No Dice for Bonderman

The MLB All-Star teams were announced today and Jeremy Bonderman was not one of the selections. Pudge Rodriguez was the lone Tiger to make the team. Bonderman was the only pitcher with 10 or more victories not selected. There was hope in the Tiger clubhouse that Bonderman could be selected as an alternate should one be needed. However, AL Manager Terry Francona said on ESPN that "if one of those starting pitchers goes down, you can bet Matt Clement will be on the team". Since Bonderman, Brandon Inge, Carlos Guillen, and Kyle Farnsworth all had a case for making the team, it's certainly a disapointment that only one Tiger was selected.

Just-in Time!

Justin Verlander will make his long awaited (or as it turns out, not so long awaited) MLB debut for the Tigers during their double header against the Indians on Monday. Verlander is the hottest prospect in baseball according to Baseball America. Verlander's stay with the Tigers could be limited to this one start since he's serving as an emergency 6th starter for the double header.

Bondermania

Watcha gonna do when Jeremy Bonderman and all his Bondermaniacs run wild on you?

Well, if you're the Big Unit, you pick up a loss. If you're Terry Francona, you name him to the All-Star team!

In a game that felt like the opening day blowout against the Royals, the Tigers were hitting on all cylinders against the Yankees. Magglio Ordonez surprised everyone by showing up in the cleanup spot. The Tigers chased Randy Johnson out of the game in the 5th inning after lighting him up for nine hits and seven runs!

Bonderman looked to be a sure bet for the All-Star game before his implosion against the Diamondbacks last Sunday. The matchup against the Big Unit was his last start before the All-Star team is announced and last chance to make an impression on AL Manager Terry Francona. Bonderman delivered on cue with a complete game to pick up his tenth win. No Tiger pitcher has had 10 wins before the All-Star breakthis since Bill Gulickson in 1991.

Despite Bonderman's strong comeback game against the Yankees, his ten wins are no guarantee that he'll make the team. Francona will likely choose 12 pitchers for the midseason classic. With the following pitchers having better ERA's (and impressive winning %), the need for at least 3 relievers and the potential for lesser deserving players serving as their team's loan representative, Bonderman could get squeezed at least according to Alan Schwarz of ESPN.com.

Mark Buehrle (CWS) 10-1 2.42 ERA
Bartolo Colon (LAA)10-3 3.02 ERA
Jon Garland (CWS) 12-3 3.25 ERA
Roy Halladay (TOR) 11-4 2.40 ERA
Kenny Rogers (TEX) 9-3 2.46 ERA
Johan Santana (MIN) 7-4 3.78 ERA
Matt Clement (BOS) 9-1 3.33 ERA

Hopefully Alan Trammell can use his position as All-Star game bench coach to encourage Francona to let Bonderman pitch in front of the home fans. Keep your fingers crossed.

Pistons Depth Chart for Next Year

With Joe Dumars and Tom Wilson absolutely giddy about the Pistons’ three draft picks, it’s safe to say that the future of the Pistons will go beyond a seven man rotation like we saw in the playoffs. I’m not a math expert but I’m having a hard time understanding how everyone who is supposed to be on the team next year fits on a 12 man roster. Here’s a look at the probable roster 1-13.

1. Chauncey Billups
2. Ben Wallace
3. Rasheed Wallace
4. Tayshaun Prince
5. Richard Hamilton
6. Antonio McDyess
7. Lindsey Hunter
8. Darko Milicic
9. Carlos Delfino
10. Carlos Arroyo
11. Jason Maxiell
12. Free Agent shooting guard
13. Darvin Ham

This list doesn’t include Elden Campbell, Ronald Dupree, Horace Jenkins, Amir Johnson, and Alex Acker.

So, let’s break this thing down to see what makes sense for next year’s rotation. We all know that Billups, Big Ben, ‘Sheed, Prince, Rip, and Dyess are all in the rotation. There will need to be someone who spells Chauncey. Lindsey did that this season but I expect his minutes to drop until the playoffs. This leaves Carlos Arroyo as the only true PG to take the minutes. We know that Joe Dumars will demand that Darko gets more playing time since Dumars has been the one taking the heat for passing on Carmelo Anthony and D. Wade. Joe-D still believes that Darko was the right pick and wants Darko to prove him right. The Pistons brass openly acknowledged that they need a legitimate scorer off the bench to help eliminate some of the mind-numbing offensive droughts. Regardless of whether it’s Michael Finley, Allan Houston (NO!), or Jalen Rose, this spot will require minutes as well.

So that leaves us with a rotation of:

1. Chauncey Billups
2. Ben Wallace
3. Rasheed Wallace
4. Tayshaun Prince
5. Richard Hamilton
6. Antonio McDyess
7. Carlos Arroyo
8. Darko Milicic
9. Free Agent legitimate offensive threat



Since the Pistons rarely go 9 deep, that means Lindsey Hunter, Carlos Delfino and Jason Maxiell will be completely out of the rotation. Delfino will have limited time at best and despite the Detroit News’ contention that Amir Johnson and Alex Acker could both make the team, there just isn’t enough room to go around. I suppose depth is a good problem but some people are not going to be happy with their minutes next year.

I’ve heard people in the media suggest that Darko’s increased playing time next season will cost Antonio McDyess minutes. I disagree. I think Darko will get some of Rasheed’s minutes as ‘sheed sits on the bench in perpetual foul trouble. There is no team in the NBA that has more minutes available to spell their starting PF than the Pistons. There are plenty of minutes to go around with Darko in the frontcourt rotation.

In case anyone forgot.......

This is what the Red Wings looked like the last time they played in a game. I repressed the whole Calgary series since it was one of the uglier incidents in recent memory.

However, a quick look at the roster brings back some hope. Remember, the Wings won the President's trophy after finishing with 109 points in 2003-04. They were the best team in the regular season by a long shot.

There have been some rumors that the new collective bargaining agreement will include some kind of a one-time salary cut exemption where the team is only responsible for somewhere around 60% of the player's salary. If this is true, I would expect to see Derian Hatcher and his hefty contract shown the door.