Unless I've missed them, we haven't yet seen any reports from the local media regarding the Detroit Tigers' pursuit of a pitcher who can be their closer next season.  (Though in Sunday's Freep, Jon Paul Morosi did take a look at several of the promising arms in the minors, including relievers Ryan Perry and Cody Satterwhite.)  But we do know that Dave Dombrowski plans on looking outside the organization for a closer, having said so in his end-of-the-season remarks to reporters.

Thus, we revive "The Quest For Relief" here at BYB.  (Sadly, there were no new additions to this series during the 2008 season.) 

Since we haven't caught any smoke signals on the Tigers' pursuit of a closer, let's see how another team might be doing it.  The New York Mets are in need of a ninth-inning stud, having lost Billy Wagner for next season after elbow surgery.  Will Omar Minaya check out Francisco Rodriguez or Brian Fuentes, the top closers on the free agent market, or will he pass on giving big money to another reliever after eating the last year on Wagner's contract?

The NY Post's Joel Sherman writes that Minaya thinks highly of his scouting department, and thus might try to find someone in need of the proverbial change of scenery, but still has the stuff to be a top-shelf closer.  Look how that approach worked out for the Phillies with Brad Lidge this season. 

Lidge, for example, had a 2007 season in which he was bounced from closing to not closing back to closing - one of the issues cited by Phillie scouts for the uneven final season in Houston.  Florida's Kevin Gregg and Colorado's Manny Corpas experienced the same yo-yoing in 2008.  Gregg has been usurped by former Met farmhand Matt Lindstrom (boy they would love to have him back now) and could be a non-tender candidate this offseason.  Thus, it might not take much for the Mets to obtain him to, at the least, be part of their late-inning picture.  With Fuentes likely to leave as a free agent, Corpas probably is in line to step back in as Colorado's closer, though the Rockies could try to deal Corpas and use Taylor Buchholz in the role.

(via MLB Trade Rumors)

Taking a chance on a National League pitcher who had a bad season and hoping for a turnaround against tougher American League hitters didn't really work out so well for the Tigers this year, however.  Dontrelle Willis, anyone? 

But might the Tigers follow a similar path in looking for bullpen help?  Is there a failed closer out there who lost his job that might do better with a second chance on another team?  Or a prospect that a team has given up on, as the Rangers did with Armando Galarraga?  Is Dombrowski better off acquiring someone who threw well in middle relief and looks ready to take a step up to pitching in the ninth inning?  Or will Detroit not be able to avoid getting involved in the free agent auction for K-Rod or Fuentes?

Patrick Hayes from MLive.com's It's Just Sports blog asked if I'd like to participate in their "Better Know a Blogger" series of interviews, perhaps knowing that I kind of enjoy talking about myself.  But even if he didn't have that intuition, he's already talked to Natalie of Need4Sheed and Kevin from SideLion Report, and I'm happy to be included with them.

Topics of discussion include the position changes for Brandon Inge and Carlos Guillen, what moves Dave Dombrowski might make this off-season, and some quick thoughts on several Tigers.  Oh, and if you're interested, we talk a bit about my background, my approach to blogging, and favorite Tigers memories.  Patrick asked some great questions that were really fun to answer. 

So click on over to the interview, if you're so inclined, and let us know what you think.  And thanks to It's Just Sports for including me in their interview series.  Have a great weekend!

I still haven't taken much of an opportunity to watch the playoffs, while shaking off the hangover from the past season, but I plan on changing that tonight with the beginning of the Dodgers-Phillies NLCS.

Unfortunately, that series will be on FOX, so we won't get to see Curtis Granderson trade analysis with Cal Ripken and Dennis Eckersley this evening, but we'll get the TBS side of things tomorrow night, with Game 1 of the Red Sox-Rays ALCS. 

For the second consecutive postseason, Granderson is drawing much praise for his smooth on-camera demeanor and insight into the game.  Over at MLive.com, Steve Kornacki profiles Granderson and his TV work, which seems to assure him of a prosperous career once his playing days are over.  One of Grandy's producers at Turner Sports, Tim Kiely, compares him to another analyst who's made quite a name for himself over at TNT:

"There are a lot of ways to critique without ripping guys," Kiely said, "and he knows how to handle himself there. He's able to paint a picture and reminds me of Kenny Smith, who does our NBA studio and gets over-shadowed by Charles Barkley.  Hey, everybody gets overshadowed by Charles."

Unlike last year, Granderson has a larger role on the studio broadcast and thus won't be moving over to ESPN once TBS's postseason coverage ends with the conclusion of the NLCS.

Big League Stew has an interview with Granderson's fellow TBS analyst, Dennis Eckersley, and says it plans to talk to each member of the "Inside MLB" crew, so look for a Q & A with Curtis in the days to come.

So what exactly will the Detroit Tigers be shopping for this off-season?  I'm sure we'll each have several ideas to toss around in the weeks to come, and this week's poll question covers that very topic.  But Jon Paul Morosi got started on the speculation in yesterday's Freep, with his thoughts on what the Tigers might actually do.

The biggest problem, unfortunately, is that the teams with players that could help the Tigers will very likely want starting pitching in return.  And as you know, there currently isn't much of that to be had in the organization.  If so, they'd have probably been pitching in Detroit this past season. 

In that case, you can probably rule out a deal with Milwaukee for shortstop J.J. Hardy, or with Texas for catcher Gerald Laird or one of their shortstop prospects.  But maybe Dave Dombrowski can get creative and find something he'd be willing to spare that either of those teams could possibly want. 

Another name Morosi brings up as a potential catcher is Arizona's Miguel Montero.  At the very least, he'd provide a left-handed bat who could platoon with Dusty Ryan.  This past season, Montero batted .255/.330/.435 in 207 plate appearances with five home runs and 18 RBIs.  And defensively, he allowed no passed balls in 53 games, which already makes him an improvement over Brandon Inge's 11 PBs in 60 games.  (In fairness, Inge is a little better at throwing out baserunners.)  

Just in case you're screaming, "But what about the bullpen?" Morosi predicts the Tigers will sign two free agent relievers.  Yet he then kind of talks himself out of that, looking at who's available, while acknowledging that Detroit has three hard-throwing prospects playing in the Arizona Fall League.  But hey, I often think I'll write something, only to end up writing something else after a bit of research.  Happens all the time.

Hey, everybody - how's it going?  Are you enjoying postseason baseball, or are you taking kind of a break (brought on by Tigers fatigue)?

I guess I fall into the latter category, though I mostly just haven't had an opportunity to sit down and watch the playoffs.  And now, it looks like the Cubs and Brewers might be done before I got a chance to see them. 

Anyway, if you happened to be watching any of the vice-presidential debate coverage last night, there was kind of a funny moment that Gizmodo captured today.  I didn't see this when it happened, but each time the cameras panned behind one of the dozen pundits CNN had on set before a commercial break, I kept hoping we might see something intriguing (or better yet, incriminating) on one of their laptops.  What's on Jeffery Toobin's screen should look familiar to anyone who watches baseball on his or her computer, if TV or radio isn't available.

Wait, so not everyone on "The Best Political Team on Television" is riveted to every word Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, or Campbell Brown is saying?  They're not reading nytimes.com, washingtonpost.com, or politico.com?  How about, you know, cnn.com?  They're not all reading e-mails from both sides' campaign staffs?  Not when there are more important things going on.  Somebody's keeping up on some Dodgers-Cubs action.  Just in case you need a closer (but not necessarily clearer) look, here's a zoom from Gizmodo.

I knew there was a reason Toobin was one of my favorite cable news analysts.

Before I go, a plug for the team.  SB Nation has set up a postseason hub for you to check out during the playoffs, a one-stop shop for you to check out all of the great content being offered by the bloggers whose teams were fortunate enough to play baseball in October this fall.

It should also include any playoff-related content that the rest of us produce (and I'm sure I won't be able to resist typing something).

Thanks for stopping by even though the Tigers aren't playing right now, and enjoy your weekend!

(Hat tip to MLB.com's Cory Schwartz)

Congratulations to our friend Kurt Mensching, who was honored by the Michigan Press Association as the top sports columnist in his newspaper class (circulation size) for his work in the Marquette Mining Journal.

So if you were wondering why Kurt hasn't been updating Mack Avenue Tigers much over the past month or lending his insight to the BYB comments, hey, the guy's been busy.  (Plus, you know, it wasn't much fun following that team the last couple of months.)

Kurt takes his place on the medal stand with fellow journalists Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press and Jim Carty of the Ann Arbor News.  In my opinion, Rosenberg and Carty are the two best columnists currently writing in metro Detroit, so that's some seriously esteemed company to share.  (Hey, all three of them are my Facebook friends!)

I'm terribly biased on the matter, but such an award couldn't go to a better writer or a nicer guy.  I've gotten to know Kurt through our shared blogging pursuits and instant message conversations, and chatting with him is always a fun, thoughtful experience. 

So please give a slow clap today to Kurt, and your kudos to the Michigan Press Association for rewarding his hard work.

Taking contract negotiations to the public never seems like a good idea.  Yet that's essentially what Jim Leyland did yesterday while talking to Mitch Albom on his radio show.

“I have not been extended,” Leyland told Albom, “and I’m not gonna be extended… There was some sense of an offer that I did not accept.

“I’m not afraid of anything.  I want to manage the Tigers.  I have every intention of managing the Tigers.  I’m disappointed that I did not get an extension, but I understand — well, maybe I don’t understand, but I can live with that."

Leyland has been saying for at least a month now that he'd like a contract extension for 2010.  And the conventional wisdom in sports often seems to be that a coach on the last year of his deal is a "lame duck" that will have less authority with his players.  I agree with Billfer that this doesn't quite seem to apply, as Leyland isn't a manager that needs to prove himself and requires the security of a longer-term deal to show the team he has the confidence of the front office.  Most of the clubhouse has played for Leyland for three years; they know what he's about. 

One concern I would have regarding an extension, however, is that lame-duck status might make it difficult for Leyland to attract a top-shelf candidate for openings on his coaching staff.  Would a Leo Mazzone or Rick Peterson (if those names are even being considered by Leyland and Dombrowski) come to Detroit knowing that they might only get one season to prove themselves?  Sure, nothing's guaranteed as far as job status, but I imagine most coaches would prefer at least the semblance of security.

In the past, Dombrowski has said he wants Leyland to be the Tigers' manager for "an extended period."  At this time last year, however, Leyland preferred to go on a year-by-year basis.  Is he trying to have it both ways?  Perhaps.  But maybe Leyland also didn't realize until late in this season how much he wanted to come back and manage.

Yet something seems to have changed on Dombrowski's side of the equation, too.  Obviously, the disappointment of this past season has to factor into this.  No one expected this team to perform so badly.  But it was hardly Leyland's best job as a manager (nor Dombrowski's best as a general manager, for that matter), with him being far too passive with his players early in the season when the ship was taking on water, moving players around the field only to change his mind soon thereafter, and seemingly demanding accountability only after the post-season was far out of reach.  So maybe the lack of a contract extension is Dombrowski's way of holding Leyland accountable for a sub-par performance. 

The curious sentence in the blockquote above, however, is "There was some sense of an offer that I did not accept."  What exactly does that mean?  If the "sense of an offer" was that the Tigers would extend Leyland's contract next season if it appeared that the team was playing hard for him and he was firmly in control, that seems pretty fair.  You can say certain players didn't respond well to finally cashing in with big contracts, but what are you doing about that as a manager?  But maybe Leyland thinks he's earned benefit of the doubt, which is why he "did not accept."  

Could this develop into some friction between Leyland and Dombrowski through the off-season and into next season?  Maybe it already has.  Leyland's remarks seem to imply as much.  But does he bring up this contract thing again or let it go, accepting that everyone has to do a better job?  Of course, if the Tigers perform to expectations next year, that would likely smooth over any rough feelings.