Your 2011 Detroit Tigers!!!

[hammb]

JV goes for #20 today.

With the Betemit, Fister and Young trades, I'm gonna go out on a limb and declare Dave Dombrowski the winner of the deadline/waiver trade market. All three of them have been contributers...Fister is pitching like our #2 right now.... and they cost us nothing but prospects and a couple of spare parts

And didn't give up either of their top two prospects.

[Flipper]

The Tribe needs a sweep here .... game over if they don't?

After a terrible start, Austin Jackson has an .808 OPS since the AS break. I'll take an. .800 OPS from him every year....with his defense, anything above replacement is gravy

[Warthog]

The Tribe needs a sweep here .... game over if they don't?

Yep, pretty much have to sweep. Only six head to head games left. And being down 6.5 games means the Indians need to win them all to have a shot.

[Flipper]

Doug Fister goes 8...13K's...1 BB.... 4 hits. He's 4-1 since coming over from Seattle. Detroit could top 90 wins this year. Frankly..I was thinking 85 going into the year.

[hammb]

Doug Fister goes 8...13K's...1 BB.... 4 hits. He's 4-1 since coming over from Seattle. Detroit could top 90 wins this year. Frankly..I was thinking 85 going into the year.

I thought detroit would be between 80-87 wins this year. I thought 90 wins was a lock to win the central, and I thought it was completely conceivable that 85 wins would do it. Overall, a pretty weak division, really.

Right now Detroit is playing some VERY good baseball. I'm quite glad that they are done playing the Red Sox/Yankees/Rangers, but at the same time I'm curious how they'd stack up against them right now. They're just flat out playing good ball. I have confidence that Verlander will dominate everybody and Fister will give his team a shot every time out. Scherzer is hit or miss. I don't like Porcello or Penny really, but even Rick has had some good starts at times.

Right now I think the Tigers will roll to this division crown. They've been good inside the division all year and that's pretty much what they've got on the schedule from hear on out. They're now up 7.5 games after today's victory and I really don't think the Indians or Sox have the horses to make up that sort of deficit. Was nice to see them crush the Sox dreams this weekend (Saturday's game was a surprise blow, and Sunday was the knockout punch). I think these next 2 games could do the same to the Indians.

At this point, I'm thinking playoffs and wondering how they'll stack up. Verlander is an equalizer, that's for sure...

[Class of 61]

Biggest problem for Cleve. is that their "hitting" ISN'T! (If you catch my drift)...the pitching staff, as good as it's been, can't afford a single mistake...even U - Baldy pitched "better" than other starts (still nothing to write home about), he made that mistake to Martinez...BANG! Game over, unless the tribe can mount one of its late inning rallies... 13 strikeouts in 8 innings ! No wonder they talked about the wind in the stadium on Monday! That's 13 out of 24 outs in 8 innings... Pathetic!

BTW, looks like the Detroit pickup of Fister ( for very little as I understand) is "just a bit better" than the tribe giving up half the farm for U-Baldy!

[gmartin]

I disagree with your idea that Detroit did not give up anyone to get Fister. In the deal Detroit gave up two major league pitchers, one of whom is starting in Seattle rotation, and a setup guy, Chance Ruffin, considered Detroit's future closer. He will be a closer in a few years. Detroit also traded one of its best middle relief minor league pitchers, as well as what was considered a 5 tool 3rd baseman. This 3rd Baseman was compared to Evan Longoria, but with great speed. Now he never played higher than AA ball but he was the gem of the trade. With Detroit's struggles at 3B it would been nice to hold onto him.

The great thing about Fister is he is under contract trough 2014 season. In fact all Detroit starters except Penny is under contract until 2014, with Verlender, Scherzer, and Turner until 2015.

How would you like facing this rotation for the next three years.

Verlender
Sherzer
Foster
Pocello
Turner

[Flipper]

The Tigers didn't give up that much for Fister. They gave up a guy who profiles as a 4/5 starter or long reliever in Furbush, a spare OF in Casper Wells, a short man in Ruffin who might turn out to be a decent late inning guy...possibly a closer...it's tough to say as he's a year out of college and 3B prospect Francisco Martinez. Martinez was the guy I hated to lose...he's a 20 year old holding is own in AA, but his ceiling isn't as high as the 3B prospect two levels below him in low A, Nick Castellanos. Castellanos might be the best 3B prospect in the minors.

So..the Tigers got a "meh" reliever in Pauley and a guy who has been instrumental in thier running away from the rest of the AL Central for spare parts, and a couple of prospects that weren't in the top five in the system. I'll make that trade every day of the week...Fister has been amazing...Since the trade he's 4-1 with an ERA of 2.64 and a 36/3 K/BB ratio. That's Verlander territory....

[Redwingtom]

[Flipper]

On his APBA cards George Foster's nickname was "Yen-Ye"...had to be because his eyes were a little....slanted.

[Flipper]

hammb...it'll be interesting to see what happens in the playoffs...Tigers are 30-19 since the break. They're a far different team than they were at the start of July...Betemit, Young and Fister have shored up sopem weaknesses. Losing Boesch sucks though

[kdog27]

Enjoy the postseason Tiger fans.

[hammb]

hammb...it'll be interesting to see what happens in the playoffs...Tigers are 30-19 since the break. They're a far different team than they were at the start of July...Betemit, Young and Fister have shored up sopem weaknesses. Losing Boesch sucks though

Agreed on all accounts. This team is much better today than it was at the start of July. The only thing that scares me is they are still absolutely horrendous defensively. I can definitely see that biting them in the ass against the good teams they'll play in the playoffs. Still, this is a solid playoff team, and their #2 & #3 starters have the ability to shut down even good teams from time to time. Throw in the best pitcher in baseball and a pretty damn good offense and they've got a shot.

For the first time in a long time I just want the regular season to get over with so we can start the playoffs!

Definitely gonna miss Boesch though...just when he was starting to look like a legit Major Leaguer.

[Flipper]

gmartin's right on the money...that Tiger staff could be scary good...or less so if Porcello and Scherzer don't become more consistent. They have Oliver, Crosby and Smyly...three LH's...waiting in the wings as well as Turner. Crosby might be best out of the bullpen as he's had a ton of injuries....

[Falconfreak90]

Turn out the lights on the Tribe's season. Detroit is Central Division Champs....and playing like it every day.