Threat Level Midnight: Good-Bye Pudge

I am an avid Tigers' fan. Most of you know that. So, part of the blog from time to time will be my thoughts about the Tigers and other Detroit sports teams. Don't worry, there will be some more pictures of Levi later in the post.

So, on Wednesday the Tigers traded Pudge Rodriguez (and his $13 million salary) for a middle reliever named Kyle Farnsworth. On paper it doesn't look like a fair deal. And I've read how people have said the Tigers got robbed, how they should have got more back, blah blah blah. I'm actually a big fan of the deal. Unlike 98% of Tigers fans, I've never been a huge Pudge fan. Everyone commends him for being "brave" enough to come to Detroit when no one else would. I wish I could be as brave as someone who signed a $40 million contract (when no one else was offering anything close to that). The owners knew they had to overpay to get someone in here. They tried talking to Troy Glaus, Adrian Beltre, etc and they wouldn't even consider signing with the Tigers. So they overpaid to get Pudge (which at the time was a deal that most people panned). He's been a decent player with the Tigers, but certainly not one worth over $10 million a year. His first season with the team was amazing. He hit .334, even hitting .500 in the month of June or July, and helped the Tigers improve from 43 wins to 72. But his numbers have steadily declined from that point on. Most people forget the controversy in 2005 when he took an extended vacation towards the end of the season, basically undermining then manager Alan Trammell. The team fell apart after that. He was ok on the 2006 World Series team, but then last year he acted like he was getting paid by the swing. He only walked 9 times in 129 games. 9 times!!! And his defense has been slipping as well. He wasn't going to be back next year so the trade allows us to hand Brandon Inge the full time job again, and the team isn't going anywhere so we're not going to miss his bat at all. So, in other words, I was never a big Pudge fan, and I'm not sad to see him go.

Now, if Verlander, Magglio, or Granderson were to be traded, I'd be a lot more upset.

We were fortunate enough today to have my good friends Jeremy and Lynn Smith visit. Jeremy is one of my best friends from college, and him and his wife (and daughter Abigail) live in California so we don't see them that often. Fortunately Jeremy's parents have a cottage in Michigan, and they come back to vacation every year. So they took some time off from water skiing and spending time with the Smith clan to come and visit. It was great seeing them again! Prince loved his new friends, and Levi and Abigail seemed to hit it off as well. She's 2-1/2 years older, but its possible that wedding bells are in their future!