LATEST NEWS ABOUT LEYLAND

Thursday, June 5, 2008
Rob Parker and Tom Gage: Foul or Fair
Leyland's on hot seat

Tom's coming back from Oakland, Calif., and Rob's coming back from dinner with Michael Curry. Their discussion this week begins with whether Jim Leyland is safe as the Tigers manager. After all, his team is fresh off getting swept in three games by the A's:

T: Just throwing this out there because Flip Saunders got fired this week by the Pistons, but if the Tigers underperform all year, do you think Leyland would be in trouble with the Tigers?

R: Absolutely.

T: As in absolutely not?

R: No, as in absolutely. If you're going to give Leyland credit for the Tigers overachieving while getting to the World Series in 2006, you have to give him the blame when they don't live up to expectations.

T: And he expects to be blamed, to be sure, even though it's the players -- specifically the offense -- not doing the job. But I don't think Leyland is in trouble now or would be in trouble just because of one sub-par year.

This guy has helped put the franchise back on the map. They were nowhere before he arrived. Mike Ilitch isn't about to forget that.

R: There you go, giving them slack again. By the way, did they make the playoffs last year?

T: Isn't your back getting sore from patting it in the same place for predicting they wouldn't. But that's not even the point.

The organization is going to give Leyland slack. There's no chance at all that because of this puzzling season, if it continues this way, Dave Dombrowski and Mike Ilitch will make a scapegoat of Jim Leyland.

Even you, whose next slack will be your first, have to recognize that.

R: It's nothing personal. Pro sports has a short menu: wins and losses. Honestly, I thought Flip was in trouble even though he went to three consecutive Eastern Conference finals. He never took the next step. He was brought here to win a championship. The same goes for Leyland.

T: He was brought here because the Tigers needed a tougher manager. They have one now, don't you agree?

R: I agree with that.

T: And don't you agree that they're no longer one of the most obscure, least-talked-about teams in the majors?

R: That's good, but that's not enough to be satisfied. Not anymore.

This team was built to win a World Series. Not just to go to the World Series -- they've done that -- but to win one.

Grand Central? Where?

T: I know you think the Tigers won't make the playoffs, but at this point do you really think there's an American League Central team that looks like a playoff team?

R: I might not be able to identify which team will win the Central. But I can identify a team that won't.

T: At least we agree on that. Kansas City.

R: Not the team I had in mind.

Tickets! We got tickets!

T: Baseball set attendance records last year, but there still are some problem areas, aren't there? The Tigers played in front of tiny crowds in Oakland and what's taking place with the Tampa Bay team, well, I'll let you describe it.

R: Embarrassing. That's a mind-boggling situation because people have been waiting for this team to get good. And now that they're good, no one's showing up.

T: So maybe not enough people were waiting, after all. But I wonder if the cost of gas will start affecting attendance for teams like the Tigers, who draw from outstate as well as from the Metro Detroit area. I imagine it's bound to.

R: And there's no real mass-transit system in Detroit. That could eventually hurt.

Growing pains for J.V.

T: Justin Verlander has gotten huge run support in two starts and next to none in his other 10. He's 2-8. This is the biggest challenge of his career so far. How do you think he's holding up?

R: He's getting better and is good enough to work through this. I can't see him having a totally disastrous season. He could be .500 by the time it's all over.

T: How do you think he'll do in the postseason?

R: About 10 over par.

You can reach Rob Parker at rob.parker@detnews.com and Tom Gage at tom.gage@detnews.com.

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

T: How do you think he'll do in the postseason?

R: About 10 over par.

:haha:
That's the funniest thing I've read all day :haha:

That ain't funny!


Rob Parker is nothing but a Tigers Hater!


When the Tigers win it all, I hope someone mails that BS to him!

He can stick it up his ass

Contract or not, Leyland focused on winning
Manager's pragmactic approach has Detroit thriving

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/15/09 3:08 PM ET

PITTSBURGH -- For the fourth straight year, Jim Leyland will put questions about his friendship with Tony La Russa on hold and renew their rivalry in Interleague Play, this time in St. Louis. The quirks of the Interleague schedule have somehow made this an annual event for two managers whose relationship goes back more than a quarter century.

Nothing is guaranteed for the next year -- neither with the schedule nor with the managers. The more announcements emerge on contract extensions for skippers around the big leagues, the more exclusive Leyland's group becomes -- the group of managers not under contract for next season. Many are tied to this year's fortunes. So far, Leyland's fortunes have been good.

The Rays extended Joe Maddon's contract last month. The Rangers and Astros have picked up the option years on their respective skippers, Ron Washington and Cecil Cooper. With that, Leyland became one of eight managers whose contract isn't guaranteed past 2009.

One of them, Colorado's Jim Tracy, is an interim hire for now, having replaced Clint Hurdle. Washington's Manny Acta and Baltimore's Dave Trembley both have options for 2010. Bobby Cox has been going year-to-year on his contracts for a while. La Russa has more than once signed contract extensions at the end of deals rather than during them, including the current deal which he signed after the 2007 season. That leaves Leyland, San Diego's Bud Black and San Francisco's Bruce Bochy with neither contracts nor options.

For someone who came into the season knowing the challenges of winning, the immediacy of it is obvious. It hasn't been an easy season, but the Tigers are winning.

If Leyland is tied to his club, the players are tying themselves to him.

"By far, he's the best manager I've ever played for," said third baseman Brandon Inge, currently the longest-tenured Tiger.

Both Tigers officials and Leyland have chosen not to discuss his contract situation. Leyland hasn't talked about it since the end of last year's last-place campaign, when he did not get an extension. The longer the Tigers remain in first place in the American League Central, the more likely an extension seems.

The irony is the unexpected ways in which Leyland's Tigers have had to try to win this season compared with past years, and the issues still facing a team that has led its division since May 10. The offensive juggernaut that was expected last year has given way, at times, to a more manufactured offense, one that hasn't been as consistent as it has been pragmatic. A manager that admittedly hasn't liked the squeeze bunt has used it several times, including twice in an April series at Seattle. Just two players, Placido Polanco and Miguel Cabrera, have hit in the same spot in the order in more than two-thirds of the games.

It reflects an attitude on the club: However it happens, it's about winning. And regardless of contract, players have supported Leyland and seemingly embraced his philosophy.

"By far, he's exceeded my expectations," said shortstop Adam Everett said. "I grew up in Atlanta, so I got to see him manage with the Marlins and the Pirates. I always wanted that opportunity to play for a guy like that, because you know he's old school. We're here to win ballgames, and it's whatever it takes. But he understands that this is a grind, that this is a hard game. He understands that, so he makes the season that much better.

"He's one of the main reasons why I'm here. He's the best manager I've ever played for. He's a big reason why we are where we are today."

Everett played for years in Houston under Jimy Williams and Phil Garner before spending last year under Ron Gardenhire in Minnesota. He signed with the Tigers last winter to handle the regular shortstop duties, but has ceded a share of the job to Ramon Santiago.

Likewise, Curtis Granderson went from Detroit's everyday leadoff hitter to spending 12 of his last 18 starts in the fifth spot.

"Everybody knows their role and falls into place," Granderson said. "In the situation with Santiago and Everett, it would be easy for those two guys to be mad at each other or mad at him. But when you know you're going to play today, you're going to play tomorrow, and that's how it's going to go, that's one reason why there's so much production between those two guys.

"That honesty up front is probably one of the most important things, and probably the best characteristic I've seen from all the professional managers I've had in terms of letting you know your role."

Granderson has played under Leyland for almost his entire Major League career; his first full season was Leyland's first year in Detroit in 2006. Though the strategies might be different, he sees the same basic demands at the heart of Leyland.

"I think everybody on this team, hands down, would back him as their guy," Granderson said of Leyland.

Eventually, especially if the Tigers keep winning, the club seems likely to do the same.

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

Tigers give Leyland two-year extension
Manager led club to World Series berth in 2006

By Tom Singer / MLB.com

06/19/09 4:06 PM ET

The Tigers on Friday extended the contract of manager Jim Leyland for two years, through the 2011 season.

In his fourth season of managing in Detroit, Leyland has the Tigers atop the American League Central, with a two-game lead over Minnesota heading into Friday night's Interleague Game against Milwaukee.

Detroit has compiled a record of 292-260 under Leyland, including a trip to the World Series in 2006 -- three seasons after the Tigers had lost 119 games.

"We are happy to announce a two-year contract extension for Jim Leyland today," Tigers President, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager David Dombrowski said. "Jim is an outstanding manager and he has done a great job for the Tigers. We look forward to Jim leading our club for years to come."

The 2006 AL Manager of the Year, Leyland has also helmed the Pittsburgh Pirates, Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies. He has a lifetime managerial record of 1,361-1,391

BOO!

We're in first aren't we?

He's doing somethin right.

gdennis59 wrote:

We're in first aren't we?

He's doing somethin right.

I don't care


I hate Leyland


I don't care how the Tigers do this year either

His ass should have been gone last year


I wonder how long this fossil of a manager will manage

Probably till he is 80?

gdennis59 wrote:

We're in first aren't we?

He's doing somethin right.

There is a big difference between being in first in October than in June


And every Tigers team that Leyland has managed has swooned in the second half of the season

In 2006; Tigers were 40 games over 500 in August; Best record in MLB; finished 95-67 wildcard


2007; Had best record in MLB at the All Star Break; finished in second, missing playoffs

2008; Third Place at All Star Break; Finished last with a 74-88 record


Way too early to give him an extension