Tigers just had to make desperate deal

Thursday, July 31, 2008
Bob Wojnowski
Tigers just had to make desperate deal

It's really pretty simple. The Tigers were done if they didn't address their bullpen, done if they didn't find someone who could throw strikes, done if they didn't make a move.

So Pudge Rodriguez is gone to the Yankees, a strange ending to a very good four-plus seasons here. He's a future Hall-of-Famer who gave the Tigers credibility before they earned it, but someone of note had to go because the Tigers were desperate for pitching help.

And believe it or not, Kyle Farnsworth automatically becomes the team's most-important reliever.

This certainly isn't a slam-dunk move by general manager Dave Dombrowski because Farnsworth has consistency issues. But it's a necessary move, and I don't have a problem with it.

It's also an admission of failure. When you neglect to fix your bullpen all season and the trade deadline looms, you have no choice.

The Tigers had to keep going for it, and they are. No way are they giving up on this season, 5 1/2 games behind the White Sox when the trade was made Wednesday. No way. It would be unacceptable if they were.

But Jim Leyland surely was ready to give up on the ridiculous Bullpen Roulette he was forced to play, removing Todd Jones as his closer last weekend, then watching Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya sweat through innings, throwing too many pitches. It was foolhardy to assume all would be well when Rodney and Zumaya got healthy, as the Tigers dug a deeper hole waiting for it to happen.

This team still is in trouble as far as playoff contention, don't kid yourself. But Rodriguez, 36, wasn't going to save them, even with the recent hot streak that pushed his average to .295. He wasn't driving in runs, wasn't hitting for power and still wasn't drawing many walks.

Inconsistent history

The question is, can Farnsworth save them? The chances aren't great for a 32-year-old hard thrower who always has been a set-up man, with a scant 27 career saves. But I bet he impacts more games now than Rodriguez would have. He has a 3.65 ERA and his strikeouts-to-walks ratio of 43-to-17 in 44 innings for the Yankees is far more impressive than any posted by a Tiger reliever.

Brandon Inge is a better-than-adequate defensive catcher, with more power than Rodriguez (eight home runs to five) and nearly as many RBIs (32-30) in 126 fewer at-bats. Don't get me wrong -- he's no Pudge, and the pressure absolutely is on Inge to do something about that anemic .227 average, to prove he deserves the larger role he always has craved.

The national perception of the trade will tilt in the Yankees' favor, and that's understandable. They got the future Hall-of-Famer who plugs a hole opened by Jorge Posada's season-ending shoulder surgery.

But I'd argue the Tigers' bullpen hole was just as large, and needed plugging just as badly. It's also apparent Rodriguez was gone as a free agent after this season, and that he didn't appreciate a reduced role devised by Leyland.

Rodriguez is a proud guy and, at times, a selfish guy. That doesn't detract from his accomplishments here. It just means he had less than half a season left in Detroit, so it's not like the Tigers surrendered a ton. Sorry, this is no time for sentimentality.

Just throw strikes

It's time for someone to throw an (expletive deleted!) strike. Farnsworth, who also can become a free agent, has battled wildness issues, but in two-plus seasons in New York, he actually struck batters out. With the Tigers in 2005, he had a 2.32 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 42 innings.

In fact, if you'll recall, Dombrowski's trading of Farnsworth midway through that season was judged harshly, as if the team was giving up. The Tigers always have liked his arm and wanted to sign him long-term then. They might get another shot now, as Farnsworth again impacts their contention hopes.

It's an odd place for the Tigers to be in, so loaded with hitters, they were considered a World Series favorite. But we figured the bullpen eventually would require a drastic move, and the drastic moves are coming quickly now, beginning with the demotion of Jones.

Jones, Rodney and Zumaya have combined to record barely more strikeouts (47) than walks (43) this season, and that simply couldn't go on. No lead was safe and many leads still won't be safe, but at least Leyland has another option in Farnsworth, who has been hot lately, not surrendering a hit in eight of his past 10 appearances.

The sentimentalists and Pudge-backers won't like the deal, and I admit, I don't love it, partly because it was borne of desperation. But the harsh truth is, Rodriguez's power plummet made him a bottom-of-the-order hitter who didn't get on base enough.

Farnsworth fairly could be labeled a middle-of-the-pack pitcher but he shows flashes of shut-down ability, glimmers of hard-throwing hope. No guarantees, of course, but the Tigers at least slightly improved their chances with this trade.

It was the type of move they had to make, grabbing whatever pitching help they could find. Heck, they need even more, and in desperate times, you take what you can get.

You can reach Bob Wojnowski at bob.wojnowski@detnews.com

07/31/2008 5:49 PM ET
Tigers' call for more arms unanswered
Farnsworth lone pickup as market continues to favor sellers
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

CLEVELAND -- Kyle Farnsworth will join the Tigers on Friday at Tampa Bay. No other relievers will be coming with him.

Though team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski said he had "some discussions" with other clubs Thursday, none resulted in a deal ahead of the 4 p.m. ET nonwaiver trade deadline. He doesn't expect those talks to continue into August, leaving Wednesday's swap of Ivan Rodriguez for Farnsworth as likely Detroit's lone move of the trading season barring any new discussions.

Though the search for bullpen help continued into Thursday, the asking prices remained high -- too high for a club that no longer boasts the depth in the farm system to give up many prospects. With demand around the league for help in the bullpen, that's what it was going to take.

"All along, it's mostly been bullpen," Dombrowski said. "And I don't think that we were ever close. We had a couple things where we were talking and going back and forth, but it wasn't [close]. There's a lot of big things that have been going on, and when you have those type things out there, a lot of times it clogs other things going on and people are focused towards those. We weren't involved in those."

The discussions that did take place Thursday were more follow-up talks on previous routes rather than any new idea. That's in contrast to the rapid progression Wednesday, where a morning call to the Yankees offering up Rodriguez ended up with a deal for Farnsworth by mid-afternoon.

The willingness to trade Rodriguez came out of a position of depth, since Detroit had Brandon Inge waiting to take over next season -- if not sooner. But it was also a reflection of the difficulties the Tigers faced in finding relief help they liked. To get a veteran big league reliever, they had to offer up their veteran big league catcher.

The Tigers were believed to be in discussions on several relievers leading up to the deadline, including left-handers Will Ohman in Atlanta and Jack Taschner in San Francisco.

"You can understand other clubs' perspectives," Dombrowski said. "If they're in a position where they're looking to trade guys that are quality guys, they know that even if they're free agents, they're going to get a couple Draft choices for them. You've got to equalize that. I understand that."

In the end, the uncertainty regarding reliever Todd Jones did not change the Tigers' approach. Detroit placed Jones on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with inflammation in his shoulder, and the team left Cleveland Thursday afternoon waiting on results from an MRI exam taken at midday. Farnsworth will be needed to fill Jones' void for at least the next couple weeks while also easing some pressure on Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney.

Other than that, however, any late-season run the Tigers make is going to have to come out of the guys who have been here.

"I'll be glad to get Kyle here, get him with our ballclub [Friday] and stabilize our bullpen a little bit more," Dombrowski said. "But like I've said all along, we have to play well. If we're going to win, we have to play well. We have to play well on a consistent basis. We've addressed our bullpen.

Anytime you make moves, you can make 10 of them, you always have an area that's your weakest part. That never changes. Basically, we have to be in a position where some of our guys have to step up and do well for us. That's how it is. I know we have the potential to do it, but we have to play well. Two games above .500, that's not going to get it done."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.