World Series

Agree that Leyland is overrated. He's good at managing a clubhouse over a long 162-game season, and keeping the players at an even keel. Conversely, he's bad at motivating a team in the postseason and instilling a sense of urgency in his players. Thus, he has had success in the regular season, while not so much in the postseason. And he is an average tactician when it come to in-game moves.

 

Yep, it was pretty disheartening. The way the Giants were playing/pitching, it would've been hard to beat them over 7 games, but it would've been nice for the Tigers to make it interesting and win a couple games. Even winning last night would've made it interesting with Verlander pitching in game 5. The Tigers gave their fans nothing in the series - absolutely nothing. I think the team should issue a formal apology to the fans for such an embarrassing showing.

 

Well, someone heard me.

Justin Verlander just Tweeted:

"You guys deserved better from us & our pledge is to get right to work to make sure we're back again in '13. Thank you."

 

After the disappointing World Series performance by the Tigers, it's nice to know Vegas is on our side for 2013. The Tigers are the early favorites to win the 2013 W.S.:

Tigers 6-1, Yankees 7-1, Giants 10-1, Nationals 12-1, Rangers 12-1, Angels 12-1, PHI/STL/CIN/ATL all 14-1.​

 

Tigers just announced Leyland is returning for 2013. Somewhat mixed emotions on this, but overall I am pleased. The only thing I don't like at all are his ineffective hitting coach (McClendon) and shoddy 3rd base coach (LaMont - who would do much better as a bench coach).

 

Can't believe I'm about to defend Leyland, but here goes. Yes, he is not the best in-game manager, but there is a lot more to managing than that. He runs a great clubhouse, and knows how to manage the long 162-game season.

He does not overuse his pitchers (like he did in Pitt). He is not overusing Verlander. In fact, pitchers are way too babied today. 120 pitches is not that much. 130 isn't even excessive, if you throw with good mechanics. And Verlander has impeccable mechanics, which is why he's never been on the DL.

Overall, he and Jeff Jones have handled the pitching staff quite well - it's the strength of the team. Now hitting is another story - I don't like McClendon at all - I think he needs to go, but Leyland is too loyal, which is great up to a point.

And to say that Cabrera and Fielder should not be hitting 3-4 because they are both slow is insane. Those two hitting 3-4 are one of the main reasons we won the Central this year - they both produced big time. And it helps that they are righty-lefty. Of course they are slow - nothing Leyland can do about that. If you don't think the Tigers should have slow players, blame Dave Dombrowski, not Leyland.

Overall, I think Leyland is a B manager. He's not the A manager that some make him out to be. But he is certainly not a C-D manager that you portray him. With the lack of available options out there, I am fine with Leyland managing another year. We could do much worse.

 

Mostly young guys who have not had time to build up arm strength and/or have bad mechanics. Verlander is in neither of these categories. Leyland did not use Verlander in his first few years like he does now. The Tigers have handled him perfectly, letting him build up his stamina over the first few years of his career. Now we have the best pitcher in baseball who is a workhouse. He is Nolan Ryan with better control. If he wants to, Verlander could pitch well into his 40's. He has the work ethic and mechanics and smarts.

Yeah, well, best pitchers in baseball usually are the exception. Leyland or the Tigers are not gambling anything. Sure, there are pitchers you need to baby more (like Max Scherzer with his poor mechanics), but Verlander is not one of them.

Cabrera is not that big of a liability at 3B. Advanced fielding metrics show that he was a slightly below average fielder this year. The problem is the Tigers already had D. Young at DH, so there was little time that Cabrera (or Fielder) could DH. And you don't want Young in LF if you can avoid it. So Leyland managed with the hand he was dealt. BTW, I personally can't wait to see Young off this team - despite his sudden burst of hitting in the postseason, he was a big liability to this team. He's a guy who can't field, and as a DH, he was woefully unproductive in the regular season.

Agree on Gardy - there comes a time where it's time to move on, and I think he has reached that point. I would not want Gardy on the Tigers, because his style would not fit the current Tigers roster. He's better suited with a team that plays fundamental baseball, not sluggers like the Tigers.

 

That's equivalent to about 1 game in the standings. I'll take that for a Triple Crown winner at the plate.

LOL on the Young pic!