Detroit Tigers Clips Thursday, November 17, 2016 Detroit Free Press Fenech: Why I voted Detroit Tigers' Justin Verlander for AL Cy Young (Fenech) Dodgers have Detroit Tigers' Ian Kinsler on their trade radar (Fenech) Tigers' Justin Verlander falls short of 2016 AL Cy Young (Fenech) The Detroit News Verlander's 1st-place votes not enough to snag Cy Young (McCosky) Tigers' Jimenez fails to make list of top prospects (Paul) MLive.com Justin Verlander runner-up for AL Cy Young after being left off 2 ballots (Woodbery) Tigers, Dodgers have talked about Ian Kinsler deal, report says (Woodbery) In new list of Tigers' top-10 prospects, Joe Jimenez doesn't make cut (Woodbery) MLB.com Verlander finishes close second in Cy Young vote (Beck) Associated Press Verlander edged out by Porcello in AL Cy Young voting (Staff) ESPN.com Rick Porcello wins AL Cy Young, despite fewer first-place votes than Justin Verlander (Lauber) FOXSports.com Trading Ian Kinsler could be complicated for the Tigers (Rosenthal) CBSSports.com MLB Hot Stove Trade Rumors: Tigers, Dodgers reportedly discussing Ian Kinsler (Perry) Daily Transactions 1 Fenech: Why I voted Detroit Tigers' Justin Verlander for AL Cy Young November 17, 2016 By Anthony Fenech/ Detroit Free Press A week later, another election surprise. This time, it was Justin Verlander, the long-standing leader of the Fastball party, who was toppled by former teammate Rick Porcello, in the second-tightest of all of the American League Cy Young Award votes. And this is why: Verlander lost Tampa Bay. He did not get one vote out of the Baseball Writers Association of America’s Tampa chapter, consisting of veteran writers Bill Chastain of MLB.com and Fred Goodall of the Associated Press. Perhaps it wouldn’t have mattered, but it was perplexing. This was a season in which there was not one clear-cut favorite, but a few. Some voters’ beliefs in the candidacy of Orioles closer Zach Britton notwithstanding, Porcello, Verlander and Cleveland’s Corey Kluber were the three clear-cut favorites. As a member of the Detroit chapter, I had a Cy Young vote. I voted Verlander, Porcello, Chicago’s Chris Sale, Kluber and Britton. As a disclaimer: I don’t think writers should vote on the awards — players should. Another: I think starters are worth much more than relievers over the course of a season. In The Tampa Vote, Chastain chose Britton second. Britton actually earned five first-place votes — two more than Kluber. Closers are very important. I voted Britton fifth as a hat-tip to his great season. He then voted New York’s Masahiro Tanaka fifth. He had a good season. On deadline, I wouldn’t waste time comparing it to Verlander’s, though. Chastain spoke with Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News and said, “At the time, I thought I picked the best five guys.” Chastain said he submitted his vote with a week left in the season. In the final week, Verlander allowed one run in 14 innings, with 20 strikeouts and two walks. He made two more starts than any other vote-getter. “Maybe I should have waited until the end,” he said. “When I voted, it looked pretty clear to me.” Probably. On Goodall’s ballot, he voted for two starting pitchers over Verlander: Toronto’s J.A. Happ third and Aaron Sanchez fifth. Sanchez led the AL in ERA, at 3.04. I’m not looking up Happ’s stats. On a Britton-less ballot, it’s baffling how Verlander couldn’t have been included. It wasn’t his Tampa performance — he threw fine there in early July. Perhaps it was a different eye test. Of The Tampa Vote’s 10 players selected, seven were from the AL East. Those are the teams that most often come into Tropicana Field. The eye test is a real thing, for better or worse, and something I often struggle with during the voting process: I saw Verlander pitch every five days. I saw some better pitching performances — a few against the Tigers come to mind — but I didn’t see a better starting pitcher. The numbers seem to support that. The thing that stood out most to me about Verlander’s season was it didn’t seem like he allowed hits. His .209 opponent batting average against was best in the league. At the end of the day, The Tampa Vote might not have mattered. Perhaps Verlander would have been listed at the back end, the fourth and fifth-place spots, not enough to tie or pass Porcello. But it was still puzzling. It was the first time a pitcher had the most first-place votes and lost the Cy Young Award, according to research by Baseball-Reference.com. And it’s the second time Verlander fell a close second for his second Cy Young, in the two closest votes, by a combined nine points. It’s not so surprising that he didn’t win as it is a couple voters thought he wasn’t good enough to be on the ballot. 2 Dodgers have Detroit Tigers' Ian Kinsler on their trade radar November 17, 2016 By Anthony Fenech/ Detroit Free Press The Detroit Tigers already have received a lot of trade interest in their players. With an off-season of change upon the organization, a number of talented veteran players are available. But perhaps no two will be sought more than rightfielder J.D. Martinez and second baseman Ian Kinsler. On Tuesday, MLB Network’s Jon Paul Morosi reported that the San Francisco Giants talked with the Tigers about Martinez at the general managers meetings last week. Those discussions, Morosi reported, “have yet to advance beyond the initial stage.” Then this afternoon, Kinsler’s name came up in the rumor mill. As first reported by Morosi, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tigers have talked about a Kinsler trade. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Kinsler is one of four players the Dodgers have discussed in regard to filling their vacancy at second base. The fit is obvious: The Tigers are focused on trimming payroll this off-season, in order to avoid exceeding MLB’s luxury-tax limit for a second straight year. Last season, the threshold was $189 million. Because of ongoing labor negotiations, it has yet to be set for the upcoming season. The Dodgers had the highest payroll in baseball this past season, $279 million, according to spotrac.com. They have a highly regarded farm system that could pique the Tigers’ interest. According to Morosi, one of the players in whom the Tigers have interest is infielder/outfielder Cody Bellinger. Bellinger, 21, hit .271 with 26 home runs and 71 RBIs with Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City this season. He hits left-handed. Martinez and Kinsler are top targets because of their production and price. In 2017, Martinez is due $11.75 million. It is the final year of his contract. Kinsler is due $11 million. He has a $12-million option with a $5- million buyout for 2018. Notably, Kinsler has a partial no-trade clause to 10 teams. And according to Kinsler’s agent, Jay Franklin, the Dodgers are one of those teams. Franklin spoke with Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal and said if Kinsler would waive his no-trade clause, he would need a contract extension from that team. “If one of the 10 teams happens to call and wants to talk about it, we’re open to talking about it,” Franklin told Rosenthal. “(But) they’re going to have to extend him for us to waive the no-trade.” Despite the rumblings, the Tigers do not seem to be in a situation where they’re ready to deal any particular player. The off-season -- only 2 weeks young -- is still beginning to take shape. With so many possibilities, it likely will take some time for the front office to pick a direction. But if Kinsler is traded, it’s a good bet he could be traveling west, where the Dodgers have a need. 3 Tigers' Justin Verlander falls short of 2016 AL Cy Young November 17, 2016 By Anthony Fenech/ Detroit Free Press It was another close call. And once again, Justin Verlander was on the wrong side of the vote. For the second straight time as an American League Cy Young Award finalist, the Tigers’ ace missed out on a second Cy Young Award. Verlander finished second, bested by Boston’s Rick Porcello, as voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He received 14-of-30 first-place votes, two second-place votes and five third-place votes, falling five points shy of Porcello. The former Tiger earned eight first-place votes. Verlander, 33, posted a 3.04 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 34 starts this past season, leading the AL in a number of statistical categories, including strikeouts (254), WHIP, and Wins Above Replacement (6.6). He finished second in ERA to Toronto’s Aaron Sanchez and second in innings pitched to Boston’s David Price. It was Verlander’s fourth time as an AL Cy Young finalist. He won the award in 2011, finished second in 2012 and third in 2009. In his two Cy Young Award losses, Verlander fell a combined nine points short. In 2012, he fell one first-place vote short of Price in the closest vote in history. With this year’s loss, Verlander continues searching for a second Cy Young Award, which would put him in elite pitching company and certainly bolster his future Hall of Fame resume.