Justin Verlander & Jose Valverde, Gibby Awards Winners for 2011

Justin Verlander and Jose Valverde both won Gibby Awards for their performance in 2011, on Friday evening. Justin Verlander won a Gibby for Starter of the Year while Jose Valverde won a Gibby for Closer of the Year.

Justin Verlander had 58% of the vote for the award while Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers finished 2nd with almost 22% of the vote. Jose Valverde had over 50% of the vote while John Axford of the Brewers finished 2nd with 13% of the vote.

This is another award to the many Verlander has won this year. He went 24-5 in 2011 with an ERA of 2.40. Valverde also has won awards this offseason after finishing 2011 with 49 saves in as many chances and an ERA of 2.24.

The Gibby awards are awarded to the best player ateach position based on votes by the fans at MLB.com, media, front-office personnel and MLB alumni.

Photo Credit: foxsports.com and mlive.com
Follow us on Twitter: @FearTheShadow

Al Alburquerque has Elbow Surgery

According to Danny Knobler Al Alburquerque will miss the begining of the season after having elbow surgery to repair a stress fracture in his elbow.

The surgery that Alburquerque is having is similar to the surgery Joel Zumaya had on his elbow in 2010 except Alburquerque has a stress fracture and Zumaya had a clean break reports Jason Beck.

According to Chris Iott the injury was found out during a game Alburquerque pitched in the Dominican. Iott also reports Alburquerque will likely not return until around the All-Star break.

Alburquerque had a fantastic rookie season last season pitching in 41 games and going 6-1 with a 1.87 ERA and having 13.92 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched. However, Alburquerque right before the All-Star break went on the DL with elbow tendonitis and missed time towards the end of the year with a concussion.

This is a big blow to the Tigers, but it makes the signing of Octavio Dotel much more important.

Photo credit: detnews.com

Follow us on Twitter: @FearTheShadow

Tigers to Play Toledo Mudhens April 4th

According to the Detroit Tigers they will play the Toledo Mudhens Wednesday, April 4th, 2012 in an exhibition game at Fifth Third Field.

Danny Knobler mentioned that the Tigers haven't played the Mudhens since 2000.

If the weather isn't to bad I plan on going to watch the game. It should be a lot of fun!

Photo credit: mlb-wallpapers.com

Follow us on Twitter: @FearTheShadow

Tigers Postpone TigerFest Until 2013

According to the Detroit Tigers The anual TigerFest has been postponed until 2013 due to renovations that will be taking place.

TigerFest happens once every off-season where fans can meet the players and get Autographs from their favorite Tigers among many other things.

I was very disapointed because I was planning to go to TigerFest for the first time since 2008 and I had a blast when I went then. I'm excited when I can go in 2013 though.

Follow us on Twitter: @FearTheShadow

Tigers trade Ryan Perry to the Nationals for Collin Balester

According to Jason Beck the Detroit Tigers have traded Ryan Perry to the Washington Nationals for Collin Balester.

Ryan Perry was a 1st round pick by Detroit in 2008, but had not found the expected success in his pro career which included a 5.35 ERA in 36 games during the 2011 season.

Balester was a 4th round pick by the Expos (now Nationals) and like Perry, Balester has struggled to find success including a 2011 season where he had a 4.54 ERA in 23 games.

Balester is likely to compete for one of the last available bullpen spots as a long reliever for the Tigers, according to Jason Beck

Follow us on twitter: @FearTheShadow

Photo Credit: mlive.com

Tigers Agree to Deal with Octavio Dotel

The Detroit Tigers have agreed to a 1 year contract with right handed reliever Octavio Dotel

The Tigers reached an agreement with reliever Octavio Dotel on a one-year deal with an option, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi first reported the near-agreement last night.

Danny Knobler reports that the signing is expected to be worth $3 million and have an option for a 2nd year.

Dotel had a nice 2010 season with the Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals where he had a 3.50 ERA and had 10.3 K/9

Dotel is more of a right handed specialist and that is something that the Tigers needed, and at a 1 year contract, this should only help the Tigers in 2012 as they attempt to win the Central Division.

You can follow me on twitter here

What my Blog is all about

Hello everyone,

My name is Dan Gladstone and I am an avid Tigers fan. My blog will be all about the Detroit Tigers news and my thoughts on the news as well as daily recaps when the season is in play.

I hope you all enjoy my blog!

-Dan