Esteban

Yan

He has blown three saves in the last 10 days and Tiger manager Alan Trammell told reporters that he will be “creative” the next time a save situation presents itself in Detroit. We hope you didn’t sacrifice much to acquire Yan a few weeks ago.

Yan, who was 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA over 13 games, will likely be Detroit’s first option to close while Ugueth Urbina is away from the team. Craig Monore, who hit .333 with eight homers and 21 RBI in 21 games, was the Tiger player of the month.

One year of a 3.83 ERA and that 2003 mark of 6.35 is completely forgotten.

Yan would be smart to stay with the Tigers. There’s a good chance that he will earn a spot on the club, and even if he doesn’t, he’d still be in a better situation than he would be with just about any other club’s Triple-A team.

Yan did perform well as a starting pitcher in the Dominican Winter League, but he’s had major problems getting major league hitters out while facing them just once per game. He hasn’t earned another chance to make it as a starter.

Yan is making $1.25 million this season, but the Angels are likely covering the vast majority of that. At best, Yan will adequate middle reliever for the Reds. He’s been one of the AL’s weaker relievers for the last year and a third. The Angels aren’t getting much for him in Edens, a lesser relief prospect. They’re likely thrilled just to be saving any money at all here.

The Angels would have been better off flushing $2.25 million down the toilet. They had better alternatives to Yan from the moment they signed him last December. He even got Bobby Jenks’ spot on the 40-man roster. Yan had a 5.16 ERA in 89 innings since being signed. All 13 games he pitched in this year were Angels’ losses.

Yan may no longer be Alan Trammell’s lone closer, but he has to be the top choice for save chances the rest of the way.

Yan bounced back after blowing the save last night. He could still pick up a few saves for roto teams the rest of the way.

It was his third save of the season, but the other two took four innings of work. Yan will be the choice to close for as long as Ugueth Urbina is away from the Tigers.