Mikey D

This Pudge-Farnsworth trade really bothers me.

"This is absurd," said a longtime baseball scout. "It's a slap in the face of Detroit Tigers fans. No one else wanted Farnsworth." ~Detroit News

Here's what I know:
-We needed bullpen help.
-The Yankees needed a catcher.
-Pudge was unhappy this year (Rightfully so. Have you seen us play?)
-The Yankees had Farnsworth on the trading block.

So logically, this trade makes sense for both teams, right? As Leyland was quoted as saying, "It really wasn't all that difficult. A common sense situation for us." But here's why this trade baffles me, and all Tiger fans.

1) Pudge Rodriguez was Detroit Tiger.
Yes, he wore the uniform. He came to Detroit four years ago the year after we had 119 losses. But Detroit accepted him. They embraced him as their guy. It hasn't been like that with everyone...Sheffield, Renteria, Cabrera, to name a few. He is the face of the Tigers' resurgence, and he partly responsible for influencing other free agents to sign with Detroit, like Ordonez. And now "our guy" is gone...to the Yankees.

2) Kyle Farnsworth?
It's bad enough we gave Pudge to the Yankees, but for Farnsworth? The Kyle Farnsworth we had on our team in 2005 and then traded to Atlanta because he wouldn't sign a long-term deal with us. Why? He didn't like Detroit. He said as much. He didn't want to play in Detroit. So we send one of the faces of our franchise to the Yankees for a guy who wasn't happy the first time he was here. Grrrrrrreat.

3) A Reliever for a Starting Catcher- Straight Up?
Could happen. But not when you're catcher is red-hot and hitting .290 for the season. A catcher that can hit and play gold-glove caliber defense? Those are ridiculously hard to come by. You have Joe Mauer, Russell Martin, Brian McCann...and that's it! Even at Pudge's old age, he's better than 90% of the catchers in the league. Sure there are others that can hit better. Sure there are others that may play defense a little better. But if you're looking for the total package, few have it like Pudge. Which is why it's so perplexing you would trade him for a single reliever who has a history of under-performing. Relievers are a dime a dozen. You can get them from a thousand different places, which is why I'm still scratching my head.

4) We Fixed Our Bullpen, Right?
Really? Last time I checked, Rodney will still be the closer, Jones will still be ineffective, and Zumaya will still be Zumaya (you have no clue what you'll get). So throwing in an unhappy Farnsworth means our bullpen will be better? By how much? How can one reliever (the caliber of Farnsworth) make that much of a difference? I just don't see it. And now we have a hole at catcher/third base. It's going to be a revolving door at both of those positions for the rest of the year. We tried giving stability to the bullpen, and now we are unstable at two other positions. Sigh.

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I just feel like we're giving up in a way. I don't feel like our team got better with this acquisition. Normally I can see the benefits with trades and am willing to give them a chance. This one I can't see the benefits. The cost seems to outweigh the return.

Which makes me question Dombrowski. Yes, the guy that built the team that took us to the World Series in '06. He brought in Pudge, Rogers, Ordonez, Guillen, Polanco, Casey, and helped harvest Granderson, Verlander, Robertson, and Zumaya. He hired Leyland to be our leader, which seems to have worked out fantastically.

But that all seems so distant now. In the past two years he's emptied our farm system and brought in questionable guys. Gary Sheffield hasn't panned out. Neither has Edgar Renteria. Jacques Jones failed miserabely. He would trade Renteria or Sheffield for a bag of balls if a team were to offer that.

He traded for Willis and Cabrera, which I admit I was thrilled with at the time. But strangely he offered both gigantic, long-term contracts before they even played an inning in a Detroit uniform. Now Willis has shown he may be the next Rick Ankiel (which we can only hope now) and Cabrera has shown he's our own personal Manny Ramirez. Boy can Cabrera hit, and if this is a "down year" for him, I look forward to better years to come. But other than the hitting, he does nothing on the field or the clubhouse.

Quick sidenote. I watched Cabrera play two games against Baltimore a couple weekends ago, and I cannot tell you how embarrassed I was. The guy did not run out a single ball. I must have yelled, "Run you fat fuck, run!" a thousand times. On defense he is a mess. There were two occasions, once on a low throw and the other on a ball he had to range to his left, where he lost his balance and fell on his ass. Literally stumbled over and fell on his butt. Both times the Oriole's hitters reached base. And instead of hearing the cheers of Baltimore fans, I heard laughter. They were too busy laughing at Cabrera to cheer for their guys reaching base. I was embarrassed.

The point is, Dombrowski's decision making lately has been questionable to say the least. He's loaded up on veteran position players without addressing needs in the bullpen and the rotation. We've been walking out with the same fragile pitching staff for the last two years. You cannot just cross your fingers and hope that everyone will stay healthy, which is what Dombrowski has essentially done. And now he's forced to trade Pudge for a reliever (I say forced because what else would make him make an awful trade like this). I didn't pick the Tigers to win the division or the wild card this year for that reason alone. I thought the offense would be spectacular (wrong) and I thought the pitching would be decent (wrong), but I didn't think they had the depth to stay with the rest of the AL (right).

I just don't know where we go from here. We have the 3rd highest payroll in baseball and an empty farm system again. Yes, I like guys like Rayburn and Joyce, and I hope they develop into everyday guys for us. But what's our plan? How are we really going to fix the pitching staff and bullpen? More high priced free agents? Are rejects like Farnsworth really the answer???

I want answers, and I want them now. Don't bullshit me with, "this is common sense." It's not common sense because it makes no sense. What are you, the Detroit Tigers organization, doing? What is your plan, not just for the next month, but for the next year or two??? Where are we going, and what should I expect as a fan???

Dave, I'm lost here. Tiger fans would like some answers.

~Mikey D