Comments on Epic Carnival: THROWING KNIVES: HOLY SH!T

Worst case for Detroit: 1) Rogers does not bounce ...

2007-12-24T12:35:00.000-06:00

Worst case for Detroit:

1) Rogers does not bounce back and is out of baseball by June-15.
2) Sheffield does not bounce back and does not play at all.

So Willis and Cabera are plugged in. Remember that at the time Sheffield began to slump due to physical problems the Tigers had begun to move to the front of the AL (5 games clear of Indians, 3 of Red Sox).

Cabera is a 100% replacement for Sheffield and Willis is a 150% replacement for Durbin (remember this is the worst case).

Renteria replaces Casey and hits 315 versus 275 for Casey with no fall off in power -- Casey did not hit 5 dingers in 2007.

So in the worst case, The Tigers are better than they were in 2007 when they were playing dominating baseball.

Best Case:

Rogers is effective and pitches 180 innings with 2 weeks on the DL in late July as a precaution.

Sheffield bounces back and gives the club 500 ab at full strength.

Reneteria is still there with his plusses.

Since this is the best case, the club finds a way to keep Inge -- which makes things better when hard ground balls are hit off the Roller Coaster in the 9th inning -- think 2 for the price of one instead of a basehit.

Likely case: Shef gives the club 250 ab before the shoulder wears out. Rogers pitches 150 effective innings, but remains available for play-off duty.

The pitching staff gets a lot of rest with the high powereed offense and starters that pitch 950 innings -- the bullpen is called on to pitch 100+ fewer innings than last year. Note: Bonderman pitches 200 innings and wins 17 games.

The middle relief was ok until it owre out in August.

I could go on and on about how pitching is the key...

2007-12-06T00:09:00.000-06:00

I could go on and on about how pitching is the key to winning championships, but no one seems to care. Did anyone, I mean anyone, not notice the lesson of the New York Yankees? There was not a better offensive team in all of baseball. But for two years they have been denied going to the "Big Dance" because of pitching. The Tigers had far less offense in '06 then they do today, yet they went to the World Series. All because of pitching.

The trades to get Renteria, Cabrera and Willis were not made to get Detroit to the World Series; they were made to put fans in the stands. You don't have to win a trip to the playoffs to keep the stands filled; you just have to put a product on the field that fans want to see. In '07 the Tigers finished 8 games out of first and did not make the playoffs, but they managed to draw over 3 million fans.

The trade still hasn't soaked in, as I'm still try...

2007-12-05T11:55:00.000-06:00

The trade still hasn't soaked in, as I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact the Tigers are actually acting as they should, like a big market team!

I'm sure the rest of the AL Central lost all bowel function when they heard the deal. IT'S THAT GOOD.

Shit, I'm still giddy over the thought of a middle of the lineup that has Miggy, Maggs, Sheff, and Guillen. That's killer...