.
Is that feasible? Could Miller and Franklin aspire to be as good as Whitaker and Trammell? Sure, I think so -- Whitaker and Trammell were very fine ballplayers whose legend is based on longevity. A lot of teams have had a DP combo as good, for five years at a time.
If you start ticking off the similarities between the M's DP combo -- in its potential, anyway -- and the Tigers' combo -- you'd find quite a few things, I think....
There was an aesthetic charm to the Tigers' DP combo, a symmetry that created a classically beautiful impression in the middle of the diamond.
When we speak of "beauty" we speak of the convergence of (1) appeal to the eye and (2) honor, nobility, sense of well-being ... a cherry popsicle might be pretty, but it isn't beautiful. A butterfly, though, might deliver an impression of beauty, that there are things of wonder in the universe and a sense that everything's going to be okay.
Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell always gave me the sense that baseball is Good, that we're not wasting our time here, that the sport has merit.
Did that come from the balance, craftsmanship, intelligence, selflessness, and determination in their all-around games? I dunno, but I flat enjoyed watching them play.
............
The 1984 Tigers were able to put quite a team around Whitaker and Trammell ... you're talking about assaults on Mount 116 W's once you get a DP combo like that. ;- ) One of my vivid early memories: the 1984 Tigers coming into the Kingdome 35-and-5 (!!) ... and getting swept by the 1984 Mariners. Check out this game log.
The Dalai Lama once said -- inaccurately in my view, but provacatively enough -- "if one has opened oneself to truth a bit, that is enough for one lifetime." If Zduriencik has found a Trammell and Whitaker, is that enough for one season?
I dunno, but you are talking about a REAL step towards something special. Like finding Russell Wilson.
.
Not only a DP Pas de Deux, but a career dance together, as well.
That was Whitaker and Trammell.
I think we have a bit of that in our two guys.
And maybe a bit better. We've got a Seager to complement them.
Brookens is no match for that.
I'm building on those guys, for the next 8-10 years.
Contract Seager for 7 years now.
Add those guys in early '16.
Add Zunino. Is there another team in the majors with 4 under 25 MLB-already players of that promise?