The cold Tiger winter... what can we expect?

[MelissaG915]

Well, the offseason has already been a busy one for the Tigers, with the firing of Pujols, who didn't have a snowballs' chance...

With Drombrowski at the helm, and the Tigers a long way off from contending, what do you think we can expect? Here's some of my guesses

1 - Palmer, hampered with injuries, retires. Melulsky forgets he ever signed with us and shows up in Houston by mistake.

2 - Seth Gresinger calls it quits, which leads to a major housecleaning of marginal/AAAA/Crash Davis characters from the rosters.

3 - aggressive, yet creative ticket promotions are introduced.

4 - we sign a couple of vetrans, one pitcher, one hitter, who are actually healthy.

5 - we get closer to .500, again and that is enough to feed our hope like 2000 has been.

[estrepe1]

1- robert fick is traded

2- bobby higginson talks about being traded and eventually is before spring training.

3- dean palmer goes for it one more time and plays in 2 games before bowing out with injuries.

4- the fences are moved in

5- ticket prices remain the same.

[eastside billee]

1. Less activity that expected -- disappointing

2. Traded players include Mark Redman, Steve Sparks,
Mike Rivera, Randall Simon, Shane Halter, Craig Monroe,
George Lombard, Farnsworth among others.

3. New Manager will be Bruce Fields, and that sucks.

4. Spring Training everyone predicts Tigers above .500 next year

5. It doesn't happen

[OldTimey]

1.) Meluskey comes back healthy. Becomes fan favorite because he's our best hitter.

2.) DD tricks some team into thinking Fick and Simon are good. Trades them for some good prosepects.

3.) The fences are moved in.

4.) Easley and Halter are released.

5.) Higginson traded ot the Mets for Jeromy Burnitz

6.) Paquette traded to St. Louis for future considerations.

7.) Redman traded in a package slightly less good than the Weaver deal, but still pretty good.

[MelissaG915]

StL doesn't want Pac back.

[Shaggy Ry]

Not even for Stubby Clapp??

Redman is not going to be traded for a Jeff Weaver Package unless Randy Smith gets the San Diego GM's job. His late season swoon will deter teams from making any serious inquiries and Mr. Redmen will not be moved unless part of a much bigger package, probably heading to Florida.

Since Simon is garbage - what does that make the rest of our players? Carlos Pena is not much younger than Randall Simon either, for all his potential.

Easley and half of his salary are traded to Colorado for a marginal prospect or two.

Bobby Higginson and Dean Palmer are traded to the New York Mets for Jeromy Burnitz and Rey Ordonez.

Meluskey signs a minor league deal with Colorado and has a huge season.

Neither Fields, Macha or Trammell end up with the manager's job, though Fields gets third base duties with the big club.

We aquire a veteran catcher tandem in the off-season and both Rivera and Inge are dealt.

[OldTimey]

"Since Simon is garbage - what does that make the rest of our players? "

Garbage.

[Oblong]

1. Dan Dickerson and Jim Price will be the radio team
2. A new manager will be named (duh) and we'll be fed the same lines we heard when Bell, Parrish, Garner, and Pujols were hired.
3. In Spring Training the players will talk about a new attitude and how the clubhouse feels different than before.
4. Bobby Higginson will talk to WDFN during the offseason and talk about what a joke the new manager is.
5. Brandon Inge will not make the team next year.
6. Dean Palmer will come back and split the year at 3B and DH, hitting 31 homers.
7. The fences in LF will be brought in and the Tigers will raise the prices of those seats, trying to justify it by saying you are closer to the action now.
8. On Opening Day we'll have freezing rain. The day before and the day after will be warm, sunny, and 70 degrees.
9. Mark Redman (Brian Moehler II) will be the starter on opening day.
10. There will be 4 starters in the lineup on opening day who didn't appear in a regular season game for the Tigers in 2002, including a rule V pckup.
11. Ticket Prices will remain the same.
12. Shane Halter and Craig Paquette will be let go, with the Tigers eating their contracts.
13. Damian Easley will be traded, with the tigers picking up half hte contract or getting a high priced bad player in return.

[keglerv]

What I Hope for in 2003. No it probably will not happen but this is my best case scenarios:

1) Subtractions from the roster via trades or releases:
Easley: If I can have only one wish, it is his departutre.
Halter: Be the next A Rod some where else please
Truby: .199 hitters need not apply
Paquette: A decent guy who appears to be done.
Simon: IS that the lowest OBP ever for a .300 Hitter?
ALL starters and alleged starters not named Redman, Maroth or Van Hekken.
Anderson: Let German have his role.
Acevado: Will be too costly next year for a lousy team.
Young: Unless he willingly accepts DH/3rd Base forget him.
Palmer: Please just retire if you can't make it this year.
Meluskey: I am tired of hearing about what a good hitter he was for the 1 year he has played in the last 3 years. See ya in Tampa Mitch.
Magee: I am just tired of him, nothing specific.
Inge: Cry about your proven play someplace else.
On that note Give Torres The CF job and stick with it. Move Santiago to 2nd Base, Play Infante at short, teach Rivera some defense and stick him behind the plate and do whatever to give Munson a chance, DH, 3rd base and back up to Pena perhaps>

Mike

[MotownRandy]

1) Higginson traded straight up for Burnitz(I cant believe me and Oldtimey agree on this idea)

2) Paquette dealt to the Cardinals for a low level prospect.

3) Halter traded to the Rockies for Juan Pierre.

4)Matt Anderson, Mike Rivera, and Eric Munson to the Rangers. We get Hank Blalock!

5) Damion Easley is released.

6) Dean Palmer retires after hurting himself during the winter.

7) Meluskey is not offered a contract, although is given an invitation to spring training.

8) Fick is traded to Marlins for Juan Encarnacion.

9) I am kidding about #8.

10) A trade with Florida probably will happen though, most likely involving Penny and Redman.

[Shaggy Ry]

What in the hell has Munson done to deserve a spot on our roster? And what has Simon done not to deserve a spot on our roster?

You guys are really hung up on walks...

[Biff Mayhem]

Originally posted by Oblong

7. The fences in LF will be brought in and the Tigers will raise the prices of those seats, trying to justify it by saying you are closer to the action now.

11. Ticket Prices will remain the same.


Huh? ;)

[Oblong]

Gotcha.

I meant ticket prices will not be raised.

[Cult of Guillen]

I agree with Old Timey on all accounts, except that I can't see the Tigers eating two years of Easley's contract, which is valued at $14+ million. However, he will end up as our super sub in the infield getting about 300 at-bats.

Higgy will only be dealt if we do one of two things: 1) take on a similarly outrageous contract or 2) agree to pay half of his salary. I don't think the Mets will be stupid enough to do the Burnitz deal, so my Higgy predictions is:

1) Trade Higgy to the Mariners for CF Chris Snelling, and agree to pay half of his salary for the next two seasons.

Mariners could use a solid LH bat and are still contenders and willing to take on a veteran who can help them now. McLemore and Sierra can only do so much. Snelling is a great leadoff prospect, but was slowed by an injury this season (I believe)

2) Robert Fick traded to the Expos for CF Peter Bergeron and a AA pitcher.

Fick could play 1B for the Expos and they have basically given up on Bergeron. A decent pitcher evens out the trade for the Motor City Tiggies.

3) Brandon Inge dealt to the Marlins for a 3B prospect (sorry, I don't know their farm system that well)

Marlins would love to move CJ and replace him with a younger, cheaper option. With Merv gone, no one in the organization likes a kid who only hits one month out of the season.

4) Shane Halter and Andres Torres traded to the Rockies for Ben Petrick and Jose Ortiz

For some bizarre reason, the Rockies covet Halter, who could actually get the 20 HR's he predicted for us this season while playing in Coors. Torres gives them another option to Pierre. They've given up on Petrick and Ortiz, who might benefit from a change of scenery.

You'll see a pattern here...I like going after players who were highly thought of, but haven't panned our for one reason or another. Obviously, DD does too, as Truby, Lombard and Boca all fit that bill. I just hope we have better luck than those three have provided.

[zachcadillac]

What in the hell has Munson done to deserve a spot on our roster? And what has Simon done not to deserve a spot on our roster?

Munson hasn't done anything to deserve a spot on the ML roster. But he does have a chance, however slight, to contribute to the next winning Tigers team, and therefore should be evaluated.

Simon has had a bad offensive season, posting an OPS 43 points lower than the average ML first baseman. The Tigers are not in the position to pay an outrageous arbitration award to a player so clearly below average.

You guys are really hung up on walks...

I'm hung up on good hitting, and drawing walks is a large part of good hitting.

[Oblong]

there's a reason to be hung up on walks... they're good. You get on base. If the Tigers drew 30% more walks I'd bet they'd have won 15 more games this year. That's just a ballpark figure that was pulled out of my arse...

[MelissaG915]

While Munson hasn't done much to deserve a roster spot next year, contractually he will get it. It was part of his signing back in '99, guaranteeing him a regular spot with the club in '03.

I say we also give Cody Ross a look in ST. And see what Chipperfield and Marx can do. I hope they are being sent to fall/winter ball. Startling to me to see some of the guys they did release this year, but hey, I was the one who wanted house cleaned.

[HeyAbbott]

1) The singing Hot Dog Guy Returns.

2) The Fences come in.

3) Baugh does not pitch at all next year as his career may be over.

4) Danny Patterson, Dean Plamer, and Mitch Muelesky break down in spring training assuming Patterson makes it to spring training as Patterson may not pitch at all in 2003.

5) Seth Gresinger's career is finally over.

6) Easley becomes the super sub as Infante and Santiago take over 2nd and short.

7) Realizing that you can't fill 6 postional holes through Free Agency, the Tigers sign no one.

8) The Tigers find absolutely no takers for Higginson at any price and he remains in Detroit.

9) Either Pauquette or Halter are released.

10) Wendell Magee is released or traded.

11) Fick is traded.

12) Matt Anderson is traded, as Eric Munson.

13) Higginson has a fist fight with the new Tiger's manager at spring training at a televised game.

14) The Tigers, being totally unprepared for the new season, lose six projected starting players in spring training due to injuries.

15) The Tigers start the season at 6-19, and a formal surrender is negotiated on May 10.

16) Dave Dombrowski on June 1, holds a press conference to announce that the new Tiger manager will miss the next six weeks of the season due to a nervous breakdown.

[irishmick79]

George Steinbrenner, appalled by the state of baseball in Detroit, Milwaukee, and Tampa Bay labels these cities as the "Axis of Evil", and vows to destroy the "evildoers" who have terrorised innocent fans with their god-awful ballclubs.

He quickly forms a coalition of other teams, most notably Texas and Boston by offering them a cut of his YES profits and the occasional hot prospect. Air National Guard forces are mobilized from New York State, Texas, and Massachusetts and despite protest from small-market areas such as Minnesota and Kansas City, begin conducting air strikes against Comerica Park, Miller Park, and The hellhole in Tampa. All are thoroughly destroyed.

Despite having bombed his "Axis of Evil" into oblivion, Steinbrenner is not finished. He demands, and receives, reparations and concessions from Milwaukee, Detroit and Tampa Bay for his trouble. Those cities never again see competetive baseball, and all opposition to Steinbrenner's Reign of Terror is swiftly crushed.

And so it goes...

[keglerv]

Originally posted by Ryan Dirt
What in the hell has Munson done to deserve a spot on our roster? And what has Simon done not to deserve a spot on our roster?

You guys are really hung up on walks...

The Tigers OBP was pitiful and Randall Simon is the epitome of pitiful when it comes to OBP. Simon is comparable to a .220-.230 hitter when you factor in his pitiful OBP. Munson hasn't done anything yet but he does have a way higher upside than Simon and right now is when we need to see how far he and other prospects can go.

[berneree]

Hey, Irish.

Steinbrenner doesn't have to blow up our stadiums to prevent us from seeing competitive baseball ever again. If he leaves us alone, that is. All he has to do is let the idiots in Milw, Det, TB, KC do whatever they want to.

[Mattingly70]

Simon is comparable to a .220-.230 hitter when you factor in his pitiful OBP

No, he's still a the same hitter avg. wise. A low OBP does not change your batting avg. I'm not arguing that his value as a player is greatly lowered when considering his OBP but to say that makes him a .220 hitter is just factually false. He still is a .290 hitter whether is OBP is .800 or .300

[irishmick79]

Originally posted by berneree
Hey, Irish.

Steinbrenner doesn't have to blow up our stadiums to prevent us from seeing competitive baseball ever again. If he leaves us alone, that is. All he has to do is let the idiots in Milw, Det, TB, KC do whatever they want to.

What's left for Steiney to do? I figured he'd just do it for kicks.

[djhutch]

1) Dean Palmer reports to Spring Training & says he hasn't felt this healthy in years.

2) Brandon Inge comes back from surgery & says he hasn't felt this healthy in years.

3) Higgy says he loves the way camp feels with new manager Ken Macha.

4) Palmer bends over to tie his shoe & his hemorrhoids explode. IR list.

5) Inge reaches to hit the snooze alarm & dislocates his shoulder again.

6) Bobby Higginson tells WDFN that Macha is on crack.

7) We lose singing hot dog guy to Houston, because Randy Smith is a scout there now.

[Ranger]

Originally posted by djhutch
7) We lose singing hot dog guy to Houston, because Randy Smith is a scout there now.
He's actually with San Diego as a "Special" consultant. He gets to ride the short bus to Qualcomn Park now.

I wouldn't mind a Singing Hot Dog Guy for Mark Kotsay trade... :D