As I wait for this spring’s games to be televised, I continue to watch the games from last year. It occurs to me that some words are needed in regards to the players who were in camp last year and now hindsight has produced odd results.

Ivan Rodriguez: I was not a fan of trading him away at the time. Still, when/if he signs with another team, wouldn’t there still be compensation near the kind we got when we “lost” Kyle Farnsworth to the Royals? Luckily, the Yankees didn’t get much offensively out of Pudge. He hit .295 for us, .219 for them. He only drove in 3 RBI (2 HR) for the Yanks in 33 games, so the Tigers easily won that end of things.

James Skelton: When camp broke last year, everyone was talking about Skelton and how he would be the future of the team. Now, he still might be, but nobody is talking about Skelton right now. Now there is a whole new set of backstops in Detroit, with Dusty Ryan and Dane Sardinha most likely calling games in Toledo. In fact people are talking about Ryan like they used to talk about Skelton, so the short term future doesn’t look good for the guy, too bad.

Edgar Renteria: Ok, so we figured out he is DEFINATELY not an AL player. In his last two years in St. Louis, Renteria hit .330 and .287. In Atlanta, he hit .293 and .332. In his two seasons in the AL (Boston and Detroit), Egar hit .277 and .270. Not a terrible drop off, except that his Detroit .270 is the second lowest batting average of his career. Career low in stolen bases in 2008. Fewest walks since he was a rookie, but at least it was his fewest strikeouts in five years. Lowest RBI total since leaving Flordia. Hits, runs, and doubles were also his lowest since 2001. Whether he didn’t want to be here, or just flat out cannot play in the AL, I’m not going to miss him. P.S. Lowest fielding percentage since season in Boston.

Todd Jones: Simple, quality player and a better man. Didn’t deserve to go out on an injury.
 
Macay McBride: Injuries hurt his 2008. I’m looking for him to rebound in AAA and be the first lefty to get a call when there is an injury or a need for another southpaw. At the same time, he could be one that gets moved for his near term upside to get someone with a longer term upside.

Tim Byrdak: I was sorry to see him go. He was a feel good story in 2007. He had a quality season with Houston in 2008. Played in more games in 08 versus 07, and with that in mind his Tigers numbers were a little better. Still, he is still with the Astros, which means he’s doing better than Rodriguez right now.
 
Francis Beltran: Like Renteria, Beltran is with the Giants organization. With the bullpen by comittee last year, his face blended in with the others who came through the revolving door. His highlights included his first ML win in 4 years (didn’t see ML service between 05-07). Otherwise the only thing I can say for him is that he lowered his career ERA while in Detroit.

Clete Thomas: I mentioned this in my last blog, there’s no room for him on this years team without someone else getting tradded or hurt. Injuries really cut his 2008 season short. I see him having success in the big leagues if he becomes the Placido Polanco of the outfield. His .284 average in 40 games is promising.
 
Brent Clevlen: Stop me if I repeat myself, but there is no room for Clevlend either right now. He’s out of options, so he is going to have to play his way on to the team and thensome. Not a whole lot to brag about from his 2008 callup. Increased his walks. He is a career .233 hitter, but his shining stat of the moment is that he is still 100% on his fielding.

Timo Perez: I can’t believe he didn’t get a look in 2008. He killed the ball in his 07 callup. Had a heck of a spring training in 08. I mean, you have to be doing something really right to hit .389 over 90 AB. Plus, unless I missed something, he can play anywhere in the outfield and can run very well.

Mike Hollimon: Another one bit by the injury bug. I don’t see a spot for him either out of spring training, but probably the first callup if we get an injury in the middle infield. Mostly played SS, but also some 2B and 3B. I’m thinking he’ll play mostly for his defense and not for his bat, but he’ll still need to hit to get on this club at some point. Just because Dane Sardinha did it doesn’t mean all the backups can.

Yorman Bazardo: Another of the lost faces in the bullpen shuffle. Currently in camp with the Phillies. There is nothing I can say other than he pitched for us in 08, and that he had higher expectations when we had him.

Matt Joyce: I’m going to miss Joyce. Obviously, he was the most attractive piece of the near future, which is why the Rays agreed to trade Edwin Jackson. I saw Joyce as the future of the outfield just like Thomas and Clevlen were/are the future. Yeah, he finished the season batting .252, so there is room for improvement. The 12 HR was pretty attractive from a rookie, and they always seemed to be loud ones. Struck me as a dependable and capable outfielder, hopefully this won’t bite us too badly.

Mike Hessman: I can’t stress this enough, Hessman should be on a national league roster. There is no room for him in Detroit without injury. He’d be a great backup corner infielder and pinch hitter. Granted, he only had 27 AB in 2008, but you have to be happy with his .296 batting average. Actually hit a career high 5 HR in 08 with the second fewest AB in his brief stints over four seasons. If someone gets hurt on the infield, I’d like to see what he can do with Marcus Thames-like ABs. Also, Hessman is out of options, so while I might be right about the NL roster, I’d still miss having him in the system.

Denny Bautista: Not going to miss him. With the Pirates now, but I expected more out of the Jose Capellan trade. Truth be told, he has is lowest ERA ever with his time in Detroit, and until he went to Pittsburgh later in the season, also had a career high in games with Detroit. Compared to other players’ ERAs, we probably should have kept him a bit longer than we did, but instead Bautista was lost in the roster shuffle. Opps.

Vance Wilson: I will miss his leadership. Probably one of the best backup catchers we’ve had in a while. Completely lost the last two years to injury. In 06 he batted .283, compared to .197 in 05. I’d like to think that he’d do .250 or better still. Considering he was playing once every two weeks or so backing up Pudge, what more could you really ask. I wanted to see him get a camp invite to at least prove himself, but what are you going to do?

Jacque Jones: BUST!!! I would definately take Omar Infante back compared to what we went through with Jones. On the other hand, we could probably have gotten any other left-handed bat who played LF and done better. Or….. Timo Perez could have gotten a shot, he bats left, played LF in 07, and I still say he earned better than he got in camp last year.The bright side of Jacque Jones….he played worse for Flordia last year than he did for us. With Cincinatti now, good luck to the Reds.

Chris Lambert: Nothing spectacular to say about his rookie 08 campaign. Still too early to judge him versus Mike Maroth, whom he was traded for. This spring and the season to follow should be a statment for Lambert to see if he is in future plans.

Freddy Guzman: Didn’t make it to Detroit in 08. Looked impressive in the spring games I was able to watch. In camp with Seattle now. Best of luck.

    And that’s my roundup from 2008 camp players who warented a mention.Still going to watch more of last year’s games as I wait for this year’s to be broadcast. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll do another of these look back blogs when other former or lesser known players show up.