Detroit Tiger's North Carolina Boys

I'm originally from Michigan and have been a Detroit Tiger's fan my whole life. The past 12 years of following them has been difficult (other than last year) to say the least.

However, with their resurgence, it's great knowing the future of the team centers around three guys from the state of North Carolina: Kyle Sleeth (Wake Forest), Cameron Maybin (T.C. Roberson), and Andrew Miller (UNC).

Here's a link to a Detroit News article that is mainly about Miller, but it also hypes Cameron and Kyle too: Click here to read the article

Pretty cool. Good luck to all three. And GO TIGERS!

Who's the next North Carolina player to be drafted in the first round by the Tigers?

 

Detroit has accomplished what few teams can do. They built their team through their farm system. Dombrowski has been a proven genius everywhere he goes and he is making his mark in Detroit.

The Tigers are built for the future and the future is now.

 

Actually, Dombrowski has built the team through trades, free agency, Rule 5 pickups, and the draft. He took risks on experienced players with injuries in the free agency market (Pudge Rodriguez, Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen), he traded his one decent pitcher (Jeff Weaver) for three promising young players (Jeremy Bonderman, Carlos Pena, and Franklyn German) of whom Bonderman is the only one still with the team. He picked up Chris Shelton in the Rule 5 draft. And he's drafted Verlander, Zumaya, Maybin, Miller, Sleeth, and Clevlen who all are or look like major league talent.

The real genius that Dombroski brings to the Tigers is his ability to evaluate talent at all levels - high school, college, minors, and majors. He picks the right people, consistently. Not just players, but managers, coaches and scouts too. Sure, a lot of players have not worked out, especially in the draft, but in general his picks succeed. His predecessors all failed to identify players that could compete in the majors. Year after year the Tigers had high first round picks, but the players never made it to the majors or had career ending injuries that prevented them from reaching their potential. And the players the Tigers traded away always seemed to play better than the players the Tigers received.

Another talent is his ability to work a trade and negotiate contracts favorable to the team. He can deal with an agent like Scott Boras when other GM's can't. He signs players to contracts with escape clauses in case of injury. He pays players what their worth without overpaying.

Maybe he's been lucky with some of his decisions, but Dombroski is without a doubt one of the best GM's in baseball. He's worth every penny Detroit pays him. And I hope he stays in Detroit for a long time!

 

Yep...just what I said ...and the decisions that he made with the players in the Rule 5 pickups are amazing. No other team has accomplished the gathering of talents that he has in this category.

The point I was trying to make were the decisions that Dombrowski has made with unproven minor leaguers through their own system as well as through trades with the same type of players is what makes him standout. And it doesn't hurt that he has a good relationship with Leyland (the only place that Leyland would return).

You said it well RJ...good post!

 

Cameron

Here's a pretty sweet article about Cameron Maybin in the Asheville paper. He is such a nice kid!

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770308132

 

Based upon first-hand reports from good friends who have dealt with him, he treats players and their representatives with respect and civility. What a novel...and successful...approach!

P.S. Terrific assessment of him!

 

Cameron Maybin update

Here's a portion of a Detroit New's article giving an update on Cameron Maybin's performance in Spring Training games so far this Spring:


Cameron Maybin was one of the few players who took things in stride — big strides, at that. The 19-year-old hotshot launched a breeze-aided home run over the center-field fence in the fourth, then followed with a two-run triple in the sixth.

Maybin is 9-for-20 (.450) this spring. Four of his nine hits have been homers or triples.

Maybin’s celebrated speed has been on display throughout the Grapefruit League season. He beat out an infield chopper for a hit in his first start of the season. On Thursday, he tripled to right-center field in a game against Washington and Saturday he tripled to left-center.

Asked if he ever had seen a player as fast, Leyland said: “Kirk Gibson.” Gibson, of course, was an All-America wide receiver at Michigan State who was timed by NFL scouts sprinting a 4.28-second 40-yard dash. The Tigers drafted him in June 1978 and, 15 months later, he was on the big league team for good.