Report: Detroit Sells T in Tigers for $900K; Will Be Known as igers in 2010

The cash-strapped Detroit Tigers have sold the “T” in their name and will henceforth be known as the “igers”.  In order to maximize profits from the sale, the team has decided not to capitalize the “i” in igers as it would’ve cost $125K of the $900K cleared from the transaction.

Any other Tigers fans getting sick and tired of all the trade rumors already?  I realize that trade speculation is a major contingent of the Hot Stove League, but just because Edwin Jackson can be had for the right price doesn’t mean that the team is going to then trade Curtis Granderson and Miguel Cabrera.  And if they trade Cabrera, it won’t be for the garbage deal floated out by Ken Rosenthal.  Besides Rosenthal, Bill Simmons peddled this trash before the season started and we saw how it played out.  He also suggested that St. Louis and Detroit would struggle for fans in 2009 and they finished 2nd & 4th in their respective leagues.  Let’s just say that baseball hasn’t ever been Bill’s strong suit.  More articles with nonsensical trade ideas will get Rosenthal that tag, too.

Look, there is no doubt that opportunities to cut payroll will be explored due to the fact that the Tigers have a lot of awful contracts on their books right now and the Michigan economy might the worst in the union, but if they were really willing to blow it up and trade everyone making significant money, would they really have let Magglio Ordonez’s option vest towards the end of the season?  They could’ve dealt with Aubrey Huff 0r Marcus Thames or me for 61 plate appearances if the situation were as dire as it has been made out to be.  Ordonez did hit .421 in those final 61 plate appearances spanning 15 games and he was instrumental in two late season wins against the Twins, but I doubt the team’s record would’ve changed much from the 8-7 it was with someone else in the lineup.

On the Jackson front, I’ve only seen the Seattle Mariners mentioned as possible suitors with Brandon Morrow as the prominent piece in returns.  Um, noooo thanks.  Seattle has Joba’d the crap out of that guy.  Besides, what is Morrow’s upside in 2010?  Jackson in 2009?  You already have that.  Isn’t the known commodity worth the money?  If I offered you a clean, unscratched $2 lottery ticket for your winner worth $100, would you do it?  No, of course not.  That’s not to say Morrow is a shmuck.  He’s a very talented player with a great arm who has shown flashes of brilliance.  But the back-n-forth between the pen and rotation has got to be taking its toll.  Like New York’s Joba Chamberlain, Morrow is still learning how different an animal starting is as opposed to coming out of the pen throwing full throttle from the jump.  Morrow’s K/9 is routinely over nine as a reliever (10.0 last year, 10.1 for his career), but dipped to a solid if unspectacular 7.6 as a starter last year.

Overall, I don’t aim to disparage Morrow, I’d just prefer the Tigers keep working with Jackson instead of starting the process over again.  Now, if Bill Bavasi were still with the M’s and we could Bedard ‘em again, then I’d be all for trading E-Jax, but Jack Zduriencik isn’t likely to get taken to the woodshed Bavasi style.

As for Granderson, don’t even get me started.  I can’t speak rationally about him potentially being moved.  He’s far and away my favorite player in baseball as I even named my puppy after him this past January.  Granderson is set to make $5.5 million this season, 9th-most on the team.  That’s a pretty good price for someone who hit 30 home runs and stole 20 bases while playing solid centerfield defense.  Besides, how is trading a relatively cheap 28-year old core player in a trough of his value cycle going to help this team now or in the future?  This seems almost as nonsensical as the Cabrera trade talk except at least Cabrera is very highly paid so it fits with the trim payroll idea.

Granderson was absolutely mauled by lefties last year (.183 average/.484 OPS in 180 at-bats) and it led to an ugly .249 batting average which no doubt dents his value.  Any team involved in trade talks for him would undoubtedly mount a case that he’s a platoon player and thus can’t be traded for a boatload of talent in return.  Of course in 2008 he hit a fair .259 with a .739 OPS against southpaws in 147 at-bats, so it’s not like he’s never held his own against them.  Both samples are small and the freshest one is closer to his career totals (.210/.614), but that doesn’t he mean he needs to be jettisoned in the middle of his prime.  He should be moved down to 9th against lefties as he works to back his modicum of success displayed in 2008.  I wouldn’t mind seeing him moved down to 5th in the order against right-handers, too.  His .539 SLG last year and .528 SLG for his career against righties would be best used as a middle of the lineup threat behind Cabrera.  Regardless of where he bats, he’d better be wearing the Olde English D when 2010 starts.