After the All-Star break the Detroit Tigers were trailing the Chicago White Sox by a half game in the American League Central and at that point didn’t have any gaping holes. They could have used a starting pitcher preferably a left hander, since they didn’t have one in the starting rotation after releasing Dontrelle Willis on May 29th.  

Andy Oliver who they called up wasn’t quite ready yet with his ability to throw strikes.  Ted Lilly seemed like he could have been destined to Detroit in that case.   Their offense had been steady placing the team in the top ten in the majors in hits and batting average. 

Their horse in the middle Miguel Cabrera is putting up Triple Crown numbers, as he sits in the top three in batting average, home runs, and has a substantial lead in RBIs.  He also leads the majors by being a part of 32% of the Tigers runs, 5% ahead of Ryan Howard of the Phillies.

Fast forward and we’ll check in with the present day Tigers.  After suffering injuries to Brandon Inge–broken hand out 4 weeks, Magglio Ordonez–fractured ankle out 8 weeks, and Carlos Guillen who pulled his hamstring, the Tigers are looking like their AAA affiliate Toledo Mudhens. 

The serious injuries actually started earlier in the season when they lost their 8^th inning setup man Joel Zumaya who fractured his elbow during the most productive season of his career. In the starting lineup only four players have not seen any time in the minors this year. Rookie Austin Jackson, Johnny Damon, Miguel Cabrera and Gerald Laird, who is hitting a whopping .187.   

Miguel’s Triple Crown chances may be shot now that he shouldn’t expect anything decent to hit with the lineup surrounding him.  Another scary thought is Brennan Boesch. The Tigers’ rookie slugger was tearing up pitching from the day he was called up but is currently battling a 4-for-37 slump, that’s a .108 average.

The Tigers are now are in 3^rd place three games back from the White Sox, after a 3-7 stretch in their last ten.  The road is not getting any easier for the Tigers either as the next 7 series on their schedule is against teams with a record better then .500.  In that stretch they also face the White Sox twice. 

So what are the Tigers to do after missing the postseason last year in heartbreaking fashion.  We all remember losing in extra innings to the Minnesota Twins in an extra game to decide the AL Central crown.  The Twins last season overcame a seven-game gap in the final month, went 17-4 to pull even on the final weekend. 

Do they give up and pack it in and hope for another next year? I hope not, Detroit needs to make a move to try and keep this team’s playoffs chances alive.  I agree with GM Dave Dombrowski to not give up prospects for a rental player for two months.  The Tigers don’t have the depth for one player to make them a World Series Champion.  What they do have though is a good team with a ton of money coming off the books this year.  On opening day the Tigers posted the 6^th highest salary in Major League Baseball at $122 million and $52 million of that will be coming off the payroll next year.  

Coming off the books are Dontrelle Willis $12 million, Jeremy Bonderman $12.5 million, Nate Robertson $10 million, Gerald Laird $4 million and Magglio Ordonez  $17.5 million. Mags had an option for $15 million for next season but he won’t make enough at bats this year to pick that up so he will be a free agent next season.   With all that cap room I think you make a move for a player and then sign him to an extension.  The only player on the roster for the 2011 season that is being vastly overpaid is Carlos Guillen.  Carlos will bring in around $13 million for two bad hamstrings a .280 batting average and the worst range in baseball at second base.  

The Tigers have three viable options before the trade deadline.  Their first and second  option is to make a play at Corey Hart or Jayson Werth.  The Tigers must give up a first tier pitching prospect plus another position player to land him.  Once you land him you make sure you sign him to a nice 4 year extension that takes the place of Magglio at right field for the remainder of this season plus the next few years.  If that can’t happen you go after Josh Willingham of the Nationals.  He is not as valuable and will come cheaper than Werth and Hart but still has numbers that are decent enough to make an impact .272 15 HR’s and 50 RBI’s. 

The problem with Willingham is he can’t step into the 3rd spot in your order more like 2nd or 6^th in the American League.  I can’t see us going after Adam Dunn because I feel like he is a rental guy and he is making $15 million this season. To re-sign him to an extension would cost way too much money for his overall worth. 

I hope the Tigers don’t sit and do nothing because the product on the field is going to be tough to watch for the remaining months.  “To my knowledge, we have absolutely nothing going on,” manager Jim Leyland said. If that is the case I feel bad for the skipper because Matt Garza simply overpowered us for a no-hitter yesterday by throwing fast balls in the top of the zone and an occasional curveball for a strike in his historical game yesterday. 

If we don’t make any moves there are a few things that will be certain for the remainder of the year. There will be no playoffs, no Cabrera Triple Crown and a lot less Tigers fans going to the ballpark.  The Detroit Tigers rank 13^th overall in major league baseball with over 30,000 fans on average attending their home games. There will also probably be another no hitter against this Tigers team in the months ahead if nothing is done.   For all us Michiganders, I hope we see something happened soon because football season is still too far away when we were right in the pennant race such a short time ago.

Used with permission of the author.

Mateo Ferda is a Detroit-based sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

From the surface the 2010 Home Run Derby looked as plain as the incessant suburban sprawl surrounding Angel Stadium in Anaheim. The lineup was as unspectacular as the list of guests appearing on “Last Call with Carson Daily.” And like I do every time I see the first few frames of “Last Call,” I asked myself why?

Why was Chris Young in a home run hitting contest? Why did Bobby Valentine call Big Papi “Jose Ortiz?” Why did Hanley Ramirez steal Aqua Man’s shoes? Why is Corey Hart’s beard a blonde replica of Abraham Lincoln’s? And why doesn’t someone let Carson use an actual studio? Are times that bad?

I’ll admit it, I was ready to dump on the derby. I had already decided it was baseball’s slam-dunk contest – going on for far too long and involving too few stars.

But all of a sudden David Ortiz dug into the box, spit on his batting gloves, clapped his hands, waved his magic 38-ounce wand, and single-handedly stole the show.

Big Papi was his gregarious self – beaming a broad smile, swinging from his heals, and fraternizing with everyone within an arm’s reach of him or any of his 32 homers. His adorable son was cheering him on from first-base line. Ortiz even made Ramirez – a ballplayer whose talents are obscured by a small market and a bad reputation – come across as affable if not innocent.

Ramirez served as the necessary salve in a competition that desperately needs at least two competitors at the top of their game. So he clicked his teal slippers, played the antagonist, and put on a laser show of his own.

But even when it was about Ramirez, it was about Big Papi.

Oritz vacillated between being the powerful slugger with laser focus, then the father figure to his fellow countrymen, wiping Ramirez’s sweaty brow with a towel, and cooling him down with some mid-round Gatorade. The two spoke after about the bond that grew between them during Ramirez’s time in the Red Sox organization.

Ortiz even did what no one saw coming – teaming a Red Sox up with a Yankee.

With Ortiz’s usual pitcher, Ino Guerrero, in the Dominican Republic for the All-Star break, Yankees’ bench coach Tony Pena was Papi’s hand-picked hurler on Monday. The move paid dividends as Papi was in a groove all night.

Once Ramirez grounded his last out softly through the left side, and the trophy belonged to Ortiz, Big Papi added another serving of human drama, dedicating the trophy to his friend, Jose Lima, the former Dominican player who recently died at the age of 37.

The night wasn’t without its flaws. At more than 2 ½ hours long the derby could use a nip here and tuck there. Miguel Cabrera and Will Ferrell both should probably reconsider the man-perm, and ESPN still hasn’t found away to combine its two greatest broadcasting tools – the ultra-slow-motion cam and Erin Andrews.

But for one balmy night in Southern California, Ortiz gave the Home Run Derby a much-needed facelift.

Used with permission of the author.

Theo is a staff reporter and feature writer for the Marin Independent Journal where he covers local prep and college sports. As an Associate Production Manager for ESPN, he helped produce Sunday Night Baseball among other national ESPN and ABC Sports telecasts. In addition to his contributions to Sports Climax, he is a columnist for Examiner.com and is the play-by-play voice for Sonoma State University baseball and softball.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

ANAHEIM – There’s a new line-up for the 2010 State Farm Home Run Derby and familiar names like sluggers Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard and Josh Hamilton, who have a combined 80 home runs this season, won’t be in it. But don’t fret, there are plenty of other guys on the roster who can rip the cover off the ball and knock them over the fence.

The show begins Monday night at 8pm on ESPN and first time participants in the contest include Milwaukee Brewers Corey Hart, Arizona Diamondbacks Chris Young, N.Y. Yankees Nick Swisher, Florida Marlins Hanley Ramirez and the Blue Jays Vernon Wells. Rounding out the roster are Matt Holliday, Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

Cabrera who returns to the event for the second time and enters the competition second in MLB with 22 round trippers, is many people’s favorite to win, including his teammate, rookie sensation Brennan Boesch who let his pick be known to his local newspaper The Detroit Free Press.

“If Scott Pickens, the batting practice guy, throws strikes, he’ll win. Miggy’s got the most power in baseball, I think. So if he throws strikes, Miguel is going to put on a show, and it will be fun to watch.”

“In the Home Run Derby, you have to be aggressive, because it’s a lot of pressure,” Cabrera said. “It’s different, because you don’t have the batting cage. You have more people see you. But if you get relaxed and put your best swing on the ball, it’s going to be OK.”

Swisher is also feeling some nerves well before the event.

 “It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’m nervous already, but I’m going to go out and have an absolute blast. I’m going to soak up that moment.”

Not in the competition is the MLB leading home run hitter, Blue Jays Jose Bautista who has hit 24 over the fence. Not seeing him in this line-up reminds us that the obvious choices do not always make it to the annual All-Star games.

Adding to the fun of the event, two banners were hung in the outfields and if any player hits those during the competition, Master Card will donate $1 million to charity.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

LAKELAND, Fla. – Coming off a bad incident that occurred during the Detroit Tigers’ late season run for a playoff spot last year, power hitter Miguel Cabrera has been campaigning with the media to clear the air.The All-Star first baseman while playing in the midst of a giant $152.3 million contract was arrested after blowing a 0.26 blood-alcohol reading which is approximately 3 times more than the Michigan legal limit for driving. He also had bruises that were speculated to be from a domestic dispute he was involved in.

After Tigers’ GM Dave Dombrowski picked Cabrera up from the slammer, Cabrera apologized to his teammates for the incident.

The timing of the event couldn’t have been any worse. The Tigers were battling the Minnesota Twins for a playoff spot when it occurred then went on to lose the AL Central after losing the tiebreaker game against Minnesota.

Cabrera spent the off season undergoing counseling and says he gave up drinking.

“You guys write in the paper ‘alcoholic,’ that’s not right,” said Cabrera. “I don’t know how to explain, but it’s not an alcohol problem.”

“When you want something and you know what you’re doing is bad, you say this thing is not right, this thing is not going to help me in my work,” he said. “So first you’ve got to think about yourself. First you help yourself and then you can help everybody.”

Referring to earlier interviews with the Detroit media, Cabrera said, “I was comfortable talking about everything because I think you can’t hide it. I can’t hide what I’m doing; I can’t lie to people when they see something. If I worry about what everybody is saying, there is going to be a lot on my mind. I don’t want that. I want to do everything I can to play baseball.”

The 26-year-old Cabrera started his career at the age of 20 when he played in 87 games for the Florida Marlins in 2003 and is now recognized as one of MLB’s most fearsome hitters.

Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland agrees with Cabrera’s decision to confront his personal matter head-on with the media. “He took on a challenge that he needed to take on. That’s a sign of maturity,” said Leyland.

“I know it was wrong what I did. but I can’t hide that, you know?” Cabrera said. “It’s there, so I have to be a man and say the truth, and say I made a mistake and I’ll work in the season to be better. It’s part of life to be a man and don’t try to hide something if it’s broken.”

Are you listening Tiger Woods and Ari Fleischer?