By: Holly Horning & Kurt Snyder
It’s time to revisit the last week of baseball. Two series, 5 games. What stood out for our two bloggers? What do we need to keep our eyes on going forward?
Four observations apiece and just 2 sentences to identify each of them. As always, answers aren’t shared ahead of time so let’s see how similar – or how different – Holly and Kurt are in their responses.
QUESTION
HOLLY
With Franklin Perez and Daz Cameron once again injured and without track records that support their continued development, will the Tigers ever pull the plug on them or will pride (and embarrassment) to keep them get in the way? We’re talking 2 roster spots, not to mention the time spent coaching, that could be given to 2 other prospects.
KURT
How could the Angels sign Albert Pujols to a 10-year deal and in the final year, treat him with such disrespect? My hope is that the St. Louis Cardinals are making arrangements to bring him home and recognize his decorated career as a slam dunk Hall of Famer.
COMMENT
HOLLY
The sudden DFAing of first ballot Hall of Famer, Albert Pujols, was a tacky, unprofessional move that didn’t allow for proper goodbyes, final at-bats or the chance for fans to honor him. If you really want to know why the Angels have been unable to win, despite having Pujols for a decade, combined with Mike Trout and Arte Moreno’s wallet, look no further than the irresponsible corporate culture that permeates their organization.
KURT
If there is a player on this roster that deserves more playing time than Harold Castro, I don’t know who it is. All he does is hit when he is inserted into the lineup and I believe he’s the only Tiger hitting .300, which you would think should be enough for him to find the field more than he does.
KUDO
HOLLY
The Tigers’ bullpen would be non-existent without Michael Fulmer coming in day after day to put out fires. He’s started games at the last minute, came in to relieve early and late in games and has essentially done everything asked of him – and more.
KURT
You could go through the roster from the top to the bottom and find no one more deserving of recognition for a job well done than Michael Fulmer. He has been the epitome of a team player who just wants to pitch and he has shined in the pen and may stay there because of it.
CONCERN
HOLLY
If you need further proof that Chris Ilitch isn’t giving another dime to Al Avila this year, look no further than Shane Greene signing with the Braves for a mere $1 million to save their bullpen. The Tigers have MLB’s worst pen, by far, with a whopping 6.58 ERA and called up Joe Jimenez, who just gave up a HR that cleared the stadium and landed in a residential neighborhood.
KURT
It seemed if the Tigers could just shake the never-ending offensive funk they were in, they could begin to string together some wins. But we were then reminded that the offense is far from the only weakness on this team as the bullpen routinely pours water on any offensive momentum Tiger hitters might be gaining.
What did you miss on the Totally Tigers Twitter feed yesterday?
– What are the chances Justin Verlander returns to Detroit?
– Why is Joe Jimenez returning to Detroit so soon?
– Further proof that Chris Ilitch isn’t investing in the team this year.
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Been reading the blog for a long while now and I am curious on your overall process. Do Holly and Kurt have “team meetings” to decide what topics each other will write about for the daily blogs? Is there any real synergy pre-pandemic and then what this last year+ has brought or just each blogger writing about what strikes them with the exception of a column like today? For today’s column or rapid fire where the blogger’s don’t share their thoughts until that blog, how long in advance are you told to not write on that topic. Just curious…keep up the analysis!
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Hi, Steve – Wow, great questions! You are the first to ask us about this. We usually don’t have meetings in advance unless something big has happened and we don’t want to duplicate topics. For each of our separate blogs, we both write about what we want without consulting each other. Kurt is in charge of Sunday’s column and starts the topic for Would You Rather which we then both refine together. I developed the format for today’s blog and I am also in charge of Rapid Fire and the Saturday Survey. For joint blogs, we have a designated time period to write about (ie, the past week of games) and both of us write our takes the day before publishing. For today’s blog, we both wrote them yesterday. We change things up according to the season and try to keep things fresh with new ideas and formats, esp. our readers’ desires to have more opportunities to weigh in which you see through the Sunday and Thursday blogs and the 2 polls we do. Thanks for asking! – Holly
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Thank you Kurt! I thought I was the only one that appreciated Harold Castro!
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Pondo – Jim Price has been talking up Harold as well on the radio broadcast, pleading with the team to play him more. Especially given how desperate the team is for offense. Thanks, Kurt
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That’s the way Jim — give them the buggy whip.
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This is the first public acknowlegement that Harold Castro is a major league hitting machine, which I’ve known since he became a Tiger. Harold should have been a regular starter since 2 years ago. There’s no telling how good he’d be if he had been…just another dumb mistake by this team being run by Ilitch and Avilla, with help from recent managers.
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In addition Perez & Cameron, why is Alex Faedo still listed on the 40 instead of on the 60 day IL? They announced Dec 19 that Faedo would have TJS, I’m sure they suspected something like that could be a possibility well before but instead they left Will Vest unprotected and the Mariners grabbed him in the Rule 5 draft on Dec 10 and he is doing well for them. If they had Faedo diagnosed earlier maybe Vest could be in the Tiger pen now.
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I remember it has something to do with MLB roster time and starting the clock rolling on Faedo and in fact Wentz as well future contract/arb etc. status. Supposedly, they could have done this without worrying about that before a certain date in Feb or March but did not. So long story, short answer–Money. But it would not have mattered for the Rule 5 because rosters were frozen at that time unless you wanted to waive someone entirely.
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The longer Cameron, Perez, and Rogers remain in the organization the longer one of the worst trades in MLB history remains an ugly sore point for fans. Maybe it’s a new curse ala Boston’s trading Ruth or the Chicago Cub goat.
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The discussion about Pujols certainly makes you think about Miggy. If he doesn’t pick it up soon, you have to wonder about his playing time. You don’t want to embarrass a HOF player making $30M a year, but it’s hard to watch. I can’t see him retiring or the Tigers buying him out anytime soon, but will be interesting to watch until his contract is done.
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Kudo: The return of minor league baseball. Concern: The Tigers stink at developing talent.
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Kurt, I completely agree with you about Harold Castro. I cannot understand why he isn’t playing everyday, especially given the fact that the team batting avg sits at around 212. It’s puzzling that they continue to leave Willie Castro out there, who has a 194 batting avg and is defensively challenged. Why not sit him for awhile and play Harold Castro to see if we get better results.
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AA should never be allowed to forget the worst trade of all time, he gave away JV for next to nothing
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McWatt is right. It’s a legit fact that the Tigers cannot develop young talent. But they continue to tank and get more of it! Don’t just fix it, stand there. What a clown show.
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