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The Previews continue as we make our way through America's heartland with the AL Central. Today we cover one of last season's bigger disappointments, the Detroit Tigers.


The Detroit Tigers

Last Season’s Result: 74-88, 5th Place in AL Central

Major Offseason Changes

• Added SS Adam Everett (Signed from Minnesota)
• Added RP Brandon Lyon (Signed from Arizona)
• Added SP Edwin Jackson (Traded from Tampa)
• Lost RP Todd Jones (Retired)
• Lost LF Matt Joyce (Traded to Tampa)
• Lost SP Kenny Rogers (Unsigned Free Agent)
• Lost SS Edgar Renteria (Signed with San Francisco)
• Lost RP Kyle Farnsworth (Signed with Kansas City)

Letter Grades

• Offseason Moves: C+ I think the Tigers are improved over last season, not a vast difference in talent, but an upgrade nonetheless. Brandon Lyon come over from Arizona and is the likely closer, with Rodney and Zumaya handling the setup duties.

• Rotation Grade: D This staff is a weird Jekyll and Hyde sort of group. You just don’t know what to expect from anyone on this staff. Verlander, the Tigers’ ace, was 18-6 in ’07 and then 11-17 in 2008, so which is the real thing? The same can be said for Dontrelle Willis, who was a Cy Young runner up at age 23, and now at 27 he is fighting just to stay on the major league roster.


• Bullpen Grade: D+ This unit was poor in 2008, and they changed out Farnsworth and Jones, while adding Lyon. While this my signify an upgrade, it’s hardly an overhaul. Speaking of, if this unit fails to perform in ’09 like it did in ’08, then expect changes to be made across the staff.

• Lineup Grade: A- This team hits the ball, and they should improve in ’09 when they get an entire monster year from Miguel Cabrera, who only gave the Tigers two-thirds of a great year in 2008.

Player most closely linked to team’s 2009 hopes: Justin Verlander, depending on which Justin Verlander shows up this summer the Tigers season could range anywhere from worst to first. If the ace of ’07 & ’08 returns, then the Tigers have three guys who they can count on to give them nearly 200 innings. A failure to recapture his early success will sunk this team, as they just don’t have any depth at pitcher.

Biggest Breakout Star Potential: Armando Galarraga. This young Venezuelan had a fine rookie campaign in 2008, going 13-7 with a 3.73 ERA. Another season like that could very well make Galarraga the team’s ace, and that always puts a player onto the national stage.

Best Case Scenario: The top half of the rotation stays true to form, and the lineup provides them with plenty of support. This team could very well win this division.

Worst Case Scenario: The top of the rotation struggles and the lose despite good run support. This team could very well finish in last place again.

Prediction for 2009: 79-83, 5th place in the AL Central.

Local Thoughts

After last week's limited responses from the AL West, its good to see a lot more responses from the Central. We got moreresponses on the Tigers than we did the entire AL West. So i'd like to thank Blake VandeBunte from The Spot Starters, Ian Casselberry from Bless You Boys, and Bill Ferris of www.DetroitTigersWeblog.com.

By: First up, Blake VandeBunte of The Spot Starters and Baseball Blend

• Letter Grade for Offseason Moves: B. The club was looking to cut payroll so they were pretty limited in what they could do. The additions of Edwin Jackson, Gerald Laird, Brandon Lyon and Adam Everett were pretty inexpensive. They make the Tigers better in terms on run prevention which is where they really struggled last season. I think they did the best with what they had to work with.

• Most Essential: Pitching and defense. The starting rotation and the bullpen were flat awful in 2008. I think it's pretty likely they struggle those fronts again in 2009, but with a few minor improvements they could still manage to contend in the American League Central.

• Breakout Potential: The Tigers are not exactly a youthful team. Most young players have already had a good season (Granderson, Zumaya and Verlander). I think that Zumaya could be really good again in 2009. That could count as a breakout season since he hasn't played a full season since his rookie year in 2006. If phenom Rick Porcello is able to make the team (I think he will at some point in 2009) he could be a breakout candidate as well.

• Prediction for 2009: Feels a lot like a 84-78 team to me. I just don't have a lot of faith in the pitching staff. The offense should be fine but the pitching is still a major cause for concern. Of course a team that's capable of 84 wins could very easily win only 74 games (like they did last season) or win 90 games. I think they are in the hunt for the AL Central title but will fall short. Second or third place seems like their likely finish.

By: Our second set of opinions come from Ian Casselberry of Bless You Boys

• Letter Grade for Offseason Moves: B. The Tigers had three crying needs going into the offseason: shortstop, catcher, and relief pitcher. A lesser need, but one still needing to be filled was starting pitcher. Dave Dombrowski was able to check each of those off his shopping list, though team finances or bad luck may have kept him from acquiring bigger names at those positions.


• Most Essential: Justin Verlander. The lineup should score runs, even if they don't match last year's production. But if the pitching isn't there, the Tigers aren't going anywhere. They need their ace to pitch like one again, and hopefully, the rest of the pitching staff falls in behind him. If Verlander struggles again, there's no one else on the staff that can pick up the slack.

• Breakout Potential: Ryan Perry. He was drafted last year with the idea that he'd contribute sooner, rather than later. And if Joel Zumaya continues to be hurt, the Tigers' bullpen has a definite need for a hard-throwing reliever. Perry has looked great in Spring Training, and unless he somehow loses out in a numbers game, he should make a big contribution.

• Prediction for 2009: 88-74. I don't think the Tigers are good enough to win 90 games, but they're good enough to contend for the AL Central title. (Especially if the pitching staff comes together.) However, Cleveland finished ahead of them last season, and probably made the better moves during the winter. So they should be the favorites. Detroit will finish behind them for second place.

By: Last up we have Bill Ferris of www.detroittigersweblog.com

• Letter Grade for Offseason Moves: B-. Overall the moves weren't that inspiring, but the Tigers also had very little to work with and several positions to fill.They are hamstrung by the economy and contract extensions that didn't work out and need to fill holes at short, catcher, and the bullpen. They managed to do it while making a small cut in payroll and adding a starter as well.

• Most Essential: I'm going to go with Jeremy Bonderman. If the Tigers are going to improve on last year's performance, much of that improvement will have to come from the incumbent starters. Bonderman gave the team little last year between middling effectiveness and injury. If he can return to 06 and first half of 07 form, he's likely to provide the biggest single player jump in performance.

• Breakout Potential: Most of their younger players have already broken out (Granderson, Verlander, Cabrera) and a good portion of the rest of the team are veterans. So for break out it would probably be one of the young pitchers who might make the team. Right now that sounds like Rick Porcello or Ryan Perry.

• Prediction for 2009: I think they will be 85-77 which will be good enough to keep things interesting down the stretch in an AL Central without a dominant team, but will probably keep them in 2nd place.

Thanks so much to everybody for helping out! See you tomorrow, almost live from Minnesota.