Tigers place Willis, Zumaya on DL

Tigers place Willis, Zumaya on DL
Lefty sidelined with anxiety disorder; reliever out with sore shoulder

The Tigers placed southpaw Dontrelle Willis and right-hander Joel Zumaya on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday and returned left-hander Kyle Bloom to the Pirates.

Willis, a former 22-game winner, was placed on the DL due to an anxiety disorder.

Willis said the diagnosis came after follow-up blood tests showed something of concern. Doctors told him that the condition is treatable and that they'll start him on a regimen.

"This is not depression," Willis said. "This is something totally different. This is something where they saw something in my blood that they didn't like. "I'm not crazy, though my teammates might think that I'm crazy."

He went 0-2 with a 9.38 ERA in eight appearances with the Tigers last season following his blockbuster trade to the Tigers the previous offseason. Despite making adjustments to his delivery, the southpaw continued to struggle this spring. Willis allowed 15 runs (12 earned), 17 hits and seven walks in 8 2/3 Grapefruit League innings.

Zumaya's DL assignment was due to a sore right shoulder, and it is retroactive to March 27. The hard-throwing reliever has tossed just one inning this spring after being limited to 21 appearances during an injury-plagued 2008 season.

Bloom was selected from the Pirates in the 2008 Rule 5 Draft. He allowed six runs (five earned) in 5 1/3 innings this spring.

With Sunday's moves, the Tigers have 35 players remaining in their Major League camp.

No, we don't think you're crazy, Dontrelle....
but I will be GLAD to give you a REAL anxiety disorder...for stealing Tiger money that could be best spent on somebody else!!!!!

I truly feel bad for Dontrelle. He has done nothing but want to do well for the Tigers, but with the big contract, and heavy expectations placed on his young shoulders, I can see how this happened. Plus, I feel that there may actually be something wrong with his endocrine system, that can have the side effect of an anxiety disorder. I hope that he does not have something more serious wrong than they are indicating at present.

On the other board they are making a big thing about there not being a blood test for anxiety disorders. Well, it happens that there really is one...

see: Blood test accurately diagnoses anxiety

I do feel bad for him in some ways, but, like you mentioned, with the big fat contract, I don't.

JON PAUL MOROSI'S BLOG
Tigers put Dontrelle Willis on DL with anxiety disorder

By JON PAUL MOROSI • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • March 29, 2009

LAKELAND, Fla. -- The saga of Dontrelle Willis’ tenure with the Tigers assumed an entirely different hue today, as the left-hander was placed on the disabled list with an anxiety disorder.

Team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski made no prediction about when Willis will pitch again. But he remains “fairly optimistic” that Willis will return to the majors this year.

Willis said the diagnosis was made through a blood test. The condition, though, is psychiatric in nature. According to the Web site of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, the disorders “develop from a complex set of risk factors, including genetics, brain chemistry, personality and life events.”

The Tigers sought, and received, clearance from the commissioner’s office to move Willis to the DL for that reason. A spokesman for Major League Baseball confirmed that players have been placed on the disabled list because of anxiety disorders in the past. Zack Greinke, currently a standout right-hander for the Kansas City Royals, missed much of the 2006 season for a similar reason.

Willis said he is not depressed now and has not been depressed in the past.

“I’m never depressed at all -- I’ve always been an amped-up guy,” he said. “This is not something where I’m uncontrollable. … Everybody will tell you in the locker room that I’ve always been upbeat, regardless of what’s going on.

“This is not something where I’m too amped up, I don’t know where I’m at, and I’m running sprints up and down the parking lot. This is not something like that. (The doctors) see something in my blood that they don’t like. I’m not crazy. My teammates might think I’m crazy. But this is not something like that.”

Dombrowski said Willis will undergo treatment but didn’t specify what it would involve. He believes the diagnosis does illuminate what transpired last year, when Willis went 0-2 with a 9.38 ERA.

“I have to admit: This is above my knowledge of medical conditions,” Dombrowski said. “I have to place myself into the hands of what the doctors tell me. But they feel -- if treated in the proper fashion -- that he has a chance to pitch again this year.”

Dombrowski repeatedly referred to Willis’ anxiety as a “medical condition,” and there might be a legal reason for that. The Tigers purchase disability insurance on long-term player contracts, and Willis signed a three-year, $29-million extension in December 2007.

It’s not clear whether the policies cover psychiatric conditions in the same manner that they would a broken leg. But it’s very possible that the Tigers will be able to recoup some of the $10 million they are scheduled to pay Willis this year.

Dombrowski declined to answer a question about the team’s policy on Willis, saying, “We do not discuss our insurance policy information on our players.”

For a story published last May, the Free Press learned that policies often exclude areas of the body that have been seriously injured before. Willis seemed to indicate today that he has no past history of mental illness.

Premiums can be as high as 10% of the contract’s annual value, Marc Idelson, president of HCC Specialty Underwriters, Inc., said last year. Most policies cover three-year intervals, so the Tigers likely had little trouble insuring Willis’ contract. At the time he signed it, he had never missed a start in the major leagues.

Policy premiums are linked to the comprehensiveness of the coverage. Idelson said most policies cover between 50% and 80% of a player’s salary.

Policies generally require players to remain on the disabled list for 60 or 90 days before the payments begin. If that is the case with Willis, he will need to remain on the disabled list until at least the end of May in order for the team to begin collecting.

But the deductible period -- like the amount of coverage -- can be adjusted depending on what the club is willing to pay.

The Tigers also placed reliever Joel Zumaya on the disabled list with a sore right shoulder today, as expected.

I don't get it. Sorry but this is getting ridiculous!
Just release him; he's done. Anxiety disorder? Ahhh.. c'mon...

Although there was Zach Greinke from the Royals, another pitcher, with social anxiety disorder.

What about last season? Did he suffer from anxiety disorder too then?

For me it's hard to believe that medication will help him find his control and mechanics again.

I wish him all the best but i have to admit that i am not very optimistic that we will see the D-Train in a Tigers uniform again this season.

I know, I think he has been nothing but a money drain for us big time. But having had mild depression before, I know what dealing with mental illness is like.

Wow, that sucks

swiss_tiger wrote:

I don't get it. Sorry but this is getting ridiculous!
Just release him; he's done. Anxiety disorder? Ahhh.. c'mon...

It's a very real disorder.

[quote="SoulRat"]

swiss_tiger wrote:

I don't get it. Sorry but this is getting ridiculous!
Just release him; he's done. Anxiety disorder? Ahhh.. c'mon...

It's a very real disorder.[/quo


I am beginning to think his days in MLB are coming to an end

And Zumaya's constant injuries are a problem

Tigers staff gonna have to step up

Tough Choices Have to Be Made!
Seriously, who thinks a 15-day DL stint is going to begin to be enough for him to get the proper help? Mental illness does not disappear in 2 weeks!

laprimamirala wrote:

Tough Choices Have to Be Made!
Seriously, who thinks a 15-day DL stint is going to begin to be enough for him to get the proper help? Mental illness does not disappear in 2 weeks!

No it doesn't

SoulRat wrote:

laprimamirala wrote:

Tough Choices Have to Be Made!
Seriously, who thinks a 15-day DL stint is going to begin to be enough for him to get the proper help? Mental illness does not disappear in 2 weeks!

No it doesn't

But maybe it can help Willis clear his head

Perhaps with the proper treatment; he could play in MLB

I hope so

Sad to see his career end that way

though the Tigers were foolish to extend his contract


Would have been better off to see Willis win 20 and lose him as a free agent [ the worst possible scenario]

Instead they pay him big bucks to sit on a shrinks' sofa

gs78 wrote:

Sad to see his career end that way

though the Tigers were foolish to extend his contract


Would have been better off to see Willis win 20 and lose him as a free agent [ the worst possible scenario]

Instead they pay him big bucks to sit on a shrinks' sofa

Agreed. No team should sign guys for more than a few years and no team should extend a contract unless they have previously played for the team...especially if they were horrible the year before arriving (like Willis was).

catbox_9 wrote:

gs78 wrote:

Sad to see his career end that way

though the Tigers were foolish to extend his contract


Would have been better off to see Willis win 20 and lose him as a free agent [ the worst possible scenario]

Instead they pay him big bucks to sit on a shrinks' sofa

Agreed. No team should sign guys for more than a few years and no team should extend a contract unless they have previously played for the team...especially if they were horrible the year before arriving (like Willis was).

Nor should teams cut players for nothing with big contracts


Like Sheff


I think the Tigers are gonna regret releasing Sheff