well Avila blew his wad. Not the direction I wouldve went, Zimmerman I didnt even put in my top 10 when I was asked recently. Im a big fan of power pitchers and this guy is far from that, hes also had Tommy john surgery which he seems to be ok but his velocity has dropped over 3 miles an hr on avg, he was terrible away from Nationals park and lefties hit over .280 against him last year. he also had his worst ERA since his rookie year last year. Dombrowski wouldnt have even looked at a guy like this and neither would I. Unless Avila nails the bullpen I dont see this propelling us into playoff contention. anyhow hes here so might as well look at the glass as half full. heres what I see as being the good in this move Zimmerman has 4 pitches - the usual bag of tricks. fastball, curve, change and slider. he was early in his career hitting 98 with regularity but hes lucky if he hits 94 anymore, his slider is solid, the change is rarely used and hes good at keeping the ball in the park. very nice WHIP and induces a lot of ground balls. hes going from a spacious ballpark to another and the AL has seen very little of him so what to me has become stale and predictable in the National League wont carry over. there were more than a few times I watched him last year and I knew what he was gonna throw pitch after pitch. hed go FB, FB, slider - that might work in HS or college but not the bigs. hes also in his prime years (I think hes 29 or 30), and seems to be a good guy in the clubhouse. hes been pretty consistent and hes solid just not worth that jack and this guy will never be the guy hitters will dread facing. hes very vanilla and more of a 3rd IMO but for 20+ he'll be in at 2. Avila did well on KRod but Maybin and Zimmerman.....eh. I wouldnt grade this higher than a C
As usual you make some really good points. I guess im trying real hard to be positive. They sure dumped a bundle of cash on this guy.
he'll be fine I think Will, hes just not where I wouldve went with all that money. Im sure Ill warm up to him once hes here. this may be a little hypocritical of me but with Zimmerman think a shorter Doug Fister, but I dont know what it is but I really liked Fister. in fact Id rather have him here for less to be honest, I really liked his approach. he was very serious and I know he gave it his all each and every pitch. he could really paint the corners too, thats fun to watch. hopefully this works with Jordan. Avila still has time to make amends
For $217M the Red Sox can have him. He'll get them 15 wins and give them nothing come playoff time. Of course his playoff's record is the only knock on him, but 217... wow.
The Tigers are still looking at pitching, and they will have a deal in place with Mike Pelfrey soon. The terms of the deal are not yet known, but it is believed to be a two-year deal. New GM Al Avila has been a busy man. Pelfrey was 6-11 with a 4.26 ERA, and he led the AL allowing just 0.6 home runs per nine innings. Avila also traded for closer Francisco Rodriguez. Jordan Zimmermann is the big signing this hot stove season for the Tigers, but Detroit needed depth. Pelfrey made 30 starts last season for the Twins, posting a 1.48 WHIP over 164 2/3 innings pitched. (JonHeymen, CBS) __________________________________________________________ So, what do you guy's think of this signing?
Im sorry but outside of KRod Avila has done nothing whatsoever to get me excited about next. He overpaied for Zimmerman and got a guy I wouldnt have even bothered with, signs Pelfrey who is a cheaper(and crappier)version of Porcello and signs Mark freakin Lowe! cmon, I remember saying last summer I think on this thread that I thought he wasnt even in the league anymore. hes garbage, he had one good year and found a sucker to throw some coin at him. not to mention its ANOTHER righty on the staff. I can count on two fingers the numbers of lefties this team will have and thats if they keep Boyd or Hardy - which is no longer a for sure thing. Hate to keep bringing up DBrow but he just built atleast on paper one of the best bullpens in two moves, he got Kimbrel who is an absolute stud and one of the best young flamothrowers in Carson Smith(26), he still has Koji Uehara whos no slouch himself. 3 guys that are closers on any almost any team and we let AL AL walk and pick up Mark Lowe? really? why not see what Phil Coke is up to these days. Salty is solid, especially for a backup and he'll bring some much needed pop from the left side of the plate. Im sorry and I hate to get down on my favorite team but I honestly think this has been a borderline terrible offseason, not impressed at all with Avila. he went out and plugged holes - he didnt address needs, thats what seperates good GMs from the rest. outside of getting Cespedes(which will never happen) Avila gets no higher than a D from me for his moves. If you guys think Im just being a hater Id be more than happy to justify my reasoning with facts not just opinions
I personally dont think the players aquired are 'Grade A', but the ones he has let go contributed nothing and i give him credit for that. Least their doing stuff... cant say he stood pat or its 'status quo'.
Matt Millen made lots of moves too. illitch gave Avila plenty of cash to spend however he thought was best and he went and blew it on hookers and beer.......wait thats a great plan
lol, I feel and hear what your saying. I sure wish they would have went all in on Grienke or Chapmann, players like that, but they couldnt swing it. I think they are improved, just not maybe quite as much as they could have. Anyway, i look forward to your insight.
maybe if I didnt love the Tigers so much I wouldnt be as bothered Will. Im just really dissappointed in their offseason and I cant say thats been the case in probably ten years. I call it how I see it especially when its my faves. I beat the WIngs up all the time and their still a great team even though we dont have Parros (who wouldve cleaned Chipchuras clock) *THUMBSUP* when the dust settles Ill hopefully get on board with all this. and for the record I didnt think we didnt need Chapman, Price or Grienke to make this a good offseason. Avila just went in the almost opposite direction I woulve approached this offseson. hope it pans out or Ill start directing Bettman hatred towards someone else *BRAVO*
and I hope Kazmir signs for a lot more than that waste of space Pelfrey does or youll be hearing about that all year too
