Kuzul

About a month ago, I wrote a prediction for next year’s Detroit Tigers starting lineup. But my how things change. 

The Tigers are still out of the playoff picture, but are currently playing with no distractions and no worries about choking down the stretch. 

Over their last three series with the Chicago White Sox, the Tigers have gone 6-2, dropping the White Sox to nine games back of the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins.

While some players have dropped off in their performance, others have picked it up and virtually guaranteed starting spots in next year’s team.

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With just a few weeks to go, the year of the rookie is set to come to a close in baseball, and what a year it was. So many great rookies appeared on the scene, many of whom would win the Rookie of the Year Award no problem most years. Of course, this is not most years. We have the performers, the hyped stars, and Stephen Strasburg this year, among all the other rookie to sneak on the scene that you may not have heard of.

The top five candidates in the AL and Nl, in my opinion, are listed. Some names included and excluded will probably surprise you; I’m looking past any hype and just looking at how well they have performed this year. There are so many names in the NL to choose from that many will be left off, even some that others may consider frontrunners. There are fewer in the AL, yet it is just as difficult to pinpoint a winner.

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2010 has blessed Major League Baseball with a memorable rookie class.

Fantasy owners in Dynasty and Keeper leagues were quite familiar with this cast of characters long before they arrived in the show.

In commemoration of their foresight, let’s take a gander at the top ten positional keepers for 2011.

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It’s been about eight months and 114 games now.

Raise your hand if you’re over Curtis Granderson.

To those with arms unraised: what on earth are you waiting for?

Curtis Granderson, the smiling cherub now with the evil New York Yankees, isn’t coming back. So stop the pining.

But here’s the good news for Grandy’s jilted lovers: you wouldn’t want him back anyway—not the way he’s playing, and the Tigers have a better, more promising center fielder. So there.

Granderson is scuffling with the Yankees. Has been most of the season. His batting average struggles to reach the .240 level. His OBA is a paltry .312. He has but 28 extra base hits—for the season. He continues to strike out incessantly—about once every four at-bats. He still can’t hit lefties.

Thank goodness for Granderson’s replacement, the rookie Austin Jackson, because if it wasn’t for the pleasantly surprising year A-Jax was authoring, we’d still be hearing about the trade that sent Granderson to the Yankees.

As it is, Jackson’s .300 BA and stellar defense has been able to help erase memories around town.

Forget that the Tigers also netted Phil Coke from the Yanks in the trade—not to mention Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth in the three-team deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks that also shipped pitcher Edwin Jackson out of Detroit.

Don’t accuse me of being a 20/20 hindsighter, because I was on board with dealing Granderson before it was even on the Tigers’ radar.

The trade is already a great one for the Tigers.

Austin Jackson is six years younger than Granderson and is every bit as good defensively. He doesn’t have Grandy’s power—not yet—but is OBA is a robust .352. Jackson also fans a lot, so that’s a wash.

As I’ve written before, I have a sneaking suspicion that we’ve already seen the best of what Curtis Granderson can do. He’s topped out, in my mind, as a big league ballplayer. Doesn’t mean he’s not a good one—just that I don’t see him getting much better, if at all.

Austin Jackson, on the other hand, has a ceiling that far exceeds Granderson’s.

If Granderson weren’t the nice, smiling guy that he is, this trade would already be lauded as being one of the best the Tigers have made in recent years. It’s as if there’s a grieving period that some people are still in—and that by praising the trade they’re somehow defiling Granderson’s legacy.

It’s not dancing on Granderson’s Tigers grave to acknowledge that GM Dave Dombrowski got one right in this instance.

DD turned Granderson and Edwin Jackson—who is no slouch, I will concede—into four big league players (Schlereth will be one permanently before long). Even the mathematically challenged can see that giving up two and getting back four is a good thing. Plus, the Tigers came out of things on the right side of the financial ledger—at least for now.

The time will come when the Tigers will have to pay A-Jax and Scherzer much more of Mike Ilitch’s pizza dough than they’re coughing up currently. But that’s down the line.

A baseball axiom says that you can’t really judge a trade until several years after it’s made.

But there are exceptions to every rule.

The Tigers made a good trade in swapping the lovable Curtis Granderson out of Detroit. I’ll never besmirch Granderson’s good guy status or the great things he does for the community at large. I’ve talked with him on several occasions; he’s impossible not to like personally.

But baseball is a business, and the goal is to put the best 25 men on your big league roster as you can muster.

Austin Jackson is better than Curtis Granderson—right now and probably forever. The former will only get better; the latter has plateaued.

It’s OK to be happy about the trade. You’ll always have your memories.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Hitting leadoff is one of the most important, yet undervalued jobs in baseball.

It seems lost on some managers in baseball today, that the leadoff spot in a lineup is merely where you put a fast guy who can steal a few bases.

Crafting a lineup is really just apportioning playing time among the members of your team. Each lineup spot gets, on average, twenty more plate appearances throughout a season than the spot below it. Ergo, a leadoff hitter should be the man you want at the plate more than anyone else on the team.

The leadoff hitter’s job is above all— to get on base. It helps if he’s an intimidating force on the basepaths. Affecting a pitcher’s concentration as he pitches to the heart of the lineup is always beneficial. But if he’s a guy who runs whenever he feels like it, gets caught a lot and kills more rallies than he starts, then you’ve got a problem.

Some leadoff hitters in baseball today are a break from the traditional mold. And a lot of them are on contending teams. This is more than a coincidence. We’re going to soon see a change in the winds regarding what skills are valued in a leadoff hitter, and which are overrated.

I have put together a power ranking of the 30 leadoff hitters in baseball, factoring in the following statistics: On Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage, Runs Created (Bill James’ statistic that measures total offensive output), and Stolen Bases. Some are weighed more heavily than others, and I used my judgement to determine which of them really performed the job of leadoff hitter the best.

Enjoy and please comment with your opinions!

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The Detroit Tigers’ 8-6 extra-inning loss Monday to the A.L. West-leading Texas Rangers brought good and bad news.

Nelson Cruz hit a two-run-shot in the top of the 14th inning to give the Rangers a five-game lead over the Los Angeles Angels, and ended the Rangers’ 11-game losing streak at Comerica Park.  That’s the good news—for the Rangers.

Detroit is now two back of the red-hot Chicago White Sox in the A.L. Central. That’s great news—for the Sox.

The bad news for Detroit is third baseman Brandon Inge will be out 4-6 weeks with a non-disclosed fracture in his left hand from what looked to be a breaking ball from Rangers pitcher Scott Feldman.

But the bad news doesn’t end there.

Brennan Boesch’s single with one out in the bottom of the 10th loaded the bases, and set the table for Carlos Guillen to drive in the game-winning run. Unfortunately for Guillen, he hit into a 6-4-3 double play, squandering a golden opportunity.

Or, maybe it was Johnny Damon who failed to seize the day by not heading home on Boesch’s single. Damon had two on in the bottom of the 12th and grounded out to short—another blown chance to put the pesky Rangers to rest.

However, Damon extended his hitting-streak to 10 games, which is the fourth-longest active streak, with an RBI-single in the eighth inning that scored Ramon Santiago and tied the game 6-6.

The good news is that the Tigers showed they could go head-to-head with an elite team after the All-Star Break—a break that left the Tigers broken. Even if it did take over four hours to do so.

Miguel Cabrera continued his Triple-Crown-esque season by launching two solo home runs off Feldman—one in the third, and one in the fifth—that were both pulled to left field. He also added three RBI. Had Cabrera avoided hitting two rockets into center, he would have had four round-trippers.

Cabrera is second among big-leaguers with 24 home runs, and first with 81 RBI.

Magglio Ordonez followed suit, and duplicated Cabrera’s swing in the fifth to tie the game 5-5. Ordonez is hitting a shade over .300, has 12 home runs on the year, and has driven-in 58 runs.

Rookie sensation Austin Jackson continues to amaze onlookers, not only with his glove, but with his bat. Jackson recorded his 100th hit, which is among league leaders, and tops for A.L. rookies.

However, Jackson did have two miscues in the field. He appeared to corral a shoe-lace high fly-ball in the sixth inning, but it got away.  Then, he barely missed the Rangers’ heavy-hitter Vlad Guerrero’s pop-fly in the bottom of the ninth.

The Tigers were swept last weekend in a four-game series by the A.L. Central bottom-dwelling Cleveland Indians, in a set that saw just eight Detroit runs. For some, the losses brought up late-season choke talk.

Hopefully, for the Tigers’ sake, the Indians will do them a favor by handling the Minnesota Twins this week.

But with the milestones achieved, or those being approached, Tigers manager Jim Leyland is forced to make some tough decisions with limited options at his disposal.

Either Don Kelly or Ryan Raburn will have to man the hot corner in Inge’s absence.

Both have had issues with their gloves. Raburn’s now-notorious performance last year in Game 163 against the Twins has Tigers fans less than confident in regards to Raburn’s ability to be counted on.

Kelly is still young, and has shown flashes of both sides of the coin when it comes to fielding.

Texas’ Tommy Hunter (6-0) will face Detroit’s Armando Galarraga (3-2), who is fresh off a rehab assignment with the Toledo Mud Hens, at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday at Comerica Park.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The biggest signing of the 2009 Winter Meetings was of course a deal that involved the New York Yankees.

A three-way trade between the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, and the Arizona Diamondbacks was the most intriguing, a deal that included the following players;

• CF Curtis Granderson to the New York Yankees
• SP Edwin Jackson and SP Ian Kennedy to the Arizona Diamondbacks
• SP Max Scherzer, RP Phil Coke, CF Austin Jackson, and RP Daniel Schlereth to the Detroit Tigers

The main components of that deal were Granderson, who was nothing short of a star center fielder of the Detroit Tigers, and Austin Jackson, the prized prospect of the New York Yankees.

Nearing the midway point of the 2010 season, the Detroit Tigers have snuck one past the Yanks, so to speak.

Jackson is enjoying a decent rookie season, while only costing the Tigers a base salary of $400,000.  He leads the club in stolen bases (13), ranking fourth in batting average (.306), and coming fifth in OBP (.353).

Granderson, on the other hand, is struggling on the field and costing the Yankees a pretty penny in the bank account—he is owed $5.5 million next year, $8.25 million in 2011 and $10 million in 2012, and his contract includes a $13 million club option for 2013 with a $2 million buyout , (this courtesy of ESPN.com ).

After 56 games, Granderson is hitting .232, with a .309 OBP, while slugging an anemic .412. His OPS of .721 ranks him 46 out of 85 AL outfielders.

More specifically, that ranks him between Juan Rivera of the Los Angeles Angels and Scott Podsednik of the Kansas City Royals.

Granderson has always been known as one of the good guys in the game as stated by Jim Leyland, Granderson’s former manager.

“I think, in my opinion, Curtis Granderson is one of the things that’s all good about baseball in today’s baseball world. He is one heck of a player. He has a great face. He’s very bright. He’s very articulate. He’s everything that’s good about baseball,” Leyland said. “He’s the total package.”

Unfortunately, there is a disturbing trend in Granderson’s ability over the past two seasons that might cost him more than a contract, but playing time in the “BIGS”.

His ability to hit left-handed pitching is becoming a serious problem.

In ’07, he batted .160 against lefties.  In ’08 there was some significant improvement batting .259.  That appeared to be an aberration, as ’09 saw  that number drop back down .183, and presently sees him hovering at .197.

The 2007 and 2008 seasons are where Granderson really started to gain credibility throughout the league.

Playing tremendous and consistent defense is natural for an athlete who has a career .993 fielding percentage committing only 14 errors in almost 1900 total chances.

As mentioned, in ’07 and ’08, Granderson average 22 plus homers a year with 70 RBI, he was on base nearly 37% of the time and had a single season career high slugging percentage in ’07 of .552.

With all this information, you would think his numbers would get better. However, at this point in his career, those numbers have taking a drastic nosedive.

A career .279 hitter prior to 2009, Granderson saw his average drop to .249, although he hit career highs in homers (30) and RBI (71).

The downturn in average has continued this year.

When scouring FanGraphs , two pieces of information stuck out to me that could explain Granderson’s struggles of late.

First, his “O-Swing Percentage” (percentage of pitches a batter swings at outside of the strike zone) is at a career high—23.6 percent.  Meaning, patience at the plate is wearing thin, more or less based on the struggles and pressure placed upon him by the fans and the media.

Second, Granderson’s fly ball percentage has been at the highest they have ever been—49.3 percent in ’09 and 45 percent in ’10, five percent higher than in ’08.

Whether or not Granderson has become homer happy, or that his mechanics need a tweak, we may not know.  The numbers do tell us that something is wrong in his swing or pitch selection is possibly the major factor.

One thing is for sure, playing in New York is a lot different from playing in Detroit.  Every little thing is scrutinized—every out dissected, every boo heard just that much more.

Being a part of a major trade gives Granderson some leeway, as more time will be given to work through this funk. But, once the second half rolls around and the numbers are not moving in the right direction, knowing the Yankees and their history, a change could happen sooner than later.

This article can also be found on The GM’s Perspective

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

NOTE: team and player statistics updated through Saturday, July 3.

1. Tampa Bay Rays (47-33)—Last Week: Second

Offense Rank: Fourth
Pitching Rank: Fourth
Last 10 Games: 5-5

2. New York Yankees (49-31)—Last Week: First

Offense Rank: Second
Pitching Rank: Ninth
Last 10 Games: 6-4

3. Texas Rangers (48-32)—Last Week: Sixth

Offense Rank: Third
Pitching Rank: 10th
Last 10 Games: 6-4

4. Boston Red Sox (49-32)—Last Week: Fourth

Offense Rank: First
Pitching Rank: 21st
Last 10 Games: 6-4

5. San Diego Padres (48-33)—Last Week: Seventh

Offense Rank: 22nd
Pitching Rank: First
Last 10 Games: 6-4

6. Atlanta Braves (38-33)—Last Week: Third

Offense Rank: Ninth
Pitching Rank: Fifth
Last 10 Games: 6-4

7. St. Louis Cardinals (44-37)—Last Week: Fifth

Offense Rank: 19th
Pitching Rank: Second
Last 10 Games: 4-6

8. Minnesota Twins (44-37)—Last Week: Eighth

Offense Rank: 12th
Pitching Rank: Seventh
Last 10 Games: 4-6

9. New York Mets (45-36)—Last Week: 11th
Offense Rank: 15th
Pitching Rank: Sixth
Last 10 Games: 4-6

10. Philadelphia Phillies (42-37)—Last Week: 13th

Offense Rank: 11th
Pitching Rank: Eighth
Last 10 Games: 5-5

11. Cincinnati Reds (46-36)—Last Week: 16th

Offense Rank: Fifth
Pitching Rank: 19th
Last 10 Games: 7-3

12. Colorado Rockies (43-38)—Last Week: 10th

Offense Rank: 10th
Pitching Rank: 13th
Last 10 Games: 5-5

13. San Francisco Giants (41-39)—Last Week: Ninth

Offense Rank: 23rd
Pitching Rank: Third
Last 10 Games: 2-8

14. Los Angeles Dodgers (44-36)—Last Week: 17th

Offense Rank: Eighth
Pitching Rank: 18th
Last 10 Games: 5-5

15. Florida Marlins (37-43)—Last Week: 14th

Offense Rank: 13th
Pitching Rank: 16th
Last 10 Games: 3-7

16. Detroit Tigers (43-36)—Last Week: 15th

Offense Rank: 18th
Pitching Rank: 15th
Last 10 Games: 5-5

17. Toronto Blue Jays (41-41)—Last Week: 12th

Offense Rank: 16th
Pitching Rank: 20th
Last 10 Games: 3-7

18. Oakland Athletics (40-42)—Last Week: 20th

Offense Rank: 21st
Pitching Rank: 11th
Last 10 Games: 6-4

19. Los Angeles Angels (45-38)—Last Week: 18th

Offense Rank: Seventh
Pitching Rank: 24th
Last 10 Games: 5-5

20. Chicago White Sox (41-38)—Last Week: 19th

Offense Rank: 20th
Pitching Rank: 14th
Last 10 Games: 6-4

21. Milwaukee Brewers (37-44)—Last Week: 24th

Offense Rank: Sixth
Pitching Rank: 27th
Last 10 Games: 6-4

22. Kansas City Royals (36-45)—Last Week: 23rd

Offense Rank: 17th
Pitching Rank: 23rd
Last 10 Games: 7-3

23. Chicago Cubs (35-46)—Last Week: 21st

Offense Rank: 26th
Pitching Rank: 17th
Last 10 Games: 4-6

24. Washington Nationals (36-46)—Last Week: 22nd

Offense Rank: 24th
Pitching Rank: 22nd
Last 10 Games: 3-7

25. Seattle Mariners (33-37)—Last Week: 26th

Offense Rank: 29th
Pitching Rank: 12th
Last 10 Games: 4-6

26. Cleveland Indians (32-48)—Last Week: 25th

Offense Rank: 25th
Pitching Rank: 25th
Last 10 Games: 6-4

27. Arizona Diamondbacks (32-49)—Last Week: 27th

Offense Rank: 14th
Pitching Rank: 30th
Last 10 Games: 5-5

28. Houston Astros (32-50)—Last Week: 28th

Offense Rank: 27th
Pitching Rank: 26th
Last 10 Games: 5-5

29. Baltimore Orioles (24-56)—Last Week: 29th

Offense Rank: 28th
Pitching Rank: 28th
Last 10 Games: 5-5

30. Pittsburgh Pirates (29-52)—Last Week: 30th

Offense Rank: 30th
Pitching Rank: 29th
Last 10 Games: 4-6

Carter’s MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year Award Races

American League MVP Award:

1. Josh Hamilton (Rangers): .340 avg., 105 hits, 19 HR, 59 RBI
2. Miguel Cabrera (Tigers): .338 avg., 97 hits, 20 HR, 68 RBI
3. Robinson Cano (Yankees): .346 avg., 109 hits, 16 HR, 55 RBI
4. Vladimir Guerrero (Rangers): .331 avg., 97 hits, 18 HR, 70 RBI
5. Justin Morneau (Twins): .342 avg., 97 hits, 17 HR, 54 RBI
6. Paul Konerko (White Sox): .297 avg., 79 hits, 20 HR, 57 RBI
7. Vernon Wells (Blue Jays): .274 avg., 84 hits, 19 HR, 48 RBI
8. Jose Bautista (Blue Jays): .229 avg., 64 hits, 21 HR, 52 RBI
9. Kevin Youkilis (Red Sox): .263 avg., 60 hits, 17 HR, 54 RBI
10. David Ortiz (Red Sox): .299 avg., 81 hits, 16 HR, 53 RBI

National League MVP Award:

1. Albert Pujols (Cardinals): .306 avg., 90 hits, 20 HR, 60 RBI
2. Joey Votto (Reds): .313 avg., 89 hits, 19 hits, 19 HR, 57 RBI
3. Ryan Howard (Phillies): .296 avg., 93 hits, 15 HR, 58 RBI
4. Scott Rolen (Reds): .302 avg., 80 hits, 17 HR, 56 RBI
5. Corey Hart (Brewers): .287 avg., 78 hits, 18 HR, 60 RBI
6. Adrian Gonzalez (Padres): .295 avg., 86 hits, 16 HR, 51 RBI
7. Adam Dunn (Nationals): .276 avg., 81 hits, 17 HR, 49 RBI
8. Mark Reynolds (Diamondbacks): .221 avg., 59 hits, 19 HR, 53 RBI
9. Prince Fielder (Brewers): .266 avg., 80 avg., 18 hits, 18 HR, 36 RBI
10. Colby Rasmus (Cardinals): .296 avg., 93 hits, 15 HR, 58 RBI

American League Cy Young Award:

1. Jon Lester (Red Sox): 10-3, 2.76 ERA, 118 strikeouts
2. David Price (Rays): 11-4, 2.42 ERA, 90 strikeouts
3. Jered Weaver (Angels): 8-3, 2.82 ERA, 124 strikeouts
4. Cliff Lee (Mariners): 7-3, 2.45 ERA, 78 strikeouts
5. Andy Pettitte (Yankees): 10-2, 2.82 ERA, 78 strikeouts
6. Trevor Cahill (Athletics): 8-2, 2.74 ERA, 56 strikeouts
7. Jeff Niemann (Rays): 6-2, 2.80 ERA, 75 strikeouts
8. Clay Buchholz (Red Sox): 10-4, 2.45 ERA, 64 strikeouts
9. Felix Hernandez (Mariners): 6-5, 3.03 ERA, 116 strikeouts
10. Jason Vargas (Mariners): 6-4, 3.22 ERA, 65 strikeouts

National League Cy Young Award:

1. Josh Johnson (Marlins): 8-3, 1.82 ERA, 115 strikeouts
2. Ubaldo Jimenez (Rockies): 14-1, 2.27 ERA, 107 strikeouts
3. Yovani Gallardo (Brewers): 8-3, 2.56 ERA, 120 strikeouts
4. Adam Wainwright (Cardinals): 11-5, 2.34 ERA, 114 strikeouts
5. Jaime Garcia (Cardinals): 8-4, 2.10 ERA, 77 strikeouts
6. Tim Hudson (Braves): 8-3, 2.37 ERA, 51 strikeouts
7. Roy Halladay (Phillies): 9-7, 2.42 ERA, 112 strikeouts
8. Mat Latos (Padres): 9-4, 2-62 ERA, 91 strikeouts
9. Clayton Richard (Padres): 6-4, 2.74 ERA, 81 strikeouts
10. Matt Cain (Giants): 6-7, 2.93 ERA, 76 strikeouts

American League Rookie of the Year:

1. Austin Jackson (Tigers): .305 avg., 89 hits, 1 HR, 19 RBI
2. Brennan Boesch (Tigers): .345 avg., 77 hits, 12 HR, 46 RBI
3. Reid Brignac (Rays): .277 avg., 49 hits, 2 HR, 24 RBI
4. Justin Smoak (Rangers): .205 avg., 45 hits, 8 HR, 34 RBI
5. John Jaso (Rays): .274 avg., 43 hits, 3 HR, 26 RBI

National League Rookie of the Year:

1. Gaby Sanchez (Marlins): .308 avg., 89 hits, 9 HR, 38 RBI
2. David Freese (Cardinals): .296 avg., 71 hits, 4 HR, 36 RBI
3. Ike Davis (Mets): .261 avg., 66 hits, 10 HR, 38 RBI
4. Ian Desmond (Nationals): .255 avg., 65 hits, 4 HR, 34 RBI
5. Alcides Escobar (Brewers): .244 avg., 65 hits, 2 HR, 24 RBI

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

2010 certainly seems to have provided one of baseball’s most dynamic draft classes in years. Every corner of the Majors seems to have itself a prominent and productive rookie.

Whether its speed, power, consistent hitting, or power pitching; every base seems to be covered.

Here’s to the rookies of 2010. If an All-Star team was strictly comprised of MLB rookies, it would probably look something like this…

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The Tigers head into this 2010 season with championship aspirations and a talented roster, but they have also relied heavily on the support of a few Tigers.

The club has recently floundered offensively, allowing more runs than they have scored. Most recently, the Tigers were shut out by the subpar Chicago White Sox.

In terms of pitching, the only bright spot has been the Tiger bullpen. The starting pitching has been the definition of mediocre.

Here are four Tigers that need to continue to carry the team on their backs if they hope to be successful this season.

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