The Grand Scheme Loses Faith in the Invisible Hand

Hold On To Your Loonies First, let me proclaim this: ATTENTION ALL TEAM COLLECTORS, the veritable Tunguska is hosting a 2010 Allen & Ginter CASE BREAK on his blog and as of right now, most teams are still available. I jumped on board as soon as I found out last night, and if you've got the cash to spare, I highly recommend that you do so as well. It's a case, for goodness sake. Think of the minis!

Also, Tunguska is a Canadian, and is charging just $45 Canadian per slot, which means that you can take advantage of our northern brother's favorable exchang...wait, WHAT?!?!

The Canadian dollar is currently worth more than it's American counterpart. $.97 to the Looney. It was as low as $.92 in May. In fact, monthly averages haven't shown a favorable exchange rate since February 2008 (when $1.00146 would buy us a Canadian buck). I knew things were bad in the US, but geez. This really puts things in perspective.

Even so, I recommend that you sign up for the group break if you're still looking for a way to get your A&G fix.

I think in Philly, you're considered a bad parent if you don't let your kids drink beer

Sweet mother of God, Philadelphia. You embarrass us all.

Big Potato Day Yesterday was the anniversary of Dan Quayle infamously telling a spelling bee contender that his Potato was "missing a little something on the end" (it was the E). To celebrate this, I was going to show a fancy new baseball card of the Tigers' own Big Potato, Jose Valverde. So, I went to my Series 2 pile to pull him out only to find...no Potato. Here's a pitcher who currently has an ERA under 0.70 for the Tigers and is as dominant a closer as exists in the AL and I don't have a Series 2 card of him? Considering that he was in Series 1 (as an Astro), I guess I can't complain too much, but if you're going to give me Phil Coke, why not go the extra mile with the Tigers' big free agent signing?

Still not an All-Star The latest All Star ballot results came out Monday and Miguel Cabrera is still in 3rd place among AL first basemen. This is the player that is leading the league in Home Runs. And RBIs. and has a .330 batting average. And a 1.062 OPS!

The silver light is that Justin Morneau (who, I begrudgingly admit, is also extremely deserving of All Star status) has overtaken Mark Teixeira. The worry was that the undeserving Teixeira would win the fans' vote, with Morneau selected by the players and Cabrera out in the cold...again. This is essentially what happened last year, but would be far more criminal in this season, aka "the best individual season by a Tigers player in history."

But don't take my word for it:

"You have to be careful when you talk about personal things, but like I said, if Miguel Cabrera's not on the All-Star team, then you might as well not have an All-Star team."

That's Jim Leyland, who is actually notoriously stingy with praise for his own players. But he also doesn't pull punches and he's saying what we're all thinking. If Miguel Cabrera isn't an All Star, they might as well not even play the game.

Johnny Damon goes a step further:

"He's in a class by himself. I haven't got to see (Albert) Pujols play too often, but what he's doing, especially in this ballpark ... this ballpark could be the only thing that keeps him from winning the Triple Crown. He's that good. The thing is, he still has a chance to be that Triple Crown candidate."

This is his direct response to a question about how Cabrera compares to ARod and David Ortiz. Yeah, I'd say that's pretty good praise.

Also, Cabrera is 26. You may now pick your jaws up off the floor.

It's worth noting that this isn't the first time that Damon has praised Cabrera. A Bless You Boys post from back in February includes this snippet (from Jason Beck initially):

[Cabrera] is going to win an MVP before he's done. Magglio is on his contract year."
Cabrera's eyes widened as he looked over attentively. Damon smiled back.
"That's right, MVP, baby," Damon said. "And then you take me to dinner."

And he's right. Cabrera is having an MVP-caliber season, and Magglio Ordonez has performed like Magglio Ordonez always has save for the first half of last year. There's something to say for track records, I suppose. Although he's not actually in a contract year as much as he's in an "I better play well enough for the Tigers not to bench me so that I am automatically re-upped to another elephant-caravan load of money" year. Still, no complaints from this end.

Cooling down Austin Jackson was benched last night with some back troubles, which comes in the midst of a dramatic cool-down, in which he is batting a weak .220/.235/.280 in June and is 4-41 since his 4-hit came on June 3. This is probably just a regular slump, albeit one that drags him down to the general levels he should have been in all along (.300 hitter, good XBH power), and isn't too much to be worried about. He's no Bashó after all...
I will say this about Jackson, which I may have said at other points so far this season. I am really impressed with what he has done, especially defensively. I think that he is going to be an excellent player for the Tigers for years to come and may become the career Tiger fan-favorite fans lost when Granderson was traded.

Speaking of Bashó The Free Press today makes the case for Brennan Boesch over Austin Jackson has rookie of the year:

The Tigers first baseman is having a season to end all seasons. He finally will make the All-Star Game as a Tiger. He will be invited to take part in the Home Run Derby. And he’ll take his rightful place in the conversation that starts with, “Who is the best player in the game not named Albert Pujols?”

What's that you say? That quote was all about Miguel Cabrera? Hmm...maybe because that's the basis of Samuelson's argument for The Banana Tree to win the ROY. Protection. He even calls himself out on it:

Sometimes, a little too much credit is given to “protection” in the lineup. Ultimately, it’s still Cabrera doing the damage. He’s the stud. Boesch is the supporting player. But the bottom of the Tigers' lineup is so offensively challenged that the rookie has been the key to keep it going.

Indeed, sometimes too much credit is given to protection, sometimes not enough. The fact is, Boesch has excelled in his role and has both provided protection for Cabrera and inflicted a bunch of damage on his own. At the same time, just as Jackson has hit a cool streak, it is only a matter of time before Boesch--a .250 hitter in the minors--comes down somewhat as well. Bashó has surprised and impressed all of us, and if, come the end of the season, he has outperformed Jackson, and the rest of the AL rookie class, then he deserves the award for sure. I'm just not sure that a month and a half of production is enough to make the distinction yet, although it's certainly enough to put him at the forefront of the conversation.

Rookie Redemptions Which brings me back to something that I brought up yesterday: Are we going to get a Jackson or Boesch rookie redemption card of some sort? I certainly hope so and here's why:

This is the Tigers' lone rookie redemption card from the last few years--a Rick Porcello refractor (#/199) from 2009 Finest. It is a fabulous card which is an excellent addition to the team set. I would absolutely love to see Jackson or Boesch have a similar offering in 2010 Finest. It is worth noting, by the way, that though Porcello was the top of the class in 2009, he was the 9th (of 10) redemption, announced towards the end of the year. I guess there's no arguing with the hype machine, especially in this day and age.

As I write this, the Indians' Carlos Santana was announced as Topps Red Hot Rookie #1, meaning that everyone with redemptions 2 and above just saw the value of their cards increase incrementally.

Misc. I don't have much to say about other things at the moment, so I'll relegate them to here. Ooh! Except this: The custom-designed Infinite Baseball Card set, which I regrettably missed out on before it was pulled for legal reasons, has an update set available with new players! This should avoid the legal messiness that he faced before. These cards are really nice looking and I think I'm going to pick them up, although the OCD in me now wants to seek out the other 10 cards that he discontinued. Topps Attax has a follow-up set called "Battle of the Ages" in which Verlander and Cobb both have cards. They will be added to the Topps Attax gallery. Speaking of Galleries: I'm waiting on a few more cards to trickle in, but a Topps S2 gallery is in the offing. Following up on my Michigan draft posts, the Michigan Daily has a good rundown of the five 2010 draftees. Also, an excellent story on the best home-field advantage in sports. More Michigan stuff? How about the fact that realignment is what made Michigan a Big-10 power in the first place. Fingers crossed that the new realignment does the same thing. Tigers go for the sweep tonight with Verlander on the mound in a series in which they didn't have to face Stephen Strasburg, which is probably a bad thing given the ticket sales it could have brought.

Topps Finest Redemption #5 is...Not Strasburg

Sorry folks, not yet...you get Marlins top prospect Mike Stanton instead. I've got $20 that says that Strasburg is either redemption #9 or #10 so that the value of these redemption cards and unsold boxes keeps getting higher and higher as more cards are eliminated and the Strasburg remains a mystery. Think about it, if they announce him as #6, then the aftermarket value of 7-10 plummets. When it's still a mystery, they stay high up until the moment his card is announced. They maximize the value of that mystery at card #9 or #10 (it doesn't matter which).

Not that I particularly care, I just hadn't seen anybody post about this yet. Personally, I'm still holding out for an Austin Jackson or Brennan Boesch to make the cut, but it's looking less and less likely that it will happen, what with Strasburg, Carlos Santana, Pedro Alvarez (coming soon...) and other call-ups to be still in the mix for the 10 card set.

Actually, I'm much more interested in the regular Topps "Red Hot Rookies" campaign, which has already eliminated Jackson as a candidate because of his inclusion in the regular Topps Series 2 set. In the two years that they've run this redemption program there have been a grand total of ZERO Tigers, despite a Top-5 ROY finisher in 2008 (Armando Galarraga) and 2009 (Rick Porcello) and a flamethrowing righthander that Topps seems to be enamored with (Ryan Perry). Is this the year that the Tigers can break through into the set?

If it didn't happen for the players I've already mentioned, what is it going to take?

The Beauty (?) of the Sticker Autograph

Topps Series 2, like all the Topps series since 2006, I think, maybe 2005, has sticker autographs. I erroneously stated that I thought the tide had turned, however, with a Ryan Perry autograph that appeared, somewhat awkwardly, to be on-card:


I had mixed, but skewed positive feelings on this. On the one hand: ON CARD AUTOGRAPHS WOOOO!, on the other, this is the aesthetic equivalent of a sticker, almost looking worse, as though they ran out of stickers and just went "oh, just sign in this huge white box instead." Still, I was excited for the future, with the appearance that on-card autographs were in the offing. Nope:


Indeed, this is a clear sticker, which means that Topps has officially caught up with early 00's technology. Still, the clear sticker is an improvement, in that it gives you the ability to design a card in which the autograph enhances the design, or at least unobtrusively comes into play, instead of yelling "BAM! I'M AN AUTOGRAPH" the way the old cards did. As Upper Deck proved time and time again, stickers can be done nicely:



The plus side, of course, is that stickers do give the flexibility to more easily produce cards of stars without having to worry about signing schedules and production dates and the like. The downside is that they are still stickers and help contribute to the overpopulation of autograph cards as a whole, foster laziness of design and pigeonhole a company to use the same players over and over again to get their money's worth.

But there is one other upside to stickers that made itself apparent in Topps Series 2:


Some might say that this is everything that is wrong with stickers, I mean, the signature is completely crooked for goodness sake. Well give George Kell a break. He is dead after all.

Seriously though, I like that we are graced with a George Kell autograph--an unexpected surprise from beyond the grave. There is a certain beauty in this. The clear stickers are also an unambiguously good move and can only lead to better things. However, Topps needs to make sure that they don't treat these new stickers as "The Answer." They are not. They are an improvement--a low-end card solution--but should be used only when necessary. I think that everybody agrees that collectors would be happy with fewer autograph cards if the ones that were out there were nicely designed and signed on-card. Topps Chrome (2009), 206, A&G, Chicle, Bowman and Heritage have already gotten the memo. Let's just hope that they stay the course.

Open and Shut Case

How often do you have a chance to take a card and make it better?











Much better.

This card came from a Nachos Grande group break a long long time ago. I debated on whether to open it up (it had a 10 year old sticker keeping it closed) and am certainly glad I did. Happy Friday everybody--World Cup game tomorrow!

Putting the "M" in MLB: The Soldiers and the Showmen

Putting and Putting are different words spelled the same. This has my time-zone confused mind well...confused. I tried puting, but it looked really weird and seemed like it should be pronounced "pew-ting," which it probably would be because puting is not a word. So I went back to putting, but now can't read it as anything else but putting, aka the act of striking a golf ball on the green with a putter in an attempt to knock it into a hole. That's not what these posts are about though.

Earlier today I intended to run down the Michigan alumni in Major League systems. Unfortunately, time flew on me and I had to do my job and arbitrarily cut my post off with the class of 2007. Now I'm finishing up with Part 2, and notice something that makes my 2007 cut-off less arbitrary. Michigan's lone 2006 pick is out of baseball, and by jumping to 2005 we're able to actually get an alumni in the Major Leagues. That's five years ago now, which pretty much means one of three things. If you were drafted five or more years ago, you are either 1. Out of baseball, 2. In the Majors or 3. An organizational soldier who might get a cup of coffee if you're really, really lucky. These are those players.

Chris Getz, 2B (2005, 4th, White Sox) I wrote about Getz when he was traded to the Royals this offseason. Since then he went from a solid rookie with impressive speed to a struggling sophomore with impressive speed that is underutilized. He has battled an injury this year, but is hitting only .213 on the season. In KC he'll have room for his struggles to work themselves out, and still appears to have a future as a major league player, but doesn't seems like a utility infielder role may not be unlikely in the years to come. Speed is enough to ensure him that, at least.

Clayton Richard, P (2005, 8th, White Sox) Former Michigan Quarterback and Econ 101 classmate Clayton Richard was traded last season, from the U-M jettisoning White Sox to the Padres, where he has developed as a promising MLB starter. He hasn't disappointed so far this year. In his 11 starts this year, Richard sports a 2.87 ERA and 1.29 WHIP with a nice 6.7 K/9 and an ok but not-so-nice 1.89 K/BB. Nevertheless, Richard has emerged as a real-deal MLB pitcher.

After this point, there are a lot of draftee who just wash out and go on with their lives. Some who are still around are in the majors:

Jake Fox, A's Fox was traded from the Cubs to the A's in the offseason after emerging as a utility player with bench power (11 HR, 44 RBI). After blasting a HR on Monday night, he maintains that role on the A's, where he has the added ability of serving as a DH for the team. He's at .220/.273/.341 and needs all of those numbers to rise if he's going to be able to stick in his 3rd big league season.

JJ Putz, White Sox We all know Putz. He was an elite closer for a number of years, before heading to the Mets, losing his mojo and rediscovering his stuff as a set-up man for the White Sox this season. He's got a 2.75 ERA and 0.966 WHIP this season, with a K/9 at the highest level of his career (12.4!) and a killer K/BB of 6.75. By the numbers, he is pitching more like his former All-Star self, and less like a washed out bullpen filler. Putz is still solid.

Some are falling stars

Rich Hill Hill is a sad story. He was the promising young starter that appeared poised to lock down the back-end of the Cubs rotation with a breakout 2007 season. Before you knew it, he got hurt, fell apart, got traded to the O's, completely fell apart, got released and signed with the Cardinals this season, where he has been playing in Memphis (AAA) and performing adequately but unimpressively. He has recently switched to the bullpen and had his contract opt-out date pushed back from the end of May to the end of June as he attempts a comeback.

And some are just soldiering on...

Jeff Kunkel Kunkel has been organizational depth at C for the Tigers since he was drafted in 2006 and has been the recent beneficiary of roster musical chairs in the organization. He was just promoted to Toledo (AAA) where he is making the most of his shot. In 2 games he is 5/9 with a double. Not bad for a career .227 hitter with a .585 OPS. Kunkel hasn't put in quite enough service time for you to really want to pull for him to make it to the show, but if he can stick with it for a couple more years (or until a Gerald Laird DFA?) he might yet get that cup of coffee.

Bobby Korecky After spending two years in the majors with the Twins (2008) and D-backs (2009), Korecky was stricken with elbow problems that knocked him out of the ranks of affiliated ball. Never fear, the Winnipeg Goldeyes are here!

It’s bad enough when a promising pitcher is told he needs any surgery before he is able to break into the big time.

It’s even worse when you’re told you need Tommy John surgery for a second time.

The Winnipeg Goldeyes’ newest relief pitcher, Bobby Korecky, is trying to come back for a second time after having a ligament replaced in his elbow once again 10 months ago.

Korecky thought long and hard about his future when he was informed he needed surgery for a second time.

He's officially on the comeback trail in the independent leagues. We wish him the best.

Bobby Scales Bobby is back at AAA this season, but he got his call up last year and made quite the impression on everybody. Just a feel-good story all around, he returns to toil in his 11th minor league season.

Mike Cervenak Another Scales-esque story, Cervenak got his shot with the Phillies in 2008, where he played in 10 games, had 2 hits and an RBI. If nothing else, he can retire having made it. However, he's not ready to give up quite yet. He was released by the Phillies in 2009, signed a deal with the Mets and tore it up in the Mexican league, batting .330 (3rd) with 48 RBI (3rd) and is now with Buffalo (AAA) waiting for one more shot.

And I believe that does the trick. Michigan has a small presence now, with nary a Barry Larkin or George Sisler in the bunch, but a bevy of minor leaguers who might yet get their shot to make an impact at the highest level. To them I say, good luck and Go Blue!

Putting the "M" in MLB: Classes of 2007-2009

I'm on the west coast today which means that I woke up at the crack of dawn and had some time to spare, but apparently not enough, as I can only get back to 2007 before my day had to start. Treat this as a "Part 1," then.

A long time ago, I started a feature on this blog that was going to trace the University of Michigan's baseball alumni as they made their way through the ranks of the minors and emerged in the Major Leagues. It was going to be a regular thing. It lasted one post. Oops.

Well, with the first day of the MLB draft over (and all of the Michigan players still on the board), I feel as though I've been given one more shot. To re-start this feature, I'm going to do a quick rundown of Michigan's major league players and hopefuls. This time though, I'll keep up it. I promise.

Chris Fetter, P

image from formerlyanonymous' stellar 2009 baseball season recap

Michigan's 2009 bright spot and lone 2009 draftee was pulled into the Padres system and had a very nice 2009, posting a 1.66 ERA between his stops with the Eugene Emeralds (A-) and the Fort Wayne Tin Caps (A). He posted a stellar .985 WHIP and 75 Strikeouts over 65 innings with only 14 walks. That was good enough to earn a promotion...

...which hasn't worked out so well so far. In only 4 games this season his K/BB ratio has plummeted from 5.36 to 1.56 for the Lake Elsinore Storm (A+) That probably explains the ERA of 6.00 and the WHIP of 1.714. Since this is still A-ball Fetter will have a chance to work things out over the season, but he's going to need to make a big impression in a hitter-happy league to continue his progression through the ranks.

As for the fantastic 2008 draft class:

Jason Christian, SS A fellow Cal leaguer, the 2008 draftee (5th round) is playing this season for the Stockton Ports (A+) in the Oakland A's system. The shortstop that never really had a prolific bat to begin with benefited from a stellar 2008 Michigan team that likely raised the profile of the whole group. He had a .261/.341/.385 slash line for the Kane County Cougars (A) last season, but has struggled so far at the next level, .162/.295/.162 so far in 2010. To his credit, Christian has a good eye and pretty good speed, which may keep him progressing through the minors if he can just sneak that batting average up a bit.

Zach Putnam, P

image via Boston Wolverine's flickr stream
Zach is the man. He was the rock of the 2007 and 2008 Michigan teams and is the player who's career I'm most interested in, by far. Heck, I've posted about him one way or another thrice and officially collect his cards, despite not actually owning any of his cards. Zach was a player that was projected (1st-2nd rd.)to be drafted much higher than he actually was (5th round), but was the first of the Michigan class to make the leap to AA after only 8 games at the lower levels. Still with the Akron Aeros (AA), he has been converted back into a starter (he started in College, was converted to reliever when he made the leap to AA and is now back in a starting role), and has a 4.02 ERA in 11 games so far this season.

It's hard to see exactly how Zach projects out right now. The hard-throwing righty with a very heavy sinker has seen his K/9 fall from roughly 9 to around 6 from this year to last, but that is something that is likely explained by a switch out of the bullpen. His K/BB ratio has been consistent and good at 3.86, although you'd like to see him get his WHIP (1.339) down a touch further if he's going to be able to take advantage of an Indians franchise that is in need of pitching, and badly.

Adam Abraham, 1B/3B The 13th Rounder (2008, Indians) was a heck of a hitter, but it hasn't translated so far. Currently battling for the Lake County Captains (A) he was .257/.334/.389 last season and .171/.224/.291 so far this year. An uncertain place in the field 1B/3B/DH makes me wonder whether his progress has stalled.

Nate Recknagel, 1B Boy the Indians love themselves some Wolverines. The 2008 Big Ten Player of the year was drafted in the 19th and is in his first full season with the Kinston Indians (A+) of the Carolina League after a late-season promotion last year. He's not mashing the ball the way you might hope (.746 OPS), but he's hanging in there.

Michael Powers, P Powers was picked in the 31st round of the 2008 draft by the Mets and is currently pitching pretty well for the Savannah Sand Gnats. Small sample sizes being what they are, his 2.59 ERA, 1.068 WHIP, 3.38 K/BB and 10.0(!) K/9 looks real nice on the season so far. And it may be the case that he can keep it up. Since 2008 his composite numbers show a 3.21 ERA, 1.173 WHIP, 3.17 K/BB and an 8.4 K/9 indicating that, if nothing else, Powers may have the stuff to make the leap to the next level of the minors.

That's it for the big 2008 draft class. Putnam is your closest to the show, but nobody is really on the fast track at this point. As for 2007...

Andrew Hess, P (2007, 19th, Detroit Tigers) Sitting down in Lakeland (A+) is not a place you want to be in your 3rd professional season and usually means the end of the road. Sure enough, Hess hasn't pitched in 2010 and apparently wrapped up his career with an 8-inning gem which isn't too bad of a way to go.

Doug Pickens, C/1B (2007, 50th, Cleveland Indians) Another Indian (A+, Kinston), Pickens looks to be little more than organizational depth at this point. Not a whole lot of progression and consistent struggles at the plate (.245/.325/.341 over his career) makes him an organizational soldier for one more season at least.

Tonight (or tomorrow morning), I'll wrap up the rest of Michigan's active draftees--including, yes, some that are actually in the Major Leagues--and hopefully be able to include some newbees from today's draft round, as well as highlight some of those "feel good" stories you might remember from the past.

Card Cameos: Incidental Curtis

You all know this blog's general feelings about Curtis Granderson, right? In a word: Awesome. Curtis is awesome. He does awesome things. He acts awesomely etc. Is it any surprise then, that he makes baseball cards in which he's not even credited more awesome? Of course not:

This card was brought to my attention by a brand-new post by the Collective Troll. In effect, I have stolen his image, so I am obligated by karma to heartily recommend that you give his blog a visit. Also, because it's good.

Anyway, what we have here is a 2010 Topps Silk card of Jason Bartlett. These cards have no numbers, but are serial numbered to 50. I happen to have a few of them of my own, although none from 2010. I think that this specimen is particularly nice--the Rays color scheme seems to work quite well with the 2010 design.

The shot itself is a real winner, although it's as much about Granderson as it is about Bartlett. If Curtis' head was up, I'd be certain that it was his card, based on the composition. Still, for high-flying action shots, this one is certainly a winner...made all the better by Curtis' sliding presence.