OT: Victor Martinez to the Tigers
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:16 PM ^
That was meant with matchups. When the Tigers are facing running teams, we have the option of playing Avila, move V-Mart to DH based on right/left pitching that day. Guillen is going to get a lot of days off this year I think. He is old and brittle and Leyland is going to try to protect him as much as possible.
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:52 PM ^
he will be non-tendered...will not finish the season as a Tiger
avilla is the starting catcher-his defense is superior to VMART, defense wins games
VMART is the backup catcher primary DH-he is signed as a bat with position flexibility, he may also play a little 1b depending on what Leyland wants to do with Miggy's rest schedule
rhymes/sizemore will play at 2B...book it!
November 23rd, 2010 at 2:17 PM ^
This is a much better deal than Benoit. To be fair, we definitely needed a good setup man, so we'll see how much of an overpayment that contract ends up being in an off-season where every new contract seems to be grossly overpaid. I'm *meh* on the deal as long as he stays healthy..
November 23rd, 2010 at 12:46 PM ^
Werth next please.
November 23rd, 2010 at 12:57 PM ^
Yes please.
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:09 PM ^
Victor to be the primary catcher with Avila backing up. Avila will give Martinez time off from catching position. Martinez isn't a stellar catcher, but his bat makes up for it. Hopefully, he'll help out at the bottom of the order in which the Tigers have struggled all season long.
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:13 PM ^
I'd be shocked if he wasn't hitting 5th behind Cabrera. (Or 4th if Cabrera bats 3rd but I don't see that being ideal).
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:21 PM ^
to hit at the bottom of the order. The Tigers are still going after Adam Dunn who would be a good left handed power hitter for the Tigers. Boesch hit a rookie wall big time, but is the future as a corner outfielder with power. If the Tigers can land Dunn, I can see the order goes like this:
1. Jackson
2. Gullien
3. Boesch
4. Miggy
5. Dunn
6. Martinez
7. Inge
8. Peralta
9. Avila
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:47 PM ^
we can get jim thome as a left handed DH for 2million for 1 year
why give dunn 3-4 years for 12 million when you need the DH spot for VMART in the coming years
Tigers need a LH hitting LF or RF, not another DH
November 23rd, 2010 at 2:10 PM ^
Dunn played OF and apparently, he doesn't want to be a DH. The Tigers are going after Dunn hard.
Dunn is basically good for high OBP(lots of walks), 40 HRs, 100 RBI and lots of strikeouts every season.
November 23rd, 2010 at 2:14 PM ^
But a strikeout is, at most, marginally worse than a regular out. And while RBI are meaningless, getting on base is the single most important thing a hitter can do well. Dunn's career OBP is .373, which makes him very valuable, especially if they can convince him to DH (he's a "Miguel Cabrera at third" level butcher in the outfield).
November 23rd, 2010 at 2:40 PM ^
is bad but when you have a player with high OBP, I'm willing to live with a strikeout because he gets on base. Adam Dunn is a bit too patient for my liking but I can't argue with his result because he consistently hit 40 HRs and gets on base.
November 23rd, 2010 at 2:16 PM ^
tigers were mentioned for Dunn
about a week ago, but heyman who leaked the news backed up on his earlier 'tweet' and stated they were one of a few teams with interest
heyman is notorious for posting what agents tell him, perhaps he was trying to play the tigers against the white sox?
Dunn will not play OF at comerica
Dunn will not play 1b for the tigers
Vmart will be the DH
not much room for Adam
November 24th, 2010 at 3:15 PM ^
and like your analysis! the TIgers are a better team on paper than we finished the season! injuries, general gelling, intangibles, etc. will dertermine how we do because i believe our top three and the phil coke experiment will work and our bully has become stronger and lights out with a healthy valverde! bringing crawford or werth into the fold would be AWESOME but i believe we have talent in our organization that is ready to bust out in the outfield! anyone can speculate and i am speculating first in our division of wild card! Go Blue beat osu! Go Tigers!
November 23rd, 2010 at 1:58 PM ^
This is a meh signing. Martinez is a HORRIBLE defensive catcher. He's already 32 and catchers are notorious for going downhill fast. He'll most likely give good value the first couple years but at the end of the contract we'll be overpaying him.
If he doesn't catch and plays DH or 1B, that's not good value either. There are other good bats out there that we could've grabbed who could fill the DH spot like Dunn.
November 23rd, 2010 at 2:24 PM ^
I'm not crazy about the signing, but Martinez would at least provide some protection for Miggy and bring some stability to the lineup. He's a far better hitter than Avila, and while his defense isn't great, I think we may be overrating the dropoff in terms of stolen bases and the like. The Tigers were a very average defensive club last year, and I wasn't overly impressed with the defense provided by Laird and Avila. Maybe Avila can grow to become a better hitter and fielder, but right now VMart isn't going to suddenly sabotage a great unit. I think he gives you a good bat who you can move around in the lineup, especially toward the bottom where rallies went to die all of last year. People keep pointing out his WAR is about 4 wins - well, 4 wins two years ago gets the team to the playoffs, and last year might have helped break that horrible run out of the AS break. Yes, the salary might be a little high, but FAs are not lining up to come to the Tigers (or really any team in the Central), so I'm fine overpaying a bit if it secures you a good player. I do hope they focus on getting a little younger, though. I'm not sold on Werth as a star in the AL, and I'd rather them grab a couple of infielders and resign Magglio.
November 23rd, 2010 at 2:34 PM ^
Can anyone provide the Tigers DH numbers from last year? I doubt they were very good. Also, we don't have to keep another below average catcher on the team, not with Martinez capable of catching 2 days a week. Martinez may not be ideal, but he is a major upgrade over what we had.
November 23rd, 2010 at 3:41 PM ^
I doubt VM ever catches over 50 games in a season for the Tigers. He'll catch maybe twice a week to spot Avila and DH the rest of the time, maybe spotting at first while Cabrera DHs once in a while. Putting him at catcher only makes sense if we have a DH that's a better hitter than Avila, which is debatable at the moment.
The balance is the need to keep VM's bat healthy and in the lineup and retaining his value as a plus bat behind the plate. Sure, he's more valuable to us catching more in the first couple years of the deal, but you risk running him into the ground and ending up with damaged goods during the last two years of the deal.
One scenario is that the Tigers could be making a kamikaze run at the pennant in 2011 and 2012, in which case they could ride VMart hard at catcher, AND sign Dunn to DH. They'd have a monstrous 3-4-5 for a couple years, but 2013-14 would be ugly as Vmart and Dunn will likely hit steep declines around the same time (vmart from heavy catching mileage, dunn from being a massive old-player-skills guy who tend not to age gracefully). The risk is that if Vmart can't catch anymore and you have dunn who can't play LF, you're in a bad position with 2 guys with big contracts who can only DH.
November 23rd, 2010 at 10:47 PM ^
Guillen should not play.