The Saga of Galarraga

Here's what I think is happening with the Tigers and Armando Galarraga.   Armando doesn't fit into the Tigers long term plans for the rotation.  His upside is what we saw in 2008 and that took a good deal of fortune to produce 13 wins.   He's likely to be overwhelmed by the young, talented pitchers on the way up the system, with three or four spots ahead of him filled for the foreseeable future.  In fact, Leyland is at his wit's end with AG's nibbling and lack of aggressiveness. AG gave up a ton of homers last year because he got himself behind in the count and had to come in to hitters, who are sitting on his mediocre fastball out over the plate. He also isn't good with runners on base, and walks too many lefties.  He thinks himself into a funk at times, and that's when the damage gets done. When he's in a groove, we've all seen what he can do, but he's no Greg Maddux for consistency.

Brad Penny was seen as an upgrade over Armando, and they're completely sold on the idea of Coke moving to the rotation. Phil Coke is one confident pitcher, and he has at least three solid pitches, plus he's better than any lefty not named Lee that they might have picked up in the off season. Might as well see if he can be a starter- he's much more valuable in that role.

Armando has not taken well to being passed over, piggy backed, optioned, or put in the bullpen in the past. He'd be the odd man out in the rotation. The sixth passenger on a five seat ride. They don't want him lingering all spring, waiting for an injury or a failure, peering over Coke's shoulder to see how that's going, and they don't want a $ 2.3 million reliever holding a mop that he doesn't want to swing. So they move on.

I don't like giving up a starting pitcher or surrendering the depth which will almost surely be needed before the season runs it's course. Even at last year's pace, an ERA under 4.50 isn't all that bad for a five hole pitcher. What to do with him in the interim seems to be the issue. If he doesn't like Toledo and doesn't like the bullpen, he's in a sort of Limbo waiting for an accident to happen, although he sees it as more like Purgagtory.  Armando, meet Gibby and Tram.