Sheffield is gone!

In a move that caught everybody off-guard, the Tigers released DH Gary Sheffield today. They will have to eat the $14 million remaining on his contract, but I feel that's a small price to pay to get someone in the lineup who doesn't pop-up every time he comes to the plate.

So what does this mean for the Tigers? Well, with the very recent acquisition of Josh Anderson, there are a couple scenarios:
1. Marcus Thames becomes the DH.
2. Carlos Guillen becomes the DH, Josh Anderson takes over in left field, and Marcus remains on the roster to fill the occasional outfield spot.

Personally, I think Thames deserves the chance to play the DH spot. His numbers from last year are certainly better than Sheffield's, and he is always a threat to send the ball into the stands. If things don't work out with him in that spot, then move Guillen to DH. Josh Anderson is a decent outfielder, and most importantly, he is a left-handed hitter. The Tigers needed to add another left-handed batter to the roster, and this certainly fills that need.

Utimately, time will tell if this was a good move, or bad decision-making by Dombrowski and Leyland. Let's just hope that Sheffield doesn't hit #500 off a Tiger pitcher.

Go Tigers!

Blog re-design

As you can see, I've been working on re-designing the blog. I was tired of the stale template that blogger had provided, so I decided to change it up a little. There are probably going to be more changes over the next month, but nothing major.

Also, I've added a new gadget on the left. Courtesy of ESPN, you can now view the current MLB standings. While not earth shattering, I thought it would add a little more info to the blog.

I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions for enhancing the blog. Thanks for reading!

Spring Training 2009 Desktop Wallpaper

After some thought, I decided it would be nice to have a Spring Training wallpaper this year. Unfortunately, none of the games are being televised, but it's still good to know when the Tigers will be playing.

Right-click and choose Save Target As to download the wallpaper in the desired size. I've moved to using PNG files as they are of higher quality. If you prefer JPG files, let me know in the comments section.

1680 x 1050, 1280 x 1024, 1280 x 800, 1152 x 864, 1024 x 768

The background photo credit goes to SunnyCentralFloria at Flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/25166115@N08/sets/72157604282606762/.

Help support a great cause!!

Kyle (Deadshot) from MotownSports.com is trying out for the Detroit Tigers in March. He tried out last year to see how the process worked, and is trying out again this year, but for a great cause. Kyle is raising funds to help a local homeless shelter in Lakeland, FL.

To raise these funds, Kyle has set up a website to chart his progress and to collect funds via PayPal. You can check out the website at http://www.tryoutforacause.com/.

Let's help out a great cause and root for Kyle at the same time.

Go Tigers!