It's great to have Victor Martinez aboard.
But where do we put the guy?
Martinez is known for two things: 1. being a big hitter and 2. being a lousy catcher. The Tigers' biggest problem offensively is at catcher where their choice was bad (Alex Avila, at .228) or worse (Gerald Laird, at .207). Martinez could fill that hole and give the Tigers a formidable lineup. But it would cause problems in the field, where Martinez's lousy defense would lead to a lot of stolen bases for the other teams.
The Tigers could DH Martinez, but that would take the spot from Carlos Guillen, forcing him to split time with Will Rhymes at 2nd base. And, though he played lousy in the second half, I'm sure the Tigers would like to find at least a shared spot for Brennan Boesch, which would be very hard to do should they DH Martinez.
In the end it comes down what the Tigers value more: offense or defense.
But I think a compromise is most likely here. A rested catcher is like a pitcher who hits 100 mph: every MLB team wants one. The Tigers will play a variety of lineups. When Martinez is catching, they can rotate Guillen and Boesch in the DH slot, maybe sometimes play both and sit Rhymes. When Martinez (and the Tigers' pitchers) takes a breather playing DH, Boesch will sit and Guillen and Rhymes will rotate. And when Martinez sits, well, I'd imagine it would be pretty similar to when he plays catcher as far as Guillen, Rhymes, and Boesch are concerned.
A likely scenario could be 70 to 90 games at catcher and about 40 to 50 in the DH slot. No matter what they do, the Tigers will likely have a lot of rotating going on.
But isn't that the definition of the Jim Leyland era?
Monday, December 27, 2010
No doubt Brady deserves MVP
Good news, PETA.
Last week, Tom Brady broke the record for consecutive pass attempts without an interception.
I know what you're thinking: so what?
Well, let's dissect this milestone. Did you stop to consider that, first and foremost, an interception is a turnover. I'm not a huge stats guy, but any football expert will tell you that turnovers are the game's most important statistic. You can outgain your important by hundreds of yards and lose. You can do better in the red zone and lose. You can commit more penalties and win. But very rarely do you turn the ball over more and win.
Furthermore, an interception-free streak is one of the toughest to keep intact. So many things, a hit from a defender while throwing, a receiver who misread his route, a gamble that didn't pay off, a corner who just seems to be having a career day, or the good 'ol Hail Mary, can break it up.
And it's not like Brady isn't performing in a risk-free way. Generally, with 3,701 yards and 34 touchdowns comes a decent amount of picks in the process. But not this time.
Let's not forget that Brady has the Patriots sitting atop the AFC, while his biggest competitor for the award, Michael Vick, will more than likely have his Eagles settle for the 2 or 3 seed. And Vick has the advantage of throwing to Desean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, while Brady is flinging the ball to mostly no-names and young players. Sure, there's Welker, but he hasn't been healthy all year. And the other big name, Deion Branch, wasn't doing so hot before he was the Patriots acquired him (coincidence?).
Tom Brady has the award seized in a stranglehold. Heck, at this point, he's giving his 2007 self a run for his money.
Last week, Tom Brady broke the record for consecutive pass attempts without an interception.
I know what you're thinking: so what?
Well, let's dissect this milestone. Did you stop to consider that, first and foremost, an interception is a turnover. I'm not a huge stats guy, but any football expert will tell you that turnovers are the game's most important statistic. You can outgain your important by hundreds of yards and lose. You can do better in the red zone and lose. You can commit more penalties and win. But very rarely do you turn the ball over more and win.
Furthermore, an interception-free streak is one of the toughest to keep intact. So many things, a hit from a defender while throwing, a receiver who misread his route, a gamble that didn't pay off, a corner who just seems to be having a career day, or the good 'ol Hail Mary, can break it up.
And it's not like Brady isn't performing in a risk-free way. Generally, with 3,701 yards and 34 touchdowns comes a decent amount of picks in the process. But not this time.
Let's not forget that Brady has the Patriots sitting atop the AFC, while his biggest competitor for the award, Michael Vick, will more than likely have his Eagles settle for the 2 or 3 seed. And Vick has the advantage of throwing to Desean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, while Brady is flinging the ball to mostly no-names and young players. Sure, there's Welker, but he hasn't been healthy all year. And the other big name, Deion Branch, wasn't doing so hot before he was the Patriots acquired him (coincidence?).
Tom Brady has the award seized in a stranglehold. Heck, at this point, he's giving his 2007 self a run for his money.
Sorry!
I know it's been a while since my last post. I've been unbelievably busy with hockey, school, and guitar. I'll try to post as often as I can.
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