Down on the Tigers' farm - Mar 6, 2008

Subject: Down on the Tigers' farm - Mar 6, 2008 Thu Mar 06, 2008 3:50 pm

Posted by Lynn Henning on Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 5:43 PM
Down on the Tigers' farm

It was interesting Wednesday to hear Jim Leyland, the Tigers manager, say he had seen "five or six" minor-league position prospects during the first three weeks of camp.

That should reassure a few fans who wondered if the bushes had been shaken to their roots by last off-season's trades that sent so many sterling prospects to Atlanta and to Florida in the deals for Edgar Renteria, Miguel Cabrera, and Dontrelle Willis.

Pitching is another matter. Rick Porcello is the king of the Tigers' young pitchers, and, largely because of the off-season trades, there aren't many princes surrounding him.

That should change by next year. Casey Crosby will be back from Tommy John surgery. Brandon Hamilton could be a Top 10 prospect. Luis Marte has the stuff to become a big-time reliever. Plus, there will be this June's draft, which you can just about bet will be pitching-heavy with respect to Detroit's picks.

As for those "five or six" position prospects, I would suspect Leyland has some, or all, of these people in mind: Wilkin Ramirez, Matt Joyce, and Clete Thomas (outfielders), Danny Worth, Scott Sizemore, Jeff Larish, and perhaps Michael Hollimon (infielders), and maybe James Skelton at catcher, although Joe Bowen is maybe one season away from becoming a legitimate Tigers catching prospect.

That's not a bad bunch to be grooming. The Tigers stripped a lot of talent from the farm in their big autumn deals, and it will take a couple of significant drafts to get the talent levels back to a point that the team will have ample talent in the bushes and enough depth to make the kinds of trades they made for Renteria, Cabrera, and Willis.

But the fact they could pull off the swaps and still have a few interesting people in the hopper speaks to an organization that is doing more than a few things right.

Subject: Re: Down on the Tigers' farm - Mar 6, 2008 Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:34 am

When I saw the Title "Down on theTigers' Farm".....I thought the topic was about the Marlins! HAHA

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"I'm glad we're in the other division," Terry Francona, manager of the East-winning Boston Red Sox, told the Associated Press. "That lineup just got scary."

Subject: Re: Down on the Tigers' farm - Mar 6, 2008 Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:06 pm

Subject: Re: Down on the Tigers' farm - Mar 6, 2008 Sat Mar 08, 2008 2:52 pm

any more pics of Larish?
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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Subject: Re: Down on the Tigers' farm - Mar 6, 2008 Sat Mar 08, 2008 3:25 pm

Subject: Re: Down on the Tigers' farm - Mar 6, 2008 Sat Mar 08, 2008 4:11 pm

she really misses her fishie!
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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Subject: Re: Down on the Tigers' farm - Mar 6, 2008 Sat Mar 08, 2008 4:15 pm

Subject: Re: Down on the Tigers' farm - Mar 6, 2008 Sat Mar 08, 2008 4:37 pm

we gotta get him back!
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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Subject: Re: Down on the Tigers' farm - Mar 6, 2008 Sat Mar 08, 2008 4:49 pm

Yeah, but a few years down on the farm will be nothing but good for him. He can come back in 2010 Nod

Subject: Re: Down on the Tigers' farm - Mar 6, 2008 Sat Mar 08, 2008 4:59 pm

we've just gotta keep him interested in coming back!
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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Subject: Re: Down on the Tigers' farm - Mar 6, 2008 Sat Mar 08, 2008 5:17 pm

What, with the Tigers being one of the TOP THREE TEAMS, anyone would be glad to come to Detroit now as a player!

Subject: Re: Down on the Tigers' farm - Mar 6, 2008 Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:23 am

free beer! Smile

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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Subject: Re: Down on the Tigers' farm - Mar 6, 2008 Sun Mar 09, 2008 3:03 am

Subject: Re: Down on the Tigers' farm - Mar 6, 2008 Sun Mar 09, 2008 4:08 am

ha! he's workin' on it! Big Smile

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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971