, another lock for the Hall, what Ichiro has done in his 11 seasons in the Majors is absolutely amazing and to imagine if he would have played his entire career in the US, he would own quite a few more batting records.

Summary: 38 yr, 11 S, BI 42, GI 136, HoFM 206, HoFS 38, compares to Lloyd Waner* & Kenny Lofton

On the Cusp?

Magglio Ordonez, Mags career is coming to a close although his hot streak in the postseason may have bought him another year or two in the bigs. Ordonez has a Hall Monitor index of 112 but when looking at his numbers, nothing really sticks out as a wow factor for a corner outfielder. Gut feeling says he’s a fringe candidate at best.
Summary: 37 yr, 15 S, BI 6, GI 86, HoFM 112, HoFS 42, compares to Dave Parker & Chuck Klein*

Matt Holliday, normally “on the cusp” is reserved for older players on the down side of their career but Holliday has made a big enough impact at the age of 31 that his Hall of Fame Monitor is right at 100 and he has all the opportunity of this decade to better his case for a shot at the Hall.
Summary: 31 yr, 8 S, BI 13, GI 80, HofM 100, HoFS 36, compares to Larry Walker & Chick Hafey*

Carlos Beltran, Beltran has had some extremely good years and was a highly sought after free agent this off season, eventually signing with the Cardinals. Beltran’s 92 Hall Monitor index surprised me a bit but not as much as his player comparisons to Andre Dawson and Dave Winfield, both Hall of Famers.
Summary: 34 yr, 14 S, BI 1, GI 68, HoFM 92, HoFS 37, compares to Andre Dawson* & Dave Winfield*

Johnny Damon, I consider Damon to be one of the most underrated Hall of Fame candidates on any of the lists and base it on him not sticking around in one place for too long. If you look at this numbers you quickly realize that his power and speed start to add up like few others.
Summary: 38 yr, 17 S, BI 6, GI 77, HoFM 90, HoFS 46, compares to Paul Molitor* & Al Oliver

Bobby Abreu, a late edition to my list but we should get an idea how he will fare as he is best compared to Bernie Williams who is part of the 2012 Hall of Fame Ballot. Abreu falls short of Hall of Fame type milestones so watch what happens to Bernie closely as Abreu will get less support then that falling outside of New York.
Summary: 37yr, 16 S, BI 5, GI 88, HoFM 94, HoFS 52, compares best to Bernie Williams & Luis Gonzalez

Too Little, Too Late?
Alfonso Soriano, signed a huge contract with the Cubs and never really lived up to the hype, however his Hall Monitor sits at 82 with at least a few years left in his career. I expect Soriano to fall well short of the 75% vote needed for election.
Summary: 35 yr, 13 S, BI 10, GI 62, HoFM 82, HofS 25, compares to Jermaine Dye & Matt Williams

Vernon Wells, showed flashes of brilliance with the bat earlier this century and resurrected it later in the dacade but scuffled in LA under a new contract although he did bang out 25 dingers ’11 but hit just .218 (all for $26m this year). Unless Wells can turn things around quickly, he is a highly unlikely candidate.
Summary: 33 yr, 13 S, BI 5, GI 40, HoFM 52, HoFS 17, compares to George Bell & Reggie Smith

Next in Line?
Ryan Braun, remember taking PED’s out of the discussion (notice how we haven’t heard anything lately?), Braun has excelled each of his five seasons culminating in to an MVP season this year and already putting himself in good shape for Hall of Fame consideration when he retires 10+ years from now.
Summary: 28 yr, 5 S, BI 9, GI 82, HoFM 80, HoFS 29, compares to Chick Hafey* & Fred Lynn

Josh Hamilton, if addiction didn’t take away part of his career as well as injuries, Josh’s numbers would look much stronger. Hamilton needs to make up for lost time and do so quickly as he passes through his peak years with a formidable offense around him. I’m just not sure if there’s enough time…
Summary: 30 yr, 5 S, BI 11, GI 32, HoFM 58, HoFS 26, compares to Bob Johnson & Rico Carty

Carl Crawford, Crawford was the collapse of the Red Sox season in ’11, but before that he was one of the most complete outfielders in the game. I would expect a big rebound year for him this year and lots of RBI’s for Adrian Gonzalez.
Summary: 30 yr, 10 S, BI 12, GI 48, HoFM 48, HoFS 20, compares to Roberto Clemente* & Johnny Damon

Curtis Granderson, not really in the discussion until his monster year this year, Granderson may not reproduce exactly the potent numbers he did in 2011 but there’s nothing stopping him from being a 30 homer guy in that park as it seems he’s figured out lefties.
Summary: 30 yr, 8 S, BI 9, GI 35, HoFM 40, HoFS 16, compares to Ron Gant & Richard Hidalgo

Up & Coming
Jacoby Ellsbury, the 2011 AL MVP runner-up, Ellsbury who never hit double digits in home runs before hit 32 in 2011 to become an all around threat with his 39 steals. Ellsbury really has only played 3 full seasons, losing 2010 to injury so it is yet to be seen what Jacoby really is other than a .300 hitter with a top of speed.
Summary: 28 yr, 5 S, BI 5, GI 36, HoFM 37, HoFS 19, compares to Mule Haas & Dick Wakefield

Matt Kemp, probably should have been the MVP this year and not Ryan Braun, but Kemp played for a bad Dodgers team. A Triple Crown threat in 2011 and a 5-tool stud, Kemp has a bright future ahead of him if he keeps his head in the game.
Summary: 27 yr, 6 S, BI 12, GI 38, HoFM 32, HoFS 19, compares to Carlos Beltran & Andre Dawson*

Carlos Gonzalez, CarGo busted on to the scene in 2010 but “regressed” a little in 2011, however his annual averages of a .298 batting average and 20 homers, and 24 steals per will look nice over a lengthy career.
Summary: 26 yr, 4 S, BI 7, GI 22, HoFM 20, HofS 19, compares to Raul Mondesi & Danny Tartabull

Justin Upton, Upton has 5 seasons under his belt at the age of 24 but didn’t fully break out until this year and shows promise at being one of the National League’s top outfielders for years to come.
Summary: 24 yr, 5 S, BI n/a, GI 14, HoFM 14, HoFS 15, compares to Ruben Sierra & Andruw Jones

Hunter Pence, I tossed Pence into the mix as he was the most consistent outfielder out there hitting exactly 25 home runs each season from ’08-’10 but failed to reach the mark as he hit 22 this year for the Astros and Phillies. In the long run Pence should benefit from playing in Philly, but he may just be a nice complementary player if he can’t crack that 25 homer mark.
Summary: 28 yr, 5 S, BI n/a, GI 20, HoFM 12, HoFS 17, compares to Rondell White & Aubrey Huff
Mike Stanton, just wrapped up his second season and first real season where he hit 34 home runs at the age of 21. May not hit for average but the power is undoubtedly there and with Jose Reyes in the lineup with have someone on base ahead of him even more now.
Summary: 22 yr, 2 S, BI n/a, GI n/a, HoFM 7, HoFS 2, compares to Ruben Sierra & Miguel Cabrera

Adam Jones, Jones is part of the list for the fact that he’s still a young guy with a lot of potential and the comparison to Dave Winfield doesn’t hurt either.

Summary: 26 yr, 6 S, BI n/a, GI 2, HoFM 4, HoFS 7, compares to Dave Winfield* & Reggie Smith

Andrew McCutchen, I’m a little surprised he doesn’t rank a little higher actually as McCuthcen has it all for a 25-year old and expect a breakout year for him. Will be tough for Andrew to gain the recognition needed playing for Pittsburgh however.

Summary: 25 yr, 3 S, BI n/a, GI 6, HoFM 4, HoFS 14, compares to Reggie Smith & Ellis Burks

Up Next: Starting Pitchers
Previously: Catchers, First Baseman, Second Baseman, Third Baseman, Shortstops

Hall of Fame Monitor: Shortstops; Derek Jeter in, but Miguel Tejada??

2012-01-03T17:19:00.000-05:00

The Yankee Captain, a lock for the Hall

Last week we discussed third baseman and the Hall of Fame Monitor along with the criteria for players as well as a list of player’s different points in their career. Today, we look at Shortstops. This group contains mostly guys in their late 20’s and up with Jeter leading the pact but a couple surprises along the way.

As a quick refresher the criteria looked at is “Black Ink” which are points given for leading a statistical category (HoF avg 40), “Grey Ink” are points given for being in the top 10 in a statistical category (HoF avg 144), Hall of Fame Standard which are points awarded for career achievements (HoF avg 50), and Hall of Fame Monitor (HoF index 100) which I place the most emphasis on and are points awarded for seasonal statistical achievements. I also list the two players that the current player seems to be following their career paths statistically (asterisk signifies Hall of Famer). These players are normally from the same position but if the fall outside that position, that player could be achieving stats that are far different from anyone else that has played that position historically. For further definitions, click on criteria above.

Here we go…

Who’s a Shoe In?

Derek Jeter, the Yankee captain is without a doubt a first ballot Hall of Famer with the only question being if he finishes out his career at Shortstop or somewhere else. With Jeter’s longevity and collecting certain milestones like his 3000th hit (the only Yankee to do so) there’s no surprise that he ranks 2nd on my list with a 304 Hall of Fame Monitor.
Summary: 37 years old (yr), 17 Seasons (S), Black Ink (BI) 6, Gray Ink (GI) 133, Hall of Fame Monitor (HoFM) 304, Hall of Fame Standard (HoFS) 66, compares to Craig Biggio & Frankie Frisch*

Tejada, a Hall of Famer???

Miguel Tejada, shocking yes that he’s considered a shoe in, but a 148 Hall Monitor would signify that. Tejada is actually older then we first thought and was caught when renewing a Visa a few years back, but that doesn’t seem to have hurt his chances. Tejada once made up a fearful foursome of shortstops in the American League between himself, Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra, and Alex Rodriguez.

Summary: 37 yr, 15 S, BI 13, GI 80, HoFM 148, HoFS 43, compares to Ryne Sandberg & Ted Simmons

On the Cusp?
Edgar Renteria, once a very good shortstop Renteria seemed to slip in Atlanta prior to his arrival in Detroit and hasn’t really recovered since as age has crept up on him. Renteria’s Hall of Fame Monitor sits at 109 meaning there’s a chance he could make it.
Summary: 35 yr, 16 S, BI n/a, GI 22, HoFM 109, HoFS 38, compares to Alan Trammell & Dick Bartell

Jimmy Rollins, J-roll resigned with the Phillies recently and will be counted on as a key piece to make that offense go which will help build his resume as he has enough years remaining to crack that 100 Hall Monitor index.
Summary: 33 yr, 12 S, BI 14, GI 69, HoFM 79, HoFS 31, compares to Alan Trammell & Craig Biggio

Next in Line?
Hanley Ramirez, HanRam could be looking at a position change if he’s not dealt from the Marlins due to the acquisition of Jose Reyes who will be the teams new Shortstop. Ramirez was one of the top 5-tool talents in the league until his struggles this year but at 28 years old Hanley has plenty of time to increase his Hall of Fame Monitor from 64.
Summary: 28 yr, 7 S, BI 7, GI 68, HoFM 64, HoFS 28, compares to Derek Jeter & Robinson Cano

Jose Reyes, the Marlins new shortstop signed a long term deal with the team and replacing Hanley Ramirez at short. Reyes hasn’t played more then 133 games the last three season due to injury and is a main reason he trails Ramirez on the HoFM. Reyes did win a batting title in 2011 and is considered one of the most exciting players to watch in the Majors.
Summary: 28 yr, 9 S, BI 19, GI 56, HoFM 56, HoFS 31, compares to Jimmy Rollins & Rafael Furcal

Troy Tulowitzki, Tulo is a perennial MVP candidate as he can carry the Rockies for weeks at a time it seems as he’s placed in the top eight for MVP voting each of the last three years. Troy does hit the DL annually it seems so that could haunt him down the road but after six seasons he looks like he will have a strong career and could be a Hall of Fame candidate when all’s said and done not to mentioned being compared to Ernie Banks doesn’t hurt either.
Summary: 27 yr, 6 S, BI n/a, GI 27, HoFM 34, HoFS 21, compares to Ernie Banks* & Vern Stephens

Starlin Castro, way too early to tell if Castro will be a Hall of Famer, but he his one to watch and although lackadaisical at times, don’t be fooled as he is an impact type player hitting over .300 his first two seasons in the big leagues. Keep an eye on the kid…
Summary: 21 yr, 2 S, BI 4, GI 16, HoFM 24, HoFS 15, compares to Gary Templeton & Arky Vaughan*

Up Next: Outfielders
Previous: Catchers, First Baseman, Second Baseman, Third Baseman

Tiger Talk (New Year's Edition)

2011-12-30T11:42:00.003-05:00

With the holiday's here, it seems as if the Tigers front office has taken a break. Here's the latest news that we could dig up.

If you're an ESPN Insider you can see where the who is ahead of the Tigers for best rotation who rank 7th.
The Detroit News ranks that Tigers top 50 prospects
The Tigers are planning a "kids convention" for January 21st
Pictured above is the video game cover JV will be on for 2012
In case you were wondering, the Tigers did not bid on Yu Darvish according to DD
The Tigers show interest in reacquiring ex-Tiger Jair Jurrjens
Why acquiring Matt Garza would make the Tigers a World Series favorite
The Bleacher Report comes up with 10 of the biggest Tiger letdowns in the past decade
BR also explains why 2012 is the year for Jack Morris to enter the Hall
Not directly related to the Tigers but an article on if Barry Larkin belongs in the Hall of Fame (and of course if he belongs than so does Trammell)

Happy New Year everyone!!

Hall of Fame Monitor: Third Baseman; Chipper’s In, But What About ARod??

2011-12-30T09:17:00.000-05:00

18 Seasons & going strong for Chipper,
who looks like a lock for the Hall of Fame

Yesterday we discussed second baseman and the Hall of Fame Monitor along with the criteria for players as well as a list of player’s different points in their career. Today, we look at third baseman, which amazingly has the least amount of Hall of Famers for any position (14). This group has a very wide range of players from the aging Chipper Jones who dominated at one point in his career to guys like Evan Longoria who could potentially

As a quick refresher the criteria looked at is “Black Ink” which are points given for leading a statistical category (HoF avg 40), “Grey Ink” are points given for being in the top 10 in a statistical category (HoF avg 144), Hall of Fame Standard which are points awarded for career achievements (HoF avg 50), and Hall of Fame Monitor (HoF index 100) which I place the most emphasis on and are points awarded for seasonal statistical achievements. I also list the two players that the current player seems to be following their career paths statistically (asterisk signifies Hall of Famer). These players are normally from the same position but if the fall outside that position, that player could be achieving stats that are far different from anyone else that has played that position historically. For further definitions, click on criteria above.

Here we go…

Who’s a Shoe In?

Will ARod's early steroid admission gain him leniency from voters

Alex Rodriguez, straight statistically speaking ARod is a lock, however his admittance to the use of steroids muddies the water considerably. I’m thinking he admitted to it early enough in his career that it will affect his vote but not enough. As mentioned yesterday, there are only two players who rank above average in all four categories with Pujols being one and Rodriguez being the other. ARod actually has the highest Hall of Fame Monitor index of all active players at 371.
Summary: 36 years old (yr), 18 Seasons (S), Black Ink (BI) 68, Grey Ink (GI) 212, Hall of Fame Monitor (HoFM) 371, Hall of Fame Standard (HoFS) 79, compares best to Hank Aaron* & Mel Ott*

Chipper Jones, was not only the most feared third basemen in the National League for many years but one of most feared players in general. Chipper’s career is winding down at the age of 39 and may have a year or two left at best and although injuries were part of his career, he made enough impact to be a virtual lock with a Hall Monitor at 176.
Summary: 39 yr, 18 S, BI 4, GI 107, HoFM 176, HoFS 67, compares best to Gary Sheffield & Mike Schmidt*

On the Cusp?
Michael Young, a surprising Hall of Fame index of 120 has Young a almost a lock for the Hall but not sure he received enough exposure throughout his great career with the Rangers where he is starting to dominate all-time team offensive records. I’m not sure he’s there yet and can further better his case as he isn’t showing signs of slowing down at the age of 35.
Summary: 35 yr, 12 S, BI 11, GI 81, 120, HoFS36, compares best to Ray Durham & Mary McManus

Scott Rolen, known for both his glove and bat Rolen never was as feared as much as Chipper but did damage however back problems took their toll over the years and landed Rolen on the DL a few times. A couple strong years towards the end of his career could sway voters.
Summary: 36 yr, 16 S, BI n/a, GI 27, HoFM 83, HoFS 40, Ron Santo* & Cal Ripken Jr.*

Next in Line?
David Wright, without a doubt Citi Field had some mental effect on Wright a couple years back but he was back with power last year and bringing the fences in for 2012 will only help his cause, then again he could be traded as well. Wright will be interesting to watch the next couple of years as his Hall Monitor is already high for a 29 year old (62) but he seems to possibly have hit a wall and the Mets gutting their offense doesn’t help.
Summary: 29 yr, 8 S, BI n/a, GI 73, HoFM 62, HoFS 32, compares to Scott Rolen & Eric Chavez

Adrian Beltre, it may be a little too late for Beltre to make a move significant enough to make him a Hall of Fame candidate but hitting in the Texas lineup couldn’t hurt and Beltre is a perennial Gold Glove candidate. Adrian compares well to a couple “ok” third basemen as well.
Summary: 32 yr, 14 S, BI 6, GI 50, HoFM 56, HoFS 29, compares to Ron Santo & Cal Ripken Jr.

A Little to Late??
Aramis Ramirez, a nice player but not an elite third baseman although playing in Milwaukee could spur his offensive production a bit. Good offense, bad glove…
Summary: 33 yr, 14 S, BI 6, GI 50, HoFM 56, HoFS 29, compares to Carlos Lee & Scott Rolen

Jose Bautista, unfortunately just found his swing two seasons ago at the age of 29 or he would be much higher on this list. To see Bautista’s Hall Monitor at 44 and leading all active third baseman not named Alex Rodriguez on “black ink” after really just two seasons of significance shows that if can keep it up, that he can at least make noise.
Summary: 31 yr, 8 S, BI 13, GI 33, HoFM 44, HoFS 15, compares to Jay Buhner & Tony Conigliaro

Up & Coming
Evan Longoria, at 26 has had already a significant impact on the Rays and the game enough to garner a 29 Hall of Fame Monitor after just four seasons. Longoria compares best to Scott Rolen and Eric Chavez but I believe his ceiling could be higher than that.
Summary: 26 yr, 4 S, BI n/a, GI 29, HoFM 30, HoFS 17, compares to Scott Rolen & Eric Chavez

Ryan Zimmerman, often forgotten because he plays in Washington, Zimmerman is on par with Longoria but has lost some time to injury. If he can stay on the field he could make a key piece to the improving Nationals and will gain more recognition.
Summary: 27 yr, 7 S, BI 1, GI 29, HoFM 22, HoFS 17, compares to Harlond Clift & Scott Rolen

For our female down river readers…
Brandon Inge, although he’s a Hall of Famer in the hearts of many, Dirty is far from the norm when comparing to others statistically although his one “black ink” is more than Rolen, Wright, ARam, and Longoria.
Summary: 34 yr, 11 S, BI 1, GI 6, HoFM 6, HoFS 14, compares to Damian Easley & Davey Johnson

Up Next: Shortstops
Previous: Catchers, First Basemen, Second Basemen

Hall of Fame Monitor: Second Baseman; Anyone??

2011-12-29T10:46:00.003-05:00

Pedroia's impact with the Sox has him lined up nicely for Hall
consideration down the road

Yesterday we discussed first baseman and the Hall of Fame Monitor along with the criteria for players as well as a list of player’s different points in their career. Today, we look at second baseman, a position that was hurting for star power for some time. Even with the emergence of guys like Utley, Cano, and Perdroia we will see that it is still to soon to anoint any Hall of Famers out of this group.

As a quick refresher the criteria looked at is “Black Ink” which are points given for leading a statistical category (HoF avg 40), “Grey Ink” are points given for being in the top 10 in a statistical category (HoF avg 144), Hall of Fame Standard which are points awarded for career achievements (HoF avg 50), and Hall of Fame Monitor (HoF index 100) which I place the most emphasis on and are points awarded for seasonal statistical achievements. I also list the two players that the current player seems to be following their career paths statistically (asterisk signifies Hall of Famer). These players are normally from the same position but if the fall outside that position, that player could be achieving stats that are far different from anyone else that has played that position historically. For further definitions, click on criteria above.

Here we go…

Who’s a Shoe In?
No one

On the Cusp?
Chase Utley leads a group of players all in their late 20’s or early 30’s as the first second baseman to gain consideration for the Hall based on his age (33) and most likely retirement several years from now. Utley is getting close to the 100 Hall of Fame Index and is a prime example why another “ink” formula should be developed based on position leading offensive statistics as his “black and grey ink” fall short of Hall of Fame averages.
Summary: 33 years old (yr), 9 Seasons (S), Black Ink (BI) 9, Grey Ink (GI) 40, Hall of Fame Monitor (HoFM) 74, Hall of Fame Standard (HoFS) 33, compares best to Jeff Kent & Joe Gordon*

Dustin Pedroia, has done it all from winning the AL Rookie of the Year to the AL MVP and is only 28 (the youngest of my list) and along with Robinson Cano seems to have the best shot at a Hall of Fame career.
Summary: 28 yr, 6 S, BI 6, GI 45, HoFM 72, HoFS 22, compares best to Jose Vidro & Red Kress

Robinson Cano, just a year older and a season more experienced then Pedroia, Cano has the edge on Hall Standards (32) but trails in both ink categories. The comparison to Hall of Famer Tony Lazzeri only helps Cano’s case. Also, if you saw Robinson in the post season, you know he had a special year and could have another very big year in 2012.
Summary: 29 yr, 7 S, BI 1, GI 72, HoFM 72, HoFS 32, compares best to Carlos Baerga & Tony Lazzeri*

Too Little, Too Late?
Brian Roberts, has had an up and down career basically due to injuries and concussion symptoms. What once looked like a promising career has stalled as of late.
Summary: 34 yr, 11 S, BI 6, GI 45, HoFM 34, HoFS 25, compares best to Orlando Hudson & Ronnie Belliard

Next in Line?
Dan Uggla, had a dismal first half of the season last year and saved by a hot second half and 33-game hitting streak. Uggla, may be next on my list however he needs to go on a run of a few seasons as a top second baseman or forget about it as age is creeping on him at 31 years old and only play 6 seasons so far. On a good note, Uggla is compared to Hall of Famer Joe Gordon and Jeff Kent.
Summary: 31 yr, 6 S, BI n/a, GI 28, HoFM 31, HoFS 14, compares best to Joe Gordon* & Jeff Kent

Ian Kinsler, At 29 Kinsler has put up very solid numbers and is only hindered by the injury bug. Like Uggla, Kinsler has played 6 seasons but unlike Uggla is only 29 years old. If Kinsler can stay healthy, he could move in to that upper echelon of second baseman.
Summary: 29 yr, 6 S, BI n/a, GI 26, HoFM 28, HoFS 16, compares best to Joe Gordon* & Marcus Giles

Brandon Phillips, Phillips is a no doubt Hall of Famer, but not for baseball but his Tweets. Phillips sputtered a bit at the beginning of his career costing him a couple key years and wasn’t really an offensive impact player until a few years ago.
Summary: 30 yr, 10 S, BI n/a, GI 22, HoFM 24, HoFS 21, best compared to Bobby Grich & Gil McDougald

Rickie Weeks, stop if you heard this before but started to become an impact player only a few years ago as Rickie couldn’t stay healthy for the first few years of his Major League career.
Summary: 29 yr, 8 S, BI 1, GI 9, HoFM 7, HoFS 12, best compared to Brandon Phillips & Bobby Grich

Next Up: Third Baseman
Previous: Catchers & First Baseman

Remaining 2011/2012 Major League Baseball Free Agents as of 12.28.11

2011-12-28T16:49:00.001-05:00

Here’s a look at the remaining significant free agents still available and their 2011 team

Catchers
Ronny Paulino, NYM
Ivan Rodriguez, WAS
Chris Snyder, PIT

First Base
Prince Fielder, MIL
Brad Hawpe, SD
Conor Jackson, BOS
Casey Kotchman, TB
Derrek Lee, PIT
Xavier Nady, ARZ
Carlos Pena, CHC

Second Base
Orlando Cabrera, SF
Brooks Conrad, ATL
Carlos Guillen, DET
Jeff Keppinger, SF
Jose Lope, FLA

Third Base
Wilson Betemit, DET
Eric Chavez, NYY

Shortstop
Ronny Cedeno, CHC
Edgar Renteria, CIN
Ryan Theriot, STL

Outfield
Rick Ankiel, WAS
Pat Burrell, SF
Coco Crisp, OAK
J.D. Drew, BOS
Kosuke Fukudome, CLE
Jonny Gomes, WAS
Scott Hairston, NYM
Raul Ibanez, PHI
Andruw Jones, LF
Ryan Ludwick, PIT
Magglio Ordonez, DET
Corey Patterson, STL
Juan Pierre, CWS
Cody Ross, SF
Luke Scott, BAL
Ryan Spilborghs, COL

Starting Pitchers
Bartolo Colon, NYY
Aaron Cook, COL
Jeff Francis, KC
Jon Garland, LAA
Rich Harden, OAK
Livan Hernandez, WAS
Edwin Jackson, STL
Paul Maholm, PIT
Kevin Millwood, COL
Roy Oswalt, PHI
Micah Owings, ARZ
Brad Penny, DET
Joel Pineiro, LAA
Joe Saunders, ARZ
Javier Vazquez, FLA
Tim Wakefield, BOS
Brandon Webb, TEX
Chris Young, NYM

Relief Pitchers
Luis Ayala, NYY
Andrew Brackman, NYY
Francisco Cordero, CIN
Juan Cruz, TB
Zach Duke, ARZ
Chad Durbin, CLE
Mike Gonzalez, TEX
Rich Hill, BOS
Aaron Laffey, KC
Brad Lidge, PHI
Scott Linebrink, ATL
Ryan Madson, PHI
Sergio Mitre, NYM
Guillermo Mota, SF
Darren Oliver, TEX
Fernando Rodney, LAA
Dan Wheeler, BOS
Kerry Wood, CHC
Joel Zumaya, DET