Lions Put Franchise Tag on Avril

Cliff Avril will be in a Lions uniform again, at least for the 2012 season. Apparently, Avril and the Lions couldn’t work out a deal that satisfied both sides as far as time and money goes. Avril wants to sign a long-term deal with the team, and has stated this in the past along with the fact that he doesn’t want to be tagged.

So what does the franchise tag mean? Basically it’s a one-year deal that pays the player the average salary of the top 5 highest payed players at his position for that year. That’s going to be $10.6 Millions dollars for defensive ends this season.

The lions don’t have much money under the cap this off-season with their other team signings. I’m thinking that tagging Avril is a sign of things to come. They’re either thinking about making a serious run at the Super Bowl this year, or they’re going to give him that big contract he’s looking for next off-season. Either way, it’s a win for the fans.

Tigers Play First Games of Spring Training

The Tigers played the Braves twice over the weekend, and the result is a 2-0 start to spring training.

Game 1 saw a collective no-hitter go into the 8th inning. Everybody pitched clean, which is surprising for early March.

Game 2 displayed the explosive offense that us fans have been looking forward to since the signing of Prince Fielder. 7 players hit homers; Fielder, Raburn, Peralta, Jackson, Young, Avila, and Boesch. They’re all starters, folks.

This is a sign of things to come, of course. Solid pitching and big numbers in the run column. If it can keep up like this heading into the season, and everybody works their kinks out now, it’s going to be one hell of a season.

On an Unrelated Note….

Jean Claude Van Damme took a moment out of his busy day to stop by my blog!

Prince is Here

9 Yrs/$214 Million contract.

Where in the F@#* did the Tigers get that kind of money?

Here are some more outrageous signings in recent history, as a reminder of how much money these dudes get payed to swing a bat or throw a ball.

A-Rod(2008) 10 Yrs/$275 Million

Albert Pujols(2012) 10 Yrs/$254 Million

Joe Mauer(2011) 8 Yrs/$184 Million

Mark Teixeira(2009) 8 Yrs/$180 Million

Kobe Bryant(2004) 7 Yrs/$137.5 Million

Inge to Play Second?

With Prince Fielder pushing Miguel Cabrera over to third base, and Gerald Laird coming in from St. Louis to back up Avila behind the plate, there doesn’t seem to be any clear roster spot for long time Tiger, Brandon Inge.

Dave Dombrowski (out of respect I think) has asked Leyland to get Inge into the mix for the starting job at second base. Inge plays smart ball, still has a rifle of an arm, and always has had a solid fielding %. Other likely candidates for the 2B job include Ramon Santiago and Ryan Rayburn, both pretty mediocre players.

Even if he does end up starting at 2B, and bats .240, his defense is still solid and makes up for it. The Tigers don’t need another .300 hitter.. they already have like 5 of those. What they need is experience for the playoffs, and Inge has that.

Anything could happen. Remember a couple of years ago when he was in the home run derby? Well, he didn’t  hit any home runs and he practically embarrassed himself, but the point is he got there. He’ll get his shot this spring training, and I think he’ll give the young players a run for their money, too.

Datsyuk Out 2-3 Weeks

Pavel Datsyuk, the Wings starting center – and arguably best player, underwent arthroscopic surgery this morning. It’s reported to have went well, and Datsyuk shouldn’t miss more than 3 weeks.

Datsyuk leads the team in assists (43) and total points (59), and even though the Wings are still running up the home wins record, his health is far more important to the team. As they prepare for hopefully a deep playoff run, Datsyuk needs to be 100% before stepping back onto the ice. His talent and aggressiveness are crucial for playoff wins.