Tiger Notes

Love is in the air, babies. Gifts are being bought, dinners being ate and relationships being rekindled. The same could be said of baseball lovers. We’re on the brink of rekindling our obsessions with our favorite teams. We can look forward to no less that 162 dates  - but hopefully more.

At the end of this courting, we hope to see a ring. What to wear, what to wear in November.

Here are my valentine gifts for the Detroit Tigers:

Justin Verlander: 20 wins and 300 strikeouts, young man.
Rick Porcello: You don’t have to do anyone elses laundry, anymore, sophomore.
Scott Sizemore: Hey, Scott, Rick is looking for you. He’s got something for you.
Austin Jackson: Forgive the Granderson fans, they’ll come around.
Max Sherzer: I’m buying you contacts, because, buddy, your eyes freak me out a little.
Brandon Inge: Healthy legs and no Home Run Contest this season.
Magglio Ordonez: Your long hair back. But not like this.
Gerald Laird: A batting tee.
Carlos Guillen: A book, “How to pass time on the bench, while DH’ing”.
Joel Zumaya: Guitar Hero 2. Sorry, couldn’t resist.

And finally:

Ernie Harwell: There is nothing I can give you that would ever do you justice sir. You are my childhood, in a little box with one speaker and a clothes hangar for an antenna. You are the voice of God, the voice of reason, the voice of baseball.

“The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated”

- Mark Twain

It began last season when Magglio Ordonez reached the vaunted at bat that vested his contract for 2010. Detroit Tiger fans scratched their heads in mystery, some jumping the very bandwagon they called home after Magglio hit the famous HR to send Detroit to their first world series since 1984.

We’re going to have to cut a lot of dead weight now, they’d type angrily at various message boards found on the world wide web.

And then the fateful day of December 8th, 2009. Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson, two very important pieces to a second place team during the regular season were traded. Detroit got lefty reliever Phil Coke and outfield prospect Austin Jackson from the Yankees, plus touted young pitchers Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth from Arizona.

The fall out was fierce.

Granderson, 28, has a very loyal fan base with the Tigers. The fans, to say the least, were not happy with the deal.

But than it began; “They are cost cutting”, “Giving up on 2010 for a run in 2011″. And sure, in the epicenter of this hurricane was a lot of things that proved this theory correct. Why would Detroit send a beloved Tiger (this generations Willie Horton?) away WHILE also trading a guy that had just won 13 games for the organization.

But few looked at the arms Detroit stocked with this move – nor did they think about the possible future of highly touted Yankee prospect Jackson. And I understand why – broken hearted fans don’t see clearly right away.

But then something happened.
Something big.

The Tigers committed 80 million dollars to superstar-ace Justin Verlander over the next five years. How’s that for cost cutting? Verlander was coming off easily his best year, statistically. The move made a lot of people happy – but now their was the seed of doubt planted … why sign Verlander to this deal now?

Aren’t we supposed to be cutting cost?

And now reports are coming out that Detroit has officially made an offer to Johnny Damon. No one is sure if its 1 year, $7 million or 2 years $14 million. But the offer was authorized by Mike Illitch.

You know, the owner of the club.

So ask him, if this team is cutting costs.