After his playing career, McHale continued to work in baseball. He became president of the expansion Montreal Expos in 1969 before serving as their general manager from 1978 to 1984.

My thoughts go out to the family and friends of Mr. McHale.

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My thoughts go out to the family and friends of Mr. Podres.

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Who are these guys? Glad you asked.

Guzman once was known as Pedro De Los Santos and played second base in the San Diego Padres organization. Then when the visa crackdowns came along, his name changed and he aged a few years. Guzman has decent on-base skills and is fast. His ceiling is a poor-man’s Juan Pierre, but really, he’s a fourth outfielder. Actually, so is Pierre, but I digress.

Shelton spent all of 2007 in the minors after batting .273/.340/.466 for the Tigers in ‘06. The guy has some serious power from the right side of the plate. He came up through the Pittsburgh Pirates organization as a catcher but primarily has played first base in the big leagues, although he did log six games behind the dish back in 2004.

Neither of these guys should be impact players for their new teams, but both could contribute. Shelton has more offensive upside, while Guzman provides stronger defense.

Hey, they can’t all be blockbusters.

Other Voices

• Detroit Tigers Weblog
• BBTF’s Transaction Oracle

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Jones, who will turn 33 a few weeks after the 2008 season begins, has played mostly right field over the past few season, although he did get into 84 games at center field last year. Presumably with Curtis Granderson patrolling center, the Tigers will move Jones back to a corner spot and hope that his power magically returns.

On the other side, Infante hit .264/.317/.449 in 2004 as Detroit’s starting second baseman at age 22. Since then, his offensive game has deteriorated and his role has diminished accordingly. I really liked this kid when he and Ramon Santiago were coming up through the ranks, but it looks like Infante is destined to be nothing more than a utility player.

Other Voices

• Detroit Tigers Weblog
• Tiger Tales
• TigerBlog
• Cub Reporter
• View from the Bleachers

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Well, on the surface anyway.

Presumably the acquisition of Renteria allows the Tigers to move Carlos Guillen off short and… hmm, maybe replace Sean Casey at first base? Guillen did play 36 games at first in 2007, and his bat is plenty potent for the position.

Renteria isn’t the defender he was when he first came up with the Marlins — his range is a little below average these days — but he’s reliable. Offensively, Renteria was roughly on par with Guillen last season, but that was a career year. He’ll still produce at age 32, but probably more along the lines of what he did in ‘06 (.293/.361/.436).

On the other side, Atlanta presumably hands the shortstop keys to youngish Yunel Escobar, who enjoyed a nice rookie campaign filling in for Renteria when the latter was hurt. Escobar has skills, but it seems to me there isn’t a lot of upside with him. He’s shown good strike-zone judgment throughout the minors and in his brief time with the big club, but there’s not a lot of power to go with it and he turns 25 this week.

As for the players coming to the Braves, Jurrjens made his big-league debut in ‘07 at the ripe old age of 21. Baseball America had ranked him as Detroit’s #4 prospect coming into the season. The Tigers have a deep system, so that’s actually a very nice showing. Jurrjens’ upside is that of a mid-rotation starter and he’s basically big-league ready.

Hernandez came into ‘07 as the Tigers’ #7 prospect. Before he’d played full-season ball, BA called him “a natural leadoff hitter with a gap-to-gap stroke.” This year, Hernandez hit .293/.344/.391 in the Midwest League. That doesn’t jump out at you necessarily, but he played the season as a 19-year-old. He also stole 54 bases at a very high success rate and did a decent (not great) job of controlling the strike zone. In other words, there’s a lot to like here.

Bottom line: The Tigers appear to be gunning for an immediate return to the postseason, while the Braves are looking at the longer view. Detroit has taken a creative approach to upgrading its first base situation at minimal cost (remember, the Tigers have a deep system), while Atlanta has committed to two youngsters in Escobar and Jurrjens who will contribute immediately, plus a third in Hernandez who might have the upside of them all.

In the end, I expect this trade to help both clubs accomplish their goals. Nicely done on both sides…

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American League

• Indians at Tigers, 4:05 p.m. PT — Just a half-game separates these AL Central rivals. Paul Byrd vs Justin Verlander looks like a mismatch, and I suppose it is. Byrd, though, is a crafty veteran with freakish control (18 walks in 143 IP). Verlander’s ERA is 4.89 in seven starts since the All-Star break. Detroit’s offense is crazy good — Magglio Ordonez is a legit MVP candidate, Gary Sheffield is having a monster year (including 20 SB for the first time since ‘98), and now phenom Cameron Maybin is up with the big club. Cleveland counters with a nice corps of young talent in Victor Martinez, Ryan Garko, Jhonny Peralta, and Grady Sizemore. These two franchises have set themselves up nicely for the next few years.
• Yankees at Angels, 7:05 p.m. PT — Anaheim has won the first two games of this series, by a combined score of 25-15. Garret Anderson drove in 10 runs during the Angels’ 18-9 win on Tuesday; that represents 20% of his RBI total on the season. Andy Pettitte and John Lackey hook up in the finale, as the Yankees look to avoid a sweep.

National League

• Dodgers at Phillies, 4:05 p.m. PT — Not a marquee pitching matchup, but that’s usually the case when the Phillies are playing. Derek Lowe got off to a fine start for the Dodgers this year, but has struggled of late (1-4, 5.06 ERA over his last seven starts). J.D. Durbin, meanwhile, has pitched surprisingly well so far in the second half (5-0, 3.12 ERA) while splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen. Ryan Howard notched his first career stolen base on Tuesday. Rudy Seanez and Russell Martin should be ashamed of themselves.
• Padres at Mets, 4:10 p.m. PT — The Padres try to put Tuesday’s late-inning meltdown behind them. Ace Jake Peavy makes his first start since making controversial comments about his future. His former teammate, Brian Lawrence, gets the call for New York. Lawrence has made three starts with the big club after missing all of 2006 due to injury.
• Brewers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m. PT — Brandon Webb takes aim at Orel Hershiser’s consecutive scoreless innings streak against a potent Milwaukee lineup. Actually, Webb is 17 innings shy, so it won’t happen on Wednesday regardless. Still, 42 innings is pretty darned impressive. Everyone (myself included) talks about Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, but Geoff Jenkins is enjoying a fine resurgence this year for the Brewers, and Corey Hart is quietly putting up some nice numbers. Something’s got to give tonight; we’ll see what it is. Oh yeah, both teams are fighting for a division title.

One game: I’ll be tuned to the Mets/Padres contest, but I have a vested interest in that one. The most compelling storyline probably is Webb vs the Brewers lineup. Happy watching…

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This is a great addition for Detroit, but it’s got to be something of a slap in the face of Selig and MLB, which recommended a signing bonus of $1.17 million for the 27th pick this year. Of course, you could argue that Porcello slipped so far because of his reported demands. And that brings us to the uncomfortable question of why, exactly, MLB even has a draft…

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Verlander fanned 12 batters on the night. You know how many pitches he threw? 112. That’s sick.

Another thing that’s sick is Verlander’s improvement this season. He was outstanding as a rookie, but check this out:

Talk about nice trends. Verlander’s hits and homers are down, his strikeouts are up, and he’s working deeper into games. Oh, and he hasn’t reached his physical prime. What’s not to like?

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• April 29, 1986: At age 23, Clemens strikes out 20 Seattle Mariners in a game at Fenway Park. The Boston Red Sox win the game, 3-1, and Clemens enters the history books. [More at Baseball Almanac]
• October 10, 1990: Clemens is ejected in the second inning of ALCS Game 4 against the Oakland A’s, who complete the sweep of Boston en route to their third straight World Series. [More at ESPN.]
• September 18, 1996: Ten years after he did it the first time, Clemens ties his own record by striking out 20 Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. [More at MLB.com]
• July 8, 2000: Now pitching for the New York Yankees, Clemens drills the Mets’ Mike Piazza in the head with a fastball. Piazza suffers a concussion. [More at Find Articles]
• October 22, 2000: In a bizarre on-field confrontation, Clemens throws a piece of shattered bat at Piazza. [More at SI.com]

Love him or hate him, the man known as “The Rocket” is one of the greatest pitchers ever to play the game.

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