The 2008 season is one that the Detroit Tigers would like to put behind them as soon as possible. A team that many picked to win the AL Central, and likely go to the World Series with their murderer's row of a lineup, ended up finishing in last place instead. Behind the Kansas City Royals of all people.
Of course, just because his team bombed out this year, manager Jim Leyland wouldn't have minded getting one of them there contract extensions. Now he says he's disappointed, and though he'd like to stay in Detroit, he's not going to stay anywhere he's not wanted.
"I have not been extended," Leyland told Albom, "and I'm not gonna be extended. ... There was some sense of an offer that I did not accept.
"I'm not afraid of anything. I want to manage the Tigers. I have every intention of managing the Tigers. I'm disappointed that I did not get an extension, but I understand. - well, maybe I don't understand, but I can live with that.
"I'm certainly not somebody that's going to sit around and worry about that. I made it perfectly clear that I wanted to manage the Tigers. I think we had a great year (in 2006). I think we had a good year (in 2007) and then we had one disastrous year (in 2008). Overall, we've actually done pretty well."
"And I think I deserve to manage the Tigers," he said. "But if you're not wanted, you're not wanted. I don't want to be anywhere I'm not wanted."
If you ask me, Leyland deserves the extension. It's not his fault that the Tigers bullpen was horrible, Kenny Rogers got old, Justin Verlander regressed, and Jeremy Bonderman got hurt. It also wasn't Leyland who decided to give Dontrelle Willis $27 million before seeing how he'd fare in the American League, or thought Edgar Renteria was still a good baseball player.
I understand there's probably some resentment towards Leyland right now from Tigers fans, that tends to happen when you have a season like they had, but it's not really warranted. Give the man a bullpen he can rely on, and he'll have the Tigers right back fighting for the division title again next season.
