While all of baseball is wondering whether Johan Santana will be traded to the Yankees or Red Sox, the Tigers pulled out a BLOCKBUSTER that I didn’t see coming (but half of it I secretly wished for). They sent six prospects to the Marlins for Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera.
Now, I was hoping the Tigers would be in the running for Willis. Kenny Rogers is going to be back for one more year, but regardless, the Tigers needed another left-handed starter. Getting Cabrera came out of leftfield (pun very much intended). There was a lot of talk that he was going to the Angels, and that even though the original deal fell through, most expected the two teams to continue to work at it.
Sure, the Tigers gave up a lot of prospects, but this is Willis and Cabrera we are talkin’ about! They are both in their mid-20’s and both won a World Series! That is a great combination, and in my opinion, is a move that couldn’t be turned down.
One aspect of Willis’ game though will be lost on the Tigers. He is good at the plate, and good on the base paths, as well as quick. The Marlins liked using him as a pinch-hitter or pinch-runner sometimes, especially those games when they were doing a lot of double switches. It saved bench players for better situations, and also gave the Marlins a deeper bench. But the Tigers needed his left arm, and that’s THE key to Willis.
I was used to Mr. Illitch doing these kinds of things with the Red Wings. It is nice to see him stepping up to the plate with the Tigers now. (And yes, that pun was intended, too.)
December 5th, 2007 at 8:03 am
I love this trade and I love how the Tigers lineup looks like next year. I had a feeling they would get Cabrera. They had a need at 3rd base and what a great player to fill that spot. I found the Willis piece the surprise to me. I am sad to see Maybin go but again I think the up side of Cabrera is HUGE. They also said that Carlos Guillen is his best buddy and Guillen already came out and said the Cabrera has lost 15lbs and is getting into shape.
Players like Rogers, Pudge, and Guillen I think is what seperates them from the Yankees with that leader type roll model. I think Boston has this as well which helped them to the World Series.
Imbalance of Leagues. It is very apparent that the AL is a much more talented and better market for baseball teams and players. I don’t see the scales tipping back anytime soon and the AL should rein supreme for a long time.