National sportswriter says … Dustin Pedroia is your AL MVP thus far

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By Craig CalcaterraJul 1, 2013, 4:03 PM EDT

From the man who picked the Philadelphia Phillies to finish ahead of the Braves and the Kansas City Royals over the Tigers, we get this:

 

We don’t know his reasoning yet. When questioned on Twitter he played coy, so I assume a column is forthcoming.

It’s not as crazy as the Phillis pick I suppose — Pedroia has considerable defensive value and, at present, is third in the American League in WAR if you’e into that sort of thing — but it definitely is an offbeat choice what with Miguel Cabrera, Manny Machado and Chris Davis walking the Earth.

And people say I like to troll on Twitter.

Tigers release Francisco Rodriguez

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By Ashley VarelaJun 23, 2017, 6:10 PM EDT

Tigers’ right-handed reliever Francisco Rodriguez was released on Friday, per a team announcement. The club recalled fellow right-hander Bruce Rondon from Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding move.

The former closer got the boot after losing his closing role in early May, giving left-hander Justin Wilson a chance to impress at the back end of the bullpen. It’s been a rough year for Rodriguez, who manufactured six blown saves and a 7.82 ERA, 3.9 BB/9 and 8.2 SO/9 over 25 1/3 innings for the Tigers. The final straw, it seemed, came with Robinson Cano‘s grand slam in the seventh inning of the Tigers’ 6-9 loss to the Mariners on Thursday.

While the demotion to a clean-up role and an apparent lack of communication caused Rodriguez considerable frustration, he’s two years removed from his last dominant performance as a major league closer and has shown few signs of returning to form. His recent slump doesn’t diminish the impressive totals he’s racked up over his 16-year career — 437 saves and six All-Star nominations among them — but if he can’t break out of it soon, he may not receive the kind of high leverage role he’s seeking with another big league team, either.

The Red Sox sign Jhonny Peralta

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By Craig CalcaterraJun 23, 2017, 4:30 PM EDT

The Red Sox have signed third baseman Jhonny Peralta to a minor-league deal. He’ll report to Pawtucket.

Peralta, 35, hit a paltry .204/.259/.204 in 58 plate appearances for the Cardinals this year. But with Pablo Sandoval on the disabled list — and ineffective when he hasn’t been — the Sox could use some infield depth.

This is the second former Tiger that former Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski has picked up today, after signing Doug Fister. No word if he’s kicking the tires on Andy Dirks or Brennan Boesch.