Somebody had to be left without a chair when the music stopped. The Tigers hand was forced. The deadline for the Tigers to make a decision on Francisco Cruceta was May 10th. He either had to be pitching for the big club by then or the Tigers had to let him go. That meant somebody in the bullpen was on his way out.
I'll admit, I thought that person was Zach Miner. He has one minor league option left and, while he's pitched okay recently, overall he's been grossly ineffective this season. Even though Denny Bautista lost complete control against the Yankees Tuesday night, he's proven to have pretty good command and control in most of the appearances prior to that one, so he wasn't going to go.
Jason Grilli was the man left without a chair and, I for one am perfectly fine with that. To Grilli's defense, he has pitched well recently but Aquilino Lopez is just plain a better pitcher. Grilli has not been a fan favorite for the past year. He served up several melt-downs last year and his confidence has really never returned to the level it was at the year he helped the Tigers get to the World Series.
Cruceta has been a Tiger since November, when they signed him to a $500,000 major-league contract. He missed all of spring training because of visa problems, but has been very impressive in three appearances for Toledo. Cruceta has pitched seven innings for the Mud Hens, allowing just one run on two hits, with three walks and 15 strikeouts.
Cruceta has only limited big-league experience, and he had a 10.05 ERA in six big-league games, split between a stint with Cleveland in 2004 and another with Seattle in 2006. But the Tigers believe he can be an effective late-inning reliever.
He could be the true setup guy the Tigers need and, if Todd Jones continues to struggle, Cruceta could be the closer-in-waiting. Don't think for a second Dombrowski hasn't thought that far ahead. Let's keep in mind, Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya may not pitch for the Tigers this entire season. The club can't just sit around and wait for those two guys to recover. It has to move forward.
Tigers were going to call Cruceta up no matter what. The Grilli deal was on the table and Dombrowski had to take it.
The next big move will be who gets sent down when Dontrelle Willis comes off the DL. It'll be hard to send Armando Galarraga down given how dominating he's been. Miner still could be the odd man out when that happens and Galarraga would move to the bullpen and assume a long-relief position.
I hope Cruceta can come into tonight's game against the Yankees because I'm excited to see this guy's stuff. He was the only free agent signing the Tigers made during the off season. His addition was lost amidst all the blockbuster trades Detroit made.
If Cruceta can dominate in the bigs like he has in the minors, this could be a move we look back on five months from now and be thankful it happened.
Oh, and hey Todd Jones, if you're listening, mister Cruceta wants your job, so you'd better start getting outs when your called upon. A few more of your pattented late-inning disasters and you'll be the next Tigers pitcher without a chair when the music stops!