Baseball Preview - Detroit Tigers

This isn't a full blown preview but I have some thoughts on the new look Detroit Tigers and it wouldn't be right not to talk some about their main competition in the Central Division.

You can't talk about this team without first mentioning the offense:

Their lineup is stacked and will cause nightmares to many pitching staffs this year. Although Magglio Ordonez had a monster year last season, Miguel Cabrera is definitely the most dangerous guy in this lineup. So far in his career, he has put up numbers similar to a young Hank Aaron.

Joining Magglio Ordonez in the outfield they have another one of the best young players in the game in Curtis Granderson and Jacque Jones. Granderson is a stud but Jones was not nearly as productive last year as normal and it is yet to be seen if he is a player in decline or if he just had an off season. I suspect that Marcus Thames will take some of Jones' at bats at some point in the season as he hit well against lefties last year posting a line of .310 avg/.341 obp/.586 slg/.927 ops in 87 at bats.

Joining Miguel Cabrera in the infield are Placido Polanco, Carlos Guillen, and new acquistion Edgar Renteria at shortstop. All 4 players posted an OPS over 120 last season and I would expect each to be productive this season, though I don't expect Renteria and Polanco to match their career years of last season.

At Catcher and DH are two of the oldest Detroit players in Ivan Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield. Pudge was not that productive last season by his standards but he was still way above average for a catcher. Sheffield is definitely an injury concern at this point in his career but I would expect him to sit a little more often this season, which the Tigers can afford to do with their high octane offense. Expect Thames, Ryan Raburn, and Brandon Inge(if he isn't traded) to see some at-bats at the DH spot.

Defense on this team is definitely not a strong point. Pudge is still solid behind the plate and Granderson and Polanco are outstanding at CF and 2B respectively. After that there is some dropoff.

In the outfield, Jones was a solid with the Twins but he is aging and he may not cover as much ground as in the past. Ordonez is below average at best in right.

In the infield, Renteria's range has dropped in each of the past 4 seasons, he is probably equal to Jeter in the field. Guillen should be decent at first but he hasn't shown much range there and we all know Cabrera is a butcher at 3B but he actually has above average range.

On the mound, I'm not totally impressed with the Detroit pitching staff:

Obviously Verlander is an ace but after that there are question marks. Jeremy Bonderman was injury plagued last year and had a bad shoulder. Dontrelle Willis got lit up in the National League last season and now comes over to a better hitting league, I think he will step his game up this season though. Kenny Rogers is no spring chicken and it's uncertain if he will be an effective pitcher again. Nate Robertson is a good back end of the rotation starter and should pitch close to 200 innings.

The bullpen is shakey as Todd Jones is probably a few pitches away from imploding at any point but I must give him credit because he has been effective. I'm not sure how much longer he can go at age 40 though. There isn't much else to talk about here. Fernando Rodney is decent and Zach Miner is a young pitcher who could step up this year. Joel Zumaya isn't expected back until at least mid-season.

I think defense and the bullpen will really hurt this team and if Rogers can't pitch a full season that could be a concern too. However, since the offense is so stacked I still think they will win the Central Division. I see them having a New York Yankees type season where they crush the ball to make up for their suspect pitching and then probably get bounced in the first round of the playoffs.

I think Cleveland will drop off a little this year, I don't expect Sabathia and Carmona to quite match the seasons they had last year and I think that will be the difference in the Central. The Twins and Royals will be non-factors playing more of a spoiler type role if anything. I do think the White Sox might stay competitive for a part of the season but eventually fade and finish around .500