When I wrote my article about Brandon Inge being an underrated player, I did so with the assumption that Brandon was a team player and that Brandon was good playing the infield (at a base). The Tigers have made a stupid mistake in making Brandon the #1 catcher. For starters, he can’t catch. He doesn’t have the instincts of a catcher. Pudge Rodriguez may not be as good as he once was, but there is no disputing the fact that he has the instincts of a catcher. What would have made more sense is to trade Renteria for a relief pitcher, moving Guillen to shortstop and putting Brandon back at third.

Brandon Inge isn’t playing baseball to help a team. He’s playing baseball for himself. He’s consistently made comments about how it “doesn’t matter what position he plays” as long as he gets to play every day. That’s all that matters to Brandon. I highly doubt he’s having a hard time dealing with the loss of Pudge. This means he gets to play a lot more frequently, so good riddance to Rodriguez, right?

Brandon went out as the catcher in the Tigers’ last game against Cleveland (which they had to fight to win), and he had a cocky attitude as if to say “I deserve to be catching”. It’s kind of funny because he boggled pitches repeatedly, couldn’t calm pitchers down and he already made his first error at the position. In just one game, he sucked at catching. While its nice he’s currently able to hit the ball (that won’t last - he’s only hitting .227), if he can’t perform well in a defensive capacity as a catcher, he’s no good to the team.

“I wan to play every day not matter what position, so I’m pumped,” Brandon said in a recent interview about the situation.

“Did I learn a lot from Pudge? He’s a future Hall of Famer, so watching him makes everybody better. I’m not Pudge, I’ll just go out and do what I can.”

That makes fans feel better I’m sure. Brandon will do what he can, but damn skippy he’s not Pudge. I hope DUMBrowski and Leyland have to eat their words. When Pudge becomes a free agent at the end of this year he might just end up back in Detroit. This is, if he’s willing to accept those who beg him to come back. I wouldn’t if I were Pudge, but that’s just my take on the matter.

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Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland are the biggest assholes on the planet. Rather than allow one of the most reliable players on their team to continue to play, they’ve traded him away for a relief pitcher who has lost more games than he’s won. Pudge Rodriguez, the veteran catcher that always personified what Tigers baseball was all about has been traded to the heartless, soul-less, New York Yankees. I can’t say how angst-ridden and upset I feel. Pudge Rodriguez was “My” Tiger and now he’s gone.

Pudgey is a 13-time Gold Glove winner and 14-time All Star. Pudge is currently batting with a .295 average. He has 5 home runs and 32 RBIs. This is the guy the Tigers traded for a relief pitcher. We don’t need a relief pitcher quite as much as we need a whole new pitching staff, but c’mon. We couldn’t get anyone better than Kyle Farnsworth? That’d be like trading A-Rod for Edgar Renteria. It’s just plain stupid and the Tigers are going to suffer because of their blatant stupidity.

Kyle Farnsworth is 1-2, with a 3.65 ERA. He’s had 1 save and has given up 17 walks. This year alone he’s given up 18 earned runs and 11 home runs. Farnsworth played in Detroit in 2005. We traded him to Atlanta for a reason. He’s just not that good of a pitcher. I hate the fact that he’s being traded for Pudge. It’s a disservice and a huge slap in the face not only to Pudge, but to the Tigers fans. I can see many fans getting angry about this. Instead of getting rid of the biggest problem in the Tigers lineup, Edgar Renteria (hitting .261 and with more errors than I can count), they sacked the most awesome player on the team (next to Magglio Ordonez).

According to the AP, Pudge wanted to be traded. I can hardly blame him with how he’s been treated this last year by a team he once said “he hoped to play with until he retired”.

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