OT: Tigers sign Rajai Davis

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.