A Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco Detroit Tigers jersey, still up for sale online, with Granderson in his new uniform, and Polanco returning to his former team.
Detroit, MI - After coming off their 12th consecutive losing season, the Detroit Tigers fans were losing interest in the team so much, that their TV contract had been cut substantially to begin the 2006 MLB season. But after new Manager Jim Leyland and his squad surprised the baseball world, and stood on top of the league standings in May, people wondered, is this possible?
An absolutely magical 2006 season, saw the Detroit Tigers reach their first World Series since 1984, and although they eventually lost, it was a stunning season, that could not have been foreseen after their previous failures. If they were that good with such unknowns Curtis Granderson, Brandon Inge, Craig Monroe and Marcus Thames, coupled with the high-priced veterans such as Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen, and Ivan Rodriguez, it was thought that maybe they could be even better.
When Jim Leyland was asked exactly what the Tigers needed to do to get better, his answer was “a big-time pro-hitter,” and that answer to him seemed to be Gary Sheffield. So General Manager Dave Dombrowski gave their farm system a little cleaning, and sent three prospects to the Yankees in exchange for Sheffield, who was going to be that final piece they needed to recapture glory.
They fell short in 2007, despite making more trades and signings, to bring in Gary Sheffield, Edgar Renteria, and others. The team was predicted to score a record number of runs that season, but their season was deemed a disappointment due to their pre-season expectations, and high payroll, because it seemed they forgot to handle one problem, their pitching.
2008 was an absolute debacle, which saw the team struggle to a 74-88 last place division standing, prompting 97.1 the Ticket Radio Host Dennis Fithian’s assessment saying the season was,” the biggest disappointment in Detroit sports history.”
” People were still feeling the effects of that last place finish this year, he said,” Even though the Tigers were in first place for the entire summer, I could tell most Tigers fans were bracing for another big time disappointment.”
After such a horrid season, people in the town were back to the old ways of expecting another poor season, as so many injuries and “dead money” were on the table, with high 2009 salaries such as Ordonez ($18.9 million), Jeremy Bonderman ($12.5 million), Dontrelle Willis ($10 million) and others not performing.
Despite all that, from May 8 and on, the team held control of first place in the Central Division, and despite losing streaks and other poor performances, they still maintained their position until late in the season.
They went on a four-game winning streak ending Sept. 24, and seemed all but ready to clinch the division, but that’s where it all went sour. They lost three of their next four, and as the Twins were gaining ground by just winning, the Tigers were just losing.
“It was something we all saw coming,” said Drew Craig, who lives out of state in Connecticut, but is a die-hard Tigers fan.
The teams split their final four games, and the Tigers needed to win their final series against the White Sox, who themselves had basically given up on the season, but they just couldn’t do it.
Chicago won two of three, and the Tigers finished their 162-game season tied for first with the Minnesota Twins, which set up a one-game playoff.
The Tigers ultimately lost in 12 innings, after having numerous chances to score, and thus became the first team in MLB history to lose a three-game division lead, with four games remaining.
Losing the division hit hard here in Detroit, as all season long, the city seemed to be filled with haters, yet there were people backing the team saying, we still have first place stop complaining, but this seemed to be what we were talking about, when it counted, they choked.
Now as the 2009 offseason began, owner Mike Illitch, who had basically given Dombrowski an open check book since the 2006 World Series, to do whatever he wanted with the team, basically said, enough is enough, and cut off the team’s spending this offseason.
They have brought back only Adam Everett and Brandon Lyon as of right now, while Fernando Rodney is still a free agent. Former all-star gold-glove second baseman Placido Polanco signed with his former club the Philadelphia Phillies, and the team traded away all-stars Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson for seemingly worse players and prospects.
After trading away Granderson and Jackson, Tigers fans seem to be irate. Fans have been flooding their distaste over the trade.
“Why should I go to a single game next season?” said Tigers fan(or former) Rob Neville, 21, from Plymouth, who has been a Tigers fan since he can remember.
“They traded an all-star center fielder, for a center fielder they hope is as good as this guy, why?” said Jake Codling, 19, of Novi, who goes to several Tiger games every season.
There doesn’t really seem to be a feasible reason for the trades, other than a salary dump, but Granderson wasn’t making nearly the money some other Tigers were making.
One of the most reasonable reason as to why the deal went through, is the team owed 92 million dollars next season to Miguel Cabrera, Ordonez, Guillen, Brandon Inge, Nate Robertson, Willis, and Bonderman.
While some may feel a salary dump may be sufficient in some cases, this particular one seems to be avoiding the biggest cap hits, where Bonderman, Willis, and Robertson, who made a combined $29.5 million last season, according to sportscity.com, combined to pitch in 43 total games. Equaling out to about $686,000 per appearance for the three isn’t a bad deal nowadays with the economy how it is.
However, If this upcoming off-season continues to get worse, then what Dennis Fithian added might be true.
“If this Tigers team has a salary dump and goes with a bunch of prospects it will be felt big time with low attendance at Comerica,” he said.” I wouldn't want a $100 million dollar Miguel Caberra with nothing to do but look at an empty stadium.”
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