The Skinny:
After a late season collapse where they choked up their playoff spot and handed it to Minnesota the Tigers used the off-season to revamp the team.  While they've managed to add some promising young pieces, there is question as to if these Tigers are actually better than last year or if most of those pieces are really more geared towards the future.

2009 Regular Season Record: 75-87
Rank: Second in AL Central 1.0 Games Back
Home Park: Comerica Park

Big Cats:

Magglio Ordonez gets paid $18 million this season after hitting just 9 home runs and 50 RBI last season.

Photo by lakelandlocal, used under creative commons license.

Gone South:
C - Dusty Ryan (Traded to Padres)
C- Matt Treanor* (Free Agent signed with Brewers)
DH - Aubrey Huff (Free Agent signed with Giants)
2B - Placido Polanco (Free Agent signed with Phillies)
OF - Curtis Granderson (Trade with Yankees)
OF/DH - Marcus Thames* (Released signed with Yankees)
LHP - Jarrod Washburn (Free Agent unsigned)
RHP - Edwin Jackson (Traded to D'Backs)
RHP - Brandon Lyon (Free Agent signed with Astros)
RHP - Freddy Dolsi (Waiver Claim by WHite Sox)
RHP - Casey Fien (Waiver Claim by Red Sox)
RHP - Fernando Rodney (Free Agent, signed with Angels)

*Signed minor league contract.

The Tigers rotation looks good, at least on paper.  Verlander, Porcello, Scherzer, Bonderman and Galarraga should match up well with just about anyone in the division, provided of course that is how the rotation stays.  The last couple of spots are probably up for grabs, but just who really can step up for them better than Bonderman and Galarraga is a big question.  That bears watching this spring, especially since the Tigers would love to have at least one lefty in the rotation -- that could mean that Nate Robertson or Dontrelle Willis might find themselves somewhere in the mix.

A real closer.  Fernando Rodney may have notched 37 saves last year but he did it with a 4.40 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP that made every inning a nail biter.  The team needed more than that for this year so they went out and brought in Jose Valverde who should be a solid step up.

Weaknesses: Breakdown risks, injury risks, a hole in the lineup, and immaturity.
While the Tigers pitching looks fine there are plenty of questions and no one outside of Verlander really looks like a sure thing.  In 2009 both Porcello and Scherzer pitched a lot more innings than they ever pitched before (45 2/3 and 42 respectively) and are prime candidates for a regression (as predicted by the metric known as the Verducci Effect).  Additionally we look at the tail end of the rotation and realize that four most likely candidates for those final spots (Nate Robertson, Dontrelle Willis, Jeremy Bonderman, and Armando Galarraga) had a combined ERA that averaged close to a 6.50 -- not exactly stellar stuff.  While a bounceback season for Galarraga isn't out of the question, it doesn't seem to offer the team a lot of safety net if Porcello or Scherzer falter.

Then you have the offense -- and that's a whole other ball of wax, actually make that worries.  Magglio Ordonez is 36 but often seems older and managed just nine home runs last year.  Brandon Inge (33) often seems unable to hit his way out of a paper bag .236 career average, despite tying a career high for home runs last year.  And Johnny Damon (37) after a career year last season is just waiting for age to catch up with him.  All of them are injury risks and all are at risk of taking a step back.

The hole in the lineup, however, is at the tail end where the Tigers can't expect much in the way of production.  Neither Gerald Laird nor Adam Everett will ever be considered as lineup threats -- and the team would be lucky to see .240 from either of them with 12 home runs combined.

Lastly let's come to immaturity.  The team is relying a lot on young talent.  They'll need Austin Jackson, Scott Sizemore and both Porcello and Scherzer to deliver this year.  Of the four Scherzer has the most experience, but Porcello is the only one who has ever shown a maturity level above his years.

Potential Lineup
CF - Austin Jackson
LF - Johnny Damon
RF - Magglio Ordonez
1B - Miguel Cabrera
DH - Carlos Guillen
3B - Brandon Inge
2B - Scott Sizemore
C - Gerald Laird
SS - Adam Everett

Rotation
Justin Verlander
Rick Porcello
Max Scherzer
Jeremy Bonderman
Armando Galarraga

Closer
Jose Valverde

One question that need answering:
Can the Tigers youngsters and veterans all come together?  It seems unlikely that all of the pieces will fall together in the ways that the Tigers desire.  That's not to say they can't compete even if not firing on all cylinders, but the big picture here seems rather fragile.

Prediction:
Too many things could go wrong for this Tigers team to predict that they will compete, let alone win this division, but this division doesn't have a stand out team.  The White Sox, while better, aren't overwhelming, the Twins don't look to be much better than they were last year.  The Royals and Indians won't figure into the mix, so where does that leave the Tigers?  I suspect it leaves them once again in second, unless the wheels fall off somewhere down the line.

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