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.

Scherzer And Young On the Edge

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

It's no secret that the Detroit Tigers Max Scherzer hasn't had a good start to the 2012 season; his pitching is erratic and inconsistent and on several occasions he has been chased from the game in the first few innings. His performance is drawing so much negative attention that some in the Tigers organization are considering using one his options and sending Scherzer to Triple-A Toledo to work on control.

Scherzer isn't the only member of the Tigers organization that could be seeing change in the near future - Delmon Young was arrested and could be charged with a hate crime in New York City. Just hours after the Tigers landed in New York, Young was in intoxicated front of the team hotel, and assaulted a group of tourists while supposedly yelling anti-Semetic epithets. Depending on what happens in court and what the MLB rules, the Tigers could void Young's contract.

In his first five starts of the season, Scherzer has turned in a 7.77 ERA with 10 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9. Similar to last seasons early struggles, Scherzer has an elevated WHIP, but this season's 2.05 WHIP has just been too much for him to overcome. In April last season Scherzer was named  "The Pitcher of the Month," but his proved that  his record would come back to earth quickly, and it did.

Young was arraigned on assault charges on Friday afternoon in a New York court; while in court Young did not say anything. But he did release a statement earlier that day where he says, "I sincerely regret what happened." He then apologized to those involved in the altercation and to the Detroit Tigers, the Illich family and to Tigers fans.

When Manager Jim Leyland was speaking about Scherzer's struggles he said that "there are always options," and that "he loves the guy, but we need to get him going." With Leyland standing by his pitcher Scherzer could have a few more outings available to turn things around before any one truely looks into sending him to Toldeo, but it is clear that Leyland has thought of that situation and is willing to do it.

The New York court expects to have Young back in at the end of May, at which time a trial may commence, as long as no plea deal is agreed to prior to that date. If Young is convicted of a crime, the Tigers have the option under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement to void his $6.75M contract for this season. He is due to meet with MLB officials within the next few days to determine if he may return to the Tigers or if he must undergo some rehab beforehand.

Tigers Fister Lands On 15-Day DL; Who Fills His Spot?

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

Doug Fister, perhaps the biggest acquisition the Detroit Tigers in years, stood on the mound in front of the first sell-out crowd for Game 2 in Tigers history and after allowing just three hits in 3.2 innings, something didn't feel right. In the middle of an at-bat by Boston's Ryan Sweeney, Fister seemed to languish after a pitch, Tigers catcher Alex Avila noticed and immediately signaled to the dugout that something was wrong.

Avila, Tigers trainer Kevin Rand and Manager Jim Leyland jogged out to the mound to check on their pitcher. Fister motioned to his left side, right around the rib cage area, and indicated that it was sore and tense. With it being early in the season Leyland and Rand made the decision to take Fister out of the game for precautionary reasons.

While not much was known at the time, when Detroit placed Fister on the 15-day disabled list they indicated that he had suffered a left costochondral strain. For the non-doctors, that means that he strained his left side. In an interview Leyland did not indicate that the injury was anything more than a side strain, which eased the worries of Tigers fans who were fearing an oblique injury.

However, Leyland did indicate that he now has "no clue" what he's going to do with his rotation. Tigers ace Justin Verlander is set at No. 1, but now there is a hole at No. 2 and the pitcher that filled that role last season, Max Scherzer, had a less than impressive outing on Sunday afternoon.

Detroit has Rick Porcello in the rotation but he is their No. 4 at the moment and rookie Drew Smyly, after being named the No. 5 starter had a rocky start in Toledo in a game to keep him loose. The injury isn't one that would require the Tigers to make any moves with any other teams, but Leyland will have to look into his stable of young pitchers that missed out on the rotation in Spring Training to find a temporary stent.

With the off day the Tigers had on Monday Leyland made the drive to Toledo to catch a start by potential stop-gap Casey Crosby. Crosby didn't impress a whole lot, he pitched ok, but the MudHens defense didn't help him out very much either. According to The Detroit News' Tony Paul, who attended the game, Crosby's off-speed stuff looked good and his fastball touched 94, but he allowed Louisville some good swings too. He lasted 4+ innings while throwing 77 pitches and allowing six runs on five hits.

Detroit won't have to solve the pitching problem right away, as the probable pitchers for their upcoming series with the Tampa Bay Rays are Porcello, Verlander and Smyly. At that point Scherzer could start on normal rest on Friday, but then the Tigers would be back in the same situation looking for a starter for Saturday in Chicago.

A Saturday game would put Crosby on normal rest, but after his first Triple-A outing turning out the way it did, he is unlikely to have his phone ringing. Another possible candidate is Andy Oliver, who impressed through much of the spring before falling apart in his last start. He didn't fair too much better when he started for the Mud Hens on Sunday. Oliver struggled with control, walking five batters in just 3.2 innings.

Duane Below was in the final pairing for the No. 5 spot with Smyly, just missing the job heading into the season. He has since returned to the team to come out of the bullpen, looking good so far with two wins on the season. However, Leyland has said that he likes to have three lefties in the bullpen so he has more options during the game - Below's success in the pen could keep him there.

Odds are best on Adam Wilk to be tapped for the role, another lefty he was an outside candidate for the No. 5 spot during the spring. In his first start with Toledo he went five innings while giving up just one hit and fanning six while getting the win.