Results tagged ‘ Adam Wilk ’
Dombrowski rules out Oswalt, rules in Smyly
You might have read on the blog yesterday the quote from Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski saying they’re only likely to go for a non-roster invite if they do add a pitcher to compete for the open rotation. He pretty much repeated that Friday to MLB Network Radio, ruling themselves out of the Roy Oswalt hunt.
“I don’t think we’ll get Roy Oswalt, no,” Dombrowski told host Jim Bowden. “I don’t think that’s a potential. But I do think that we have other guys internally, guys that don’t get much attention at this point, but guys that could fill a fifth starter spot.”
That wasn’t really a surprise, since reportedly Oswalt spurned any interest from the Tigers earlier. CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman reported late Friday night that the Tigers offered Oswalt a one-year, $10 million contract well before they moved aggressively to sign Prince Fielder. Oswalt rejected the offer, even though it supposedly met the agent’s asking price.
Dombrowski again sounded like someone leaning towards letting his organizational products compete for the fifth spot. He gave an extra plug, however, to left-hander Drew Smyly, who won Tigers minor league pitcher of the year honors in his first pro season.
“He was a second-round pick for us a couple years ago,” Dombrowski said, “and a lot of people think that he’s ready to pitch here right now. We’ll see. He pitched very well last year, and also pitched well internationally this wintertime [at the Pan Am Games]. He was the top pitcher on the team there.”
Dombrowski also mentioned Adam Wilk and Duane Below as options if Jacob Turner doesn’t get the job, which was the question Bowden asked.
“Those are the possibilities,” Dombrowski said, “and I also wouldn’t discount signing someone that is a non-roster invitee and bringing him to camp and seeing if they can challenge for it.
What’s left? Pitching invites, maybe Cespedes?
Here’s the deal: Whatever follows this first paragraph, take it with a grain of salt. As we saw on the Prince Fielder thing, plans change around these parts.
That said, the Tigers don’t sound like they have another major move in store.
Positionally, team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski said they’re pretty well set. Yes, there’s still some free agent DH/outfielder types, but if the Tigers added somebody there, they’d essentially be locking themselves into Miguel Cabrera as a third baseman before seeing how he handles the position in spring training.
But there’s a big-name hitter still out there who has been connected with Tigers interest since November. When Dombrowski was asked about Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, he crafted his response to allow some leeway should somebody above his pay grade decide he’s worth pursuing.
“I don’t want to say on that,” Dombrowski said. “Most likely [they're out], but you never can tell.”
Not lately, no.
Their outlook on pitching sounds a little more secure. Though the Tigers reportedly went after Roy Oswalt earlier, Dombrowski gave a pretty strong indication that they’re not looking for that kind of deal anymore. They’re still looking for veteran pitching, but Dombrowski is now downplaying expectations to the level of non-roster invitees. The 40-man roster is full, though they’ll open a spot by Opening Day by placing Victor Martinez on the 60-day disabled list.
Martinez, by the way, was scheduled to have a second opinion on his left knee Thursday afternoon from Dr. Richard Steadman. No news was available as of Thursday night, but the Tigers are expecting to hear he’ll need surgery for a torn ACL.
That would open up a roster spot for a non-roster pitcher who comes to camp. At this point, though, Dombrowski sounds more open than ever to having one of his young pitcher take the fifth starter job, especially if he’s going to get an uptick in run support.
“We’re having some conversations with a few guys,” Dombrowski said. “I don’t know if it’ll happen for not. But I don’t want it sound like we’re signing some guy to a long-term contract, or even in a position to be giving a big one-year deal. We’re talking more [to] bring a guy into camp, and if our youngsters don’t make it, then we can maybe lean on that guy to do it.”
The added run support the Tigers can expect from this offense gives them some leeway.
“You’re trying to win, and I think you can do that,” Dombrowski said. “But we have four veteran starters, a better offense. So it’s conducive to breaking that [young] guy in there if you can. At some point, you’re trying to break young guys in, because you want a guy or two to break in on a yearly basis somewhere. I know people write about payroll and I know we have a high payroll, but even the Yankees try to break young guys in, because you need to have somebody making lesser salaries. … It’s important, and I think it’s a good place to do it for us. But I don’t want to feed somebody to the wolves if they go to spring training and then they don’t look like they can handle it. That’s why you’re trying to protect yourself if you can.”
I said this on twitter earlier, but at this point, I would be surprised if one of the youngsters heading to camp — Duane Below, Jacob Turner, Adam Wilk, Andy Oliver or Drew Smyly — doesn’t win the open rotation spot. There’s more talent in that group than in the lower ranks of the free agency market right now. It’s the experience that’s lacking.
Below, Furbush called up; Wilk, Wells optioned
The Tigers announced two moves after the game — one of them expected, one less so. Duane Below is being recalled from Triple-A Toledo in advance of his Major League debut as Wednesday’s starting pitcher. But in addition, Charlie Furbush — who was the Tigers’ other option to start Wednesday — is coming up to handle long relief, which would suggest he’s no longer a starting option for the Tigers, at least not in the near futures.
Heading back to Toledo are left-hander Adam Wilk and outfielder Casper Wells. The latter comes about because the Tigers had an extra position player on their roster while they didn’t have a fifth starter.
“It’s a shame, because he didn’t really deserve to go down,” Leyland said. “He’s played well. He’s done a good job. I just felt like — we felt like — if we rest Magglio against the righty, then we’d have Dirks in the outfield. And right now, he just got the short end of the stick, and it’s a crying shame, because he does not deserve to go down.”
Wilk will start for the Mud Hens Wednesday night in what had been Below’s rotation spot. Fu-Te Ni started in place of Furbush and pitched seven innings of one-run ball with no walks and four strikeouts.
Saturday: Tigers at White Sox
The question isn’t with the Tigers lineup today, which is pretty standard, but with the bullpen. David Purcey left the ballpark this afternoon to be with his wife for the birth of twins. He’ll go on paternity leave, which allows him to be away from the team for 1-3 days.
The Tigers can call someone up to replace him, and unlike most circumstances, they can call someone up who was sent down less than 10 days ago. That would put left-hander Adam Wilk into play. But with the Mud Hens in Scranton, it’s unlikely they can get anybody from there to here in time to be available. So it appears no move is on tap for tonight. Whether they do something for Sunday remains to be seen, but if Purcey’s expected back as soon as Monday in Texas — he lives in Dallas in the offseason — the Tigers have to figure out whether it’s worth making a move for potentially only one day.
For Saturday, at least, they’re a reliever short. But with Justin Verlander on the mound and Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde well-rested, it shouldn’t be a factor. The one difference for them is that they’re left with only one lefty reliever available in Daniel Schlereth.
TIGERS
- Austin Jackson, CF
- Don Kelly, 3B
- Brennan Boesch, RF
- Miguel Cabrera, 1B
- Victor Martinez, DH
- Andy Dirks, LF
- Jhonny Peralta, SS
- Alex Avila, C
- Ryan Raburn, 2B
P: Justin Verlander
WHITE SOX
- Juan Pierre, LF
- Alexei Ramirez, SS
- Carlos Quentin, DH
- A.J. Pierzynski, C
- Alex Rios, CF
- Brent Lillbridge, RF
- Adam Dunn, 1B
- Gordon Beckham, 2B
- Brent Morel, 3B
P: Edwin Jackson
