Red Sox > Tigers

[BeerAndPoker]

Cabrera should not be trying to score from 1st it's such a high risk play not just for an out but his own health. Having no outs on board is another reason to stay at third but now they have one thanks to that horrible call to send Cabbie home.

Tigers should ride with Sanchez till at least the 9th even if they are able to add to this three run lead.

I don't know why they pulled him and put in Joba. Really regret not laying off some at +850 to lock in a win. Likely Tigers feel the same way about pulling Sanchez.

Brad Ausmus can't manage a game. This is the series right here and any team in baseball on the road wants to grab one out of the first two games which holds true even more for a five game series.

Sanchez should have at least pitched the 8th and if he got out of it quickly I'd roll him out for the 9th too. The only positive that can come out of this is if the Tigers do win they can play Sanchez again on Sunday but I wouldn't have rolled the dice here and had faith you wouldn't need him then with Price going out there for game 3.

[BeerAndPoker]

LMAO. I just can't watch this anymore. Pulling Sanchez after he was dominating and trusting the rest of these mutts in pen.

[simpdog]

I don't know why they pulled him and put in Joba. Really regret not laying off some at +850 to lock in a win. Likely Tigers feel the same way about pulling Sanchez.

Brad Ausmus can't manage a game. This is the series right here and any team in baseball on the road wants to grab one out of the first two games which holds true even more for a five game series.

Sanchez should have at least pitched the 8th and if he got out of it quickly I'd roll him out for the 9th too. The only positive that can come out of this is if the Tigers do win they can play Sanchez again on Sunday but I wouldn't have rolled the dice here and had faith you wouldn't need him then with Price going out there for game 3.

ABSOLUTELY RETARDED. I hope he's fired.

[BCR]

Has to be one of the worst sports weeks in Michigan sports history.

Michigan blown out by Minnesota. National headlines every day about football program being a dumpster fire. Tigers lose game 1. Rich rod beats Oregon at Oregon. Tigers blow game 2. I'm feeling a Rutgers/ Lions opponent parlay is in order. Little scared as MSU is my favorite college pick this weekend. Hopefully East Lansing is immune to the fail.

[ToasterOven]

Holy LOL.

[chinamaniac]

Cabrera should not be trying to score from 1st it's such a high risk play not just for an out but his own health. Having no outs on board is another reason to stay at third but now they have one thanks to that horrible call to send Cabbie home.

Tigers should ride with Sanchez till at least the 9th even if they are able to add to this three run lead.

I don't understand why they don't just let Sanchez finish the game

[BeerAndPoker]

Cabrera should not be trying to score from 1st it's such a high risk play not just for an out but his own health. Having no outs on board is another reason to stay at third but now they have one thanks to that horrible call to send Cabbie home.

Tigers should ride with Sanchez till at least the 9th even if they are able to add to this three run lead.

I don't understand why they don't just let Sanchez finish the game

That is what they should have done. It's really a no brainer decision especially with this crazy bull pen that stunk it up the day before.

Ausmus is saying in the press conference they didn't expect Sanchez to throw more then 35 pitches and sending him back out there was pushing it. I know he was hurt but come on it's playoff baseball here you throw out many of these rules this time of the year.

[lewfather]

Joba Chamberlain has an ERA of 108.00 through 2 games of the ALDS vs Orioles. Outside of Anibal Sanchez the Tigers best bullpen guy has been Phil Coke who has a 27.0 earned run average and 6.00 WHIP.

[chinamaniac]

I don't understand why they don't just let Sanchez finish the game

That is what they should have done. It's really a no brainer decision especially with this crazy bull pen that stunk it up the day before.

Ausmus is saying in the press conference they didn't expect Sanchez to throw more then 35 pitches and sending him back out there was pushing it. I know he was hurt but come on it's playoff baseball here you throw out many of these rules this time of the year.

Yep, we talked about this on the podcast the other night too ironically. Sanchez was cruising. He has been a starter for years and when healthy he may be there best arm. If he's healthy enough to pitch you just let him go till he gets into trouble IMO. He starts getting shaky then you pull him

[NaturalBornHustler]

Orioles magic. Feel it happen!!!

[BeerAndPoker]

Big Al should be coming in too. He has been pitching well for a while now. You have to roll with the hot pitchers and Joba is not one of them.

Sanchez did an interview a few minutes ago. All I could make out of it was that with a 3 run lead he understands not pitching there and the eighth inning is Joba's job.

It's always funny watching players interviewed this time of the year who all back the management decisions and players that come in. I would love to see some player come out and say: "What do I think of our teams bullpen? They fucking suck man!"

[Detroit]

[Hockey Guy]

Is Detroit's bullpen really this bad? Holy fucking shit.

After watching the conclusion to yesterday's game I think I can safely state for the record that yes, yes they really are that bad.

[Sanlmar]

Detroit ran out to an early season lead. Something like 27-11.

Detroit was pretty much a .500 team after that.

Yeah, the bullpen sucks. 2 or 3 years now.

But don't forget the long stretches with absolutely no offense this year.

Miggy's joke about refusing the playoff bonus was pretty funny in light of the first round bust.

[BeerAndPoker]

I'm all for whoever wins but come on we aren't even three innings in and these umps have botched two calls against Detroit.

[Detroit]

Avila is a pretty good defensive catcher and managed his staff well.

Catchers with power or good average even are like unicorns.

Now Avila's squash is scrambled too. Post trade deadline.

McCann?

I have exceeded my post count and will let BNP or Lew come in to close.

Please get this done Dumbrowski.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/ml...vila/18960851/

Report: Detroit Tigers offering to trade Alex Avila
By James Jahnke, Detroit Free Press 9:45 a.m. EST November 13, 2014

There's a (large?) segment of the Detroit Tigers fan base that is not a fan of catcher Alex Avila.

No matter how much teammates and coaches praise his defense and game management and handling of the pitching staff, many folks can't get over his boom-or-mostly-bust offensive production.

Well, the naysayers might be getting their wish. Avila appears to be on the trading block.

Boston Globe baseball writer Nick Cafardo tweeted that the "Tigers are listening on catcher Alex Avila; Braves and Red Sox have some interest in LH hitter."

CBS Sports baseball writer Jon Heyman corroborated the part about Avila being discussed in trades this morning.

Baseball's general managers are meeting this week in Arizona, leading to the uptick in hot-stove reports. The Tigers consummated a trade late Wednesday night, sending No. 1 prospect Devon Travis to the Toronto Blue Jays for outfielder Anthony Gose.

They also reportedly are close to re-signing designated hitter Victor Martinez to a four-year, $68-million contract.


FREEP
Jeff Seidel: Detroit Tigers had no choice but to re-sign Victor Martinez
Avila, 27, is a career .247 hitter, though he hasn't reached that mark in any of the last three seasons. This past season, he batted a career-low .218 and had 11 home runs and 47 RBIs in 390 at-bats across 124 games.

[ToasterOven]

I don't get the Avila hate. He had a better OBP than Kinsler, Hunter and Castellanos. He did have a crummy year and might be damaged, but he's been hated for a long time. I think people are still stuck looking at average instead of OBP.

[Detroit]

I don't get the Avila hate. He had a better OBP than Kinsler, Hunter and Castellanos. He did have a crummy year and might be damaged, but he's been hated for a long time. I think people are still stuck looking at average instead of OBP.

151 K's in 390 AB's

42 K's in 106 AB's vs LHP

career postseason 43 K's in 110 AB's .145 avg .230 OBP

[BeerAndPoker]

People have high expectations of Avila because in 2011 he hit .295 with 19 home runs and 82 ribeyes. While that was overachieving he went down to .243, .227, and .218 the next three seasons.

The problem with Avila is he takes a beating worse then any catcher because of where/how he squats behind the plate. He has had a bunch of concussions and that should scare teams who might be looking at him.

I'm not for or against the idea but I do think the Tigers need a better back up plan then Holiday. Avila started 141 games in 2011 but his body won't likely allow him to play that many again or get back to his career year where he most definitely overachieved. As far as catchers go the league has very solid hitting catchers though. Even someone like Brian McCann is only a shell of his old self the past few seasons.

Too bad VMart can't catch and really shouldn't anymore since his bat is so important but if you think about it any team in the AL who can have too solid catchers that hit around .250 or more with good defense would be huge especially if they have some pop in their bat. These guys could split the load and DH some as well.

[ToasterOven]

People have high expectations of Avila because in 2011 he hit .295 with 19 home runs and 82 ribeyes. While that was overachieving he went down to .243, .227, and .218 the next three seasons.

The problem with Avila is he takes a beating worse then any catcher because of where/how he squats behind the plate. He has had a bunch of concussions and that should scare teams who might be looking at him.

I'm not for or against the idea but I do think the Tigers need a better back up plan then Holiday. Avila started 141 games in 2011 but his body won't likely allow him to play that many again or get back to his career year where he most definitely overachieved. As far as catchers go the league has very solid hitting catchers though. Even someone like Brian McCann is only a shell of his old self the past few seasons.

Too bad VMart can't catch and really shouldn't anymore since his bat is so important but if you think about it any team in the AL who can have too solid catchers that hit around .250 or more with good defense would be huge especially if they have some pop in their bat. These guys could split the load and DH some as well.

I agree with this. The back up situation is bad, and Avila was set up for hatred by his career year that he doesn't have the skill set to repeat.