Workout day
Back on duty for workout day after skipping the series in Houston. Apparently they changed the look of the blogs when I wasn't looking. Hopefully it works for everyone.The weather forecast doesn't look promising, obviously, but Jim Leyland said this morning he was told by Dave Dombrowski that it looked like they would get it in. If they can get it started under dry conditions, of course, then they can play through rain. No idea how long they would wait to do that, but that's why they scheduled off-days for the day after opening day.
"If you try to make a big deal out of [the weather], you make a huge mistake," Leyland said.
For now, at least, the bad weather has held off long enough for the Tigers to work out on the field, something that wasn't expected to happen initially. They'll take some batting practice, do some throwing, and generally get used to the chillier conditions they're going to have to deal with for the foreseeable future.
Not much else going on besides the final roster moves. Francisco Cruceta was placed on the restricted list today, while Fernando Rodney, Jordan Tata, Vance Wilson and Joel Zumaya were all placed on the 15-day DL. The restricted list for Cruceta required approval from Major League Baseball, and it means that Detroit retains the rights to the player but will not be paying him while he's out.
Looking around the stadium, you can tell where they've added seats rising above and behind the old ones. The riser seats on the Pepsi Porch now just about shroud the Montgomery Inn, depending on what angle you're looking.
Well here we go. A new season and a new-look BLOG. There appeared to be some technical problems with it yesterday. The page takes forever to load sometimes and then it does get "Done, but with errorson page" message.
I tried posting something yesterday in the previous topic and it never made it up on th the BLOG.
I see Damaso Marte is being made available by the Pirates. They are looking to trim some $$$ off their roster and replenish their farm system with prospects. I know we have traded many prospects lately but one of the Pirates needs will be at SS. (They want to get rid of Jack Wilson's salary). That is one area where we are very strong.
Not sure of Dlugach (is he still around?) but Worth, Hollimon, Iorg, Almonte, McIntyre and Iorg are all pretty decent prospects.
Marte would be just what the doctor ordered for our bullpen. I would be surprised to see that they "aren't" talking.
Bazardo's struggles yesterday are hopefully a one off but he has not been as sharp as his last couple of outings from last year to be sure.
The big key for us right now is Bautista. He has been ordained by JL as the 8th inninging setup man and that will be a lot of pressure for him to handle IMO. I would not be surprised (not that I expect it) to see him have some difficulty and having to let Lopez take a spin at it.
We will have many a dialogue here on the BLOG this year about pitching, that much is guaranteed.
I hope we all have a good season. Bloggers and players alike!
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Jason, I left two comments last night that were "held for owner approval" and they haven't shown up. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if others have also tried to add an entry.
I'm guessing the approval thing can be turned off by you. Or else it's just incredibly slow.
Anyway, I'll try to post this now.........
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I tried to post 3 times yesterday and either got booted off before I could finish typing, or I got an error message.
I wanted to ask about the pitcher we picked up and sent to Triple A- a left-hander whose last year and this Spring stats are almost exactly like Byrdak's. It's like the same guy. I assume Tim didn't have any minor league options left so that's why he was released?
We'll see if this one works.....
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This is a test, then back to our regularly scheduled programming, I hope.
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Marte would be a good addition. Bazardo had an up and down spring, hitting both extremes extremely hard.
Anybody watch the game at the LA Coliseum last night? Although the Dodgers had played there during "my" time, there was never TV coverage in Michigan. Those dimensions were shorter than a softball field.
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Just a note to everybody that I apologize for all the problems with getting comments posted. Apparently with the changeover came an approval tool for allowing comments onto the site. I listed everybody who tried to post as a trusted commenter, which should allow you to get comments through without waiting for me to click anything. In the meantime, I'm trying to find out how to get rid of the approval system altogether.
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I just changed the default setting to "Anyone Can Comment." Will be making that change across the board at MLBlogs Network based on feedback, lots of things in the queue post-launch. Note that we just went from a pay site to a free community so expecting it to be lots bigger and louder, and individual bloggers are their own moderators. Everyone have a great Opening Day and will see whether this baseball year ends at Comerica perhaps...
Mark/MLB.com
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We've got our hands full with Meche tomorrow. He has histrorically fared rather well against our beloved Tigers. 6-4 with an ERA under .400 and he beat us twice last year while dropping one.
Nice to see Jacque Jones get some wood on the ball the other day. He is a streaky guy so let's hope he starts off out of the gate very strong with his LHB. We're gonna need that with Curtis out for a couple of weeks.
Take care of that hand Curtis as I really want to see you play in NY!!
I would not be two too surprised to see Clete Thomas get some starts soon. I would expect that JL will respect Inge and give him the opening day slot but once he starts taking 2 down the middle and still try to pull the outside pitch over ther wall, JL will have no trouble inserting Thomas against tough RHP.
Probably should give it a rest but I am very surprised that the Dodgers did not pursue Brandon. They are putting in some AA guy to start the season there.
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Ah, Brandon is too expensive and as soon as they get healthy, the Dodgers would have the same problem with him.
I'm with you, package him with a shortstop and make a run at Marte.
Dan, how did you get your paragraphs separated by line? Mine all just run together no matter how many times I hit enter.
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Never mind, Dan. I see that the actual post is formatted where the preview isn't.
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Not sure if we can use HTML coding in our posts either. Maybe they will figure out how to give us a (line) break!
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Anyway, just a couple of very random thoughts. What is going to happen to chris Shelton? Here is aguy who hits around .280 pops, 22 HRs and 75 RBIs per 162 games over his brief career. On top of that he had that unforgettable streak which is evidence that he can get abolutely locked in. Seems a shame that he is not getting more of a chance to display his wares.
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I think one key benchmark we need to have a successful (Division Winning) season is whether or not we have 3 starters that can win at least 15 each. Verlander has to figure to win in the 17-20 range and I see Bonderman and Robertson winning 15. Jury's out on Willis and Kenny, as much as I think the world of this guy, is going to have to show his body can handle the demands of arm surgery rehab and age. I think a successful year for him is one in which he is able to get 24 or 25 starts. Anything more than 12 wins from him will be delightful.
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Cheers,
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VERY excited to get this season started.
GO TIGERS
Thats all I got today.
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It appears you can use HTML.Just like this.Doesn't seem like we should need to do this, however. Not everyone has designed webpages.--Rich
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Nope, never mind. The HTML is removed when the message is posted. Just another "upgrade" that makes things worse. I see this everyday at work.
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Good luck Tiger's. Lets make this a memorable season.
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Hey guys. Just wanted to jump on here and try this new blog system out...strange.
Anyway, GO TIGERS! Opening Day, baby! I am pumped....oh, and by the way, these Cleveland fans are already driving me crazy!
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Go Tigers!!!! (just wanted to get that off of my chest)
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Testing..........Go Tigers!
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OK I'll try one more time. Testing......Go Tigers.
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if it ain't broke, dont fix, thats my motto. too bad whatever genious who designs the MLBlog website doesn't practice that.
anyways, opening day, i'm hoping directv has a free preview for the mlb package for 2 weeks like it has in the past. if not, i'll probably try out the mlbtv for a month. anyone here use it? is it a POS or does it work pretty well?
hope this year the tigers can figure out how to beat the mighty KC royals, always seem to have trouble with them.
GO TIGERS!! (hope the game isnt rained out)
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mlbtv works very well, if, your computer and internet connection can handl it. check out the requirements page before u purchase. I had to upgrade my comp. a little bit, but it was worth it.
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