Detroit Tigers Will Have Work Cut Out for Them in Arbitration

By Sean Gagnier
It may be early, the Tigers aren't dead yet in the World Series, but looking at a 3-0 series deficit, it couldn't hurt to look to the 2013 season.

First off, the Tigers already high payroll could get much higher next season, with nine players eligible for salary arbitration.

Arbitration Eligible Tigers
Includes player's 2012 salary

• Max Scherzer, $3.75 million
• Rick Porcello, $3.1 million
• Ryan Raburn, $2.1 million
• Phil Coke, $1.1 million
• Don Kelly, $900,000
• Alex Avila, $510,000
• Doug Fister, $507,500
• Brennan Boesch, $502,500
• Austin Jackson, $500,000

Most of the eligible players are well deserving of a pay raise, but there are several that the Tigers should be kicking to the curb quickly following the World Series.

Of the nine players eligible for arbitration, Raburn does not deserve a pay raise at all, in fact he probably should have to pay Mike Illich for being as bad as he is. No chance he is back with the team next season.

With Detroit likely picking up the $6 million option on Jhonny Peralta, they will have no need for Kelly and will likely cut him.

Boesch more than likely has seen his last game in a Tigers uniform. He did not follow up his good 2011 season with a equally impressive 2012 season, and has been left off all three Tigers postseason rosters. If that isn't a sign that Detroit is ready to part ways with Boesch, then nothing is. Not to mention the glut of outfielders the Tigers have right now.

Scherzer will see yet another big pay raise; last season Scherzer saw his salary grow from $600,000 to $3.75 million. If things hold like they did last season, Scherzer could be bringing in quite a bit more money next year.

Like Scherzer, the other Tigers eligible for arbitration, aside from Raburn, Boesch and Kelly, will all likely see a bump in pay and return to the club next season without any incidences.

With Raburn, Boesch and Kelly being shown the door, Detroit will add to it's payroll without adding a single player. That doesn't bode well for being active with free agents.
 
Savings: $3.5 million


 Free Agent Tigers

• Jose Valverde, $9 million
• Delmon Young, $6.75 million
• Gerald Laird, $1 million
• Anibal Sanchez, $8 million

First off, Valverde will never play for the Tigers again. Even before his garbage postseason, he signed with agent Scott Boras, one of the two agents who drive up player contracts to ridiculous sums. Then Valverde tried to blow the Tigers postseason twice in the American division and league championship series. and for some reason Leyland decided to waste a bullpen spot with his arm in the World Series.

Valverde will be on the first plane out of Detroit in the off-season and will never come back. 

Delmon Young may have been named the ALCS MVP, but that doesn't make up for a horrible regular season and his bat, when hot, in no way comes close to making up for his defense in left field, if you can even call it that. Young's -29 RAA is one of the lowest in the entire league, meaning that when he plays left field, Young gives up 29 more runs than an average player. And even his bat doesn't save him, Young boasted a -9Rbat, runs batted in by position. So not only can he not field, he can't hit. Wave g'bye to Young this off-season.

Laird has struggled in the postseason offensively, and didn't have the best year at the plate during the regular season, but he has served as a solid backup for Alex Avila all year. With Victor Martinez returning next season, the Tigers would have three catchers on the roster, but it also depends on how they plan to use Martinez.

The only problem with using Martinez, Laird and Avila, is that Martinez is owed $13 million next season. While that is quite a hefty sum, if he can produce with RISP like he did in 2011 then he will be worth every penny.

That being said, we would prefer to see Martinez used as the DH on a daily basis next season and see Laird return at $1 million or a little more. Martinez is too valuable to this team to put him behind the plate and risk him getting hurt or wearing out what little is left of his knees. By resigning Laird, all three catchers could work with the pitching staff and if absolutely necessary Martinez could serve as the emergency catcher. Laird works well with Scherzer and Porcello, while Avila tends to work better with Verlander and Fister. Why break up the band now?

While Sanchez has yet to see any bump in run support moving from Miami to Detroit, he appears to like the club and the fans, but it has yet to be seen if that will turn into him resigning with the Tigers. With Detroit cutting ties to Valverde, Boesch and Young, there should be enough money to offer Sanchez a competitive deal to keep him in Motown.

He may not have had the best first few outings for Detroit, but Sanchez has shown that he is as capable a pitcher as any of the other guys on the staff. Sanchez will receive contracts worth absurd money, no doubt, but the Tigers will likely offer him something in the neighborhood of $9-10 million per season.

Savings: $15.75 million 

Total Savings: $19.25 million

What about the 'pen?

Phil Coke has shown that he is capable of handling the closers role in the postseason, why not keep him in that role? With Coke serving as the closer, the 7th and 8th inning roles could be left up to Octavio Dotel and Joaquin Benoit.

Moving Coke to the closer, leaves the Tigers in need of a situational lefty, which could be filled by Darin Downs. Continuing to use Al Albuquerque in tight situations would be a solid move and so would be moving Bruce Rondon up from the Toledo Mud Hens and into the Tigers bullpen.

Detroit made a good run in 2011, but was hampered by injuries. In 2012, an American League Championship is nothing to sneeze at, but the Tigers have no one to blame but themselves for under-performing in the World Series. If Detroit wants to stay at the top of the AL for a long time, they need to reward success while promoting young cheap talent from within.

Lay Off Leyland

By Sean Gagnier

So you think you know more about the Detroit Tigers than manager Jim Leyland? Are you sure about that one?

Last week was the first time I spoke to Leyland in person and his knowledge about the game was stunning. The man knows what he is doing, he just doesn't always show it.

You know what Leyland did on Wednesday night after the game with Minnesota before the day game the next day? He stayed up until the early hours of the morning trying to decide whether to play Quintin Berry or Ryan Raburn, and then he slept on the couch in his office.

Leyland genuinely stresses over each decision that he has to make when it comes to his lineup and his ball team, and yet all he does is catch flak for it. I admit, I have been one of the people who has called for his job in the past, but after hearing exactly what goes into one of his decisions, I no longer believe his job should be in jeopardy.

When asked about Ryan Raburn Leyland had this to say,

"I had to toss and turn with it today whether to play Berry or Raburn and I ended up playing Raburn. The thought process is, if Raburn doesn’t help us against left handers, then we got issues, so you give him the benefit of the doubt to see if you can maybe get him going a little bit. Peralta, Young and Raburn gotta do something against left-handed pitching, it’s that simple. It’s that simple, Jhonny Peralta, Delmon Young and Ryan Raburn gotta do something against left-handed pitchers, it’s that simple"

Now does that sound like a person who doesn't know what their talking about? Not at all. Leyland is smarter than people give him credit for; he knows that his players are struggling but he also knows that he only has three extra players on the roster, one of which is a catcher. He is doing everything he can with what he has.


Leyland isn't  a stranger to being called out though, he talked about a story where he was at his own pool and someone began telling him that he was screwing up the Tigers because he wasn't batting Brennan Boesch second in the order.


"The guy kept saying Boesch hits better in the two hole. Well, it seems to me that wherever I play him Boesch keeps hitting .238, so he's going on about how Boesch needs to hit second but I told him, my stats show that hitting him second or f%&#$ing third or eighth the guy is hitting .238," Leyland said. 


The guy understands statistics and he knows that his team is scuffling, but he isn't just sitting around doing nothing, he is trying everything he can to get this team on a roll and in doing so he may make a misstep, but what do you expect? He's working with what Dave Dombrowski gave him.

Starlin Castro to the Tigers?

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

It's probably safe to say that the Chicago Cubs will not be winning much of anything this season, and because of that, they will most likely be sellers at the trade deadline to try to build up their stockpiles of young talent. Chicago has plenty of talent available that is enticing enough that other teams will come calling; Matt Garza, Ryan Dempster and Alfonso Soriano.

One player that has long been on the Cubs "untouchable" list is Starlin Castro, their phenom short stop. But with the Cubs in need of young talent to restock the club, Castro could prove to be just too much of a cash cow for them not to use.

Castro would bring in top prospects into the Cubs organization and General Manager Theo Epstein has shown in Boston that he is not afraid to trade talent to get talent back. The 22-year-old short stop will more than likely have his name come up many times before the trade deadline passes, and if the team that mentions his name is willing to offer enough for him, then the Cubs could part ways with Castro.

A player the caliber of Castro would require at least two top-tier prospects to begin to grease the wheels, it may take even more to land him. ESPN's Buster Olney says that the number of prospects that Castro could be worth will depend on where other teams see him playing defensively in the future. Olney says that during his time at short stop he is making too many mistakes, but his bat is a plus at the position. Should the teams think to move Castro to third base, his defensive numbers improve but his bat becomes only average at the position.

But as of now the Cubs are playing Castro at short stop and that is most likely what he will continue to play; at short stop just about every team would be able to make room for him, including the Detroit Tigers. Detroit has been rumored to have been in contact with Epstein since he made the trip from Boston in regards to acquiring RHP Matt Garza.

Garza could easily slip into the second or third spot in the Tigers pitching rotation and give them a boost, but it would be irresponsible for Detroit to not inquire about the availability of Castro. While a deal for Garza was rumored to take top-prospect Jacob Turner and current right fielder Brennan Boesch; a deal for both Garza and Castro would take just about everything the Tigers have in the farm system.

With Detroit's farm system as lean as it is a deal for Garza and Castro would more than likely take Turner, Boesch, top positional prospect Nick Castellanos and catching prospect Rob Brantly. The cost may be staggering for the Tigers, but if they truly are in a win now type of situation, then this is a deal that could likely happen.

Tigers Cabrera Catches White Sox Batter's Box Mistake

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

While it may not have been on purpose, it was, after all, opening day for the U.S. Cellular Field grounds crew, Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera proved that he has more baseball smarts than many gave him credit for. When he stepped into the batters box in the first inning of the Tigers game with the White Sox on Friday he, wasn't actually, in the box.

Cabrera's back foot was more than six inches out of the back of the batters box. While he does tend to hang out at the extreme back of the box, and rub out the back line, Cabrera knows where he can and can't stand. And he was right. After digging in, he notified the umpire that he believed the box was not the correct size.

The batters box had been shifted up about six inches, a brilliant move if you don't get caught. The move would force sluggers such as Cabrera that feed on fastballs to sit closer to the middle of the plate. That shift would give them less time to decide on a pitch and pull the trigger.

Other batters, such as Chicago's Alexi Ramirez are thrown a steady diet of breaking pitches and like to dig in at the front of the box. A shift of the box up would allow them to get their bat on the ball before the pitch began to break when it reaches the plate.

Major League Baseball rules state that the "batters box shall extend for three feet forward of home plate and three feet behind home plate." With three feet on each side of the plate batters are free to move forward and back to find the right feel for their batting style.

Cabrera is a veteran and he knows when something is wrong, and when his back foot was beyond the chalk in the first inning, he let someone know about it. After convincing home plate umpire Adrian Johnson of the mistake the U.S. Cellular Field grounds crew were called out to rechalk the batters box with the umpires observing the process.

White Sox starter Jake Peavy had struck out the Tigers one and two hitters in Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch prior to Cabrera alerting the umpires to the mistake. One may think that this mistake could have caused Jackson and Boesch to be late on their swings, which they were, and could have helped Peavy record those first two outs.

While that looks to be the case, it more than likely was a simple mistake by a grounds crew chalking the field for the first time this season and not any conspiracy. But next time you see a batter dig into the box, take more time to check out his feet and make sure the chalk is where it's supposed to be.

Boesch Poised for Huge Season

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

Detroit Tigers right fielder Brennan Boesch was on a tear last season, hitting over .300 for the first half of the season before seeing his average dip to near .220 in the second half, but then a thumb injury sidelined the slugger for the remainder of the season and the playoffs. Boesch struggled in the two spot in the lineup in 2011 but with the kind of protection he will have in 2012 Boesch looks to be poised for a career season.

During 2011 Boesch hit .020 points higher when he was hitting third as opposed to second, but Manager Jim Leyland was determined that he was the Tigers No. 2 guy in the lineup and Boesch continued to struggle. When he was hitting third he had Miguel Cabrera as protection behind him, but when he was shifted to second he wasn't afforded that same protection and it showed.

In 2012 however, Boesch will have all the protection he could ever want and some. Leyland's scheduled every day roster has Boesch hitting second behind Austin Jackson and in front of Cabrera and the Tigers new favorite weapon, Prince Fielder. If that isn't enough protection, then it isn't possible to protect Boesch.

Boesch isn't having the kind of Spring Training that you would write home about, hitting just .222 with an OBP of just .216, but he has only appeared in 12 games this spring. In those 12 games he has gotten 36 at-bat's and gotten hits in eight of those at-bat's for a total of 18 bases.

Three of his eight hits this spring have been long balls and in his small 12 game sample Boesch has driven in nine RBI. He is also slugging .500 and boasting a OPS of .716. While spring training doesn't always translate to the regular season, Boesch will most certainly pull his batting average up when he gets in the every day lineup in the regular season and will start putting balls into the right field bleachers soon enough.

Trading For Shields Will Only Weaken Tigers

It's no secret that the Tigers are in the hunt for pitching at the trade deadline this season; and reports have them looking for a left-handed starting pitcher to help back up Justin Verlander.

Despite those reports Detroit has been rumored to be very interested in Tampa Bay Rays' right-handed pitcher James Shields. Last Thursday the Tigers had two scouts at Tropicana Field to watch Shields take on CC Sabathia and the New York Yankees. Shields outdueled Sabathia on that night and may have increased his trade value in the process.

His value is obvious; he is a top of the rotation guy who has several years left on his contract. This season he is 9-8 with a 2.53 ERA, 7 CG and a 1.01 WHIP. Those kind of numbers are staggering, if the Tigers were to add a player of his caliber to their rotation they would run away with the American League Central.

If Shields were to join the Tigers he would fit into the second spot in the rotation behind Verlander. The rotation that Detroit would throw out would be one of the best in the American League. It would allow Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello to drop to third and fourth in the rotation and move Brad Penny to the fifth spot to continue his successful season.

The only problem with a possible addition of James Shields would be that the Tigers would have an entirely right-handed rotation and would strip Detroit of either a heavy portion of their prospects or of a producing outfielder currently on the 40-man roster.

Reports have the Rays looking for several prospects in return for Shields, but seeing as the Tigers have a dearth of talent in the minor leagues the cost of adding the hurler might be rising star Brennan Boesch.

The 26-year old Boesch is in his second season with the Detroit Tigers and has made a good impression on the club. He got out to a scorching start in his rookie season last year before slowing down in the second half, but this season he has calmed his swing down a bit and has become much more consistent. In addition to giving Detroit a consistent two-hitter in the line-up, Boesch has given them something that they have long been searching for at the deadline anyway; a power-hitting left-hander.

Boesch has 14 home runs this season with 24 doubles, 48 RBI and a batting average that hovers around the .300 mark. Standing 6'4" and 235 lbs he is an intimidating figure in the batters box; in addition, he has also calmed his swing a bit and has reduced his strikeouts. He gives the Tigers a fearsome bat that will only continue to grow into a better player as the years go on.

While the addition of Shields is a tempting one, the cost that it be to the Tigers would be one that would only weaken them in the long run. The pitching staff would drastically improve, yes, but the outfield would suffer for it. By trading away Boesch it would force the Tigers to play either Andy Dirks, Casper Wells, Don Kelly or God-forbid Ryan Raburn in his place. While most of those names, not Raburn, are quality players, they are not as good as Boesch.

While Boesch is often lifted in the later innings for Andy Dirks or Casper Wells as defensive replacements, none of his potential replacements can measure up to his offensive abilities. Not to mention, the Rays are already sporting a former Tigers outfielder, rising star Matt Joyce. As much as Tigers fans may want to add Shields to their team, having to give up Boesch to get him only makes the team weaker as a whole.