The Detroit News — Not [Danny] Worth the Paper It’s Written On

Posted on by admin by

detroit-news-headquarters

By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@GMail.com
December 17, 2013

I have pretty much given up the gig of chronicling every asinine column and Tweet emanating from the deranged brain of Lynn Henning because it is almost a full-time job at this point.

I mean, we are discussing a baseball “expert” who, in 2005, claimed the Tigers were five-to-ten years away from competing. IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL. Not for a pennant. But five-to-ten years away from competing in the AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL.

And if you are an avid reader of Henning’s articles, you are probably under the misguided notion that the 2014 Detroit Tigers roster will feature Ryan Strieby at first base, Hernan Perez at second and Cale Iorg at third.

But I felt compelled to come out of my Lynn-Henning-bashing retirement for at least one day based on Monday’s news.

Late last week, the Tigers designated shortstop Danny Worth for assignment, meaning that every single team in baseball had the option of claiming the light-hitting infielder for absolutely nothing.

Of course, NOBODY in all of baseball wanted the guy. Not one team figured that Worth was worth a claim. Or in the lexicon of the DSR, the rest of baseball Don Kelly’d Danny Worth.

Now, juxtapose Worth being of absolutely no value to every single team in baseball to the four-year, $53 million dollar contract the St. Louis Cardinals handed out to Jhonny Peralta a few weeks ago.

Why is this relevant? Well, if you remember about a year ago, Henning was on a personal mission to ship Peralta out of town. And who was Lynn’s proposed replacement? Yep, Danny Worthless.

Henning went on a Tweeting binge suggesting Dave Dombrowski deal his All-Star shortstop and replace him with Worth. He wrote multiple articles asserting the same.

The following is what Henning wrote last November regarding this asinine plot:

The Tigers will have a trade option for Peralta. In fact, they could have shipped Peralta to the Diamondbacks last summer when the Diamondbacks wanted Peralta to play third base and offered the Tigers shortstop Stephen Drew as ransom. Attractive option, except the Tigers were chock-full of left-handed hitters and couldn’t justify sticking another lefty bat in manager Jim Leyland’s lineup.

Now, though, Peralta is sitting there, at age 30, a historical alien to the disabled list, and begging some team that comes to its senses about Youkilis to make Peralta its target.

One little hang-up: What do the Tigers do about shortstop?

And I have an answer: Danny Worth — with reinforcements should Worth hit as miserably as some fans are convinced he will.

Worth has the range and arm to chop down at least 60 of those ground balls that eluded Peralta in 2012. For those whose eyes and personal metrics say it was closer to 80 ground balls, no argument here.

But the Tigers cannot — cannot — be an improved team in 2013 nor a team that gets past those early-round playoffs the way the Tigers have uncannily done since 2006 if they don’t become more mobile and more locked-down at shortstop.

For those certain Worth will be some kind of Mendoza-line vagrant who barely hits .200, I’ll see your lousy hitter and raise you these numbers: .230-.240, 10 home runs, 25 doubles.

Not bad, especially when you’re making one more play every other game. And those ground balls add up, especially when you consider all the 2-1, 3-2 games the Tigers donated in 2012, often because they weren’t picking up that single ground ball.

10 homers. 25 doubles. Well, Worth was only NINE homers and SIX doubles shorts of those numbers during the 2013 season.

IN TOLEDO.

And this moron thinks he is an expert on baseball rosters. Honestly. This was Henning’s response a couple of weeks ago when asked by a DSR contributor in Lynn’s chat why high school kids break Tigers stories and he doesn’t:

Josh, you and your friend are keeping this crusade going on an hourly basis. Hey, real simple: In this day and age a player’s grandmother can break news with a Tweet. But ask her for roster implications. And that’s where the rubber hits the road. Not that it will make any difference with a particular camp.

A grandmother can break a news story. Just not someone who is PAID to cover the team. This delusional lunatic actually thinks that he is an expert on the team’s roster moves. Seriously. You can’t make this shit up.

You know when I think the rubber hit the road, Lynn? [Whatever the fuck THAT means.] When you openly campaigned for the Tigers to replace Peralta — who was an All-Star in 2013 — for a guy who was just DFA’d and didn’t have a taker.

I am guessing that even my Grandma Betty could figure out THOSE “implications.”

You are right, Lynn. You didn’t predict it. You just decided to become Worth’s publicist.

And the middle infield was thin?!?!?!!? THAT middle infield consisted of Peralta and Omar Infante. Two players who signed for a combined $83 million this offseason!!!!

There are no genuine “ramifications” in the continued nonsense that this dolt spews. He has been wrong about almost every Tigers-related issue for YEARS and he continues to be gainfully employed by a newspaper that obviously doesn’t care to have any credibility whatsoever.

One of the best-run organizations in all of sports (and a team that has won two World Series in the last seven years) dished out over $13 million a year for Peralta, while every other team in MLB passed on Worth.

That’s the guy who claims to be an expert on “roster implications.”

You know what the saddest part about all of this is though? Henning isn’t even the worst “journalist” at the Detroit News. Hell, he isn’t even in the bottom three. I’d argue that Terry Foster, Chris McCosky and Vincent Goodwill are even worse.

And speaking of GoodShill, his performance over the weekend was epic as well. Take a peek at this Tweet from Friday evening:

Someone asked this shitbag a legitimate question about Trey Burke and his response was, “You wanna get blocked …..?”

My new response to anyone on Twitter asking me a legit query is, “You wanna get blocked?????”

@TigersFan1984: Hey @JeffMossDSR How do you think Masahiro Tanaka would look in a Tigers uniform?

@JeffMossDSR: @TigersFan1984 Wanna get blocked????

GoodShill doesn’t think it is a legitimate question even though Joe Dumars decided to pass on Burke during the 2013 NBA Draft and the Utah Jazz are 1-13 when Burke doesn’t start and 5-7 when he does.

[SMALL SAMPLE SIZE ALERT!! SMALL SAMPLE SIZE ALERT!!] In a couple weeks in the Association™ (Douche Bags), Trey Burke has the same Player Efficiency Rating as five-year pro Brandon Jennings.

Since making his belated NBA debut — after suffering a broken finger during the preseason — Burke has basically refused to turn the ball over while making the Jazz a respectable team.

Actually, he probably is making them TOO RESPECTABLE. After that 1-13 start, the Jazz looked like a lock for either Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins or Joel Embiid. Shit, if I was in the Utah front office and wearing magic underpants, I would send Frederick Frenger, Jr. to break one of Trey’s other digits in order to ensure prime lottery real estate.

miami_blues_1990

But GoodShill wasn’t done embarrassing himself in this particular Twitter conversation.

Once again, this tripe that only MICHIGAN fans wanted the Pistons to draft Burke over Kentavius Caldwell-Pope — even though every SPARTAN alum I know had the same desire.

Or maybe it was because the Pistons needed a point guard and the reigning National Player of the Year — who also led his team to the National Championship game — fell into the team’s lap, a la Carmelo Anthony a decade ago.

I don’t remember anyone saying that Pistons fans only wanted Melo over Darko because the Syracuse product didn’t like snitches.

Maybe they just desired him because he was really, really, really good in college. Kind of like Trey.

But Canada’s Public Enemy #1 wasn’t done just yet ….

This was the most disturbing Tweet of them all. First of all, the Eastern Conference is an absolute embarrassment to professional sports. Teams with a .409 winning percentage currently qualify for the postseason in the East.

Are you telling me that in this abortion of a conference, a team with Burke, Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe and Josh Smith couldn’t have made the playoffs?!?!?!!?

The Boston Celtics are currently throwing out a D-League product on the parquet, and they are in FIRST PLACE in their god damn division!!!!! With Brad Galli as their freaking head coach.

Secondly, who the fuck says the Pistons have to make the playoffs this year? Just because the absentee owner has decreed it and Dumars is trying to save his ass?

Unlike Tom Gores, Pistons fans are in this for the long haul. We aren’t desperate for a 40-win season and a first round exit. If Trey Burke was the best option going forward over the next decade, THAT IS WHOM WE WANTED.

And I will let DSR Legend Brian Richard Coburn finish this “establishment whore” off with the following thought:

They HAVE to make the playoffs this year? Uhh, why? Oh, because Joe’s job is on the line. So this fucking pissant (Goodwill) is telling FANS they need to adjust their standards for the organization to be in sync that of a desperate man on thin ice.

600full-bam-margera

Yep. Detroit fans shouldn’t have desired to have Trey Burke in a Pistons uniform because the General Manager and hairy owner we wish would go away are hell-bent on making the 2014 postseason ….. whether it is good for the long-term future of this organization or not.

If I were Keith Langlois, I would be worried about my job security as Propagandist-in-Chief over at Six Championship Drive.

I can’t imagine the Detroit News getting any worse.

Jerry Green must be rolling over in his grave.