Tigers Bullpen Will Make them Miss Playoffs

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier

To be honest, Anibal Sanchez didn't have a good game, something that is becoming a bit of a routine in a Tigers uniform. But when Manager Jim Leyland finally, mercifully, gave him the hook on Monday night, the Tigers were down just 3-1 to the lowly Minnesota Twins. That was before the bullpen got the ball.

After Sanchez struggled, Leyland went to his situational lefty Phil Coke, instead of his more reliable long-relief man, Duane Below. Coke has experienced his own struggles of late, and things weren't much different Monday night. The Twins were able to plate both of the runners that Coke inherited and then went on to beat up on the aforementioned Below.

In the seventh inning Ryan Doumit crushed a Below offering for three runs that gave the Twins an insurmountable lead. The offense wasn't able to hit a pitcher that had been described as wild and the pitcher that the Tigers traded a future No. 1 starter for continued to do less than impress, but the bullpen sealed the casket on this game.

After the game it was announced that Detroit was sending Duane Below to Toledo and recalling Luke Putkonen. While this move is clearly not motivated by Below's performance, it goes to show that the bullpen has been so poor lately that it has been taxed to the point that the Tigers are forced to bring in fresh arms from the minors to keep up with the innings needed.

Why it was Below that was sent down and not the hit serving Coke or Brayan Villarreal is not known. But this Tigers team needs changes in the bullpen and they need them now. When Al Albuquerque comes off the DL he needs to be in the pen, Below needs to be in the pen and Villarreal needs to be riding the pine in Toledo while Detroit gets a look at the phenom known as Bruce Rondon.

Joel Zumaya signs with the Twins

The time has come...the Legion of Zoom is no more in the city of Detroit. The oft-injured but still spectacular Joel Zumaya has reportedly signed a contract with the Minnesota Twins for the upcoming season, ending his roller coaster career with the Tigers.

He will reportedly receive between $800,000 and $1.7 million depending on incentives from the Minnesota Twins as reported by Jason Beck of MLB.com.

Zumaya literally burst on the scene in the 2006 season, thrilling Tigers fans by hitting 103 mph on the radar gun on a regular basis and dousing one of Detroit's finest in champagne following the Tigers walk-off American League Championship victory that same year.

After the 2006 campaign however, many Tigers fans feared they were seeing something out of the past that crushed their spirits before when Mark Fidrych injured himself after a phenomenal rookie season and was never the same. Zumaya injured himself playing the video game, "Guitar Hero" then had boxes fall on him while he was trying to help his parents evacuate their Californian home ahead of a wildfire.

Several years and several injuries later Zumaya had only worn the "Old English D" 126 times in the past four seasons - not consistent enough to offer him any guaranteed money. General Manager Dave Dombrowski had told Zumaya that he would offer him a spring training invitation but would not offer him a contract until he saw something he liked - he also told him if he was offered guaranteed money to take it, even if that meant going somewhere else.

Prior to the 2011 Winter Meetings Zumaya held a workout for scouts and other officials where he was hitting the mid-90's with his fastball with consistency - the Tigers were not one of the teams that attended that event.

There's no telling which Zumaya the Twins will get this season, the phenom from 2006 who went 6-3 with a 1.94 ERA in 83 games or the oft-injured reliever who has had four surgeries, two since 2010, to repair his pitching arm. The Twins hope they will get the former - and to some extent so do the Tigers, they don't want to see another Mark Fidrych.  

Experiencing History. Thome's 600th Homer.

Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Ken Griffey Jr., these are the names that will forever be engrained in baseball fans minds. Those four men are all members of the 600 Home Run Club, and the only four without links to steroids.

The addition of Jim Thome brings that number to five. 

It was a homer that put the game well out of reach, but the fans in Comerica Park stood and game the Minnesota Twins slugger Jim Thome a well-deserved ovation, he had just made history. He became just the eight player in the history of the game to hit 600 career home runs. Seeing something like that in person is a one in a lifetime event, and I can count myself as one of those who was there.

Thome has been in the league for twenty seasons, jumping from team to team but in almost every stop setting home run records. He holds the record for most home runs for both the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox. In each of his stops he brought his blue-collar attitude and just put his head down and played the game as it should be played.

The burden that Thome will have to bear is that he played through a dark time in baseball; the steroid era. This era has tainted so many to have come out of it and it is still being felt today. In 2010, Jose Bautista came from nowhere to hit 50+ home runs and the first thing many thought was; is he on steroids?

Thome has never had that shadow cast over him and for good reason, he has stated that his father had told him if he ever took steroids that he would beat him. That's the mentality that more players need to have in this day.

While he has never been in the spotlight for very long, Thome is without question a future Hall of Famer. He has gone into every clubhouse and he has made it better. Teammates and opponents alike both characterize Thome as one of the nicest people in the league. Thome responded to this characterization by saying he treats people the way he expects to be treated.

At his press conference following the game Thome again showed his true colors when he said; "If you dream big enough, there's nothing you can't do."

Not only is this man kind and a great teammate, he is a great family man as well. Following his 600th blast to left field at Comerica Park he was greeted at home plate by his wife and children and his father. The man who had threatened to beat him if he ever took steroids was able to embrace his son who had just passed into history.

Maybe if Thome had played in New York or Boston people would be more excited about his accomplishment, but having watched him demolish my Tigers for my entire life I can say I am proud to have been in the crowd when he reached that mark. 

Congratulations Jim, you deserve it.

"Remember kid, there's heroes and there's legends. Heroes get remembered, but legends never die."