What a Max Scherzer Victory in game 6 would mean…other than game 7

The big three-team deal of 2009 involving the Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees has probably been analyzed enough at this point.  But I guess I felt the need to milk one more article out of the topic.

In case you had forgotten, the Yankees received Curtis Granderson.  The D-Backs picked up Ian Kennedy and Edwin Jackson.  And finally the Tigers obtained Max Scherzer, Phil Coke, Daniel Schlereth and Austin Jackson.

I will go out on a limb and assume the Yankees are pretty satisfied with their center fielder.  Despite the fact Granderson does not consider himself a power hitter, he managed to hit 41 homers this year with 119 runs batted in.  He also is well known for making spectacular plays in the field on a regular basis.

I’d be surprised if anyone in Phoenix thought Ian Kennedy would be a 21-game winner this year with an ERA under 3.00.  So I’ll assume the Diamond backs are pretty happy as well.

The funny thing is, even though the Tigers are still alive this postseason, there are still plenty of people in Detroit who miss Curtis Granderson dearly.  It’s hard to blame them – Curtis Granderson is an awesome guy, and an awesome player.  But the fact remains, out of the teams involved with this trade, who is still alive to win a championship?

Most people who follow the game of baseball closely probably saw that the Rangers had a slight edge over the Tigers coming into this years ALCS.  I would argue that the Tigers matched up well against the Rangers, given the fact Detroit usually has success against left-handed pitching, and Texas has three left-handed starters.  Well, the talent appears to be over-riding the match-up issue at this point, as the Rangers still have a 3 to 2 games edge in the series.

Nonetheless, the Tigers still have a puncher’s shot at winning the ALCS and moving on to the World Series.  Max Scherzer, a key component from that 2009 trade will take the mound for the Tigers in game six.  So far this postseason, Scherzer has been great.  He’s got an ERA of 2.70 in 13.1 innings of work.

The blockbuster deal of 2009 worked out pretty well for each of these three teams.  Each of these clubs won their division in 2011, and at the very least forced a game five in the first round.  But if Max Scherzer can deliver a victory for the Tigers tomorrow, I think there is something we can finally put to bed, and that is the winner of this trade.

Despite the fact the city of Detroit still misses their old center fielder, if Max Scherzer wins tomorrow the Tigers are the clear-cut winners of the 2009 trade in my eyes.  They got younger and cheaper in center-field with Austin Jackson.  No, Austin didn’t hit 41 bombs and he didn’t turn out to be the lead-off man the Tigers were looking for.  That being said he’s still a damn good player.  They got Phil Coke who is great out of the pen.  And they got Scherzer, who can prove to the entire country tonight he is indeed the real deal.

Of course, Curtis Granderson is the best player all-around involved with the trade.  But when the Yankees decided to essentially replace Melky Cabrera with Grandy, they opened up a huge hole when they moved Ian Kennedy.  There starting pitching has been circus-like ever since.

The Diamondbacks have found their ace in Ian Kennedy and that’s great.  But that’s it.  The Tigers just plugged so many more holes with this deal it’s hard to say Arizona got the best of them, especially when they didn’t keep Edwin Jackson.

The 2009 trade helped all three teams, and even this morning Detroit is probably in better shape than the other two because of it.  But if Max Scherzer gets it done tonight in Arlington, and finds a way to get the ball to the hottest pitcher in baseball (Doug Fister) for a game 7, then that’s the cherry on top to me.

Ok.  We can officially stop talking about this trade right now.