Posts tagged Magglio Ordonez at FanHouse

The Tigers went for broke this year, bumping their payroll from $95 million last season to $138 million this year in hopes of buying a spot in the postseason. In hindsight, it wasn't meant to be: the Tigers sit 8 1/2 games out of the division lead, and considering they've won just three of their past 12, the deficit seems to grow larger every day.

At least there's always next year, right? Yeah, about that ... After footing the bill for baseball's third-highest payroll, owner Mike Ilitch is allegedly putting pressure on the front office to slash costs next year, according to the Detroit News' Lynn Henning.

Ivan Rodriguez was already dealt in a cost-cutting trade, and expensive veterans like Edgar Renteria, Todd Jones and Kenny Rogers almost certainly won't be re-signed or have their options picked up this winter. It'll be hard to unload Gary Sheffield without picking up a substantial portion of the $14 million he's owed next year, but by putting him on waivers this year, the Tigers are at least trying.

Getting rid of the guys mentioned above makes as much baseball sense as it does financially, but will the team go so far as to unload their most productive players? Henning thinks Magglio Ordonez could be sent to bigger market in exchange for cheap prospects. If that happens, it'll be a hard sell to fans, who have filled Comerica Park to 99.3% capacity this summer, to keep turning out in 2009. If the Tigers can't post a winning record with Maggs, why should fans think the team can contend without him? This team has made huge strides the last several years -- it'll be a shame if Ilitch gives up now.

The Tigers Gary Sheffield has been in the papers a bit lately thanks to some comments he made to the Boston Globe in recent days. In the article Sheffield says he'd be open to a trade if the Tigers felt like moving him was the right thing to do, and that he'd be happy to go somewhere else in hopes that he'd get to play in the field everyday and possibly win another World Series.

You see, Gary isn't that big a fan of his role as designated hitter (which is something he's hinted at before).

"I can be in the outfield and play every day. I don't want to DH. I don't feel like a baseball player when I DH. I don't know how to be the leader that I am from the bench. I can't be a vocal leader. I can't talk to guys from the bench because I don't feel right about it.

"I'm in a role now where I don't know what to do, really. The guys are out there busting their butt for nine innings, they come in and they hit and they grind. I just sit down and hit. That's all I do, so I can't be in a leadership role from that position."

Obviously Gary's comments eventually got to his manager, and after reading them and being asked about them, The Black Lung couldn't do much more than scratch his head.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Before the season started, the Detroit Tigers were the popular pick amongst baseball fans and experts alike as the eventual World Series champion. After adding Miguel Cabrera to a potent lineup that already included hitters like Magglio Ordonez, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Guillen, Curtis Granderson, and Ivan Rodriguez, there was talk that the Tigers would score 1,000 runs this season.

Who knew they'd need to? Though most people were aware that the Detroit bullpen would be a problem area, I don't think anybody thought they would be as bad as they have been in 2008. So now here we sit on August 7th, and the Tigers find themselves in a tailspin.

After building up some momentum in recent weeks to get back into the AL Central race, the Tigers have now lost six in a row to fall three games under .500. They're also on the verge of being swept by the division leading Chicago White Sox and falling 9.5 games out of first place, which could effectively end any hope they have of playing this October.

So will the Tigers pull the plug on their season tonight, or are they going to rise up and start mauling people again? Find out after the jump.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has made many an enemy during his tenure in Chicago. Whether it's former players like Magglio Ordonez, opposing managers like Buck Showalter, or local columnists like Jay Mariotti, Ozzie has never been shy when discussing his feelings for others.

Ozzie's latest foe was Texas Rangers closer C.J. Wilson, whom credited Guillen with helping him pick up a save against the Sox a week and a half ago after using Ozzie's taunts from the dugout as motivation. Ozzie didn't much appreciate Wilson's theatrics on the mound while striking out Jim Thome and Paul Konerko, and he let C.J. know about it afterward.

"You can be cocky, be yourself or have your own showtime," Guillen said after the game. "But when you don't respect the opposition and do what he did, that's not professional. That's the reason I was screaming to him. When you're nobody and show people up like that. ... Wait till you're somebody in baseball, and then do whatever you want to do."

Well that nobody showed up again yesterday during the 8th inning of the Sox-Rangers game with two outs, two runners on, and the Rangers clinging to an 8-7 lead. Then the first pitch fastball he threw quickly turned into the American League-leading 26th home run of the season for Carlos Quentin, and the White Sox completed their comeback and won 10-8.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to see Ozzie do his own celebrating as he'd already been ejected from the game the inning before for arguing balls and strikes. The White Sox dugout did look to be a bit more rambunctious in their celebration afterwards, though, as Quentin gave the home crowd a curtain call.

Just when you think things are starting to go right in Detroit, the Tigers take another big blow. Sure, the Kitties are two games over .500 now, have won their last six, and are only five games out of first place, but as I told you yesterday: not all is well in Tigerland.

Detroit had to place Magglio Ordonez on the disabled list on Sunday, and now 48 hours later, they may have to do the same thing with Miguel Cabrera.

Cabrera left in the third inning with a "tight left hip flexor," an injury that may or may not knock Cabrera from manager Jim Leyland's lineup. Cabrera had to leave the game after wobbling through some defensive maneuvers at first that appeared awkward and included one of Detroit's three errors.

"He's had this before," Leyland said of Cabrera, who was limping on and off the field in the early innings. The Tigers won't know until today if Cabrera will join Magglio Ordonez (disabled list, strained oblique muscle) as the latest middle-of-the-order bat to vacate the order.

Needless to say, if Cabrera has to join Maggs on the disabled list, it's probably going to temper any talk of the Tigers making a run at the White Sox for a while. The two of them have combined to hit 23 homers and drive in 98 runs in the first half of the season.

The Chicago White Sox exacted some revenge on the Cubs this weekend by handing their crosstown rivals three straight losses at U.S. Cellular Field, to even the score for what the Cubs did at Wrigley just a week before. Still, much like the Tigers with Magglio Ordonez, some of the celebration has been quelled by the fact that Paul Konerko suffered a setback in his rehab from a strained oblique muscle.

Konerko had been scheduled to join the the Sox Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte to begin a rehab assignment on Sunday before re-joining the team by next week. Then he took a live batting practice session on Saturday, and there he was on Sunday night with the rest of his team in the dugout. It looks like he's going to be out another week.

''Definitely some soreness, a little bit during and then after I hit [Saturday],'' Konerko said. ''The plan was to leave [Sunday], but the bottom line is there was a little too much soreness to get on a plane and get ready to go [Monday].

''As far as a timeline, I don't know now. The worst thing to do is to make a timeline like I had [Saturday]. Now, just wait and see.''

Still, this isn't as big of a blow for the White Sox as losing Ordonez is for the Tigers, as the Sox have gone 8-4 without him in the lineup. Konerko has been in a "slump" for a season and a half now, and has primarily been hitting out of the sixth spot in the lineup lately. Not that he even deserves to hit that high with his batting line of .215/.322/.368.

If there is any team that's incredibly sad to see interleague play end in 2008, it would be the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers feasted on their senior circuit competition, going 13-5, and have now won 17 of their last 21 games. They're finally over .500 for the first time this year at 41-40, and are within five games of the White Sox in the AL Central.

Of course, before catching the White Sox the Tigers will have to pass the Twins, and it so happens that they're starting a three game set in the Twinkiedome tonight, and play Minnesota four more times next week. It's the perfect chance to climb in to second place. If only they had Magglio Ordonez to help them out.

The Detroit Tigers placed right fielder Magglio Ordonez on the 15-day disabled list with a pulled muscle in his right side on Sunday.

Ordonez pulled his oblique muscle in the third inning of a 7-6 win over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night.

That's got to be a kick in the teeth for Tigers fans who were just starting to get excited about this team.

Ordonez had his worst month of the season in June, hitting .266/.343/.403 with three homers and 15 RBI, but now that the Tigers are starting a stretch where 19 of their next 27 games are against division opponents, this isn't exactly the best timing. The team has called up Matt Joyce to replace Ordonez on the roster, but it's doubtful he can replace his production.

The upside of doing a Magglio Ordonez impersonation is that it's relatively easy; you just need long, curly black hair and a Detroit Tigers uniform to pull it off and anyone that watches much baseball is going to know what you're doing.

The downside is, who has time these days to stand around in a Tigers uniform and make semi-mock Mags? That would be our good friend Todd Jones, who took advantage of the recent rain delay at Comerica to do his best 2006 ALCS-winning home run impersonation of Ordonez.



Okay, okay. For all my dislike of Jones (for fantasy reasons), I probably need to rethink the way I feel. Because that impression alone should be worth a lifetime of a 3.00 WHIP. Oh, and is there anything hotter than rain delay entertainment right now? Anything remotely close?

H/T: LBS

Now that we're almost halfway through June and the Detroit Tigers still haven't shown any signs of coming to life this season, it probably isn't that crazy to think that it's just not going to happen this year. Despite all the veteran talent on the Tigers roster, there just haven't been any signs that things are going to turn around. If anything, it seems as though things are only going to start getting worse.

Jeremy Bonderman is done for the season and could miss the start of next season as well, and Dontrelle Willis has pitched so well he's been sent down to single-A in hopes that he can find home plate while he's there. It's enough to make you wonder when the Tigers are going to wave the white flag, and according to SI's Jon Heyman, rumors of an impending fire sale have already begun.

Insiders are speculating that the Tigers might start trading pieces before the deadline. But their pitchers have been awful, and many of their every-day players are stars who recently signed big contracts and are underachieving. To sum up, I'm not sure where they'd begin a fire sale.

Heyman brings up a good point, because while I'm sure the Tigers wouldn't mind dumping some players come the trade deadline, I'm not exactly sure how many parts they have that other teams are going to want.

Jeff Nowitzky sees all. He hears all. There is no transgression that goes uninvestigated, no morally questionable steroid-related behavior outside his purview. The latest target of his wrath is not just Roger Clemens -- he's turning his gaze toward Jose Canseco, and accusations that Canseco tried to blackmail players, namely Magglio Ordonez, into investing in Canseco's movie project in exchange for not being named as a user in "Vindicated."

Nowitzky is concerned about that alleged blackmail, and Jose Canseco's lawyer, Greg S. Emerson, sounds pretty scared:

Emerson said that left him concerned that the investigators may be declaring "open season on the messenger," meaning Canseco. "I don't know if that is happening, but that is what it looks like is happening and I don't like that one bit," he said. In several recent telephone interviews, Emerson made it clear how troubled he was that Novitzky asked whether Canseco had tried to solicit money from players who may have been fearful he would name them in "Vindicated."

Emerson is right to be fearful, for Lord Nowitzky's wrath is especially vindictive towards those lesser beings who do not cooperate with his investigations. Should those lesser beings chose the correct path -- cooperation -- and Lord Nowitzky is more than willing to provide a seat in His Dark Court. Is Lord Nowitzky not merciful?