It's dangerous to get too excited, but after nine games Placido Polanco is looking like he might be the best mid-season trade addition for the Tigers since Doyle Alexander in 1987.
Alexander went 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA and helped lead Detroit to the AL East title in a thrilling stretch run. The Tigers edged Toronto in the final series of the season in one of the greatest, least-talked about finishes to a season in MLB history.
Of course, the Tigers gave up a youngster named John Smoltz to get Alexander, so the deal might have hurt them in the long run. But I've got no complaints. Smoltz was only in A ball at the time, so you're really relying on hindsight to evaluate that deal.
Anyway, Detroit has won 6 of its last 8 and scored eight or more runs four times. This from an offense that was ranked last in the AL prior to Polanco's arrival. Detroit is 33-33 and four games out of the wild card.
In his 9 games with the Tigers, Polanco is batting .378 with a homer (game winner), seven RBI and eight runs scored. His OPS is .928.
Plus, there's this good news from the Free-Press: Right-handed starter Justin Verlander, the Tigers' top draft pick in 2004, was promoted to Class A Lakeland to Double-A Erie, which could be his last stop before the majors. Verlander was 9-2 at Lakeland and led the Florida State League in wins, ERA (1.67) and strikeouts (104). He is due to start for Erie on Tuesday night.
Maybe Verlander makes it to the Show and can push the Tigers over the top.
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