OT: Tigers sign Rajai Davis

Better than Dirks.

I like the signing.  It's hard to believe how radically different this team is from last year.  The lack of power makes me nervous and there's alot riding on Martinez and his ability to protect Cabrera in the lineup.

He is going to platoon with Dirks or maybe someone else's. Davis crushes left handed pitching.



I would like to see the tigers to trade for Domonic Brown. Wouldn't come cheap but the team still needs a left handed bat.

Yep, more role-playing outfielders are exactly what this team needs.

He's pretty bad against righties so obviously Dirks still looks to get more AB's but Davis is a perfect platoon partner, and pinch runner. Now time to get to work on the bullpen Dombrowski.

I like this signing as well, just perusing the stats page at Fangraphs. Perhaps most notably, I like the idea of having someone who can get on base and is a realizable threat to steal a base or two. I don't think we've had someone like that for a while in the lineup - it is a nice added dimension to any offense. 

He stole bases on about 40% of his hits.  So 40% of the time he gets a single, it becomes a double.  That could be huge for getting RISP for Miggy and VMart.

Take it from....I hate that the Jays let this guy walk. Down a run in the 8th or 9th and with him pinch running it was a given he'd be on 2nd and almost a lock that he'd be in 3rd. I believe he leads MLB in steals of 3rd the past 4 seasons and was 2nd to Ellsbury in total SB's last year with far less playing time. Great signing.

are makig solid moves..cutting pay but keeping world series type team in tact.  Sucks to lose Prince but it was the right move.

Great moves, looking forward to seeing this team gel.  

the starting pitching. Bullpen and defense will be better. This team isn't any better or worse overall. A lot of moves to remain basically the same team quality-wise.

Not a big power guy. Would 20-25 HRs combined with Dirks be a close estimation?

Q Berry brought so much energy to the team 2 years ago.   Sure, we rode his wicked hot streak for a month or two, but I miss his legit base-stealing threat.   Davis seems like Q. Berry with more plate consistency, esp. against lefties.   If he's defensively sound, then I'm on board (I admittedly haven't paid much attention to the Jays over the past few year).

They needed another outfielder.  Probably still need bullpen help but that can be such a crapshoot that teams almost have to tinker with it on an on-going basis during the season.

It'll be very interesting to watch the Tigers next season with the changes in personel & new manager.  It might sound odd but my biggest concern is that they push too hard during the season and then run out of steam in September or October.

The 2011-13 versions of the Tigers seemed to learn that they playoffs are a crapshoot and that they simply needed to qualify (instead of dominating regular season).  Given that they made the "final four" during those seasons, it seemed to work.  Verlander, in particular, seemed to be pacing himself last year before turning it up in the playoffs.

I really like this trade.  Detroit was slow and full of defensive liabilities last year.  This year, they'll give up some power but that outfield should have significantly better range as well as (I hope) some improved baserunning.  Going station-to-station like this team needed to last year really hurt, especially in the playoffs.  Davis isn't going to set the world on fire, but any guy with that type of speed will keep pitchers honest and can be disruptive even if his OBP is pretty meh.

I was really hoping for Shin-Soo Choo, and would have gladly ditched our collection of misfit toys (Davis, Dirks, Kelly) to do so.

The problem with building around defense is that it's inherently less valuable than offense.
1. Every hitter gets 3 guaranteed chances to affect the game with his bat, but they don't have to hit it to you.
2. The range of defensive talent is constrained at a given position because most fielding chances can be handled by even the worst major leaguer. Basically, too many chances are routine, so having superior talent doesn't pay off because you get so few chances to make a difference. You get that grounder to short right field so seldom compared to routine pop ups and watching the pitcher strike a guy out.
3. Defense is less valuable than offense unless you score a lot (basketball), because you can't win a game without scoring. In hoops, the value of a denied possession is practically equal to a converted possession, because the average score is in the sixties. In baseball, taking away runs is not as good as scoring them because you can't win -1 to zero.

Trading defense for offense in baseball is usually a lose unless you're way out on the margins. The Tigers look to be worse overall this year unless they add another bat, and now there's no room for Choo.