Tigers looking to shed Payroll

[jmajew]

It looks like part of the fallout of the big trade is that the Tigers now want to get rid of some of their excess salary. The players being discussed are Willis and Pudge.

 

Interesting fallout from the Marlins-Tigers deal. The Mets tried to get Dontrelle Willis from the Marlins, but Florida wouldn’t trade him to their division rival (I hate to call a team that waves the white flag like this a rival, but whatever).

 

Detroit was looking at spinning off Willis in a separate deal and made contact with the Mets. However, the Tigers have an agenda---they need to dump some salary. They asked the Mets to take Willis and Ivan Rodriguez, who is due $13 million next year. The other thing to consider is that Pudge has a no-trade clause, so if he’s going to waive that you’d probably have to give him an extension.

 

http://www.wfan.com

 

Just thought this was interesting.

[CubinNY]

Dave Dombrowski is a really good GM.

[KingCubsFan]

I'd take Bonderman off their hands

[VanceJergins]

What do you think it would take to get Cabrera?

[rawaction]

Ouch. An extension for Pudge? Wouldn't be worth taking on Willis. And they have no prospects worthwhile anymore that could be added to make it worth it for anyone.

[Electron Blue]

What do you think it would take to get Cabrera?

 

=D>

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

They would do well to get rid of Dontrelle IMO. He was bad last year, but it could get much worse for him in much more talented AL.

[ottawacubbie]

On the Willis note. He had a .329 BABIP last year showing his defense was just not up to snuff. I know that most people don't subscribe to Sabremetrics, but I do find them to be interesting stats. Pitchers with abnormally high or low BABIPs are good bets to see their performances regress to the mean. A typical BABIP is about .290. I also noticed that Verlander's BABIP was .281. Moving to another tough(er?) hitters park, but against MUCH better hitting (although the NL East is at least as good as the AL Central) this leads me to think his overall ERA should drop back to where his career average is 3.50-4.25 and his wins should go up. Also, he won't be the ace anymore so he should face a lower calibre of starting pitching so more runs should go further this year. Also his career average is 18.8 HR a year. There is no way he gives up 29 HRs again this year.

 

I think Willis would thrive playing the Astros, Reds and Pirates as much as playing the Mets, Braves and Phillies last year. I would like him if they were giving him away for 2nd tier prospects and if it didn't interfere with landing more offense, preferable in the form of OBP. I would like to enter spring training with 8-10 starting pitchers and Mark Prior. :lol: This way we should be able to field a constant rotation for a change.

[TruffleShuffle]

On the Willis note. He had a .329 BABIP last year showing his defense was just not up to snuff. I know that most people don't subscribe to Sabremetrics, but I do find them to be interesting stats. Pitchers with abnormally high or low BABIPs are good bets to see their performances regress to the mean. A typical BABIP is about .290. I also noticed that Verlander's BABIP was .281. Moving to another tough(er?) hitters park, but against MUCH better hitting (although the NL East is at least as good as the AL Central) this leads me to think his overall ERA should drop back to where his career average is 3.50-4.25 and his wins should go up. Also, he won't be the ace anymore so he should face a lower calibre of starting pitching so more runs should go further this year. Also his career average is 18.8 HR a year. There is no way he gives up 29 HRs again this year.

 

you're really going to be pleasantly surprised with NSBB

[hardcorecubfan]

They would do well to get rid of Dontrelle IMO. He was bad last year, but it could get much worse for him in much more talented AL.

 

I'd take him over Marquis in a heartbeat. could we hit a three-way deal and pwn pudge to someone if we took 3-mill of his salary.

[Wilmo]

On the Willis note. He had a .329 BABIP last year showing his defense was just not up to snuff. I know that most people don't subscribe to Sabremetrics, but I do find them to be interesting stats. Pitchers with abnormally high or low BABIPs are good bets to see their performances regress to the mean. A typical BABIP is about .290. I also noticed that Verlander's BABIP was .281. Moving to another tough(er?) hitters park, but against MUCH better hitting (although the NL East is at least as good as the AL Central) this leads me to think his overall ERA should drop back to where his career average is 3.50-4.25 and his wins should go up. Also, he won't be the ace anymore so he should face a lower calibre of starting pitching so more runs should go further this year. Also his career average is 18.8 HR a year. There is no way he gives up 29 HRs again this year.

 

I think Willis would thrive playing the Astros, Reds and Pirates as much as playing the Mets, Braves and Phillies last year. I would like him if they were giving him away for 2nd tier prospects and if it didn't interfere with landing more offense, preferable in the form of OBP. I would like to enter spring training with 8-10 starting pitchers and Mark Prior. :lol: This way we should be able to field a constant rotation for a change.

 

ottawacubbie, if you were on Around The Horn, with all those numbers, Reali would have given you about 30 points for that round. =D>

[imb]

As much as I love them, the Marlins had Cabrera and Ramirez on the left side of the infield, and they're both pretty terrible fielders. I'm not sure about Uggla, either, but he doesn't really pass the good fielding eye-test.

 

Anyway, there's probably something to that.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Willis' defense independent numbers aren't exactly trending in the right direction.

 

2005: 6.47 K/9, 2.09 BB/9, 0.42 HR/9

2006: 6.45 K/9, 3.34 BB/9, 0.85 HR/9

2007: 6.40 K/9, 3.81 BB/9, 1.27 HR/9

[rawaction]

As much as I love them, the Marlins had Cabrera and Ramirez on the left side of the infield, and they're both pretty terrible fielders. I'm not sure about Uggla, either, but he doesn't really pass the good fielding eye-test.

 

Anyway, there's probably something to that.

 

Yeah, Cabrera, Ramirez, Uggla, and Willingham are below average defenders. Their 1B isn't too hot either, ol whatshisface.

[jersey cubs fan]

Also, he won't be the ace anymore so he should face a lower calibre of starting pitching so more runs should go further this year.

 

I do not believe this is meaningful over the 162 game season.

[rawaction]

Also, he won't be the ace anymore so he should face a lower calibre of starting pitching so more runs should go further this year.

 

I do not believe this is meaningful over the 162 game season.

 

I think it could be over a significant part of the season. Teams have similar off days during the season. 8 times out of 10 there are two 3 game series per week for each team. The off days vary from Monday to Thursday. Those obviously even out unless teams skip their 5th starter, which doesn't happen too often. The only thing that really throws this off are injuries, rainouts, and the AS break. The difference isn't much between a #1 and a #5, as they are on back to back days. But the difference between a 1 and 3-4 can be seen throughout the season.

[Flames24Rulz]

So does anyone else think that Cabrera's stay at Detroit is only going to last a year?

[Mephistopheles]

Trade for Carlos Guillen and plug him in at SS.

[cbbryan]

Trade for Carlos Guillen and plug him in at SS.

 

I like Guillen. He would be a good upgrade offensively. I don't know how his defense is at SS, I know he's had some injury issues.

[SouthSideRyan]

Also, he won't be the ace anymore so he should face a lower calibre of starting pitching so more runs should go further this year.

 

I do not believe this is meaningful over the 162 game season.

 

I think it could be over a significant part of the season. Teams have similar off days during the season. 8 times out of 10 there are two 3 game series per week for each team. The off days vary from Monday to Thursday. Those obviously even out unless teams skip their 5th starter, which doesn't happen too often. The only thing that really throws this off are injuries, rainouts, and the AS break. The difference isn't much between a #1 and a #5, as they are on back to back days. But the difference between a 1 and 3-4 can be seen throughout the season.

 

 

Not a huge sample size, but a few years back I went through some game logs of about 5 pitchers(on different teams), and their starts were pretty normalyl distributed against 1s through 5s

[Derwood]

let's sign Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca and trade him for Willis :-"

[jersey cubs fan]

Also, he won't be the ace anymore so he should face a lower calibre of starting pitching so more runs should go further this year.

 

I do not believe this is meaningful over the 162 game season.

 

I think it could be over a significant part of the season. Teams have similar off days during the season. 8 times out of 10 there are two 3 game series per week for each team. The off days vary from Monday to Thursday. Those obviously even out unless teams skip their 5th starter, which doesn't happen too often. The only thing that really throws this off are injuries, rainouts, and the AS break. The difference isn't much between a #1 and a #5, as they are on back to back days. But the difference between a 1 and 3-4 can be seen throughout the season.

 

It doesn't take much of a difference in schedule to completely throw it off. Some teams start on Sunday, others on Monday, and some don't start until Tuesday. Some use the off days to skip 5th starters, some use all 5. There are all sorts of scattered off days in April, not to mention rainouts and double headers. And some teams don't even have #1 starters, or their #1 changes during the course of a season.

 

Just last year, Willis opened against Washington and Philly's #1 to start the season, Patterson and Myers. One guy got rocked and lasted 7 starts and the other turned into a closer. Then he goes out and faces a #4 and a #3. Then a 6th starter who got slaughtered all season long. Then another theoretical 3rd who wound up getting destroyed all year. Then another 3rd, before facing another 6th starter/swingman type. Then finally he faced another #1, although this guy didn't even start the season as a #1, Tom Gorz from Pitt.

 

Anyway, no need to go through it all, but I think it's pretty clear it all gets mucked up rather quickly, and there's very little difference.

[beowulf28]

let's sign Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca and trade him for Willis :-"

 

=D> :lol:

[Post Count Padder]

let's sign Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca and trade him for Willis :-"

That sounds oddly familiar. Did that trade ever happen previously? :P

[sneakypower]

Trade for Carlos Guillen and plug him in at SS.

 

I like Guillen. He would be a good upgrade offensively. I don't know how his defense is at SS, I know he's had some injury issues.

 

Not good at all. A move to 1B was necessitated by poor defense and various recurring injuries and ailments. He might be able to handle 3B better, but that doesn't help us out much.