What are your thoughts on the Urbina trade?

[moochman]

Are you in favor, or do you think the Tigers should have kept him? Or tried to get more for him?

Do you think the rumor that he got drunk on the flight to LA and got into a fight with some teammates was the reason he was traded?

Or are they panicing because of the injury of Guillen, inability to hit of Infante, and terrible infield defense from anyone not name Guillen?

I think it is a combo-they paniced and Ugie wanted out/fought his was out. Maybe they told him he was going back to setting up Percival and he blew a gasget. So they dumped a trouble player and got a quick fix for the infield. But I think they could have done much better if they would have been a little more patient. I would have been much happier if they could've gotten left handed power for their disgruntled closer. What are your thoughts?

[mcqfesijiba]

I think there are many variables to this trade, but I think at the very least it will have some benefits. A .500 record is a real possibility and therefore I don't disagree with acquiring an established major leaguer, rather than possibly a mid level prospect or two. If Urbina was going to become a problem in the clubhouse, his value had nowhere to go but down.

As far as the effects on the team:
Offensively, I think Polanco is a great option for a #2 hitter. Low K totals and good average (the opposite of Infante). If this lineup can get healthy (Ordonez and Guillen) it will be quite potent. If we can get fully healthy, Polanco would probably move down in the lineup though.

Defensively, he helps a lot. We could be very strong up the middle if Guillen gets healthy enough to play most everyday (Pudge-C,Guillen-SS,Polanco-2B,Logan-CF). Inge has all the defensive potential in the world at 3B despite making more bonehead errors than you would like to see (he does lead all every day 3B in all of Major League Baseball in Range Factor which shows his potential is real).

I'm thinking Polanco could surprise a lot of people, because he is a better player than people give him credit for. He is one of those guys who has more value than his stats suggest. If Polanco plays well enough he could either help us reach that elusive .500 mark by season's end, or gain some trade value of his own and get shipped off at the deadline. I think Urbina will turn out to be a disappointing acquisition for Philadelphia. He wanted traded, but he got traded to another team where he will be a setup man and Philadelphia won't be quite so friendly as Comerica was for those occasional long flyballs Urbina likes to give up on a somewhat regular basis.

[mcqfesijiba]

Oh, and on another note, I'm not exactly sold yet on German and Farnsworth for the rest of the season, but it's an interesting risk to take also with Fernando Rodney making his comeback from injury.

[moochman]

very solid ananlysis! I agree with your thoughts on Urbina. Phillies ballyard is not going to be kind to Urbina and I doubt the fans there will be as tolerant of his penchant for giving up homers. This could be a real career breaker for Ugie.

And Polanco is no doubt an improvement for the Tigers, expecially if he sprays the ball around and doesn't get bummed at Comerica National Park's HR robbing outfield. I hope Trammell puts him in the second slot in the order, probably at SS? With Guillen hurting and I suspect Infante's shoulder still weak, so it would make sense for Polanco to play SS until Carlos can go.
Oh, BTW, Polanco is hitting over .400 for the last month!

[cmchampa2]

I like Polanco quite a bit. He's a great all-around player. Am I crazy or did the Tigers consider signing him this past off-season to play 3rd but didn't really make a big effort? I might be thinking of someone else.

I don't like losing Urbina, he was a good relief guy. But in reality, I doubt any team would trade more than a good, not great, talent like Polanco, even if they were "desperate" for a below-average, high-priced closer.

I'm on the bandwagon... good trade, good trade.

[Blind Squirrels]

I like the trade, and I think they used a "trade high" mentality to get rid of Urbina. It is hardly coincidental though, that this occurred days after the rumors of Urbina being hammered on the plane and verbally confronting his teammates.
Polanco gives us great versatility and a bat that is consistent, as the rest of the team is not exactly ripping the ball right now.
I think they both are free agents after this year, so no edge there.
Polanco will also garnish some trade offers when the deadline comes, so if we are not .500 or above by then, he could become part of another trade.
Farnsworth is notoriously streaky and I'm not sold on German yet either, so we could be hurting ourselves there. Percival seems to have his stuff back so I feel secure there.
Overall, I like it.