Cameron Maybin, after all of about a week in AA ball, is getting the call up to the major leagues today...
Judging by past history, he will likely get the start tonight. This is big. Real big.
Maybin, by all accounts, wasn't even supposed to get a September call-up this year. I figured with the way he was hitting in Erie, though, he might get to pinch run and hit in the last month of the Major League season. But to call him up in August?
That's amazing.
What's most amazing is that he wasn't on the Tigers 40 man roster yet. Thus, the Tigers had to drop someone off the roster to make room for him. That someone happened to be Craig Monroe.
You have to feel bad for Monroe. After a great season last year, including many, many big hits, like a grand slam to beat the White Sox and a late-inning homer to beat the Yankees and avoid a sweep, he has struggled to find his way this season.
More than a couple of times, he has stranded a runner at third with less than two outs, usually with a strikeout. He's hitting .222 for the year which translates to exactly 2 for 9. Since he is designated for assignment, and no longer on the 40 man roster, though, he doesn't have to clear waivers to be traded, and the Tigers may likely get someone for him right away.
Monroe will catch on somewhere else. But he needs to be the star, or equal to a team without stars. If you look in the dugout, it seems that Gary Sheffield is the one he talks to the most. I'm sure Sheffield is a nice guy, and has befriended a lot of Tiger players, but Monroe might just be trying to impress one of his boyhood idols or something.
Maybe the Nationals will pick him up, and then they will have Nook Logan, Dmitri Young and Craig Monroe. Monroe could thrive there and help to rebuild a team that isn't all that bad. Then again, maybe he can clear waivers, stay a Tiger, get called up in September and help the team. That is unlikely to happen, though.
What it looks like is that Craig Monroe's career as a Detroit Tiger is over. It is unfortunate. I always liked him. I guess the last time I have ever yelled the following out has passed...
C'mon Mon-roe!!!
See you on the other team...
Good luck to Maybin tonight. Hopefully he'll take Petitte deep.
