AL Central Discussion

[Giantmetfan07]

Post any little shit you wanna talk about it.

 

[cruzg24]

DETROIT -- There was question as to whether Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Justin Upton could block a trade to the Detroit Tigers if a deal had been struck between the two sides.

Turns out, he can't.

The Tigers are not among the four teams currently named to Upton's no-trade list, FOX Sports reported.

Although Detroit was initially named to Upton's previous no-trade list when he signed a two-year deal with the D-backs in 2010, it appears the 24-year-old has since had it revised.

At the time, Upton could veto a deal that sent him to Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City and Oakland. Now, only Cleveland remains listed.

According to FOX Sports, Upton's current no-trade list allows him to block trades to the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago Cubs and the Indians.

It's a common practice for players with no-trade protection to name big-market clubs to lists as a way to pressure clubs into offering lucrative deals as an incentive to waive a clause.

The Tigers have been mentioned as a possible fit for Upton with the non-waiver trade deadline quickly approaching, but the club's level of interest -- if any -- remains unclear.

Source: Michigan Live

 

[cruzg24]

"John Danks' season was officially shut down Tuesday, as the Chicago White Sox announced that their opening-day starter will undergo surgery on his left shoulder Monday.

Danks has been sidelined more than two months because of a left shoulder strain. He last pitched for the Sox on May 19, throwing six shutout innings against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. But the Sox put him on the 15-day disabled list after detecting weakness in his shoulder.

Danks threw four innings during a minor league rehabilitation start for Triple-A Charlotte on June 12 but felt achy two days later."

Source: Chicago Tribune

 

[Giantmetfan07]

Denard Span injured his shoulder on August 12 and was officially deemed “day-to-day.”
He then proceeded to sit out 11 consecutive days, all while remaining on the Twins’ active roster instead of going on the disabled list. Span returned to the lineup on August 23, played four of the next five games, and then headed to the sidelines again with more shoulder pain.
Today he’s out of the lineup for the 13th time in the past 17 games, although at least he was able to go through with an MRI exam this week after initially being too claustrophobic last week.
Minnesota’s aversion to putting injured players on the disabled list stretches back to last season and Span is just the latest and perhaps most extreme example. Rosters expand on September 1, so the Twins have dragged his situation out long enough that a DL stint is no longer even necessary. Mission accomplished?

NBC

 

[Pugz]

Jim Leyland wants to keep managing and after the Tigers advanced to the World Series on Thursday night, Dave Dombrowski said the manager is welcome back.

"Jim Leyland is welcome back here," Dombrowski said. "He knows that. He's in a situation where we want him back, and I'm sure that he wants to come back. ...

"But there's a time and a place for that. It's not right now."

Leyland has the Tigers in the postseason for the third time since taking over as manager prior to the 2006 season.

 

[RipCity32]

Yeah, was inevitable now that we made it this far lol.

 

[Pugz]

The Tigers would like to re-sign Anibal Sanchez, but they aren't going to simply throw money at another free agent if he signs elsewhere.

If the Red Sox and Yankees enter the bidding for Sanchez, the price could become too high for the Tigers.

"I don't think we'd go externally with a free-agent pitcher unless it was somebody we just really liked a whole bunch," Dave Dombrowski said. "We don't need just a person."

Detroit has expressed confidence in Rick Porcello and Drew Smyly as potential starters in 2013.

yea because it worked well prior to trading for him.

 

[Teagz]

Brennan Boesch

was one of the worst regulars in baseball last season, hitting .240 with a .659 OPS in 503 plate appearances for the Tigers, and heads into this season projected to be a bench player.​

However, hitting coach Lloyd McClendon is optimistic that he fixed Boesch’s swing during the offseason, telling Tom Gage of the Detroit News:​

I am extremely excited about Brennan Boesch. It’s about the work we’ve already done in Detroit and the work that he’s done in the offseason. I look forward to building on that. This guy has a high ceiling.
I would not call it an epiphany, but Brennan certainly understood he had to work on some things. Sitting there being ineligible for the playoffs had to weigh on him heavily. You’ll see better balance, a shorter stride and shorter stroke. But I don’t think you’ll see a lot of differences in his stance. He’s just going back to what he was doing when he was doing well. He’s gotten a lot of different voices out of his head, so to speak.

Hopefully it’s only “so to speak” with those voices in his head, because schizophrenia seems like a much bigger deal than an unbalanced swing.​

Bullshit lol

 

[RipCity32]

I hope he did fix it lol. Would be a valuable asset if so.

 

[Teagz]

Robin Ventura’s first season as a manager at any level was a success, as the White Sox won 85 games and he generally received positive reviews, which is why Chicago offered him a one-year contract extension immediately after the season ended.​

And he turned it down, Ventura admitted to reporters today:​

It’s flattering and nice and everything, but in talking to [general manager] Rick [Hahn], we have two more years to do this. We have good communication and everything is fine. I think this is my contract. I was the same way as a player. I’ll worry about it at the end of it.
For them, I want them to have two years to think I’m still the right guy for the job for that to continue to go. It wasn’t anything that was a big deal, so I’m not holding out for anything or disappointed in not wanting to stay here. I think at the end of that, that’s when you talk about it. I’m not worried about trying to extend anything right now. I’m more worried with this team in this spring training than I’m worried about 2015.​

As he mentions, there are still two years remaining on Ventura’s original contract signed last offseason. Ventura made almost $70 million as a player, so presumably he’s not hurting for money, and it’s possible he’s simply unsure about how long he’ll want to manage.​

Ventura was hired after the White Sox fired Ozzie Guillen with one year and $2 million remaining on his contract, so extending a contract by one year hardly guarantees anything anyway.​

 

[East]

Any chance of the Indians competing?

 

[elcheato]

None

 

[Pugz]

Joba Chamberlain has lost weight (15 pounds) to get in better shape, and seems to have kind of personality fans are going to like.

By the way, to lose the weight, the right-handed reliever become a fish eater after having fish maybe three times in my life before his new nutrition program began.

Im from Nebraska, he said. We dont have fish in Nebraska.

 

[elcheato]

None

I really nailed that

 

[RipCity32]

Good to hear Joba lost some weight. Would be great if he turned into a solid bullpen arm. 

 

[WHO-DEY-BENGALS_18]

I still worry about the offense, I really think they should have added another bat.. Still could, but doesn't seem likely. . Maybe they'll be fine with what they have, but I don't know.. 

 

[RipCity32]

Really don't get why they can't throw a 1 year deal at Nelson Cruz. We have 0 power at our corner outfield spots.

Actually we have 0 power outside of Cabrera.

 

[Pugz]

i was just thinking that. load it with incentives if that helps.

 

[hockeytownandy]

I think the Tigers will win the central again but the lack of power behind Cabrera and the pen worries me a little

 

[D1Sparty]

I think that the Central is up for grabs this year actually.  Not sure how the Tigers will be without Fister I didn't really like that move for them I think it will hurt more than what people are expecting.  I think the winner of the division will be the team that takes advantage of the Sox and Twins the most unless one of the 'top 3' goes 4-15 or whatever the Tribe were last year against Detroit (CLE was 17-2 against CHW that's crazy)