I don’t think it’s a reach to say this season is pretty much over.  That leaves us to talk about pesonnel.  Who should stay?  Who should go?  Who rules?  Who drools?  (Mike in Waterford:  Fire EVERYBODY, trade Sheff for Kirk Hammett!)

Gary Sheffield had some pretty interesting things to say in a recent Boston Globe article.  Sheffield basically complains that he doesn’t play everyday, despite the fact that he pretty much plays everyday.  He wants to be in the outfield, but I think pretty much everybody but Gary knows that his shoulder can’t take it, and that’s why he’s not out there.  That’s fine, you can’t blame a guy for wanting to play.  Then Sheff drops this:

“The Yankees knew I wanted to go to Boston,” Sheffield said. “They picked up my option so I wouldn’t wind up there. I would have loved it because I love that atmosphere. It means something.

“At this stage of my career, I want to feel that again. That’s what I play for. That’s what gets me revved up.”

I know Detroit ain’t Boston in terms of baseball, but it’s better than a lot of places, and had this team, and Sheff, lived up to some of the expectations for this year, the atmosphere would have a lot more electric at this point in the season.  The fans aren’t sitting on their hands though, the boo-birds have been calling for Gary the last few games.  Enough atmosphere for ya?

Jim Leyland responded by saying he was “caught off gaurd” by Sheff’s remarks in about 65 different ways.  Here’s Beck’s Blog with a transcription and synonym count.  And here’s the lastest from M Live, with Leyland and Sheff sticking to their guns.

Leyland:  You knew the deal, you’re DHing on this team.
Sheff:  I don’t want to DH.
Leyland: /smokes cigarette
Sheff:  /swings and misses violently at curveball, corkscrews self into ground

Maybe Sheff will be traded, his big contract would probably be enough to clear waivers, and the Tigs would probably have to pick up part of the tab on his contract, but if we could move him for anything decent, I don’t think it’s a bad idea.  Maybe I was dreaming, but I thought I heard this morning on WDFN that the Rays were interested in Sheffield.  That makes sense with two of their top hitters, Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria, now on the DL.

Justin Verlander, our ace, the number one, the freaking savior, is having a bad year.  He had another bad outting last night, going just 4.1 and giving up 6 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks.  Jim Leyland blamed it on a dead arm, due to the 130 pitches he threw in his last start.  That’s confusing.  How can Leyland blame a “dead arm” when he is the one responsible for said arm death?  That aside, Justin started the season poorly, improved in June and July, and has now lost his last four starts.  I’m not worried, he has the talent to have a great major league career, and I think this is just a bad year for Justin.  Other guys on the ‘06 squad had career years, never to be repeated, but I believe this year is the aberration for Justin, not ‘06.

After being named AL player of the month in July, Miguel Cabrera has only imporved his average, OBP, and OPS, so needless to say he’s doing allright.  In Saturday night’s game, when the A’s intentionally walked Magglio Ordonez to get to Miggy, who already had one home run, I wondered why the heck they would do that.  When Cabrera promptly sent the first pitch sailing into the left field stands I bet the A’s were thinking the same thing.  After settling in, he’s lived up to my expectations, and I’m looking forward to having talented players like Cabrera, Verlander, and Curtis Granderson as the faces of this franchise for years to come. 

Notes from Section 339

-Marcus Thames will likely be out a few games after an MRI showed inflammation in his right shoulder, so we’ll be seeing some more of Matt Joyce and Ryan Raburn in left.
-Todd Jones is expected to come off of the DL on Friday.
-I’ll be at the game tonight.  Seriously, won’t one of you gentle readers please buy me a super rope?