I Don’t Get It
March 30th, 2009 Posted in 2009 Season, Brent Clevlen, Jeff Larish, Josh Anderson, Rudy DarrowThe Tigers are an organization short on pitching. Not many people will try and argue that point. If they have depth anywhere in the organization, it’s in the outfield. So, naturally the Tigers traded a minor league pitcher for an outfielder.
I don’t know a lot Josh Anderson, but he his the newest member of the Tigers. Dave Dombrowski has already said that Anderson will make the opening day roster. So there’s that. Anderson is quick on his feet (over 40 steals in the minors last season), he can play centerfield, and he hits from the left side of the plate. Those are all good things.
Heading to Atlanta is Rudy Darrow. Darrow is 25 and the right-hander has made 78 relief appearances in the minors for the Tigers. He split the 2008 season between West Michigan and Erie. Darrow had an ERA in the 2.00s and struck out nearly a batter per inning. He wasn’t likely to play for the Tigers in 2009 but there didn’t seem to be much downside in keeping him.
Now that the Tigers have their back up for Curtis Granderson in CF it probably means that Jeff Larish will head back to the minor leagues unless the Tigers can find a new home for Marcus Thames. This move, in some ways, creates more questions than it does answers.
Apparently the Tigers did not believe that Brent Clevlen was ready to contribute on the big league roster and his days in the organization are probably over. He was once a top prospect and now the Tigers will likely lose him for nothing. Oh well.
Anderson got 136 at bats for the Braves last season and hit .294 with three home runs and 10 steals, getting caught only once. Anderson is a contact guy who doesn’t strike out all that much, but also doesn’t draw many walks. If he can gain some patience at the plate he’ll be able to use that speed of his a bit more and increase his value.
I don’t think the loss of Darrow is of much consequence, I just don’t see why the club felt like they needed another outfielder. They have so many options in the outfield:
- Wilkin Ramirez
- Casper Wells
- Timo Perez
- Brent Clevlen
- Ryan Raburn
None of those guys would tear it up, but how much better does Anderson really make the Tigers?
6 Responses to “I Don’t Get It”
By RoboTiger on Mar 30, 2009
not to mention Clete Thomas who seems to be similar to Anderson but w/ more patience
By Blake VandeBunte on Mar 30, 2009
Right. The thing with Clete though is that he’s coming off of an injury and he doesn’t have the speed of Anderson. I don’t get the trade but I think Anderson could be valuable.
By rea on Mar 30, 2009
If the Tigers have a handle on getting the rest of the positon players straightened out, then this trade will make sense. Thames (not to mention Cleven) has to be gone, and Larish or Raburn has to be on the roster, unless we plan on Inge playing 162 games at third–plus, the Tigers need a lefty off the bench . . .
But a great glove in the OF with speed on the basepaths ought to be useful
By Kenny on Mar 30, 2009
I think the Tigers are trying to be the Twins. They have made moves this offseason for cheaper players that are good defensively. They hired a pitching coach from the Twins organization. Now they are trying to get faster on the basepaths. Rod and Mario were saying during Sunday’s game that the Tigers want Granderson to have 40 SB attempts this year. I think they want to play more defense and small ball.
By JAY RC on Mar 31, 2009
Come on guys it’s obvious
Dombrowski got confused…
He forgot it’s ESPN fantasy baseball that requires you to have 5 outfielders not real life actual baseball.
By Ben Velderman on Mar 31, 2009
Sheff has just been released. The Anderson trade is starting to make sense….