Summit meeting!

Tigers have 'issues': Leyland, Dombrowski to meet over AL's worst

BY JON PAUL MOROSI • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • May 19, 2008

PHOENIX -- Tigers manager Jim Leyland plans to meet today with president/general manager Dave Dombrowski.

"We have a lot of issues to deal with right now," Leyland said. "That's why I'm meeting with Dave. I'll be able to clear some stuff up, hopefully, in the near future. We've got a lot of issues to address."

Leyland said that before Sunday's 4-0 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks before 38,793 at Chase Field. A lineup thought to threaten the 1,000-run barrier has instead been shut out seven times -- most in the majors.

"Our offense has been blah," Leyland said after the loss. "That's all I can say. I'm not mad at them. I'm not down on them.

"I'm totally out of answers. I don't know what to tell you."

Less than 24 hours after ending a five-game losing streak behind a victory by Armando Galarraga, the Tigers' trip ended with a thud. They fell to 4-12 in May and 17-27 overall as Randy Johnson got his 288th win and Nate Robertson fell to 1-5.

Leyland and Dombrowski will meet today -- an off day before the Tigers open a three-game series against Seattle at Comerica Park. The Mariners (18-27) have the second-worst record in the American League; the Tigers have the worst.

Leyland did not elaborate on the issues he planned to discuss, but some are obvious.

One is Dontrelle Willis.

He has had spotty control since spring training and walked four in his most recent rehab start. Galarraga, who replaced him, has become the team's most consistent starter.

Another issue is Gary Sheffield.

Team officials have determined that persistent pain in his right shoulder will prevent him from playing leftfield on a regular basis. Since suffering an injured shoulder in July, Sheffield is batting .179 with four homers and 18 RBIs in 74 games, according to STATS LLC.

He is making $14 million this year and will make $14 million next year.

Then there's the puzzling Detroit debut of Miguel Cabrera.

Cabrera signed the richest contract in Tigers history before the season. His inability to play third base prompted the team to change its everyday lineup, and the first baseman is batting .182 with runners in scoring position. Yet, he batted .400 on the six-game trip after going 1-for-4 with three strikeouts Sunday. Still, he has only two RBIs in his past 15 games, during which time the Tigers are 3-12.

Cabrera committed an error Friday night when he was unable to catch a foul ball that grazed his glove. After he made a similar play near the dugout Sunday and got the out, he thumped his chest.

Multiple scouts who watched the Tigers recently noted that Cabrera has limited mobility on the field and is in less-than-optimal physical condition. Cabrera acknowledged Sunday that he still has tightness in his left quadriceps muscle -- a problem that began in spring training -- but said the leg issue is not an excuse.

"It's not how I feel -- it's how the team feels," Cabrera said in a quiet clubhouse afterward. "It's about the team. It's not about one guy.

"It's about winning games. ... When you win games, everything's good. Right now, everything looks bad because we're losing."

The Tigers were hitless in seven at-bats Sunday with runners in scoring position. ("We've made weak outs when we've had a pitcher in trouble," Leyland said.) Magglio Ordoñez ended three innings with ground balls, stranding a total of five runners.

The Tigers had worn their socks high Saturday night in an attempt to change their luck. It worked, but only temporarily. By the late innings of Sunday's game, Ordoñez was wearing his pants long, and another hollow defeat was near.

They will have a looooong meeting i think. I would love to be there and listen to what they talk about!

I'm thinking something major might happen out of this one.

I hope Leyland doesnt get fired! Please let Sheff go and get Mike Hessman or Clete in LF

I think maybe Leyland NEEDS to go.

Sacrificial lamb and all that.....

I just HATE how he keeps saying he has no answers.....isn't that his job?????

another answer I hate is, "that's baseball"..........

Yeah.....me too!!

Baseball is also WINNING!!

Lets see.... the coaches are hired by the manager... the manager does not see the damage the coaches have done to our team ... the manager is clueless ... answer = bye bye Leyland!!!

How come WE can see this but Tigers management cannot??

No news yet from the summit meeting.

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

No news yet from the summit meeting.

I've been checking too--

Me too... hurry up already!

Let's hope something happens to get this team going!



Too much talent to be 10 games under 500 and in last place

I did find this info from the Free Press:

JAMIE SAMUELSEN'S BLOG
Sheffield should go on the disabled list

May 19, 2008

Jamie Samuelsen blogs for freep.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press or its writers. You can hear Jamie 6-8 a.m. weekdays on WDFN-AM (1130). You can reach him at jamsam22@aol.com and read more of his opinions at freep.com/jamie.

1. Will Gary Sheffield finish his career in a Tigers uniform in two years or is he just finished?

Mystery No. 1 in Detroit sports right now – How does Matt Millen still have a job? Mystery No. 2 – Why is Gary Sheffield not on the disabled list? Does anyone have an answer for this?

Some suggest that Jim Leyland respects the veteran slugger so much that he doesn’t want to embarrass him by putting him on the DL. Since when is going on the DL considered an embarrassment? Or to rephrase that question – isn’t what Shef is doing right now on the field far more embarrassing to him and the franchise than a stay on the DL? Clearly he is not right. The numbers are staggeringly bad. He only has 18 RBIs since he hurt the shoulder last July. 18! It’s one thing for the power numbers to slip, but to fall off the map in terms of average and RBIs is frightening. You have thirty million invested in this guy for the next two seasons. Doesn’t it make sense to shut him down and make things right instead of riding it out and hoping it gets better?

Plus it makes sense for the team too. Putting Sheffield on the DL would allow the Tigers to move Carlos Guillen to DH. That opens up third base (again!) for Brandon Inge. I’m well aware of Inge’s .221 batting average. But he is a clear upgrade defensively. And it’s not as if you’re sacrificing some big bat in the lineup by shelving Shef.

I don’t think that Sheffield is done. I think he’s hurt. Prior to the injury last year, he was having a good offensive season. True he’s getting older and true he’s had a ton of injuries. But as long as the Tigers are on the hook for him financially, I see no reason to dump him. Put him on the DL. Put him back under the knife if you have to. And get the old Gary Sheffield back in the lineup. I still think that hitter exists.

2. Do you like the concept and execution of interleague baseball?

The concept is inspired. The execution stinks. I give the MLB an A-plus for the idea and a D for how they do it.

The season is way too long, so we need something different to spice it up. I love the interlude of AL-NL games as a break in the monotony. It doesn’t mean as much in Detroit because there is no natural geographic rival for the Tigers. But you can’t tell me that the trips to Wrigley Field or Dodger Stadium in the last few years weren’t kind of cool. Those are baseball temples and it’s neat to see your team play there. In cities like New York or Chicago, the concept means a lot more obviously because city bragging rights are on the line.

But here’s where baseball got it wrong, the scheduling. I heard Mike Tirico make this point once on ESPN Radio and I liked it so much that I’ve spread it as much as I could. (always giving credit of course!) The sports calendar is packed in May and June with the NBA and NHL playoffs and golf majors like the US Open and British Open. There is so much going on that the interleague games get lost in the shuffle. They should play them all in July and August when baseball owns the sports landscape. It makes no sense at all to take something unique and just toss it somewhere where it will be paid little attention. It was like when the NHL had the outdoor game in Buffalo on New Years Day. Great idea, WRONG day to do it.

The counter to this is that divisional games should dominate the schedule later in the season because of the pennant races. Disagree. The games all count the same anyway. And there are more than enough divisional games (including almost all of September) anyway that two weeks of interleague games wouldn’t hurt that at all.

Keep the interleague games, but fix the schedule.

Thanks for the info

Wonder if anything happened?

I'm sure we will find out in the next couple days.

Dave Dombrowski on dismal start: We're all responsible
BY JON PAUL MOROSI • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • May 20, 2008


Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland collaborated on a world title in 1997 and an American League pennant two years ago. When they met Monday morning, though, their Tigers owned the worst record in the league.

Detroit has had inconsistent pitching, fielding and hitting over the season's first seven weeks, and an apparent need for change has collided with the realities of a rigid roster. The Tigers' payroll is around $135 million, of which a large portion is tied to long-term contracts.

For all practical purposes, avenues to reshape the team are limited. Leyland, who is in his third season as the club's manager, is intensely loyal to his coaches, so changes to the staff are unlikely now.

The club did not announce any personnel moves Monday, and Dombrowski would not say whether any would be made today. The simplest solution, of course, is for players to perform better. Detroit is a woeful 3-12 since sweeping New York at Yankee Stadium, and the team looked sluggish in a weekend series against the young, energetic Arizona Diamondbacks.

"We're all responsible -- myself, first and foremost -- for the club you put on the field," said Dombrowski, the team president and general manager.

"We have not played well. We're better than what we've shown. We're all responsible for that."

Dombrowski would not reveal the substance of his meeting with Leyland, but some of the team's most immediate decisions relate to the starting rotation.

Dontrelle Willis (hyperextended right knee) has completed three rehabilitation starts at Triple-A Toledo and could resume pitching in the majors soon. But his replacement, Armando Galarraga, has been the Tigers' most consistent starter, and Willis did not have good control in his most recent outing.

"I'd imagine that he's going back into the rotation, but I haven't heard anything definitive," said Willis' agent, Matt Sosnick. "He felt like he threw the ball well and that his body felt good."

Team officials could have both Galarraga and Willis in the rotation if they decided to move another pitcher out, but it's unclear if they will be willing to do so.

A frequently overlooked weakness this year has been the Tigers' diminished infield defense, which bears some blame for 22 unearned runs -- second-most in the league.

Third baseman Carlos Guillen and first baseman Miguel Cabrera are not as adept in the field as Brandon Inge and Sean Casey, respectively, were last year. Equally important, Edgar Renteria's range at shortstop is not significantly better than Guillen's was there in 2007.

A potent offense would effectively erase the team's other shortcomings, but only one regular, Magglio Ordoñez, is hitting over .300. Renteria, who batted third on Sunday, has a .152 batting average and no extra-base hits this month.

Guillen, Gary Sheffield and Curtis Granderson all had strong performances for Detroit last May. So far this month, they are batting .228, .200 and .177.

"These guys are much better players than what they've performed so far," Dombrowski said. "Players normally settle in from a statistical basis, year in and year out, so I would anticipate that we will improve as a ballclub.

"We're just not swinging the bats at this point. I'm not going to single guys out. We haven't played well as a club."

Cabrera has had an uneven start to his Tigers career, as he leads the team in both home runs (seven) and strikeouts (33).

He is batting .182 with runners in scoring position, although he is in better shape than he was last year, scouts from other teams have expressed concern about his mobility. (Dombrowski said he would not discuss any player's conditioning publicly.)

When asked about Cabrera's performance, Dombrowski said, "I don't want to single him out because he's not the only guy off to a slower start than normal. ... I don't know if we have any of our everyday players putting up the overall numbers you would anticipate."

Gee, maybe it is time for a new Manager. But Who?

gdennis59 wrote:

Gee, maybe it is time for a new Manager. But Who?

Jack McKeon?

.... I bet I should know who that is...

gdennis59 wrote:

.... I bet I should know who that is...

He managed the Marlins to the 2003 World title. He doesn't count pitches!!

Thats seems dumb--ish, but not really. If he got the Marlins to the World title then he knows how to handle Dontrelle and Miggy, and the rest of the team can hopefully handle themselves, but it would be hard letting Jimmy go.

Would it really??