Jose Valverde News

One look at that fastball velocity and the heft of his slider, and it was clear Jonathon Crawford fit the typical draft-day profile for the Tigers.

Jim Leyland has made it clear; he's not talking about his closer and I guess I don't blame him.

He can't have Rocket, either, but he can start being mentioned with his best start to a season, too.

The Tigers added to their Draft signings by agreeing to terms with Corey Knebel, the 39th overall selection in the First-Year Player Draft two weeks ago.

The Tigers will be hoping that the return of Austin Jackson to the top of the lineup will have a positive cascading effect down the order by opening up more chances for Torii Hunter, Miguel Cabrera, and Prince Fielder.

Replacing Jose Valverde as the Tigers' closer isn't as easy for a manager as it is for a fantasy team owner.

What does he not see that is painfully obvious to the rest of the viewing public? W. Lisowski Clarkston Jose Valverde should never have been brought back, and he should be released before he pitches the Tigers right out of the post-season.

The maturation of Rick Porcello, Jim Leyland is concerned about Anibal Sanchez's shoulder, and questions still remain about Jose Valverde and the closer role.

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Lorenzo Cain hit a tying, two-run homer off Jose Valverde with two outs in the ninth inning and Eric Hosmer had a winning single in the 10th, helping the Kansas City Royals overcome Justin Verlander's seven scoreless innings Wednesday in a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Torii Hunter's first career home run came with the Minnesota Twins, against Detroit at Tiger Stadium.

The Tigers recently signed their 2013 first-round pick Jonathan Crawford. There isn't much that is remarkable about it: he was ranked 17th according to one agency, 24th according to another, and went with the 20th pick.

All Detroit Tigers, all the time! Every week the editorial staff of Bless You Boys, SBNation's Detroit Tigers blog, discuss the week in Tigers baseball and answer questions from the Bless You Boys community.

After Valverde surrendered a game-changing two-run home run Wednesday in a 3-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals , he was eager to get back in a game.

Octavio Dotel was the Tigers' most effective reliever in 2012, but issues with his pitching elbow may sideline him for the remainder of the 2013 season.

It was tempting to elevate the Royals into the first slot this weeka until I considered that the TIGERS were one strike away from taking the rubber game on Wednesday at Kansas City and reversing their recordsa We have been begging Jose Valverde to throw his splitter more, I guess maybe he knew better than we did after all, eh?..

Prince Fielder came through with another clutch hit, and Jose Valverde even had a stress-free appearance to try to get back on track.

The Tigers have closer issues, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they need to go out and get a "proven closer" to have a shot at a title.

Because there could be a break-the-bank option out there to replace closer Jose Valverde, who blew his third save of the season Wednesday and has given up five home runs in his past 5 1/3 innings pitched.

By now, you've heard of the Tigers' fit with Jonathan Papelbon. Jose Valverde is a dumpster fire and all that, the Tigers need a closer, and the Phillies are sick of paying a Michael Bourn-type contract to someone who faces less than 300 batters a season.