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Detroit Tigers Team Notes Over 3 Million Views!!! Thankyou!

December 8 in Tigers and mlb history:

1880 - At the annual National League meeting, the league rejects the Washington Nationals' bid for admission, electing Detroit instead, although there is no established club there. The Michigan city is chosen for geographic reasons, since its 1880 population (116,340) is smaller than both Washington's (147,293) and Cincinnati's (255,139), the city being replaced.

1881 - The National League adopts a few new playing rules: the 3-foot corridor along the first base line is adopted for the first time; runners can no longer be put out returning to their bases after a foul ball not caught; the fine for pitchers hitting batters with pitches is repealed; the "block ball" rule allowing runners to take as many bases as possible on balls going into the crowd, the fielding team being able to put them out only after returning the ball to the pitcher in his box, is also repealed.

1914: The National League votes to hold the 1915 player limit to 21 per team. They also create the disabled list (DL) which allows a player to be kept out of play for 10 days and another player substituted for him.

1916 - The National Commission fines 51 players $25 to $100 for performing in post-season exhibitions. Among the guilty: Babe Ruth, Jack Barry, Duffy Lewis, 10 other Red Sox players, and Ty Cobb.

1939: At the December meeting of both leagues in Cincinnati, Judge Landis votes against all amendments favorable to farm systems. The Rules committee, with an eye towards raising declining batting averages, votes to restore the sacrifice fly for 1940. Seven American League owners push through a new rule barring the American League champion from making any trades within the league. Clearly aimed at the Yankees, winners of the last four World Series, the National League owners decline to vote it for their league.

1941 - Yesterday's bombing of Pearl Harbor and America's sudden involvement in the war, changes the owners' plan at the American League meeting of shifting the Browns from St. Louis to Los Angeles.

1951 - The American League alters its restrictions on night games, adopting the National League's suspended game rule and lifting its ban on lights for Sunday games.

1959: American League President Joe Cronin reports that expansion plans are indefinite. Branch Rickey scores him for his indecisiveness.

1962 - Former major leaguers Frank Crosetti and Johnny Schulte bring suit to prevent any increase in pension benefits which fails to include players from different eras.

2008: The Detroit Tigers try to shore up a gap at catcher by acquiring Gerald Laird from the Texas Rangers. They give up two pitching prospects, Guillermo Moscoso and Carlos Melo.

2011: Also signing today is reliever Octavio Dotel, who agrees to terms with Detroit, his 13th major league team.

Tigers players and coaches birthdays:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/ledbera01.shtml
Razor Ledbetter 1915.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Jack_Rowe
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/roweja01.shtml?redir
Jack Rowe Detroit Wolverines 1886-1888.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Ed_Brinkman
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brinked01.shtml?redir
Ed Brinkman 1971-1974, coach 1979.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Robbie_Weinhardt
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/weinhro01.shtml
Robbie Weinhardt 2010-2011.

Tigers players and managers who passed away:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Bobby_Lowe
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lowebo01.shtml?redir
http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/lowebo01.shtml
Bobby Lowe 1904-1907, manager 1904.

from baseball reference
 
https://www.detroitathletic.com/blog/2015/12/08/pelfrey-and-salty-signings-are-head-scratchers/
Pelfrey and Salty signings are head-scratchers.
Detroit Athletic

As much sticker shock as the mega-signings of David Price and Zack Greinke have inflicted on the nationwide fan base, perhaps we should be just as appalled by the Detroit Tigers’ bizarre signing of Mike Pelfrey to a free agent contract. The Tigers and Pelfrey reached agreement on a two-year, $16 million contract over the weekend; it’s a massive amount of money for a pitcher who had an ERA over 4.00 and one of the lowest strikeout rates among major league starters.

Before the dust had settled on the news of the Pelfrey signing, the Tigers then reached agreement on a contract with Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who will likely serve as James McCann’s backup catcher in 2016. In the case of Salty, the financial commitment is minimal, but there are legitimate questions as to whether he can still play, even in the limited role of a No. 2 catcher.

Let’s address Pelfrey first. Last year, he made 30 starts for the Minnesota Twins, but averaged only a tick over five innings per start. He allowed a ton of hits (198) in 164 innings, striking out a mere 86 batters along the way. (Over the last two seasons, Pelfrey has struck out only four and a half batters per nine innings, the worst K-rate among all major league starters with at least 150 innings.) His ERA of 4.26 in 2015 was not particularly good either, especially when you consider that he pitched half of the time in pitcher-friendly Target Field.

A longer range view of Pelfrey is no prettier. The last time that Pelfrey pitched well was in 2010, when he was still with the New York Mets and put up a 3.66 ERA with a won-loss record of 15-9. That was five years ago. After that, Pelfrey descended into disaster. In 2011, his ERA soared to 4.74. In 2012, he pitched well in his first three starts, but felt discomfort in his arm. The Mets shut him down, with an examination revealing a torn ligament in his elbow. That necessitated Tommy John surgery, knocking Pelfrey out for the rest of the season.

Allowed to leave the Mets via free agency, he signed with the Twins, who rather remarkably guaranteed him a spot in their rotation despite his checkered past. Coming back from the Tommy John operation, Pelfrey struggled, posting a 5.19 ERA in 29 starts.

Then came another injury-wrecked season in 2014, as he made only five starts, pitching to the tune of a 7.99 ERA, before going down with additional elbow problems that again ended his season. By comparison, his 2015 season looks stellar, but the 31-year-old journeyman ranked as no better than the third-best starter on a mediocre Twins team, behind Kyle Gibson and Phil Hughes.

With a good team, which is what the Tigers hope to have in 2016, Pelfrey figures to rank no higher than a No. 4 starter, behind Justin Verlander, Jordan Zimmermann, and Anibal Sanchez. And given his injury history, one wonders how much the Tigers can rely on him to make another 30 starts. To make matters worse, Pelfrey is an exasperating pitcher to watch. I saw only too much of him during his time in New York. A painfully slow worker—he’s not as bad as Steve Trachsel, but it’s close at times—he forever nibbles at the edges of the plate, running up high pitch counts and forcing his managers to warm up relievers early and often. Even in games where Pelfrey limits the damage by the opposition, he often has to be pulled by the fifth or sixth inning, simply because the almighty pitch count has reached its limits. With a back-end rotation pitcher, teams would prefer someone who at least eats up innings, but that is not something that Pelfrey does. He has reached only 200 innings twice in his career, leaving too many innings to the middle relievers on his staffs in New York and Minnesota.

There is one other problem with Pelfrey. He is a ground-ball pitcher, and while that is normally a desirable commodity in a pitcher, it might not be best suited for the Tigers. As strong as the Tigers are with Jose Iglesias and Ian Kinsler up the middle, they give up defense for offense at the corners, with two below-average fielders in Nick Castellanos and Miguel Cabrera. In actuality, fly ball pitchers tend to be a better fit for Comerica Park, with its lengthy dimensions to left and center field.

In spite of all these problems, the Tigers decided to guarantee the oft-injured Pelfrey two years at a rate of $8 million per season. I’m not sure why the Tigers felt they needed to give Pelfrey a second year; I can’t imagine that there was much competition for his mediocre-to-worse services. At best, he should have merited a one-year deal, and at a rate of no more than $4 to 5 million. Clearly, this was money not well spent by the Tigers.

In contrast, the Tigers do not face nearly the financial commitment to Saltalamacchia. He is still owed the majority of his $8 million salary by the Miami Marlins, who signed him as a free agent two winters ago. The Tigers will only need to pay Salty the major league minimum. But what exactly does Saltalamacchia have left? Just two years ago, he was the starting catcher for the world champion Boston Red Sox, but he has not aged well over the past 24 months. At the time that the Marlins released him early last year, the consensus of major league scouts indicated he was done. No longer able to move well behind the plate, he continued to struggle in his ability to throw out opposing basestealers. At the plate, his bat speed had lessened significantly.

In spite of those reports, the Arizona Diamondbacks took a midseason flier on Saltalamacchia, signing him as a backup catcher to Welington Castillo. Offensively, Salty did creditably for the D-Backs, posting a .474 slugging percentage in 194 plate appearances. From the left side of the plate, it appears that he does have something to contribute, which might make him a serviceable compliment to McCann.

Still, I would be careful if I were the Tigers. Saltalamacchia will be 31 in May. He also has a long swing, the kind of swing that does not age well. The Tigers should be on the lookout for other backup catchers, with the idea of bringing one or two to camp to compete with Saltalamacchia. That way, the Tigers have the option of releasing Salty, especially if he looks bad in Lakeland, without having to scramble for yet another serviceable backup to McCann.

All in all, it was a week of mediocre signings for new general manager Al Avila, who started the winter so well with the trades for Cameron Maybin and Francisco Rodriguez and the signing of Jordan Zimmermann. The additions of Pelfrey and Saltalamacchia do not look nearly as good, particularly in the case of Pelfrey. With so many pitchers available in this winter’s free agent market, it’s puzzling that Avila set his sights so low on a back-end pitcher like Pelfrey.

Clearly, Avila has more work to do.
 
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Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Giants, Angels, Tigers and Royals have been the most interested clubs in Cespedes? market thus far in the offseason. However, Sherman adds that the Royals quickly came to realize that Cespedes is going to be beyond four years. It should be noted, of course, that Detroit general manager Al Avila said yesterday that his team is not in the mix for either Cespedes or Gordon. (Though that doesn?t mean there wasn?t some earlier talk between the two sides, and, as Sherman notes, the Tigers could circle back if Cespedes? market doesn?t pick up.)
mlbtraderumors
 
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