Tigers Nick Castellanos Must Stay at Third Base

Originally published on http://blog.detroitathletic.com/

By Sean Gagnier

It’s no mystery that the Detroit Tigers have a gaping black hole at second base, with no sign of anyone being able to fill the void. The Tigers have tried using Scott Sizemore (although they gave up pretty fast), Will Rhymes, Ramon Santiago, Brandon Inge and Danny Worth and none of them have been able to step in and take control of the position. It is because of this that Tigers fans are grasping at straws trying to find some fix for second, but they’re favorite “solution” just won’t work.

No matter how much Tigers fans pine for and argue for it, Nick Castellanos will not and should not become the second baseman in Detroit. Yes, he is having an incredible offensive season, but he has never played second base, and contrary to public belief, it isn’t exactly an easy job to just start doing.

General Manager Dave Dombrowski has repeatedly said that Castellanos will continue to play third base in the minors, because that is what he is, a third baseman.

Some people point out that Castellanos is too big to play second. While he is 6’4” and 210 lbs, he isn’t the only big guy to have the option to play second; Cal Ripken, Jr. was a big guy too and he played shortstop.
But his size isn’t the factor; he’s just too good of a prospect at third base for them to be messing with. Think about Evan Longoria, and you have a good comparison for Castellanos. In 298 at-bats during the 2012 season (through late June), Castellanos has 113 hits, a .379 batting average, with a .421 on-base percentage, .544 slugging and .965 on-base percentage plus slugging.

He’s on fire this season, having moved up from Single-A Lakeland to Double-A Erie and hasn’t missed a beat. While he should not be hurried along to the majors any time soon, he is proving that he truly is the “can’t miss” prospect that the Tigers think he is.

But how do the Tigers use him when they are ready to have him in the majors? They have an All-Star in Miguel Cabrera at third base and another All-Star, who they just invested more than $200 million in at first in Prince Fielder. Where does Castellanos fit in? the answer? Right where he is – at third base.

Victor Martinez (remember him?) has two years remaining on his contract in Detroit, once that expires Tigers fans should expect to see Castellanos joining the major league club. When healthy, Martinez is a great designated hitter, hitting over .400 last season with runners in scoring position and filling in for Alex Avila early in the year to give him some rest. But Martinez will be 35, going on 36, in 2014 and will not be worth the amount of money he will want in a new deal.

Castellanos fills that hole left by Martinez for Detroit. The Tigers have seen that Fielder is, to put it nicely, not the best defensively at first base, and Cabrera is not much better at third. However, when Cabrera was at first base he fielded his position well, which is why he needs to be placed back there.

With Cabrera back at first base and Castellanos filling his vacated position at third base, that leaves Fielder without an every day job. While he has said that he does not want to be a designated hitter, his defensive play has shown that he should not be the everyday first baseman because he will cost the team runs. At DH he can contribute offensively, which he has been able to do this season, without costing Detroit runs in the field.

If that scenario plays out – and it’s the best path for the Tigers to follow – come ’14 the club will feature a lineup of Miggy at 1B, Fielder at DH, and Castellanos at 3B.

It's Time the Tigers Went Back to '68

 Originally published on www.detroitathletic.com/blog

By Sean Gagnier

Throwback fashions have become increasing popular in recent years, most notably the hideous snap-back hats from the 1990’s that looks terrible then and continue to do so now, but the throwback craze has also extended into the sports realm, and it’s about time it made its way to Detroit.
The Detroit Tigers have one of the most recognizable home uniforms in all of baseball, and one of the few that can never be changed, lest they incur the wrath of millions of Tigers fans. Both the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are also included with the Tigers among those teams with classic home uniforms that can never be changed.
Notice the repeated use of the term, home.
The Yankees road uniform is the traditional gray with block navy lettering and white trim; it stands out against the gray and has been a staple for the Bronx Bombers for many years now. Until just a few years ago the Red Sox had sported a different look than usual on the road, their jerseys still had “Boston” spread across the chest in the traditional Red Sox font, but it was red and the sleeves were trimmed in red. It was a new look, but it wasn’t right.
Boston took a look at their uniforms and decided a storied franchise such as themselves needed to go back to a classic, throwback, look, something that fans could remember from their childhoods and something that others could build memories with.
Simple tweaks made the Red Sox road uniforms classic looking while being trendy. Boston changed the color of their word mark to black and removed the red trim on the sleeves. They also added a full color logo on the left sleeve that makes the uniform pop.
Detroit needs to take notice of the changes the Boston has made and make some of their own. Currently the Tigers are the only team in the entire league to have a color on their road uniform that does not appear on their home uniform; that being orange.
While the connection can be made, tigers are orange and so the color on the uniform makes sense that way, but why did they depart from the classic look of the 1968 jerseys? Those were gorgeous, they were a bit plain, but a move back to them would be similar to Boston changing their road uniforms.
The script Detroit logo, while nice, could use a change similar to that made in Boston. A change back to the simple block lettering of the ’68 jersey would be a throwback in one sense, but also a change for the better in another.
Much like the new Red Sox road jerseys, the ’68 Tigers uniforms are gray with simple black block letters. The one change that Detroit should make if they do go back to the ’68 look would be to add names to the back of the uniforms; the players are important and they deserve to have their names on their uniforms.
Instead of a color logo on the left sleeve the Tigers could go back and return the uniform number to the sleeve of each jersey, giving them a unique look that no other team in the league would have. In doing so, the Tigers could both update their lockers and return to a classic look while continuing to be unique.
What do you think? Do you like the current Tigers road uniform? Why do you like it or dislike it? If you don’t like them, what do you think Detroit should do to update their look? tell me in the comments below