Game Notes: Tigers vs Royals 5-14-11

• It’s only a matter of time before Eric Hosmer starts slamming the ball
• Brad Penny is for real and back for a good season
• The Royals are slowly falling
• Alcides Escobar is the best shortstop in the AL on defense
• The Tigers are the best and most talented team in the AL Central
• The Tigers have great defense and will keep it up
• Austin Jackson won’t do much worse than last year
• The top of the order is going to really good along with the middle of the order for right now for the Tigers
• Jhonny Peralta will hit better as a Tiger than he has as an Indian
• Jeff Francis will start to get bombed soon
• Jose Valverde will be at the level he’s at now for a while
• Victor Martinez is great and will always hit for the Tigers

Pirates: Francis and De La Rosa

• I would stay away from Francis no matter what and on  the Pirates he would only do worse.  He will have a couple of good games but it would all end up completely bad.  Francis isn’t going to be as good as he used too and the Pirates just aren’t a fit.  He would end having a few terrible years if he signed with Pittsburgh.  Francis won’t do much good as a Pirate, period.
• De La Rosa would do well for the Pirates though and be a decent ace.  He wouldn’t do the best but could still have a good year or too and keep them in a lot of games.  His ERA would never be under 4.00 though.  He would have bad spots as a Pirate unlike he would for other teams.  De La Rosa would do an okay job altogether with Pittsburgh when everything boils down.
• FITS:
  De La Rosa:  Fit for him: Worse than average  Pittsburgh fit: Good
  Francis: Him: Bad   Pittsburgh: Terrible
• I would sign neither.