Farewell Curtis, Edwin We Hardly Knew Ye

Well that didn't take long...

Part of me is sad to see Curtis go. I only own two jerseys, one of them being a Granderson jersey (the other a Zetterberg jersey) so it is a little disheartening to see it go the way of an Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl Champs t-shirts. The trade would be easier to take if he was a raging a-hole *cough*Sheff*cough*. But he seemed like a genuinely nice guy, who cared a lot about things bigger than baseball. The team will miss Curtis, but the city of Detroit will miss him as well. As for Edwin, well thanks for that good first half...and, um, well shouting at the Red Sox after the Porcello-Youlikis incident was pretty cool.

The analytical part of me however, really likes this trade. Max Scherzer is a year younger, had comparable stats to Jackson, and a much longer friendlier contract (which means more money for JV and 2011). Scherzer is the only given commodity. The other three players are young with a nice upside. Phil Coke looks to be a lefty setup man. If the last two months of 09 are any indication of what he'll do this year, people in Detroit will be very happy. Daniel Schlereth is another lefty pitcher who was a former first round pick for the Diamondbacks, and (sense a pattern here?) can strike people out. While Schlereth is a bright prospect who will most likely be pitching in Erie or Toledo. The key for the trade seems to be centerfielder Austin Jackson. He was listed as the 27th best prospect in the minors last winter. As a point of reference breakout rookies Tommy Hanson and Elvis Andrus were 24th and 21st respectively. Unfortunately for him, he may need to make an immediate impact to take the sting of losing Granderson away from Detroit fans. Maybe a signing or a trade (Marlon Byrd and Mike Cameron are jobless right now...) will give him a season or two to develop further and take the pressure off of replacing a beloved player.

For what it's worth, I don't think this will be the last move the Tigers will make, in fact I hope its not as there still are some glaring issues with the team (closer, left field, scoring runs). But to me this move might sting now, but it built for success in the long run.

Winter Hibernation

Like a the bear, I'm peeking out and seeing what's going on around me this offseason.

On the plus side I have a job that keeps me very busy. On the downside that leaves me very little time to check in on the Tigers. Other then a quick glance at some sites I really haven't had much time to breakdown some of the stories this offseason. So on that note I have some question that I'll leave out that that (I hope) will be answered by Spring Traning:

• Will Edwin Jackson still be a Tiger?
• Will Curtis Granderson still be a Tiger?
• Will the Tigers trade the entire team to the AL East and field a team of laminated Fatheads as a cost-cutting measure?
• Will Scott Sizemore be able to fill the huge batting helmet left behind by Placido Polanco?
• Who will be the closer for the Tigers in 2010?
• What freak of nature occurrence will happen to a newly healthy Joel Zumaya?
• Who will be the shortstop for the Tigers in 2010? Adam Everett was re-signed in between my lunchtime writing and my drive home
• How long will Carlos Guillen actually play leftfield?
• Will there be an under-the-radar deal pulled by Dave Dombrowski?
• Who will be the the online whipping boy for the Tigers if Rodney and Everett leave town ?
• Will Dontrelle Willis ever pitch again?
• Will a big contract guy get Sheff'd before the season begins?

Some of these will probably be answered in the next few days, some maybe in the next few hours (looking at you Edwin Jackson). If big news breaks, I just might have to break out of my slumber again.