This afternoon Detroit traded Scott Sizemore to Oakland for left handed relief pitcher David Purcey. Sizemore had hit .222 since he came up to take over second base from Wil Rhymes. Second base is now handed to Danny Worth. He's the 3rd of the 4 headed second base monster we say last year. The fourth, Carlos Guillen, is still at least 6 weeks away from being game ready. Worth is by far the best defensive second basemen of the four, but questions will be can he hit? He hit a passable .270 in his time up last season.
This trade indicates that Detroit had given up on Sizemore. They also have interchangeable skill sets at second base, so if they needed another left handed relief pitcher they had a part to move. Ryan Raburn can play second as well, and played there a bit this season before Sizemore came up. Daniel Schlereth is the only left handed pitcher they have up right now, and he's been inconsistent.
This move may also mean that Detroit isn't going to keep Charlie Furbush up. They'd rather have that prized arm getting regular starts in the minor, with eyes of maybe seeing him in the starting rotation next season.
I think this trade may foreshadow something more significant down the road. Assuming they are still in striking distance of the Central lead, with a second half that on paper in the preseason looked very favorable, I would not be surprised at all to see them to make a move with a bigger piece.
There are whispers of the Mets possibly holding a fir esale as they shed assets and payroll given the financial struggles of the franchise and the impending partial or full sale to raise cash for the Wilbon family as they continue to be entangled in the Bernie Madoff affair. Maybe they make a run at David Wright to put a big time bat, who plays good defense as well, at third base. Maybe they make a run at Jose Reyes to put legitimate speed and a pure leadoff hitter at shortstop and move Jhonny Peralta to third.
Brandon Inge could be on a short leash. The offense is totally gone. Ryan Raburn could be on a short least. He's still young and with talent but he can't put it all together after multiple shots. If Magglio Ordonez continues to not hit at all we could see the end of him. Detroit needs another bat. They need another arm they can trust in the bullpen.
The point is I expect something more to happen. The Tigers are very close to having a 2006 caliber team. That team went to the World Series, and was actually favored to win it before they played a poor 5 games against St. Louis.
They're also very close to a 2008 caliber team. That team went 74-88 and finished last in the division, after underachieving epically.
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