Rewarded for What?

Earlier this week, Mike Illitch decided that Dave Dombrowski nd Jim Leyland have earned themselves contract extensions. A four-year extension for Dombrowski and a one-year deal for Leyland.

But warranted this extension? What did they do to earn it?

Well let's see... The Tigers have been in first place for a month... And that's about it.

That apparently is good enough for the Tiger organization. But it's not good enough for me, and it shouldn't be for you.

Let's look at this like we're Wings fans (which we are in Detroit.) Would you accept one postseason trip, no championships from the Wings? Would accept One division title in 20+ years? Would accept constant second half collapses? The answer to all these questions is NO.

Okay, I know the Tigers and the Red Wings are two different franchises with two different standards... But why can't we expect our team to make it to the playoffs? Why can't we expect the Tigers to with the AL Comedy Central? With guys like Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander and our high payroll, we should demand success.

Yet there seems to be an acceptance of "almost" succeeding. It wasn't too long ago the Tigers were the worst team in baseball, I get that. But those days are gone. We have legitimate talent and should be in the postseason and should win division titles.

Before I rip these two apart, I will give them credit for turning this franchise around. Dombrowski has made plenty of mistakes, and he'll get a pass in this blog because he's showing he wants to win this year with the moves he's made. (Yet giving him the four-year extension was premature) But the moves he's made prove he's trying to earn it.

But on the other hand, there's Jim Leyland. If I ran this team he would have been fired last year, but I don't. His antics and hunches paid off in '06, and too many Tiger fans I here gave him a pass, he got us a taste of "success" that we're not used to and he's got us in some pennant races.

But he hasn't won anything. Every Tiger team under Leyland has underachieved, and every Tiger team under Leyland has collapsed in the second half.

Let's look at 2008, shall we? We tied the Twins that year. What did Leyland do down the stretch? He rested Polanco. He rested a guy who was lights out at the plate in a pennant chase...

What's he doing this year? His same crazy insane resting schedule expect now it's worse than ever. We trade for Betemit, and rarely plays, yet all he does is get the job done. He sat four regulars in the series finale against Texas, basically throwing the game. We see the best line up we have about once a week.

He refuses to get Magglio out of the three hole despite his lack of speed, hitting, power, and everything else that matters. He insists on playing Andy Dirks, Ryan Raburn on "hunches." He has one of our best hitters this year hitting 8th in Avila, he gives star players too many days off. Peralta, Martinez, Betemit, and Boesch need to play almost every day and Miggy needs to be in the line up everyday.

His over-managing is clearly costing us games. Every Tiger fan knows it. He rests guys despite having an off day the next day, he takes out Betemit, a switch hitter, for Don Kelly because of "match-ups" and he'll play guys like Dirks and Raburn on "hunches."

Some say the best managers manage with their gut. I can agree to a point... I say, the best managers play their best line up and play the guys that are producing. The best managers WIN.

Bottom line, giving these two contract extensions before we've won anything is a mistake. Their jobs should have been in limbo until they actually closed the deal and won the pennant. I can see the division lead dwindling, and as September rolls around... I fully anticipate Leyland and the boys continuing their annual tradition of abismal performances when it matters.

Crash and Burn... The August Tradition