The way 2009 is playing out, the Tigers are going to have some interesting decisions to make after the season.
The most intriguing may involve closer Fernando Rodney, who is having a career year at just the right time.
Rodney is 32-of-33 in save situations, which represents great success in Tigers’ history, because that is what Willie Hernandez was in 1984 when the Tigers swept to the World Series championship. "If it was good enough for Willie to win the MVP and Cy Young Awards, it should be good enough for the Tigers..."
Yeah, then again, the Tigers signed Hernandez long term after that season, and it wasn’t long before his failures became as source of constant consternation for Tiger fans, who booed him louder than any athlete in the history of this town.
And besides, Rodney’s numbers across the board don’t remotely compare to those of Hernandez in ‘84.
On Rodney’s side: He does throw very hard. His changeup is one of the best in the game. When his velocity is up like this - consistently in the mid-to-high 90s - there is no way hitters can adjust to his changeup.
Not on Rodney’s side: In the past, he hasn’t been able to pitch through ailments. When his velocity goes down because of them, hitters are able to adjust to his changeup. Also, he walks too many hitters.
There is another issue. I guess you could call it the knucklehead factor. Rodney has done much this season to dismiss the notion in his regard. Yet, it glaringly came to the forefront the other day in Tampa when, after one of his typical hold-on-for-your-life saves, Rodney chucked the ball into the press box, narrowly, from my understanding, avoiding serious injury to people up there.
It was selfish. Extremely immature. And could hurt his team greatly because he has been suspended for three games, pending appeal.
The Tigers will have to back track their bullpen while he is out. Brandon Lyon has to become the closer. Bobby Seay or Ryan Perry the setup men. It has a domino effect that could greatly hurt the Tigers.
Do you really want the Tigers to roll the dice with a megabuck, multi-year contract with Rodney? The Tigers clearly don’t. Nor do they trust any recovery from Joel Zumaya. It’s why they drafted college closers with their first four picks in the 2008 draft. One of them, Perry, might be ready to close as soon as next season. Another, Cody Satterwhite, will likely be ready at some early point of next season for the major leagues. The Tigers did trade reliever Brett Jacobson to Aubrey Huff. They didn’t want to - that was evident by how long they waited to pull the trigger on the trade, only do it after Ryan Raburn struggled so in place of Inge in a Sunday loss to Kansas City. (Jacobson, by the way, struggled to close the season in Baltimore’s system).
Unless Rodney is absolutely stunningly effective the rest of this season and the postseason, I’d say "bye, bye" to him after this season.

My column in Wednesday's Oakland Press. Matthew Stafford isn't fighting the curse of Bobby Layne as much as the memory of Joey Harrington http://tinyurl.com/la7mbx