But, there have been some Tiger-ish things happening and some great analysis being done of what was, in the end, a fruitless Tigers' season. So here are some things worth reading-
Firstly there is 2nd, as in 2nd Base. Since DD made what maybe his best trade ever and acquired Placido Polanco for an insane, homicidal maniac Polanco has been one of the best 2nd basemen in the game. He is a consistent .300 hitter who hardly ever strikes out (6.5% of his Tiger at bats have resulted in a K) he makes a great #2 hitter. Plus his defense is as solid as it gets (although he is getting older and late in the year he seemed to lose some of his range). But, DD has apparently decided that Detroit cannot afford to pay the salary that PP would make (deserve!) as a free agent. So, in his post-season news conference Dombrowski indicated that the Polanco era was over and that the Scott Sizemore era was about to start. That will sadly, but probably, still happen. But Sizemore, playing in the Arizona Fall League, fractured his ankle when he was slid into as he turned a double play (I wonder if he got the second out?). But he had surgery today and apparently everything will be okay for Spring Train '10. (Isn't that what they said about Zumaya and Bonderman?
Personally, I hate to see Polanco go. It seems to me that "as Polly goes, so go the Tigers". More so than Granderson, or even the big bats, it seems that when Polly is hitting the Tigers are scoring and his glove is always solid. I understand that Detroit has a huge payroll to cover and some of it that might pay Polanco is wasted on others (yes, I'm looking at you Robertson and you too Willis).
To see some analysis of Polly's work go to "Fire Jim Leyland" and check this out.
Tiger Tales takes an in depth look at Detroit's defense and offense position by position. So if you are playing "arm chair GM" and wishing you could pencil that big bat into the line up, Lee can help you decide where to put him.
Here we have what is best about blogs and the regular baseball writers: an idea gets thrown out there and somebody wonders "is that true?" and challenges it (the dialectic lives!). Monday in the Freep John Lowe postulated that the Tigers are terrible at hitting doubles, even in Comerica National Park (and Dave Dombrowski agrees with him).
But, Billfer at Detroit Tigers Weblog looked at it differently. Maybe it's the park and not the club?
Roar of the Tigers takes a hard (and funny) look at the pitchers of 2009.
I'm working on a bit of baseball history, so look for stuff like that as I try to make it through the dark months until Spring Training.
