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Post by doublejack on Jun 22, 2007 14:02:58 GMT -5
I'm not happy seeing Ledezma go. Lefties that can hit 97 on the gun don't grow on trees. I would have liked to see Willie get a shot as a setup man before shipping him out.
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Post by guschiggins on Jun 22, 2007 17:21:53 GMT -5
Some things to keep in mind about Ledezma:
Yes, he can hit 97, but he's usually in the 93-94 range and has ZERO movement on his fastball. I mean, nothing. Arrow-straight fastball pitchers with no decent breaking stuff are not top commodities.
The guy they got in return could be a good lefty specialist. Seay and Byrdak are not guys I would trust in September and October. If McBride can get into 70+ games for the Braves (as he did last year), then he's probably a pretty decent pitcher. Let's find out.
This isn't really Ledezma for McBride. It's Ledezma for Miller. This way they can move Durbin to the pen and keep Miller in the rotation. Which would you rather have on the team, Miller or Ledezma?
Ledezma was good as a starter/inning eater in the pen, but they have tried him in short situations over the past few years, and they decided he's not cut out for it. DD and Leyland know what they're doing. I give them the benefit of the doubt here.
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Post by tstar on Jun 23, 2007 17:33:00 GMT -5
Starters: Bonderman, Rogers, Verlander, Robertson, Miller
Middle Relief: Durbin, Grilli, Seay, Byrdak
Setup: Rodney, De La Cruz
Closer: Jones
DL: Campusano, Colon, Zumaya
Things will get better soon (assuming DLC is decent) with Grilli back in his middle relief role (which he seems to do well in) and Durbin taking the long spot from Ledezma. Colon probably won't be back but Zumaya might. All in all I'm not completely set on gutting the pen (Grilli has been looking better and Rodney/Jones can't possibly get worse).
Another thing, with Seay and Byrdak so effective against LHs, we might be able to trade one of them now that McBride is in the system to step in.
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Post by winger98 on Jun 23, 2007 18:28:51 GMT -5
^^^ Exactly. As everyone gets healthy, the pen will look better and better. And don't forget that Miner is on the road to recovery as well.
The Tigers have reeled off a 6 game winning streak, taking over the central. The offense keeps clicking, the starters are getting healthy...the Tigers are in position right now to reel off a serious winning streak heading into the all-star break and put themselves in a great spot heading into the second half.
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