Maybe I’m the wrong person to be writing about any team in the AL Central. Going into the season, I was pretty darned sure that the Cleveland Indians would win the division quite handily, and that the Minnesota Twins were a fourth place team. And I totally bashed the Chicago White Sox and Kenny Williams, calling them a third-place team at best. Oh how embarrassingly wrong I was. How incredibly, utterly, hopelessly, know-nothingly wrong I was.

But so far, I think I’ve been fairly accurate in my assessment of the Detroit Tigers (Hazzah!). To me, they were a second place team that was going to miss out on the playoffs. Good, but not good enough. I wasn’t sold on Miguel Cabrera this year. His transition to a new, tougher league wouldn’t be helped by Comerica Park. I felt that both Gary Sheffield and Pudge Rodriguez’ age would eventually catch up with them. Although Pudge has slightly exceeded my expectations, Sheff’s been hurt and hasn’t produced while he was on the field. And I like Magglio Ordonez, but there was simply no way in hell that he was going to duplicate his 2007 season at the plate. Nate Robertson never was a very good pitcher to begin with, Kenny Rogers was 43 years old, and Dontrelle Willis is no one’s answer. Consequently, what we have at the All-Star break is a .500 team that’s 7 games out of first and 8 games out of the Wild Card spot.

So while I do think that the Detroit Tigers will be better than they had been before the All-Star break, I also wouldn’t be very surprised if they never get within 3 or 4 games of the Chicago White Sox for the rest of the season for two reasons - pitching and defense. Justin Verlander’s Ks are down and his walks are up. Same with Jeremy Bonderman but even more so. And although Placido Polanco and Edgar Renteria had been fine defensive options in the past, their Revised Zone Rating indicates that they might be slipping. Combine that with Miguel Cabrera at first and Carlos Guillen (who still hasn’t gotten this third base thing down), you have yourself a pretty weak defensive infield. With the pitchers not striking nearly enough guys out (averaging an MLB worst 5.3 Ks per game), your defense needs to be much better because a lot of batted balls are coming their way.

How to go about accomplishing this? Frankly, I have no idea. Unfortunately, there aren’t too many answers down on the farm. Their top prospect, pitcher Rick Porcello, is a top-ten talent. But he’s also still a teenager and in High-A. And the rest? Not too helpful, especially since they traded away Cameron Maybin to Florida in the Cabrera deal and also sent Jair Jurrjens packing to Atlanta to acquire Renteria (yeah, that one’s worked out quite well, hasn’t it?). So what they’re essentially left with is a decent crop of talent who are all in the lower classes of the minor leagues. I suppose neither Polanco nor Renteria are untradeable, but who would take these guys and give back a better player at the same position?

And here’s also a big problem - this is a team that cannot afford to look into the future right now. Aside from Curtis Granderson and Cabrera, the lineup has no young talent. The Tigers have a very small window to win with veterans the likes of Ordonez, Guillen, Pudge and Sheff.

So basically, here’s what Detroit can do: Hope for the best. Hope that the rotation will be better. Hope that Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney stay healthy and effective. And pray to god that Todd Jones can continue to prove all statistical metrics wrong by successfully closing out games despite allowing way too many runs (the man has successfully converted 86.8% of save opportunities since 2006 - all while sporting a 4.29 ERA. How do you do this???). Although I personally may not think that they can secure a playoff berth, this doesn’t mean that they should go and blow the whole thing up (which may not even be possible at this point). Because as we’ve seen, I’ve been very, very, very, very wrong before. And it’s not like the Tigers have many other options.

- What They Need Index -

It wasn’t enough that we all had to be dragged through the Miguel Tejada ordeal by ESPN (yes, fine, big deal; but why make a spectacle out of it?), the Mother Ship from Bristol has decided to criss-cross the Caribbean from the sunny beaches of the Dominican Republic to the northern coast of Colombia to bring us the apparent bad blood between its two most prominent baseball players, Orlando Cabrera and Edgar Rentería.

According to an upcoming report in ESPN The Magazine (and published today at espn.com), there is rising animosity between the two shortstops originating in a business deal gone bad related to Colombian professional baseball, Cabrera and Rentería’s family.

To make a long story short, Cabrera bought the Cartagena franchise “Los Indios” last year from Rentería’s family business, Team Renteria (who runs the professional league down there) only to sell it right back after the short one-month season. Cabrera claims he’s owed money in from his cut of ticket sales, advertising and TV deals. Rentería alleges Cabrera bought the franchise only to run it into the ground out of what Rentería considers spite and jealousy; what’s more, he is saying:

“I won’t accept dealing with him. I think he’s disrespected so many baseball people in Colombia who have been working to improve the sport. And that’s not something I can accept, even with an apology from him.”

And…

“He wanted to buy one team so he could wreck everything that’s been done with the league,” Edgar says. “I think he did it out of malice. You should ask him what he has against the Renterías. For several years, people have told me that he’s jealous of me. People have always known me more in Colombia than him, and I think that bothers him.”

There are a couple of things that surprise me about this story; one of which isn’t ESPN’s gullibility in believing there is a story here. Just like in the Tejada case, they found a fissure and wedged their press pass deep enough to create a gaping void. Again, there may have been journalistic recency to the Tejada story, but ESPN was marketing the thing like it was a heavyweight title fight. And in this case, just as the White Sox are playing the Yankees in prime-time, and as Orlando Cabrera is at the plate, the TV anchors point to the story as it’s being published on ESPN’s website. What? Does ESPN get the final say in what’s news?

But again, that doesn’t surprise me.

What does surprise me is Rentería’s handling of this situation. In Colombia, baseball is an afterthought; it’s like Lacrosse, you know it’s there, but you think only college kids are playing it every now and then. The exception to the rule is Rentería’s name. Just like ESPN correctly points out, he became a celebrity after his game-winning hit in the ‘97 World Series. Hell, I was watching the game on public access TV in Colombia – There were three public channels back then. Unlike Rentería, Cabrera is lesser known, and that I dare say is a direct result of Rentería’s fame (and quite literally, Rentería was scouted by Cabrera’s father, who also gave the Expo’s Orlando’s older brother, Jolbert, before Cabrera himself made it to the big leagues).

Colombia’s major and most important daily, El Tiempo, relishes in Rentería’s success. Their coverage of Rentería’s career seems to imply that he is Colombian baseball. Check that, Rentería is Colombian baseball. If Rentería has a bad night, it’s news, if he hits a home run, it’s news. Ironically, just tonight as ESPN published their story, Rentería’s line at the plate sat under the “Grandes Ligas” headline (Major Leagues) on El Tiempo’s website (ironic also that El Tiempo was caught with their pants down, and in haste, after the embarrassment of being scooped, they decided to buy the story from ESPN and run a word-for-word translation).

Cabrera does gets some coverage, as he’s made a name of himself, mainly due to his leadership and gamer attitude. And he’s always mentioned every year when the Colombian media select the sportsman’ of the year. But make no mistake, ask any Colombian to name a ball player, and Rentería will be the overwhelming response.

So what does all this have to do with this squabble over the $25,000 Cabrera invested (keep in mind these two players make millions)? Nothing! And that’s why there’s no story here. ESPN makes it seem like because there just happens to be two Colombian ball players in the league, it’s news that there is some tension where one would assume would exist cordiality and friendship. What? Do all players from Hawaii have to get along? Canadians?

I don’t blame ESPN; the New York Times had a similar piece during the 2004 World Series (theirs was of the positive spin kind) that still commodified the difference these two ball players represent. And it’s a natural thing for the MSM to take a “cultural” angle to any story and run with it; but ESPN took it to the gutter.

Even after reading ESPN’s masturbatory story “Behind the story”, it’s still not clear to me how the reporter “discovered” it, or why it’s relevant to us. In fact, Team Rentería’s communication director, Fabio Poveda Ruiz, published an open letter on its website, criticizing the writer behind the story, Jorge Arangure, for various factual inaccuracies, and for relying on stereotypical descriptions of life in Colombia.

What is really sad, however, is Rentería’s handling of the situation. This is a personal matter between his family and his family’s business and Cabrera. It’s no secret that Rentería has had issues with being in the spotlight (main reason he got shipped out from Boston), but he didn’t have a choice in becoming the face of Colombian baseball, he simply was ordained by the nature of Colombian sports and sports journalism where idolatry supplants true, good-hearted sport fanaticism. In fact, it was because of his prominence amongst Colombians that I was able to land an interview with him for a magazine I work for here in Atlanta that caters to the Colombian community – instead of being open to the opportunity to engage, he asked me to get it over with quick after he took batting practice.

At the time I figured, hey, we’re a small magazine, I should appreciate any second I get. But it’s clear now; like many prominent Colombian sports figures, fame and fortune get to their head to a point where they forget what their role is. In this case, Rentería fell for the oldest trick in a reporter’s notebook. By speaking publicly about his problems with Cabrera, he dragged his fellow country man through the mud; Rentería says Cabrera is giving Colombian baseball a bad name, but what’s clear to me is that not even Yamid Haad, the next best Colombian prospect, who was suspended for using steroids, did as much damage as this “story” will.

Drunk, belligerent Al Reyes to arresting officer: “Don’t tase me, bro!” (DRaysBay)

In other booze news, Drunk Jays Fans is having a healthy debate about all those…drunk…Jays…fans. How apt.

El Lefty Malo has an intriguing suggestion for Barry Zito: send him down.

Fire Joe Morgan took their sarcastic snark to new heights yesterday with YouTube. Epic.

I love reading CenterField. This woman has gone above and beyond to bring us the video of Jonathan Papelbon’s asstastic Dunkin Donuts commerical. I have been waiting for this moment all week!

There’s a reason UmpBumper Nick didn’t join our fantasy league. “You guys have to understand, fantasy sports is like crack to me,” he confessed. “Once I start, I can’t stop.” Sound familiar to any of you? Well, here’s a way to save yourself from yourself. (RotoNation)

Edgar Renteria apparently likes getting booed now (”When the fans boo me, that’s real exciting”) reports the Boston Herald. That’s not what he said when he left Boston for the Braves, when he said that an early booing by Red Sox fans caused him to put too much pressure on himself. “I don’t know if [the fans] were looking for 30 homers, like Garciaparra in the past did, but it was crazy,” he kvetched at the time, adding “I had never been booed in my career.” We weren’t looking for thirty homers. We just didn’t want thirty errors.

The Red Sox and the homers they hit, from Me and Pedro. An excellent chuckle (at least for Sox fans).

Since 1956, only 5 pitchers have gone their first three starts without giving up a run. Today, tomorrow, and Sunday, three pitchers will try to match this feat—Ben Sheets, Oliver Perez, and Kyle Lohse. Get the details from Baseball Reference’s Stat of the Day.

Doug Glanville’s writing a guest column for the NYT this season.

Also, there’s a Red Sox t-shirt buried under the new Yankee Stadium.

Thank you, that is all.

Last week, Alejandro put his Spanish-speaking skills to use and translated an interview that Edgar Renteria did with a Colombian newspaper, where he suggested the Braves trade him. His wish has been granted.

The Braves today traded Renteria to the Detroit Tigers for a couple of prospects.

But what does it all mean?

We have answers to all of your Edgar Renteria trade questions.

Q: Who are these prospects?
A: According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Rookie right-hander Jair Jurrjens went 3-1 with a 4.70 ERA in seven starts for Detroit after being promoted from Class AA Erie, where he gained notice by going 3-0 with an 0.78 ERA in his final three starts, with 24 strikeouts and only one walk in 23 innings.”

Baseball Prospectus says Jurrjens had a 7.51 K/9 ratio, 1.27 WHIP and a 3/1 K/BB ratio in 19 starts at AA. Not bad.

Then there’s Center fielder Gorkys Hernandez, who the AJC says “just turned 20 in September and was named the MVP of the Class A Midwest League after batting .293 with 25 doubles, four homers and 54 stolen bases in 124 games. He was voted the league’s most exciting player and fastest baserunner by league managers.”

The Detroit Free Press describes Jurrjens and Hernandez as “two of the Tigers’ top four prospects”. That’s a steep price to pay for what might be a one year rental.

Q: Renteria sucked as a Red Sox. Will he suck again in the AL?
A: Renteria’s 2005 struggles had more to do with playing in Boston than they did with playing in the AL. After all, it wasn’t just his offense that dipped. Renteria made a career high 30 errors in 2005. The consensus is that he simply didn’t respond well to playing in the high pressure Boston market. Detroit is an AL team, but Tigers Stadium is not Fenway. Renteria should be fine.

Q: Renteria is pretty old. How much longer can he keep it up?
A: A legit question. But Renteria doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. And he’s only got one more year left on his contract. It’s a chance worth taking, I think.

Q: Who will replace Renteria at shortstop in Atlanta?
A: For the Braves, sending Renteria to Detroit means Yunel Escobar will finally get a shot to play everyday. The Braves are way high on Escobar. Of course, they were way high on Andy Marte, too. And he hasn’t exactly lit up the big leagues. But Escobar looked like the real thing playing in place of an injured Chipper Jones this summer. He’s earned his shot.

Q: Who got the best of this deal?
A: There’s little doubt that the Tigers got the best of this trade in the short term. It seems likely that Renteria will out perform both Jurrjens and Hernandez in 2008. We are, after all, talking about an above average defensive shortstop who very nearly won the batting title this season. Besides, it’s unlikely Hernandez will even play in the bigs next year.

Beyond 2008? That’s where it gets interesting.

Q: When will the Tigers run out of prospects to trade?
A: Last season, they traded not one, not two, but three pitching prospects to the Yankees for Gary Sheffield. The Yankees got right-handers Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett.

Here’s what ESPN had to say about Sanchez, Whelan and Claggett:

The 23-year-old Sanchez was a combined 10-6 with a 2.53 ERA and 129 strikeouts in 123 innings with Triple-A Toledo and Double-A Erie this year. He is a hard thrower and was mentioned in trade speculation last summer before hurting an elbow.

…

Whelan, 22, was 4-1 with a 2.67 ERA and 27 saves for Class A Lakeland. Claggett, 22, was 7-2 with an 0.91 ERA and 14 saves for Class A West Michigan.

Now the Tigers are giving up one more young arm for what may be a one year rental. When will the Tigers run out of young pitchers to trade?

Q: Does this mean the Red Sox are off the hook for Renteria’s salary?
A: According to ESPN, when Boston traded Renteria to Atlanta after the 2005 season, they agreed to “pay $8 million of the $26 million Renteria is owed for the next three seasons. In addition, the Red Sox must pay the $3 million buyout if his $11 million option for 2009 is declined.”

Sarah tells me the Sox paid $3 million to the Braves in 2007 to help with Renteria’s contract. And Boston was scheduled to pitch in some more money in 2008. But I don’t know if the Sox will now be sending money to Detroit, or if they’re done paying for Renteria. Anybody out there know something about this?

Or how in an alternate universe, Joe Torre was still the manager, and Edgar Rentería was the shortstop.

Funny how offseasons tend to blossom into intricate plot lines involving family affairs, turned-down deals, resignings and such. We all know that the future for Joe Torre, whatever that may be, will not involve navy pinstripes.

But we didn’t know this: Joe Torre wanted to manage Rentería as a Yankee.

Huh? For one, Edgar wasn’t aware of such theory, not until he made his customary offseason trek back to his native Colombia for some R&R. According to an interview with El Tiempo, the country’s largest daily, such possibility existed. What’s more, Torre wanted to platoon Jeter with Rentería.

¿Se enteró que Joe Torre dijo que le gustaría dirigirlo en los Yankees?
Nunca supe eso. Me entero ahora que regreso a Colombia porque todo el mundo en Bogotá (fue a ver el partido de fútbol entre Colombia y Brasil) me preguntó por ese tema.

¿Y usted qué cree?
No creo. (Derek) Jeter es el paracortos de los Yankees y, de verdad, no necesitan otro paracortos.

Torres (sic) dijo a la prensa que para alternarse…
Ni Jeter ni yo podemos estar alternarnos. Él y yo somos jugadores de todos los días.

In a nutshell:

ET: Did you know Torre wanted to manage you with the Yankees?
Edgar: I never heard of that. I find out now that I’m back in Colombia with everyone asking me about it during the Colombia - Brazil soccer match.
ET: What do you think about it?
ER: I don’t. Jeter is the Yankees’ shortstop and truthfully, they don’t need another shorstop.
ET: Torre told the media that he could platoon…
ER: Neither Jeter or I can platoon. We both are everyday players.

I’m not sure how surprising this is. My brother insists he heard something like this before. But the fact that Rentería didn’t know about it speaks for itself.

I interviewed Rentería before the 2006 season, so I know he’s a straight-shooter, no-nonsense kinda guy (or maybe it was the fact that he was taking BP and I threw him a bunch of softballs). Whatever the case, Rentería’s not the kind of guy that gives a reporter a bone to chew on. Until now.

In that same interview with El Tiempo, Rentería reveals that he feels the Braves should trade him for a few young arms:

A usted le falta un año del contrato con los Bravos. ¿Pero qué hay posible ida a los Tigres de Detroit, por ejemplo?
Sí, soy de los Bravos; pero puede haber cambio. Si Atlanta es inteligente me debe cambiar por buenos lanzadores. Atlanta tiene un paracortos (el cubano Yunel Escobar) que puede jugar en el puesto. Pero si quiere ir a postemporada puede hacer mi cambio y tener al equipo para pelear el otro año.

If the Braves want to make the postseason, he says, they should trade me and have the team ready for next year.

And with the Tigers moving error-prone Carlos Guillen to first base because his “knees are weak,” there might be a Leyland-Rentería reunion in Detroit.

With Andruw Jones not coming back, it seems, the new Braves GM will have his hands full this offseason.