Just take Bill James’ findings, throw them down a steep ravine into a shallow grave covered with leaves…that won’t be found until a man walking his dog stumbles upon them.
The Tigers’ general manager spoke Tuesday as part of a Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association luncheon, expressing confidence new first baseman Prince Fielder can stay productive through most if not all of his expensive nine-year contract.
Detroit signed the hefty slugger to a $214 million deal last month. Dombrowski acknowledges the risk but points out that the hefty slugger is only 27.
“The prime of your career is what, through 32, 33?” Dombrowski said. “That’s seven of the nine years already, and my gut reaction is that this guy will continue to swing the bat. How his body will look in nine years or seven years, I really don’t know. He is a heavy-set guy but he’s also become more aware of trying to keep himself in the best shape he possibly can.”
...The Tigers acquired Fielder to help them try to defend their AL Central title after designated hitter Victor Martinez went down with a severe left knee injury. Fielder and Miguel Cabrera should form a potent middle of the batting order, but the move did create some complications. Detroit is set to shift Cabrera from first base to third to make room for Fielder.
“There’s very few guys that are Gold Glovers and are batting champions and All-Stars from an offensive perspective. They’re called Hall of Famers - and even some Hall of Famers have had some shortcomings of one area or another,” Dombrowski said. “We think Miguel will be adequate at third base from a defensive perspective. I don’t mean to say he’s going to be a Gold Glover. ... He’s got good hands, he’s got a strong arm, he wants to play there and he’ll work very hard at it.”
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1. Double-Spin Mechanic Posted: February 08, 2012 at 07:23 AM (#4056166)Yep, just like his daddy, Mo Vaughn, Boog Powell, Dmitri Young, and countless others have done.
Young in left is what really drives me nuts - why this pretense he can do it? I still hold out hope they move him for a P or an infielder.
“The prime of your career is what, through 32, 33?” Dombrowski said. “That’s seven of the nine years already
What kind of math is this?
He was 27 last year. And in any case 27 to 33 is six years.
Not to mention, since when is peak through 32?
Somebody's not smoking the objective pipe.
WELLLLL 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 is seven years. I mean, technically, you can get seven years out of it if you squint and forget he'll be 27 for all of one month of this year's season.
What is he supposed to say, "we really screwed the pooch big time with this one"?
"Prince makes us immediate World Series contenders. We intend to win now."
Cashman seems to be on the express trolley to loonyville.
I wonder if he survives professionally his personal meltdown.
I sure hope so. His job performance hasn't really suffered since he became crazy, and he's SO much more fun now that he just says whatever the hell he's thinking.
If you win, you're eccentric. If you lose, you're nuts.
Anyway, if he hasn't blown his savings on dotty Brits he'll have a few million in the bank, and he's been decent enough that there's another gig in his future after the Yanks eventually cut him loose.
What are they backing away from? They seem to be working harder on keeping the kids than they were a few years ago and for all the hubbub about them not spending money they signed Kuroda and spent $100 million to keep Sabathia.
Any predictions of the Yankees being anything less than perennial contenders seem like a fool's errand to me.
Any predictions of the Yankees being anything less than perennial contenders seem like a fool's errand to me.
Concur.
Backing down from ~$200-210M payroll to ~$190-200M is just not that big a deal.
Yeah-Cashman's lunacy worked so poorly he signed a 3 yr, 9 million dollar extension in November.
He said prime, not peak. A player peaks at 27 or 28, but his prime is normally a longer period than that.
Yeah, articles like this drive me nuts. Why do we need to read this dreck? Really, does Dombrowski say, "I'm confident in Fielder's longevity," or does he say, "Hey, look, I know this is going to really suck long before it's over, but Ilitch made me do it?" Hmmm, let's see...I suspect the man wants to keep his job, so he chooses Option 2. Duh.
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