Tigers Close In On Hunter, Make FA Signing

By Sean Gagnier

It's no secret that the Tigers are targeting corner outfielders this offseason. With the struggles of Delmon Young, who is now gone, and the inexperience of Avisail Garcia, Detroit wants to add a veteran presence to the outfield, and Torii Hunter is perfect.

Hunter is being pursued by several teams, but the top two appear to be the Tigers and the Texas Rangers. One team will have their prize sooner rather than later, as Hunter told MLB Network that he expects to "sign quickly."

Detroit sees Hunter as a near perfect fit on and off the field in the Motor City. The corner outfield spots are important to the Tigers, and adding a veteran presence could help give the team the leadership in the clubhouse that appeared to be lacking during the 2012 season.

Texas is also an option for Hunter, who makes his home close to the Ballpark at Arlington in Texas.

Other teams in the hunt for Hunter are the; Red Sox, Dodgers, Yankees, Braves and Angels.

Free Agent Moves

Detroit has signed right-hander Shawn Hill to a minor league contract. Hill opted for free agency after appearing in just one game for the Blue Jays last season. The 31-year old rightie spent most of the 2012 season in Triple-A and posted stats of; 4.52 ERA, 5.2 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 in 89 2/3 innings.

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.

Lamont's Call to Send Fielder in Detroit Tigers Loss to Giants Was the Right One

By Sean Gagnier

Yes, the Tigers are down two games in the World Series. Yes, they are struggling to score runs. And yes, I am not the biggest fan of Gene Lamont. But his call to send Prince Fielder home in the second inning of Thursday's Game 2 was the right call.

Everyone knows that Fielder isn't the best guy on the base paths, but he isn't completely incompetent either.

On the play, Delmon Young scorches a ball down the left field line that pulls the left fielder, Gregor Blanco toward the corner of the field. Before the ball reaches the left field corner however, it ricochets off a cutout and takes a weird hop into left field. At this point, Fielder is around second base and is looking to Lamont at third for direction.

Just as Fielder hits third and begins his sprint toward home, Blanco comes up with the ball and fires it over the cut-off man, where Marco Scutaro takes the throw and has to make a perfect throw to the outside of the line in order to both avoid hitting Fielder and give catcher Buster Posey a shot at tagging him out.

Here's where the defense of the call comes in. Lamont knows that this team is struggling to score runs and he knows that getting one there could give Detroit momentum, so he takes a gamble.

Keep these things in mind when thinking about this play. 1. Scutaro needed to make an absolute perfect throw to the outside part of the plate to even give Posey a chance. 2. Posey does not block the plate anymore after suffering a broken ankle blocking the plate a few years ago.

Now imagine that you're Lamont with Fielder charging to third base. You know both of those things and you know that your runner is a biggun who has an awful lot of kinetic energy heading toward the plate. Keeping those things in mind, sending the runner is the right move.

The blame, if there must be some assigned, lies with Fielder and Jhonny Peralta. Peralta was in the on-deck circle during this play. As the player on-deck, you are responsible for moving behind the plate and helping to tell the runner when and how to slide to avoid any tag at the plate.

Peralta moved to the plate too late and didn't give Fielder any signals on where the throw was coming from. Because of the lack of help from Peralta, Fielder opted for a hook-slide in the middle of the plate rather than a straight-slide on the outside part of the plate.

Sure, if Lamont holds Fielder at third then the Tigers have runners at second and third with no outs and Peralta at the plate. You would assume that at least one of the next two batters could at least lift a ball to the outfield to score Fielder, but that wasn't the case.

If Lamont holds Fielder and the Tigers fail to come up with a hit, likely as they only had two, then it becomes a mistake to have held Fielder. Either call is a good one for different reasons, but this is the World Series, you have to go big or go home.

Wednesday's Tigers Lineup; What the Heck is Leyland Thinking?!

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

The Tigers are struggling, that's obvious. They have run into the second best offense in the American League in Boston and are scuffling to score runs. Even their ace Justin Verlander couldn't give them a win, so Manager Jim Leyland sent down the wallowing Ryan Raburn and brought up catcher Omir Santos from the Toledo Mud Hens.

Why would he do that? Bringing up Santos gives the Tigers three catchers on the roster with Alex Avila and Gerald Laird; well Leyland's lineup for Wednesday's game with the Red Sox shows why he called up Santos.

Quintin Berry CF
Danny Worth 2B
Miguel Cabrera 3B
Prince Fielder 1B
Delmon Young LF
Brennan Boesch RF
Jhonny Peralta SS
Alex Avila C
Gerald Laird DH

First off, what the hell is Leyland thinking? Oh the team just lost two games to the Red Sox and we're trying to avoid being swept; let's put Delmon Young, the worst left fielder possibly to ever play baseball in the field and have him to to catch wall balls off the Green Monster. And you know what? We've shown absolutely no confidence in Worth to this point, so lets throw him in at second in the order and see what happens.

But wait, there needs to be a designated hitter and we already put the butcher in left field so who can give us a big bat in the order? Certainly not Andy Dirks, one of the best hitters on the team, let's put Laird out there as the DH, he can get us some big hits.

Santos was needed specifically for this lineup, because with Laird DH'ing, if Detroit needs to replace Avila they can't use Laird or else they would lose the DH, so Santos fills that void. Because of that reason Tigers fans can expect to see this completely idiotic lineup several more times before Austin Jackson returns from the DL. 

This lineup is complete lunacy and shows that Leyland has no idea what to do with this team and his lack of a consistent lineup is hurting this team. If the Tigers can go out and have the same lineup each day they would begin to gel as a club and begin to hit.

Boston has Jon Lester pitching tonight, which if you look at it could be why Leyland pulled Dirks out of the lineup "to play the matchups," but Lester is 0-4 against the Tigers in his career; put the best team on the field every day, regardless of the pitcher and you will win games.

Sorry, but if this doesn't put a fork in Leyland, nothing will. 

What Can Berry Do For You?

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

Austin Jackson was having a renaissance season, he was hitting and drawing walks as well as playing the elite center field that Tigers fans have come to expect. But a funky swing in an at-bat in Chicago tweaked something in Jackson's back and it just wasn't right. He rested it for a number of days and when he felt it could be ready to go he stepped into the batting cage for some batting practice in Cleveland. However, Jackson's back disagreed with his time table for returning to the lineup and after re-aggravating it in BP the Tigers placed him on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to a week earlier, and called up Quintin Berry from the Toledo Mud Hens.

So who exactly is Berry and what can he do for the Tigers? First things first, he can play a tremendous center field. He has the range, plus some, of Jackson and so far with the Tigers he has shown that he has a decent arm from center field as well. While he might not have the arm that Jackson does in the field, he won't need to use it with the speed that he possesses.

Tigers fans have come to see Jackson as the only source of speed on their roster, and for the most part they are right, but the addition of Berry to the lineup gives the Tigers something they haven't had in a long time; blistering speed. Berry isn't just fast, he's Usain Bolt fast. With the kind of raw speed that Berry has, he can steal a base despite the entire stadium knowing that he is going to try for the steal.

That kind of speed can change games. Just think about the last time the Tigers played the Angels; every time one of their runners reached base they at least threatened to steal second, or even third, base. And because of that threat Tigers pitching threw over to the bag multiple times and the pitcher was unable to focus on the batter because he was thinking about the runner on base.

One thing that this Detroit team lacks is speed. Jackson was the Tigers only speed and possible base stealer, and opposing teams knew that. Once Jackson was off the bases there was no urgency paid to the runners and the pitcher was able to focus wholly on the batter. With the addition of Berry opponents will have to implement all the tools at their disposal to keep him from stealing; throws to the bag, look overs, pitch-out's, snap throws by the catcher.

But when the dugout and pitching battery are strategizing about the runner who has already reached base, that is a mental victory for the Tigers. Berry has stolen 55 bags in a season while in the minors, he is the real deal. When Jackson returns to the lineup, Berry should stay with him if the Tigers truly want to make a run.

Beyond stealing bases Berry makes the opponents rush every play that he is involved in. For instance, in Cleveland there were two plays where Berry's speed helped the Tigers despite neither of them being the theft of second base. Berry laid down a bunt, presumably to try to catch the Indians off balance, but due to his speed he pulled the second baseman out of position and turned an ordinary bunt into a bunt double and his first major league hit.

Another instance was when Berry rolled over a ball and the pitcher charged off the mound to grab it and throw him out at first. This is an ordinary play, but because the pitcher knew in the back of his head how fast Berry was he rushed the throw and pulled his first baseman off the bag.

While his bat hasn't shown up yet with Detroit, the sample size is still small and he should be given more of a chance. But if he does begin to get hot at the plate when Jackson is ready to return the Tigers need to keep him in the every day lineup. Berry could be shifted over to left field and Jackson would be able to reclaim his position in center field. Andy Dirks, who is currently manning left field, could be moved to the DH position.

The odd man out in that situation would be Delmon Young, who prior to his arrest in New York was the Tigers every day left fielder. Since his incident he has been the DH in almost every game that he has played. Seemingly Detroit would like to keep his bat in the lineup without sacrificing defense in left field. However, his bat hasn't really showed up and something needs to be done to spark this team and keep them hot.

Berry is that spark and that spark should be tindered and cared for until it goes out. Detroit needs to ride their lightning bolt as long as they can.

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.

Off Season Moves the Tigers Need to Make

First off, it's been a while since the last post, I hope many of you return and start reading this again on a regular basis because I plan on updating it regularly once again. Thanks to everyone for reading.

Detroit nearly hobbled its way into the World Series in 2011 and despite coming up short of the ultimate goal, the team still finished as one of the last four playing and came within one game of representing the American League for the second time in five seasons.

2011 was a year that provided many insights into this team; Alex Avila became cemented as the No. 1 catcher for the foreseeable future, Doug Fister will push Justin Verlander to be even better than he currently is, and Delmon Young, while expendable, is a power outfielder who comes up huge in the clutch.

Last season also showed the many weaknesses the Tigers have, and other teams exploited those weaknesses to get by them in the playoffs. Once Victor Martinez came up lame in a game he was never able to back up Avila, which led to Avila catching all but two games down the stretch. That over use wore down the young backstop to the point where he resembled Kirk Gibson limping around the bases. The Tigers needed to find a back up catcher for Avila, and they found that in ex-Tiger Gerald Laird.

While not a fan favorite, Laird has proven that he is one of the most efficient defensive catchers in the game. His bat may be the equal to that of Brandon Inge but as long as he stays healthy enough to catch every fifth game and can help to mentor Avila, that's all the Tigers are looking for. This pick up was a good one by the Tigers.

The two remaining glaring holes for Detroit are at third and second base. While Inge is under contract for another season, it won't take long for the Tigers to grow tired of his inability to hit anything resembling a baseball. And after his tirade against the fans last season, his popularity in Detroit is wavering and won't withstand another season from hell like 2011. 

The 2012 free agent class for third basemen isn't exactly chock-full of star athletes; while Wilson Betemit served the Tigers well down the stretch he is not an everyday player and the Tigers brass seems to see things that way as well. Betemit has not been offered a contract for next season, which is the best thing for the team.

Notable free agents that would fit well with the Tigers would be either Jorge Cantu or Kevin Kouzmanoff. Through eight seasons Cantu has a career batting average of .271 and an on-base percentage of .316. Cantu is a good fit with Detroit because he is a utility player who specializes at third base, but has the ability to play either second or first as well. He has struggled to remain healthy and his numbers have slipped recently, but because of that his asking price could be driven down quite a bit from his hay-day in Miami.

Kevin Kouzmanoff is available for arbitration for the next two seasons so if the Rockies see what others see in him then the Tigers won't be able to snag him until he's a free agent until 2014. Kouzmanoff has a career batting average of .255 and a .300 on-base percentage. And he boasted a .713 OPS while playing over 100 games in the expanses of Coors Field.

The Tigers should pursue either of these third basemen diligently as either would bring a solid defensive front to the hot-corner as well as a powerful bat to the line-up.

Second base has become a glaring hole for Detroit, with the position being a platoon for the entire 2011 season, with six players taking the position in the field. Ramon Santiago, Ryan Raburn, Will Rhymes, Scott Sizemore, Danny Worth and Carlos Guillen all played second last year.

With a revolving door at second, Detroit has no true prospects or options at second base. Once again, the free agent class of second base is quite barren. After the Diamondbacks snapped up Aaron Hill to a new contract the only appealing player on the market is Kelly Johnson, but a contract with him would require the Tigers to send a first-round draft pick to Toronto in return.

Recent rumors have the Tigers trading Delmon Young to Atlanta in return for Martin Prado. This deal would incredibly bolster Detroit and add a powerful, consistent lead-off hitter to the line-up. Prado is a career .293 hitter in his six seasons in the majors with a .341 OBP. He has had experience and success being a lead-off hitter for the Braves and would be able to relieve some pressure from Austin Jackson in that role.

Should the Tigers complete this trade they would need to fill the vacancy left in left field by Young, and the solution is sitting in the free agent pool waiting to be snatched up. Coco Crisp, traditionally a center fielder, is available and would thrive in the vast left field of Comerica Park.

Detroit has long needed to build a team to fit Comerica Park and the addition of Crisp would do just that. Having two center fielders would save the Tigers multiple runs that they would have lost if Young would have continued to play. Crisp has a .271 career batting average and a .330 OBP, not to mention he can bring speed to the basepaths in Detroit. In 2011 he swiped 49 bases for the Athletics and with that speed and clear skill he can teach Jackson how to improve on the paths. 

The off-season is still young and there are still plenty of moves to be made, but the Tigers must address the weaknesses that showed through at the end of the 2011 season. If they do that successfully, they will be back in the playoffs and will be representing the American League in the World Series in 2012.