QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, KUDOS & CONCERNS

By:  Kurt Snyder & Holly Horning

Saturday’s segment is a day to touch on as many issues as possible. Even as the Tigers have barely made a whisper this off-season, there is still plenty to contemplate about the home team and where they are headed.

Kurt and Holly don’t share and it’s only for the readers’ benefit. It almost always translates into a wide array of thoughts.

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KURT

COMMENT

Well, Dad … Pudge Rodriguez is on the way to the Hall of Fame. Dad, a former minor league catcher with the Reds, was often critical of Pudge while he was a Tiger catcher and I often had to remind him that he was headed for the Hall of Fame. He would scoff at the notion as I jarred his memory about Pudge’s years with Texas, 12 of them, where he was arguably the best catcher in baseball; it’s why he will go to the Hall as a Texas Ranger, the uniform he wore at his best.

QUESTION

When can we actually feel comfortable with the health of Jordan Zimmermann? This week, he was asked about his health and he described how much better he is feeling and how the shots he has been getting in his neck are helping. I don’t know about you but I’m pretty nervous about a #2 pitcher, who we need 200 innings from in the worst way, receiving neck injections as part of his treatment.

KUDOS

Congratulations to another Tiger Hall of Famer! Given how little recognition Tiger players get, we should not have overlooked the induction into the West Michigan Whitecaps Hall of Fame of another great Tiger catcher … Alex Avila! Hey, we will take whatever we can get around here.

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HOLLY

COMMENT

Players who have run afoul of their organization, combined with poor performance, should heed the warning signs that they are about to be released. Al Avila told us that the Tigers had received multiple inquiries about Anthony Gose which left us wondering if we had somehow entered the Twilight Zone of reason. But with Lloyd McClendon’s statements explaining that Gose’s behavior was nothing out of the ordinary came his designation a mere day later.

KUDOS

And with Anthony Gose’s presumed exit, another example of how the Tigers conduct themselves publicly is seen. The team practices admirable levels of professional conduct and has never spoken negatively about anyone associated with them. In the case of Gose, it was most probably an attempt to put him in the strongest position to succeed in getting an offer from another team.

COMMENT

Eyebrows were raised last year when Washington Nationals’ pitcher, Stephen Strasburg, signed an extension with his team despite his agent’s (Scott Boras) track record of always taking his players to free agency. But analysts believe this deal was completed because Strasburg has horrible mechanics – the biggest contributor to his frequent injuries – and Boras wanted to ensure he got a long-term contract before something happens to him again. This same panel of analysts then mentioned that the one pitcher with the best mechanics in MLB, and thus the guy most likely to age well on the mound, is Justin Verlander.