The Damn Yankees

I was going to do a post today about a Matt Millen drinking game that I came up with, but something major happened today. That something major is the trade of my favorite Detroit Tiger, Curtis Granderson, to my least favorite team in all of sports, the New York fucking Yankees.

Call me old fashioned, but I love the idea of a team drafting a player, developing that player's skills in the minors (if he needs it), and then when he finally gets to the big club, he is a good/great player and spends his whole career with the team that drafted him. The Red Wings did this with Steve Yzerman. The Pistons did this with Joe Dumars and Isiah Thomas. The Tigers did this with Al Kaline. And the Tigers had the chance to do this again with Curtis Granderson, but failed epically by trading him to the Yankees today.

Now, Granderson isn't as great a player as the ones mentioned above, but he is a good player. Add to it the fact that he's an even better person, and you have the makings of a guy that could have been a Detroit sports icon. A guy that Detroit sports fans could have idolized for all-time, especially if he won a championship. After what transpired today, however, that chance is, as Ernie Harwell would say, loooooong gone.

And who do we have to thank for this? The answer is, of course, the Detroit Tigers' General Manager, Dave Dombrowski. The guy who made bad signing after bad signing, a trade that should never have been made, and an option that should never have been picked up. So, thanks for signing Dontrelle Willis to that contract extension ($29 million, 3 years), despite the fact that he showed signs of decline in Florida. I can't wait to hop on the D-Train next year, Dave (toot toot). And thanks for resigning Nate Robertson ($21.25 million, 3 years) to a contract he totally deserved, Dave. I hope you're ready for gum time because I know I am (end sarcasm). Oh, and thanks for trading for an old and busted Gary Sheffield, and then extending him two more years (for a grand total of over 38 million, 3 years). And to top it off, you should have let go of Magglio Ordonez earlier in the year, instead of keeping him on the team, which kicked in his $18 million option for next year. That playoff run this year was so worth it. Oh wait, that's right, you didn't make the playoffs this year. And don't even get me started on Brandon Inge and Carlos Guillen (they, I will admit, are the least of the Tigers' problems, but that's not saying much).

It just makes me nauseous to think of Curtis Granderson in Yankee pinstripes. I am literally sick to my stomach right now. But I'll remain a Tigers fan, despite all of this, because I'm a sick individual who loves everything about Detroit. I even love the Lions, as bad as that is.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading. I hope I can get to sleep tonight, after writing this, but I think I'm going to have trouble. I'm so fired up right now. You stay classy, San Diego.