Problem solving, Tiger style: Dmitri Young… Craig Monroe… Jacque Jones
Posted on May 5th, 2008 – 3:47 PMBy Howard
Tigers manager Jim Leyland has a track record of cutting loose veterans who no longer fit into his plans. In 2006, it was then-troubled Dmitri Young — Delmon’s big brother, who was having an assortment of physical and personal issues — who was let go in September. He went on to become an All-Star with the Washington Nationals last year.
Last season, as we’ve been told now and again since he joined the Twins, Leyland dumped Craig Monroe. He was an everyday player for the Tigers and, suddenly, found himself traded to the Cubs for a “player to be named later.” He pretty much languished on the bench before being released and signed by traded to the Twins for yet another player to be named.
Obviously, this year the Tigers’ problems can be traced to the off-season acquisition of ex-Twin Jacque Jones, who was designated for assignment this afternoon. That means the Tigers have 10 days to trade him, release him or send him to the minors. At $6.3 million, I don’t see Detroit sending him to the minors and I don’t see teams lining up to take him in a trade and pick up that salary.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Leyland is saying that 104-year-old Gary Sheffield will get some playing time in left field. Jones was batting .165 in 79 at-bats when he was cut; Sheffield is batting .185 in 81 at-bats.
I’m glad that’s solved.
No matter how inexpensive, let’s not have anyone start a Bring Back Jacque campaign.
other people are here too
68 Responses to "Problem solving, Tiger style: Dmitri Young… Craig Monroe… Jacque Jones"
bring jones back
I’m glad Leyland has figured out what the Tigers’ problem is. Sounds to me like all he managed to do was create another defensive deficiency on the left side of the field. Jones was no perenial gold glover, I know… but Sheffield in LF should make for some entertaining ESPN “highlights”.
Jones’ problem is that he’s a lefty hitter that didn’t produce. They decided he was a better fit than putting Miggy in left field, and keeping Sean Casey to hit .240 at first base.
And, Jones can’t pitch out of the bullpen either. The Tigers have had to start tryouts from AA to find someone to get outs before Todd Jones.
You remember that dramatic lineup change that Leyland was promising in his post game rant?
Tonight’s Tiger lineup
1. Curtis Granderson, CF
2. Placido Polanco, 2B
3. Carlos Guillen, 3B
4. Magglio Ordoñez, DH
5. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
6. Gary Sheffield, LF
7. Matt Joyce, RF
8. Edgar Renteria, SS
9. Ivan Rodriguez, C
Wow, does that guy know how to do drama or what?
Poor Jones… I miss him a bit - although maybe not so much his BA…
Jones was a nice guy, it’s too bad the Tigers cut him. At least he gets paid nicely to go on a long vacation.
I think the Tigers should just go all the way and sign Bonds. If you aren’t going to play any defense, why not get a ton of offense out of the position?
I’m sorry… but I can’t help but find this kinda funny. This brilliant manager watches his 3B let a little league ground ball go off his glove and through his legs yesterday (resulting in unearned runs ultimately scoring and costing his team the game). Then he promises major lineup changes.
Does he bench his 3B (or at least DH him)? No.. he swaps him from hitting 6th to 3rd and plugs his aging DH in to LF. (I wonder if Sheffield will have to borrow someone’s glove… you think he even owns one of his own any more?)
I guess the manager can’t bench himself for putting the worst infield gloves he’s got in the line up every day and watching as they give games away… but I’m not sure I understand how putting your worst outfield gloves in the field, too, improves your chances.
Guess that’s why he gets the big bucks and I just comment on blogs.
Maybe Jacque can catch on with the Saints?
Good luck, Jacque. I enjoyed his time as a Twin.
JimCrikket -
I’m interested in hearing what you think Leyland should have done? Bench Carlos Guillen for Ramon Santiago?
Guillen is hitting .313/.405/.495. You don’t take that bat out of your lineup. Unfortunately, Cabrera doesn’t seem to be able to handle the position either. But Cabrera is still hitting .265/.348/.487.
So, what do you do? Sit Guillen or Cabrera? Move Cabrera back to LF?
Well,
I am glad that he is managing the Tigers. I thought with that mess of a pitching staff they were no better than .500 and a third place in the division, now with Leyland trying to compete with Ozzie in astuteness, I don’t see them winning more than 75. There were some rumors about Bonds going to Detroit. This could as well be a move towards that direction. Let the circus begin… just wish I were a fly in that clubhouse
The Tigers are still old, slow, and clumsy.
Pete D,
one of the problems with Detroit is that it has at least 4-5 players whose most appropriate position would be DH (Guillen, Cabrera, Sheffield, Ordonez, Rodriguez) Leyland thinks that he needs all 4 of them there so he is going to mix and match most spots (other than CF, 2B, 3B) with them, adding Inge in the mix. This is a very flawed club and games like yesterday’s will become routine for them this season. Interesting to see how they are going to do in Boston tonight.
While I agree that Sheffield, Cabrera, and possibly Guillen are best suited for DH, Ordonez and Rodriguez while average defensively at best, would probably start for most teams in MLB at their positions. Even with that, I think one of the largest issues defensively is that they don’t have a “natural” first baseman. I guess I don’t understand why they aren’t using Cabrera in LF, put Guillen back at first, and play Inge at third, as that makes the most sense to me.
But regardless, this is the team that Leyland has. I’m sure he had some input on what players came in, but the front office pulled the trigger on the Cabrera deal. With the team that the Tigers have right now, I think Leyland is pretty much playing it as well as he can.
I agree that it’s not much of a “shake-up.” The real problem yesterday was the Detroit offense. They got some solid hits and some lucky breaks, which happen, and had Boof on the ropes at 45 pitches after 1. A five pitch 2nd is rediculous in that situation. Shut-out for 8 innings and allowing Boof to go six was an absolutely awful approach at the plate. He’s got to do something. They pitched well enough to win (yes, the error cost them the game).
I hope they don’t wake up or start pitching better. I’d like to see the Twins team concept prevail over more talented line-ups again this year.
I’m interested in hearing what you think Leyland should have done?
I’d start with not calling it a “maor shake-up” when it’s more of a “Did you guys feel something?”
I should also note that Guillen went off on Chicago fans (again) today.
Hopefully this tirade won’t have the same effect on his team as Leyland’s did on the Tigers prior to the Twins series.
We all know how that went for our boys…
With the team that the Tigers have right now, I think Leyland is pretty much playing it as well as he can.
Not including implying that Sunday’s loss to the Twins had anything to do with the Metrodome. That was just lame.
Cabrera is bad 3B and Guillen is not much better. Better to just admit that than to pretend Guillen’s boot had anything whatsoever to do with the venue or anyone but him.
After getting everything he wanted for Christmas, Leyland seems to be struggling with himself.
Pete D at 5:29 has it right. They need Inge in the lineup and he should be at 3rd.
And if, as ESPN just reported, it’s true that Sheffield is not comfortable at DH, then Guillen can DH and Sheffield can ride the bench. Who cares about Sheffield.
Maybe just Leyland.
re: Jacque Jones,
rumor from SolCal has it that he is heading to Padres (after the 10 day wait period) to play CF, which might be a good match for him.
You should have read the sports section of the Detroit Free Press. Leyland was crying like a baby & blaming the Metrodome for his teams woes among other lame excuses. He should hit up Taylor of the T-Wolves for an assistant job under Kevin McHale. We need to be thankful for Gardy and for the Twins!
Maybe Leyland should insert himself in to the lineup since he’s such a gret judge of talent.
I don’t think Jones would have made the Twins roster if they had him in spring training. Too many other outfielders.
sorry I made fun of Leyland and then logged off… as others have said… Leyland shouldnt have promised a major shakeup and then barely changed his order. He needs Inge at 3B and Guillen or Cabrera DHing, with the other at 1B so he only has one iron-hand in the infield.
Shefield can pull splinters from his butt if he doesn’t like DHing. Maybe he can PH a bit in his semi-retirement as he collects his 20+ mil.
“Hopefully this tirade won’t have the same effect on his team as Leyland’s did on the Tigers prior to the Twins series.”
The difference between Leyland and Guillen is that I’m sure the guys in the Detroit clubhouse and their fan base don’t view Leyland as a raving lunatic…not yet, anyway.
Somehow I don’t think his rant will be nearly as effective.
From what I have seen Cabrera is terrible at first, as well as third. Maybe he should just DH and Sheff can play first. I don’t think it is wise to toss too much dirt on Detroit, they have a lot of talent and despite his slump right now, Leyland is a good manager. However, more often than not, when you try to build an All-Star team, you don’t get the expected results
On related news today, the Indians decided to pull a page of Leyland’s play book and cut Jason Michaels, with Wedge promising ‘more shake ups’.
So it looks like the Twins and the Royals are the only AL Central teams not joining the peanut gallery today…
on the other hand… the day isn’t over yet LOL
I’m not convinced Leyland is the smartest apple in the basket. J. Jones did nothing all yr. How is it all his fault they can’t play well against the Twinners? Kinda funny ex-Twin takes a bullet after we sweep. Go Mauer, Morneau and MONROE and many more TWINS WIN!
But if Jones comes back I can wear my jersy again…
That’s “jersey”. Eep. I’m so embarrassed.
JimCrikket,
the day is not over yet, but I’ve been waiting for a couple of years for the Twins to pull the plug off Punto, but it ain’t happening.
Everyone heralded the Dumb-Rowsky/Z-land pairing when they turned around the franchise. But they’re finding out that sustaining success is harder than buying it in the first place. That team got old in a hurry by trading away its minor league talent for aged, crippled up guys like Sheffield and Guillen. There’s a lot more to baseball than hitting a ball as far as you can. That team is on the down side of a very short run.
It reminds me of the White Sox. They had a good thing going and they traded away some of their more athletic guys who could catch the ball for aged sluggers. It didn’t work too well.
White Sox got 4 hits tonight — 2 by Uribe and 1 by Hall.
They lose to the Blue Jays 1-0.
I think it’s funny that so many of you are trying to fix the Tiger lineup and defense. Guillen is a much better hitter than Inge, so by logic “because you need a bat at third base,” he starts. Except for that he gives away games. Likewise, everyone is better than Punto as a hitter at 3rd base, but few are better defensively. Personally, I’ll take a game-saver over a game-giver any day of the week.
Wouldn’t write off the Tigers yet - if Leyland does shake up the lineup, they will be fine, especially considering that no one on the team is hitting and they’re still only a few games under .500.
Umm… has no one noticed that all of these players are black? Has no one discussed the possibility that perhaps at least one of Leyland/Dombrowski is a bit racist? This seems really obvious, and given the declining number of black players in MLB, it is all the more profound. And none of those players were completely deserving of their release anyway.
Too small a sample, Hans. Dimitri was a bad teammate, a troublemaker. Jones is old and nonproductive.
I haven’t heard any rumors of clubhouse racism in Detroit.
This is where the Tigers bring in Barry Bonds.
1. Curtis Granderson, CF
2. Placido Polanco, 2B
3. Barry Bonds DH
4. Magglio Ordoñez, RF
5. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
6. Gary Sheffield, LF
7. Edgar Renteria, SS
8. Carlos Guillen, 3B
9. Ivan Rodriguez, C
Leyland loves Bonds, Bonds loves Leyland, Bonds is keeping himself in shape legally or illegally, and the Tigers have prospects taht they can bring up in case Bonds fails…
Bonds hits .272 17 homers, with a .445 OB% for about 4.5 million for the rest of the season, and jerk that he is… turns the Tigers around, and American’s new 2nd least favorite team becomes the Tigers over the Mets… No one is more universally dispised than the Yankees, and somehow the Red Sox are ranked 7th on the list.
Wow, the Tigers got 8 walks in 5 innings and only scored 1 run.
Umm… has no one noticed that all of these players are black?
No. Because that has nothing to do with it. Seeing as how the Tigers just got done trading away a ton of young players for a young hispanic player and an African-American veteran.
Why is it that people who cry racism always explode a small example that supports it and glazes over an equal (if not bigger) example of a counter-argument?
I hope the Tigers try Bonds.
He’ll probably be about as productive as Dye, Thome, Hafner, Sheffield, and the other old guys.
Meanwhile, their infield — filled with tub-guts and arthritis — will continue to give away games.
Is Hafner that old? I thought he was about the same age as Morneau.
And WOW. The Sox had the bases loaded (3 walks) with one out in the 9th.
Grounded into a Double Play to end it 1-0.
I REALLY hope the Twins don’t pull an “awaken the giant” like they did in Detroit back in may.
Hmm.
Ump in the O’s/A’s game apparently called a guy out on 4 strikes.
In theory, he shouldn’t have a job anymore.
Hafner will be 31 in June. Not old, I supposed. He reminds me of an old softball-type player.
Yes it is a small sample in only 3 players, but I also think that all three releasings have shown impatience and are generally questionable. Jacque had a history of slow starts (and was not the problem anyway) Young was hitting well that year he just had personal problems, don’t see why they had to out and out cut him, and Monroe was one of their best hitters from their best year in a long time, i would have thought him streaky enough to cut him some slack. I’m not saying the Tigers are a racist organization, just that no one had pointed it out that they might be. When i saw the headline i thought that was going to be the point of the article. My bad. Maybe i was just looking for another excuse to hate the Tigers, as i’m not a fan of racists.
I’m not saying the Tigers are a racist organization, just that no one had pointed it out that they might be.
Nobody pointed it out because it’s not there. Did you even look at the examples I provided?
Cabrera and Willis are the big offseason aquisitions (and Cabrera was signed long term before he saw his first Detroit AB…and the big “shakeup” was releasing Jones to move Sheffield in the field.
If you cherry pick your situations this year even you still gloss over obvious counter examples.
It’s just like people claiming racism with Hunter, Santana, an Silva…failing to realize that Young, Gomez, Livan, Guerra, etc…were all brought in.
Hafner will be 31 in June. Not old, I supposed.
Wow, that’s a lot older than I thought! Morneau’s only in his mid 20’s right?
I love reading all the Tigers bashing. I know it’s fun to laugh at the rich and famous when they’re having problems but trust me the Tigers are not dead yet. I guess i’m the odd man out on this blog because i never really liked JJ’s game. I always thought he was way too streaky of a hitter and just an average outfielder.
Howard
Monroe was actually traded to the Twins from Chicago. He was not released by the Cubs.
While I should let the subject drop, if there’s racism in Detroit I’m sure Sheffield will let us know. No need to get that ball rolling.
When you buy as bunch of single ability role players at a high price. It hurts eventually. Also, usually these guys are old enough so that they still look good on paper, but most have become station to station baserunners and are past their fielding prime.
jama,
Good catch. It’s been fixed.
Shaitan,
I thought the same thing regarding Sheffield.
The Tigers remind me of the old Oakland Raiders when Al Davis kept trying to sign trophy players to fill his roster. The one thing the Twins have that they don’t is team chemistry and i agree that you need both a mixture of veterans and youth.
Did anyone watch the Tigers/Sox game last night? I think it was Orel who brought up a good point regarding Bonderman. He said Bonderman had such a dominant slider while he was in the minors that they rushed him to the big leagues too early. He thought they should have made him work on developing his other pitches first. The reason i bring this up is because it reminded me of Liriano. Maybe he wasn’t ready in 2006 and needed more time to work on his other pitches as well. Just a thought.
At least the Tigers know when to cut their losses. Jones is not a good baseball player anymore. Unlike some teams, they’d rather have someone on the team that is more productive, and not worry about paying a guy for not playing. I have idea why Jones was on that roster in the first place, frankly. Don’t they have any young players left in the minors?
On the racism angle, please keep in mind that when Dontrelle Willis pitches, the Tigers can field an all minority line up. Doesn’t seem to fit a racist profile. Also, they benched Inge in favor of a minority and are trying to trade the guy. I don’t buy it. The Tigers are simply old and slow, much slower and much worse defensively than I think people anticipated. And the pitcching hasn’t materialized. That’s a bad, bad combination. This division may be won with 86 wins. Who knew?
Leyland loves Bonds, Bonds loves Leyland
here is proof of that love:
jaque jones is horrible. he swings at everything.
Don’t they have any young players left in the minors?
Quite frankly, no.
The reason i bring this up is because it reminded me of Liriano. Maybe he wasn’t ready in 2006 and needed more time to work on his other pitches as well. Just a thought.
Liriano’s problem wasn’t the pitches he His injury was what did him in.
T
My thinking was that Liriano progressed so fast because he also had a devestating slider and i think his injury was due to him relying on that pitch too much.
“jaque jones is horrible”
no he is not terrible! he may not be a great player or even a very good player anymore but he has had a decent major league career. i often bash punto because i don’t think he belongs in the majors anymore but he still had to be a damn good player to make it in the first place. i also bash vavra because of the lack of hitting but that isn’t to say he doesn’t have talent and isn’t a good coach, he wouldn’t have his job if he hadn’t shown some ability. i just think we need a change of style.
there tends to be to much insulting crap on here some days, dosen’t always have to get personal.
sorry i blew up!
gobble,
“sorry i blew up!”
If you blew up, it must have been a totally internal explosion.
Your statements are absolutely rational IMO.
Too bad for Jacque. Always seemd like a nice enough guy. While his horrendus ABs against southpaws drove me nutsn as a Twins fan, he never really became loud and obnoxious like the guy he ran around with in the Dome…#48.
Jacque is a stud!! i will always remember that opening day when he hit 2 home runs against i think it was the Royals at Kaufman. I hope he goes to the Padres, that way he has a chance to go to the playoffs this year.
Everyone now, on three. 1…2…3… NO-HITTER! That was supposed to be a jinx. Let’s see if it works.
Ok, so rooting against a no-hitter was kinda lame. I retract. 
Sooze,
“Ok, so rooting against a no-hitter was kinda lame. I retract.”
OK!
Mauer’s hit is also retracted and the no-hitter is reinstated.
Thanks for reconsidering.
twins-go get bonds, frank thomas, and sheffield , do it , go all the way! Just kidding , I would not want any of these guys, give me Gomez and these hard workers, so far , it has been fun watching this team. Maybe, if Liriano comes back for the 2nd half and everyone stays healthy this team could really shock some people.
