Midseason Grades

Jim Leyland (Manager)- Grade A+
Taking a 70 win team to the best team in baseball in 1 season is worth Manager of the year. And that's an A+ in my book. He often makes the correct moves, be it coming to settle down a pitcher, when to sub out his pitchers, defensive subs, hit and runs, pitch hitting and resting players. His lineups make perfect sense. And his team is always motivated to win every single game. The Tigers have rarely lost by more than 3 runs all year long.
Everyone he calls up knows what his job is and does it well. There hasn't been any complaints from the lockeroom.


Dave Dombrowski (General Manager) - Grade A

Dombrowski got Leyland.
He got Kenny Rogers this offseason who is starting the All Star Game,
He got Pudge off a world series win, who is starting the all star game,
He took a huge gamble on Magglio Ordonez, who is starting the All Star game.

he got Zumaya,
he got Verlander,
he traded Farnsworth for Miner and Colon,
he got Tata,
he Got Shelton off rule 5,
he Got Maroth
He traded Jeff Weaver for Jeremy Boderman
He got Robertson
He kept Thames
He got and retained Monroe
He got Gullien
He got Polanco
He got Granderson

He's got the #1 pitching prospect in baseball waiting to be signed
He's turned a once dry farm system into a flurry of youth that can be depended upon when they get the call. Or used as trade bait.

The Tigers are what they are because of Dave Dombrowski.
And unlike Florida, there won't be a fire sale after this year.
The Tigers great young talents won't be joining the Yankee's and Redsox anytime soon.

The only reason this isn't an A+, is because Detroit still needs a power lefty bat for the short(if you can call it that) porch in right field of Comerica.


Catcher Ivan Rodriguez (R)
( A , not his best year hitting ,but among his best years behind the Dish. Pudge is one of the leaders of the team and his passion for the game can change momentum. He will likely win another gold glove in 2006)



First Base Chris Shelton (R)
(B Chris had one of the hotest starts of any player in major league history. But when he hit the wall he crashed and burned right into it. He was taking the good pitches and swinging at the bad ones for almost a month. He's since come out of that slump and is back in form. Most surprising though, is his defense. Insted of the below average player that was expected, the Tigers have seen Shelton make above average plays consistantly. Reminds me of the progress Fat Albert made.)




Second Base Placido Polanco (R)
(B Placido has been solid all year long, his defense has remained the same as last year, but his hitting has taken a bit of a step back from the previous season. Which might be unfair since he had an amazing 2005, hitting well over .300 in the AL and NL. Polanco to his credit, has been one of the hardest players in baseball to strike out. If there is a runner to move, he moves him.)


Third Base Brandon Inge (R)
(B- When you look at Brandon Inge, the first thing you notice is his poor batting average. That's just his cover. You look deeper and you see a 3rd baseman who is making gold glove plays at the hot corner. You see the Tigers leading homerun hitter who bats 9th in the order. You see player who has top 5 power at his position. Brandon has been capable of being a .250-270 hitter. But this year Leyland asks his players at the bottom of the order to swing deep. And Brandon has answered that call, while preventing scores in the corner. He also has started 86 games, 2nd most on the team)


Shortstop Carlos Guillen (S)
(A- Carlos Gullien is one of the most important bats in the Tigers lineup. He gets on base, he has great power for a SS, he hits for average and drives in a flurry of runs. His defense hasn't be as great, but it's been good. He is the most dependable hitter of the first half)


Left Field Marcus Thames (R)
(A+ Marcus Thames has been hitting homers at a Babe Ruth like pace. He ranks 8th in OPS among players with 200 AB's. This was a guy no one was sure would even make the team, and didn't start the season. He has hit consistantly every month. His defense isn't very good but it's not Manny bad. No one cares if Manny has good defense as long as he's killing the ball, and Marcus is in his league for the 1st half of 2006)



Center Field Curtis Granderson (L)
(A- What do you call a CF who plays flawless defense, can hit with power in Comerica, drive in runs, and has decent speed? I call him a future 5 tool superstar. Only knock on him is he strikes out too much)

Right Field Magglio Ordonez (R)
(A Mags is Back, and he's out for blood! After 2 years of injuries and surgery and hernias. Magglio is on pace to have one of his base years at the plate. He has lost some speed from his knee and is a bit of a liability in the field. That's been a problem the past few games going into the break more than the rest of the season.)



Designated Httr Craig Monroe (R)
(B- The Man they call Clutch Craig. Craig Monroe looks on paper like an average MLB player and for the most part he is. But when there is a runner on 3rd base, he gets his RBI. And he gets them in 2 out situations 70% of the time. He is also part of the bottom of the order that Leyland wants to swing for the fences. His power is up, and average is down. He can play average defense in any outfield position and has been huge all season. The only time he really played poorly for an extended period is when he sprained his ankle. The competition between him and Thames has kept both players on their toes, and Leyland is playing them off each other well.)

DH Dimitir Young (S)

(F-U- After starting the season hitting .169, D Young then got hurt, went into rehab, and has basically lost his job in the last year of his bloated 8 million dollar contract. He is on assignment in AA on rehab and might make a stint after the all star break. If he plays well the Tigers won't go after a Lefty bat in FA. IF he sucks, and he will suck. He's pretty much a Tiger no more.)




Starting Pitcher
Kenny Rogers (L)
(A+ The Gambler has been dealing like a mechanic, He's starting the All Star game, has 11-3 record, a deadly pick off move, and cat like instincts playing the field. He's also been an important mentor to the Tigers pitchers, You could see Mike Maroth taking on Kenny's style before he was put on the DL, and you see some of Kenny's influence in Zach Miner too.)

Jeremy Bonderman (R)
(A Bonderman will throw a slider. Your hitter will miss his slider, or they will fan it to the infield. Bonderman has an occasional bad inning, then he goes on to shut your team down for 4-6 innings in a row. One day this guy is going to win a Cy Young, if not for Liriano, he would have won the best Pitcher in June)


Zach Miner (R)

(A+ What was considered a throw away in the Farnsworth Trade, has become a rookie as shocking as the young man in Minny. He has a 6-1 record with a 2.57 ERA. Great command of his pitches and bunch of them. Just another peice of the great Tigers youth)

Nate Robertson (L)
(A He invented Rally Gum, he has a 8-5 record with a 3.36 ERA. Left handed Hitters have a .182 average against him. He's stepped up as a leader on the team. And he wears glasses like Rick Vaughn from Major League. What's not to like?)

Justin Verlander (R)
(A+ Starting to see why the Tigers are winning so many games yet?
Justin Verlander is your god, and you will praise him or be smited. He brings 99MPH effortless heat and will change speed on it, he compliments it with a Circle Change up that leaves hitters looking goofy. He also has the most deadly Right Handed pick off move I have ever seen. His feet move faster than your eyes can follow and it puts the fear of god in a base runner. This from a lanky 6'5'' guy The only part of the season he looked bad is when he had a blister and couldn't throw his change up combined with some dead arm. Bounced back from that in 2 starts though)


Mike Maroth (L)
(B- Call him Kenny Rogers light. As they are basically the same pitcher. Mike had a 5-2 record before going on the DL for bone spurs in his elbow, he's been in rehab for awhile and should be back any week now. The only reason he isn't an A, is because he's been hurt so long.)

Closer Todd Jones (R)
(B- Todd Jones gets alot of crap from Tigers fans because he is the least talented of the pitchers they have. He also had a bad stint the last time he was a Tiger and people are afraid of him. But facts are facts. Jones has the most saves of any pitcher in baseball since the last all star break. Every outing is a rollercoast ride. But at the end of the game. He has the save....basesload...but still a save.)

Set Up Joel Zumaya (R)
(A++ Joel Zumaya throws 100MPH, he has thrown as high as 104 MPH, and he's thrown over 101 MPH atleast 10 times that I can remeber. Not only is this a fast ball, it's a violent fast ball. Is a very scary fast ball. And Right Handed Hitters would agree, since they are only hitting .155 against him. Joel also is a starting pitcher in much the same way Papelbon is for Boston. Playing in the bullpen for now. This is John Smoltz meets Bartolo Colon meets Satan. He doesn't get intimidated by any hitters. And if that fastball ever hits someone in the head, it will kill them. Fear Joel Zumaya, fear him. Hitters don't miss his fast ball, they run from it.)

Set Up/Closer Fernado Rodney

(B+ Rodney has a great Mid 90's fast ball with the same action as his low 80's change up. This change up fools everyone. He has been nasty all year except the very end before the break. )

Dombrowski HAS done great, and pitching wins championships, but outside of Maybin I'm worried about the farm system for position players. The few that have had chances in the majors have been horrible in the chances, and even the ones that have stayed in the minors have been inconsistent at best. This team is going to be just fine for quite some time on the mound, assuming 1/3 of the stud prospects develop into studs, but we'll be hurting when certain guys are gone. Example: Pudge. We have crap for catching in the system. Vance is old too. Withing a year or two we'll really need to address that, and we have nothing to do it with from our system. That's why I'm very upset that we didn't make any moves in the international signings. We need more latin players to add to the mix in the minors, especially latin bats.

As for the rest of your grades, they're mostly about right. Yeah, you're a homer but the proof is in the standings, so it's hard to say you aren't in the right ballpark. The only one I contend with a Todd. I used to be an apologist, but now that it's realistic to start wondering about October, he's not the guy. Sure, 20-some saves in mid-July is nice, but how many of those did he get in spite of giving up runs? Actually, the answer is only 3 to go with 3 blown saves. That's 6 save opportunities where he either blew it or allowed at least one run but hung on by the skin of his teeth. 6 out of 27. And in 34 games he has allowed 2 or more runs 6 times. Not good when you generally only pitch one inning per game. 3 of those times it was 4 or more runs.
Bottom line, it's hard to give a B - to your closer when his ERA is 5.66. When we play tougher competition down the stretch, we'll have fewer multiple run leads that we can afford to give up a run or two with, and I just can't trust Jones.