Rod Allen Again? Yes. Sorry.

Sorry, dear readers. I know it's probably not a good thing that I am turning this esteemed blog into a schizophrenic journal where Elijah Moon is doing insightful analysis/commentary on the big issues of the day and I am metaphorically throwing things at Rod Allen (and other nitwit baseball commentators), but, alas, it is what it is.

Last night's spotlighted Rod Allen comment was only annoying because of how he so blatantly contradicted himself from a different recent conversation he had with Mario Impemba. The Tigers were facing the Blue Jays and power-armed right-handed starter Brandon Morrow. Morrow cruised through the first couple innings which led Rod Allen to say:

Why did Seattle give up on a guy like this? And they got a reliever for him! Brandon League.

Now, truthfully, I completely agree with that sentiment of that comment. The problem is that just a few weeks ago - I can't recall the context but it may have been in reference to Joba Chamberlin (who has been a successful reliever after essentially failing as a starter during the 2009 season) - Rod Allen said he'd rather have a stud closer than a stud starter. His reasoning, as I recall, was that there was nothing more demoralizing to a baseball team than to have a lead going into the 8th/9th innings only to have the back end of the bullpen blow the game. I didn't agree with him when he said it, I don't agree with him now, but that is what he said.

Okay. Now who is the closer for Seattle? Why... it's Brandon Fucking League!! And as of this posting, League is tied for third in the A.L. in saves with 9 - and he is the only one of the top 4 to have not blown a save yet this season! Even Mariano Rivera has blown two.

So, again, I apologize. I will go down to the office of Elijah Moon and suggest he write something about the debt ceiling debate or Chinese currency manipulation so we can get this Furriners blog back to it's mission statement: smart political thoughts and Derek Anderson worship.

Rod Allen Will Not Be My G.M.!

Another ridiculous statement last night by Fox Sports Detroit analyst Rod Allen last night during the Tigers-Blue Jays game.

Rod had this to say about Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar:

If you were starting a team and you were picking a shortstop, (Escobar) might be the first guy you'd pick. He is that good on both sides of the ball. The young kid, Elvis Andrus, in Texas is a pretty good player too, but there are not many players walking around as good as this guy at that shortstop position.

Tigers play-by-play guy, Mario Impemba, lended his support to the statement with "Andrus is the first one that came to mind I guess as an alternative to Escobar."

Does Mr. Allen know there is a National League?

Has he ever heard of Troy Tulowitzki? Hanley Ramirez? Jose Reyes?

Now what you might be thinking is: yeah, yeah, Furriners, they are better than Escobar now, but if I am starting an organization from scratch, you probably want to start with younger talent to build a team for the long-haul (like the way one would certainly start an NFL team with Aaron Rodgers rather than Peyton Manning or Tom Brady). I would agree.

Do you know who is younger than Yunel Escobar?

Troy Tulowitzki. And Hanley Ramirez. And Jose Reyes.

Sorry, Rod Allen... you just got owned!


* And, by the way, I like to think I'm being nice by not pointing out Stephen Drew and Starlin Castro as well.

** Hmmm... that probably wasn't very nice of me to do that.

Rod Allen Hyperbole

I don't know what it's like to be talking "live" on television for a couple hours a day for about six nights a week for six months out of the year. Maybe it's inevitable that one will unleash some really ludicrous statements in that job?

And I don't mean to pick on the man because, in general, I think he does a solid job - but it just so happens that I watch Tigers games about six nights a week for six months out of the year -and yesterday I took note of several Rod Allen statements that seem indefensible:

1. "(Robinson Cano) would be batting third on any other team in the major leagues."

Really? You're telling me that the Cardinals would bat him 3rd or 4th with Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols holding down those two spots in the batting order? Do you know Matt Holliday - as of this posting on May 4th - is batting .409 and slugging .648? And Albert Pujols is... well, he's Albert Pujols.

What about the Milwaukee Brewers with Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder? How about the Minnesota Twins with (a healthy) Justin Morneau and (a healthy) Joe Mauer? And you could arguments for other teams as well (Boston and Texas being two others) which would not bat Robinson Cano third (or fourth).

2. "(The Yankees) were rotating second basemen before (Cano) arrived on the scene. Derek Jeter couldn't find a double-play partner. He has one now."

Okay, this is sort of true. The fact is that Chuck Knoblauch played second base for the Yankees from 1998-2000. Knoblauch had a solid career and played fairly well for Yankees. However, he, of course, famously had some throwing issues that moved him to the OF for the 2001 season.

Then, the Yankees had Alfonso Soriano from 2001-03. A fantastic player for the Yankees... or, again, a fantasic hitter who was not a good defensive baseman and has since moved to the outfield. Regardless, he was shipped out as the main piece in the deal to get Alex Rodriguez.

Then, the 2004 season saw the Yankees using a very unheralded duo (Miguel Cairo and Enrique Wilson) before promoting Cano for the 2005 season. So, again, it is sort of true what Rod Allen said even if it is sort of ignoring the fact that the Soriano's departure was a Yankees choice -- I just think he made it sound like the Tigers issue at 3B in the decade or so between Aurelio Rodriguez and Travis Fryman... remember all the guys that got to play that spot (HoJo, Garbey, Brookens, Pittaro, Castillo, Coles, Lovullo, etc)?

3. "Those days are about over when a player plays for just one team throughout his entire career."

Announcers say this all the time... and that is my point I guess... they have been saying it for years and years! The fact is is that there will always be some players who play their entire career for one team! You might think of it like a bell curve; a few players will play an entire career for one team, the majority of players will change teams several times over the course of their career, and then there are some who will play for many, many teams (think Bruce Chen, Arthur Rhodes, Mike Myers, etc); that is just the way it is.


And I guess I'll just ignore the quote about what a luxury is to have a guy like Russell Martin hitting 8th. I mean, do they (Rod and Mario Impemba) not realize that Alex Avila bats 8th for the Tigers (and his stats are nearly identical to Russell Martin's)?!? So just because your #8 hitter is performing well doesn't automatically mean you have super deep lineup! Of course, in the Yankees case, it is true. The Tigers, unfortunately, would not be considered a deep lineup by any stretch (currently 8th in the A.L. in runs per game). It just so happens that Avila is hitting very well (probably overachieving - but who knows? Maybe he'll keep it up).