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I'm glad the Tigers have spiced up baseball's winter meetings but it comes at the expense of any excitement next summer. Go ahead and circle the Tigers as Central Division champs joining the Red Sox and Yankees in the playoffs. American League play will technically begin in October. What a huge move for the Tigers and no one can be happier than Jim Leyland who came to Detroit to win it all before retiring and clearly has the full support of Dave Dombrowski and Mike Ilitch. This instantly makes the Tigers a strong contender for the World Series but it doesn't come cheap. Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin have star written across their chest but that's the gamble you must take. I'm not all that high on Dontrelle Willis, one of the more overrated pitchers the last two years, but perhaps with trade talk behind him he'll become more consistent and continue his good starts in August and September. Win-Win for both teams although I'm not as big about it as most are from the Tigers perspective. All prospects gone and we're not totally sure about Willis. Cabrera makes the lineup ridiculous and that could be enough (lost 25-50 lbs apparently).
Here's some other reaction around these Interwebs:
Blockbuster trade risky, yes, but it's the right move to win now [Mitch Albom] - "Imagine what they might have done if they were looking for a trade. Folks, this is a huge deal. An expensive deal. A bold deal. It's the kind of deal that less nimble teams watch from the sidelines, wringing their hands like Hamlet. But the Tigers are only interested in "to be" these days, not "not to be."
Tigers Catch the AL by Its Tail [BP Unfiltered] - "Here’s the key number in this deal: Four. That’s the number of relatively cheap arbitration-eligible seasons that the Tigers are picking up between Cabrera and Willis. Half of the league is willing to bend over backward–perhaps giving up a package analogous to what the Tigers just gave up–for one season of Johan Santana. Although Willis is not the pitcher than Santana is by a long shot, he’s an excellent buy-low guy who was mostly victimized by some poor defense and some poor luck in Miami last year, and an extremely viable #2/#3 starter. And Cabrera might well be the equal of Santana in terms of 2008 value. In terms of overall value, the Tigers are getting perhaps three times as much incoming value as the Red Sox might get for one year of Santana. Four is also the number of high draft picks that the Tigers will get if Cabrera and Willis eventually depart for free agency. For a team that drafts as aggressively as the Tigers do–those picks could turn into four more Rick Porcellos–that’s an extremely non-trivial factor. Finally, four is the number of American League teams that make the playoffs. This trade addresses clear areas of need for the Tigers, and could easily be worth as many as seven or eight games in the wins column. From my vantage point, the Tigers, Indians, Yankees, and Red Sox are now in a four-way tie for the Best Team in Baseball heading into 2008; it’s going to be fascinating to see which of the those teams is the odd man out."
As the Smoke Clears... [Bless You Boys] - "And if you ever doubted Jim Leyland was a cowboy, on a steel horse he rides, this whole thing apparently began when he went up to someone in the Marlins' front office and said, "We want Cabrera." That is awesome."
Lastly, look at this lineup projection. Good Lord. With Jim Leyland as manager, hopefully better luck this year with injuries, pretty sure they'll be my AL favorite ... until the Red Sox sign Johan Santana.
As the Smoke Clears... [Bless You Boys] - "And if you ever doubted Jim Leyland was a cowboy, on a steel horse he rides, this whole thing apparently began when he went up to someone in the Marlins' front office and said, "We want Cabrera." That is awesome."
This Huge Tigers-Marlins Trade: I’m Lovin’ It [Futon Report] - "Dombrowski gave away one “untouchable” five-tool prospect (Maybin), one future All-Star pitcher (Miller), one future starting pitcher (Cruz), one serviceable catcher (Rabelo), and two long-term projected pitchers (Badenhop, Trahern). In return, they have a 25-year-old third baseman and a 26-year-old lefty pitcher. Did they give away too much? Probably, but you sometimes have to give away too much to successfully move on to the next level. Stockpiling amazing prospects is nice, but the Cubs and Twins are great with cultivating prospects and yet never do anything with them. This reminds me of the way the Arizona Diamondbacks began building a championship team in 1999 then notarized that goal with a 2001 World Series win. Of course, they ate it pretty bad the next few years, but they purged out the high-price players, drafted well, and now they’re good again. By this logic, the Tigers are immediate contenders for the 2008 or 2009 World Series, then will revert to 90s Tigers by 2010 when they have nothing left but Bobby Higginson Jr. and the estranged brother of Bob Hamelin."
Lastly, look at this lineup projection. Good Lord. With Jim Leyland as manager, hopefully better luck this year with injuries, pretty sure they'll be my AL favorite ... until the Red Sox sign Johan Santana.
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