REACTION: 'Tigers are now an official baseball superpower'

NATIONAL REACTION: 'Tigers are now an official baseball superpower'

December 6, 2007

Scott Miller; CBS Sportsline
But so far, the Tigers, who didn't even begin discussing this trade with Florida until Tuesday morning, have strengthened themselves more this winter than anybody else in the AL Central.
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Jason Stark; ESPN
So this will be one tough, relentless lineup, packed with smart, experienced hitters who don't do much swinging and missing. The Tigers nearly scored 900 runs this season, with Sheffield hurting, with Rodriguez walking only nine times all year and with very little production out of left field.

Now they've added Cabrera and a shortstop who almost won the NL batting
title (Renteria). So this might very well be the best lineup in baseball next season, bar none.
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Ken Rosenthal; Fox Sports
This trade, though, was all about the Tigers. Let the Red Sox and Yankees battle over Johan Santana. The Tigers might be the team to beat in the American League.
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Tom Verducci; Sports Illustrated
Manager Jim Leyland can go with a lineup that looks like this:
1. Curtis Granderson, cf
2. Placido Polanco, 2b
3. Magglio Ordonez, rf
4. Miguel Cabrera, 3b
5. Gary Sheffield, DH
6. Carlos Guillen, 1b
7. Edgar Renteria, ss
8. Jacque Jones, lf
9. Ivan Rodriguez, c.
Or Leyland can just pull the names out of a hat. Does it really matter?
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Jeff Passan; Yahoo Sports
Only a handful of GMs would consider trading a player of Maybin's caliber, though Dombrowski is hardly your paint-by-numbers executive.

In four years, he has turned the Tigers from a 119-loss laugh track to a perennial World Series contender, and this move only strengthens their cause.
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FORMER TWIN TORII HUNTER: 'I got out of that division just in time. (Detroit's) talent is sick'

December 6, 2007
By Bob Nightengale
USA TODAY

NASHVILLE — Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland got off the elevator Wednesday and was told by an acquaintance that after their mega-trade with the Florida Marlins, he is now under pressure to win the World Series.

"You know what, that's good pressure," Leyland said. "I want to go to spring training where you're supposed to win. I don't want to go to spring training where you don't have a chance.

"I've been there. Who the (heck) wants that?"

The Tigers, who received All-Star third baseman Miguel Cabrera and former 22-game winner Dontrelle Willis from Florida for six prospects, have established themselves as American League Central favorites and a World Series contender.

"They've got the best team I've ever seen," said Los Angeles Angels center fielder Torii Hunter. "I got out of that division just in time. Their talent is sick."

The Tigers, who finished in second place last season with an 88-74 record, aren't afraid to acknowledge their prowess.

"The offensive lineup, from top to bottom," Leyland said, "is the best lineup I've ever had. There's no question about it. This is probably the most shocked I've ever been at the winter meetings."

The deal, the only major one consummated at the winter meetings that end Thursday, came together in less than 20 hours.

The Tigers telephoned the Marlins on Monday night, received a proposal from the Marlins on Tuesday morning, and the offer — center fielder Cameron Maybin, left-handed starter Andrew Miller, catcher Mike Rabelo and
minor league pitchers Burke Badenhop, Eulogio De La Cruz and Dallas Trahern— was accepted in the afternoon.

The Marlins, who had trade talks with the Los Angeles Angels for the last month involving Cabrera, never could agree on a package of players.

"Absolutely we were asking for a lot," Marlins GM Larry Beinfest said. "If teams didn't like that, fine, but to talk about it publicly I think is unprofessional.

"We're here today because we felt we got value for him. These guys are all legitimate."

Thanks for all the info! We are a Superpower! YEAH! TIGERS RULE!

It will be a great year to be a TIGER fan!

LOVE your new avatar!!

HaHa!! It's so GOOD it posted twice!!

I like the smiling picture better.... keep working on it.

There's no smiling in baseball.....

OVERHEARD: Reaction to the Tigers' big deal; Sheff: 'We just got another A-Rod'

December 5, 2007
FREE PRESS NEWS SERVICES

• Tigers outfielder Jacque Jones: "I went from being excited to being ecstatic. We sure look good on paper."

• "The Tigers are going to be pretty darn good," said Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox, whose team traded five-time All-Star shortstop Edgar Renteria to Detroit for prospects last month.

• Detroit DH Gary Sheffield: "We just got another A-Rod, and he'll be playing third base for the Tigers."

• "I'm glad we're in the other division," Terry Francona, manager of the East-winning Boston Red Sox, told the Associated Press."That lineup just got scary."

• "Wow!" said Jim Duquette, a former major league general manager, when asked about the trade Tuesday night. "It's a good trade for both teams, and it impacts the Tigers immediately. I can't think of a better team in baseball right now. This is one of those unique trades that comes around once every 10 or 15 years."

• Ozzie Guillen projected that Miguel Cabrera would hit “about 50 home runs” next season.

• “In some respects, you go, ‘uh-oh,’ “ White Sox general manager Ken Williams said when informed of the reported eight-player trade that brings Cabrera and faded All-Star Dontrelle Willis to Detroit. “In other regards, you go, ‘Good.’ ... One thing that’s difficult when you make a decision like that, one that is made for the short term, is that what you’re trying to do had better work,” Williams said. “If it doesn’t, you’re swimming upstream.”

• “All I know is the Tigers are a very aggressive organization and they are very astute,” said Brian Cashman, the Yankees’ general manager. “Dave Dombrowski is as good as they come.”

I really like this trade and I am more excited than ever for Spring to arrive!!

Wonder what numbers the new guys will wear?

Cabrera #24; Willis #35??

I bet their jerseys will be flying off the shelves! People will be buying Tigers Gear more than ever before

TIGERS GEAR IS NUMBER 1

tigersaint wrote:

I really like this trade and I am more excited than ever for Spring to arrive!!

Wonder what numbers the new guys will wear?

Cabrera #24; Willis #35??

What were their numbers before?

Isn't Justin 35?

mrsrabelo wrote:

tigersaint wrote:

I really like this trade and I am more excited than ever for Spring to arrive!!

Wonder what numbers the new guys will wear?

Cabrera #24; Willis #35??

What were their numbers before?

Isn't Justin 35?

yes


#35 Justin Verlander

GO TIGERS! :pudge: :curtis: :durbin: :placido: :dontrelle: :sheff: :edgar:

Don't forget






Edgar





I like these pics too





Miggy

and D-train

Whoops! Thanks for adding those pics! Those Tigers look and will play great in 2008!



TIGERS BEST TEAM IN MLB!

We will be after next season is over!

• Freep.com»Sports»Tigers
  

Sparky Anderson liked to compare two teams by going around the field and analyzing which squad had the head-to-head advantage at more positions.

Right now, by playing Sparky's position-by-position game, you can argue that the Tigers have a better lineup than any of the AL's four playoff teams last season: Boston, New York, Cleveland and Los Angeles.

When the season ended, you couldn't have made this case. But you can now, thanks to the Tigers' off-season lineup additions of Miguel Cabrera, Edgar Renteria and Jacque Jones.But before we decide that the Cabrera-Dontrelle Willis parlay from Florida makes the Tigers the likely world champion of next season, we have to remember another comment Sparky made when he was the Tigers' manager. "When you go to the circus," Sparky said, "there is a big tent in the middle. That's pitching. Everything else is a sideshow."

Last season, the Tigers scored 65 more runs than they did the year before, when they went to the World Series.

But despite the increased offense, the Tigers didn't make the playoffs this past season. Why? Reason No. 1: They gave up 122 more runs than they did in their playoff season of '06.So as we try to figure out if the Tigers really are now better than anyone in the AL, we have to figure out if they have a pitching staff that is better -- or at least comparable -- to the Yankees, Red Sox, Indians and Angels.

And that is a hard thing to figure out.

Consider the questions about these three members of the Tigers rotation:

Will we see the Jeremy Bonderman who went 10-1 from Opening Day until mid-July? Or will we see the one who went 1-8 thereafter amid elbow trouble? Or something in between?

Will we see the Willis who won 22 games in '05? Or the one who had a career-high 5.17 ERA last season? Or something in between?

And, now that Kenny Rogers is 43 and coming off a season spent largely on the disabled list, will we see the Rogers who won 17 games in '06? Or something less? And if so, how much less?

Those are plenty of questions for the rotation. And we ask them assuming that ace Justin Verlander will both eliminate Cleveland as his nemesis and continue to climb in excellence, and that Nate Robertson will provide a good supply of quality starts.

We can also raise questions about the rotations of the Yankees, Red Sox, Indians and Angels. But right now it's impossible to say which AL contender has the best rotation. While the Tigers' rotation appears set, one or more of the other elite teams might find a veteran or rookie to add to its rotation by early next season.

And then there are the questions about the bullpen. No one knows when Joel Zumaya will pitch again after his shoulder surgery, or how hard he will throw. Without the full-flame Zumaya, Fernando Rodney has to be a steady No. 1 setup man. Closer Todd Jones has to be as good at age 40 this coming season as he was at 39 this past season.

The bullpen was a huge strength for Cleveland last season.

The Yankees, it seems, will re-sign Mariano Rivera, the best ninth-inning pitcher in history. Francisco Rodriguez (who leads the majors in saves over the last three seasons) remains the Angels' closer. And, last seen, Boston's Jonathan Papelbon was capping his scoreless postseason by getting the final out of the World Series.

In the first half of last season, the Tigers led the league in runs. But at the All-Star break they held first place by just one game over Cleveland. They lost the chance for a bigger lead because of two types of defeats:

Five times in that first half they lost a one-run game or an extra-inning game in which they scored at least five runs.

Another six times in the first half they lost a home game in which they led in the seventh inning or later.

With their acquisitions this off-season, the Tigers might have turned their offense into the Greatest Show on Earth. But remember there's still that big tent in the middle known as pitching.

Contact JOHN LOWE at 313-223-4053 or jlowe@freepress.com.

He's right. That bullpen better be hotter than ****or these trades mean nothing...

I'm waiting for Grilli to be OUT, then the transformation is complete!!

.....and just "throw-in" Grilli??

Pleeeeeeze!!

tigersaint wrote:

I'm waiting for Grilli to be OUT, then the transformation is complete!!

you're sounding like Darth Vader, man!

Tigers Fans will be all season!

Totally!