Detroit Tigers

I understand the economics around here, and I understand the nature of baseball. The Tigers have some tough decisions this offseason. If they're really thinking about trading All-Stars Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson, I think they're nuts.

Brookens' ambition is to become a manager in the major leagues some day. And as the newest coach on Leyland's staff, he's now on the brink of entering the elite 30-member club -- perhaps with the Tigers.

Curtis Granderson makes abundant sense for the Yankees or Cubs. He would hit 40 home runs for Joe Girardi's team in New York. The Cubs, too, realize Granderson would break up ballgames galore at Wrigley Field. And how much is Edwin Jackson worth?

Each week, Steve Schrader hands out "Stevies" to the best, the worst and the weirdest from the week that was in sports. This week's Stevies:

Well, the Tigers apparently are listening to offers for young stars Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson, partly because they would like to cut payroll.

Tigers second baseman Placido Polanco won his second Gold Glove last week, but he didn't crack the top three in the Fielding Bible Awards, which are published in the Bill James Handbook.

By Jay RC

In an effort to reward less talked about minor leaguers, only players that did not get called up to the Tigers this season were eligible. The breakdown of the roster consists of one player per position, a designated hitter, five starting pitchers and five relievers.

RHP Robbie Weinhardt

Team: Advanced-A Lakeland & Double-A Erie

Combined stats: 63 innings, 1.57 ERA 1.24 WHIP, 1-2 record, 5 saves,  26 walks, 72 strikeouts

Robbie Weinhardt was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 38th round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft. After opting not to sign with Houston, Weinhardt returned to pitch for Oklahoma State University.

Weinhardt was then selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 10th round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. The soon-to-be 25-year-old, is right handed, 6-foot-2 and finished the season pitching in a late relief role.

His pitch repertoire consists of a low-90s fastball, a mid-80s slider and a slurvy breaking ball.

Like many young pitchers, his control can be spotty at times. With a ratio of 3.71 BB/9, it's nothing to concerning though. To further break it down, this season Weinhardt allowed 52 hits and 26 walks in 63 innings (1.24WHIP). Pretty solid numbers for a late reliever.

Weinhardt quietly began his 2009 season in Lakeland. Please note the sarcasm in regards to the word "quietly". Weinhardt began his professional career there with a 20-plus-inning scoreless streak. After 31 2/3 innings of work in Lakeland he was then promoted to Erie. Leaving behind a record of 1-1 with a 0.85 ERA and 40 strikeouts (11.37 K/9). Not too shabby, eh?!

Although his numbers flattened out a bit in Erie, they were still very impressive. In 31 1/3 innings, Weinhardt posted a 2.30 ERA. Both his WHIP (1.40) and BB/9 (4.60) rose considerably. Weinhardt continued to miss bats though as he struck out 32.

His amazing season earned him a selection to this years Arizona Fall League. If you throw out his first three games, it's easy to say Weinhardt has been nearly untouchable in an offense dominated league. Through his first three appearances he had surrendered eight runs, 10 hits and five walks. Since then, Weinhardt has tossed ten scoreless innings. He has also allowed just one walk and five  hits. His 25 strikeouts also lead the league.

With just one season under his belt Weinhardt is already on the Detroit Tigers' radar. Exactly how close is he? Weinhardt could conceivably be ready within a year. I know MILB to MLB is like comparing apples to oranges and perhaps I'm letting my man crush on him get the best of me. However, his stats are solid and from what I saw in Lakeland last season I'm sold on Robbie Weinhardt.

Much like Satterwhite I'd expect Weinhardt to get some serious consideration this spring. The Tigers were pretty aggressive with Ryan Perry last year despite his lack of experience. With several holes in the bullpen due to the possible departures of Lyon and Rodney, perhaps Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski will look to save some coin and fill those vacancies internally.

Keep an eye on Weinhardt as he continues to earn his stripes down on the farm.

Next Up: The final member of the bullpen

It was an interesting couple of days.

First, FoxSports.com reported Edwin Jackson was being shopped by Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski. The next day, the New York Post announced Curtis Granderson's name was on the trade block. Later that day, Sports Illustrated reported Brandon Inge was available.

Just what the heck is going on?

I think there's a pretty good chance that nothing more than the normal operating procedure, actually.

Much like in August many players -- even the ones you don't think a team would ever want to lose -- are put on the waiver wire, I think what Dombrowski was doing at the general manager meeting in Chicago was more along the lines of due diligence.

How many ways are there for a baseball team to improve from one year to the next?

Ways you can't control or predict:

• Underperforming players improve
• Players have career years

Ways you can reasonably expect:

• Younger players early in their career arc improve.
• Players lost to injury the prior year return

Ways you can control:

• Signing free agents who are better than players in your system
• Trading for players who are better than your own.

So how do the Tigers do against that checklist?

Several players had down years, including some proven veteran hitters like Magglio Ordonez and, to some extent, Curtis Granderson. Will Armando Galarraga improve? Hard to believe he could get worse. Some players will be returning from injury problems in 2009, like Carlos Guillen and Jeremy Bonderman. (And Joel Zumaya?) Players early in their career path who can improve? I think we can expect to see that in the bullpen a bit.

Career years in 2010? Who knows.

Bringing in free agents better than the players in 2009? Shortstop is a position the Tigers can reasonably expect to upgrade, but they might not have the financial means to do so, with the already-high payroll and the still-declining economy in Michigan.

So that leaves Dombrowski with hoping to improve the team through a trade.

And to do that, first he has to find out what players other teams value, and how much they value them. So he asks around at the GM meetings, as you would hope he would.

A lot of contracts are bad, so you can expect other GMs to have little interest. But a couple of players -- Granderson, Edwin Jackson -- have trade value. Talk is sparked.

And then the media got word of it.

Well, you know what the national media think of the Tigers. The prevailing storyline heading into the 2009 season was to expect the Tigers to fall behind in the standings, and watch as they become the first team to have a fire sale. Why? Because their payroll was high, and Michigan has economic problems.

A safe prediction to make right? Whoops.

So now, I think history is repeating itself. The Tigers still have too high a payroll. The economy is still bad. And the Tigers' general manager is shopping a few of his players around.

Financial problems in Detroit! Firesale, straight ahead!

Or not.

So, as I was saying, what does it mean?

Despite the myth of owner Mike Ilitch's deep pockets, I think it's a sign the Tigers really won't be able to do much of anything on the free agent market due to financial constraints. They will improve themselves on the trade market if that is at all possible. But I don't believe Dombrowski feels pressured to trade any players if he can't improve his team's chances in 2010 and beyond.

Winning consistently is the reason they play the game, and it's what we ask for. Any player could be traded. Even fan favorites.

But there's really no reason to fear a firesale this offseason.

Sean Casey may have been nicknamed "The Mayor," but in Michigan, Curtis Granderson could more aptly be called "The Governor." He is almost universally loved by the fan base.

So if the goal of Dave Dombrowski was to scare the living bejeebus out of Tigers fans when he walked in the doors of the GM meeting in Chicago and announced "Grandy" was on the trading block, mark that one down as "Mission: Accomplished."

Mind you Dombrowski didn't actually announce anything. But we learned from Joel Sherman of the NY Post today that the Tigers have made it known Granderson is available for a trade.

In a cost-cutting frame of mind, the Tigers have let teams now that Curtis Granderson could be had for the right package, an NL executive told The Post. Granderson would be attractive to many teams, with the Yankees near the top of the list.

*SNIP*

Brian Cashman met with Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski at the now-concluded GM Meetings, but it is not believed the two did any more than discuss needs and available players. However, the two have a good relationship and have done significant trades before, going back to when Dombrowski was in Florida and obtained Mike Lowell from the Yanks to the more recent Gary Sheffield deal and the swap of Kyle Farnsworth for Ivan Rodriguez.

The gut reaction to any thoughts of trading Granderson is, like I said, almost universal:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

He has been an almost-everyday player for the team since his emergence in 2006. And though he's given many great memories in the field and at the plate since then, his personality and goodwill make him one of the most popular players on the team.

All the reasons Tigers fans would hate to see the 29-year-old (in the 2010 season) play for any but their own are all the reasons he makes a great trade chip, however. In his young career, he has made numerous highlight-reel plays in the field, including a great run and jump against the Red Sox in 2007 and the even-more-memorable robbery of Grady Sizemore in Cleveland in May. Defensively, he may never be an elite, but he is always going to be solid.

At the plate, his struggles against left-handed pitching and with strikeouts are well documented. But he put up a 20 doubles, 20 triples, 20 home runs, 20 steals season in 2007, which very well might be a career year. In 2009, he hit 30 home runs.

He is owed a bargain $25.75M over the next three seasons. Over the past three seasons, he's been worth about $62M to the Tigers, according to a formula used by Fangraphs.

Off the field, he is one of the faces of the league on television and overseas. In Michigan and beyond, he is a champion of children and education through his Grand Kids Foundation. He may never be a superstar, but he's definitely one of the stars.

I try to always remain impartial as an analyst of the Tigers. If I write any other way, then my words won't do a lot to help explain the team and the game to others. But one of the nice things about being a blogger and not a professional journalist is saying you have a favorite team, and you hope it wins. Or you have a favorite player, and you'd hate to see him elsewhere. I like both Brandon Inge and Granderson the most, I'm not afraid to say.

All of that might be a long prologue before I say: It makes sense to explore the market for Granderson, because it might never be better. You don't have to like it. I don't have to like it. But it's the truth.

Already, we hear the market for Granderson might include the Red Sox, possibly the teams in Chicago, maybe the San Francisco Giants and probably beyond. With so many untradable players and bad contracts, the Tigers' moving Granderson might actually improve the team in the long run -- and maybe the short-term as well.

And as loyal as I am to my favorite guys, I remain the most loyal to the Old English D itself. No player comes before it.

To make a trade work, however, would be a bit more difficult.

For all the reasons other teams would want Granderson are reasons the Tigers need him if they are to have any hope of competing in 2010.

It's possible a player like Clete Thomas plays better in the field than Grandy, but he will never bat as well. Double-A  center fielder Casper Wells would likely be the most likely bet to replace Granderson in the lineup, but he, too, is a downgrade in the field and at the plate. (And you'd have the trouble of rookies at second base and shortstop. And oh yes, talk of trading Gerald Laird came out as well. So there could be a rookie at catcher too.)

So the Tigers would have to significantly upgrade another position -- shortstop maybe? starting pitching? -- with the players they receive in return. Or receive a good center field prospect in return as part of a deal.

It's possible some combination of trading Granderson and Edwin Jackson would serve the purpose of cutting the payroll and bringing in fresh blood in the right positions without a big dropoff. But in the short term, I just don't think that's going to happen.

What would it take for me to move Granderson, personally? If it were the Yankees, I'd like a player like Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain, or another young starting pitcher with MLB experience. Brett Gardner coming over to play center field would be nice as well. But I doubt that is a deal the Yankees would be interested in. With any other team, I'd be looking for a similar return. Otherwise, Detroit just makes itself worse to save a few dollars while infuriating the fan base.

Like I said earlier, cutting your costs but losing your fans seems like a bad way to run a baseball team that is only one year away from salary relief.

The news getting out that a pair of 2009 All-Stars are both on the trade market is probably not the best way to sell those lucrative season-ticket packages.

But holding onto Granderson when you could improve the team by trading him wouldn't be a smart move in the long run, either.

Most likely, this is just the kind of smoke that blows when too many baseball general managers get together in one place, however.

So I wouldn't get too worked up about it yet.

Still, the sudden talk of players on the market is a bit disconcerting, even if Dombrowski claims the Tigers aren't going to have a "fire sale." ...

(Via MLB Trade Rumors)