WHY I'LL TAKE TEX & AROD OVER PRINCE & CABRERA

A few nights ago I was listening to Justin Verlander, the 2011 CY Young Award winner, being interviewed on ESPN Radio. Verlander was being asked about the pickup of Prince Fielder and talked about how pumped he was to now have him in the lineup. And who can blame him? I mean, imagine pitching for the Tigers knowing that Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera alone could knock in enough runs to save any pitcher's butt.

But, how do you think Verlander is going to feel pitching mid July, Yankee Stadium, 95-degrees, 1-1 game in the bot 7th...man on 3rd, two outs, and Jeter hits a slow bouncer towards third...Cabrera takes 10-years to get to the ball and when he finally does he throws it into the dirt and Fielder cannot stretch out to scoop the ball in time before winning run scores. You think Verlander and the Tigers are going to think they stole the off season losing games like that?

Look, I am not at all blaming the Tigers for signing Prince Fielder. The guy is a monster at the plate and really is just approaching his prime years. I probably would not offered him such a lengthy contract, but hey, what do I know. Anyway, one thing I do know is this: Give me ARod and Tex on the corners any day of the week and twice on Tuesday's! The Tigers are relying solely on the offense of Fielder and Cabrera while throwing caution into the wind as far as defense. I think the Tigers are playing with fire. Sometime in the near future, having those two on the corners is really going to hurt them.

We have all seen Fielder play first. He certainly is not horrible but let me tell you, there is a difference between coming in on a sacrifice bunt from a National League pitcher giving himself up then having Brett Gardner lay one down and fly by you. And the same goes for Cabrera at 3rd base. I've seen the games early in his career with the Marlins playing third base and I've seen Cabrera play third more recently. Lets just say that AL managers will no doubt be laying down more bunts this year versus the Tigers.

--Mikey Blue, BYB Senior Writer
Email: DonnieBaseball2323@gmail.com
Twitter: @MikeyBlu23

Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.