The Tigers have re-signed Macay McBride to a 1-year contract. The Tigers were going to convert McBride into a starting pitcher last season but that only lasted 1 inning in AAA before he was injured and missed the rest of the season. He will be a reliever this season if he makes the Tigers. He has pitched in 132 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 6-2 with 2 saves, a 4.35 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. McBride needs to throw more strikes if he wants to pitch in the major leagues this season.

The Tigers need a starting shortstop, a backup catcher and a lot of pitching. It will be interesting to see what the Tigers are willing to spend to fix the pitching staff. I think they will likely stay away from the big time high priced starting pitchers unless they move on Randy Johnson. Johnson was great in the 2nd half of the 2008 season as he looked like his old self. He would also sell a lot of tickets when he pitched as he is closing in on 300 wins (295). The Tigers might also look at pitchers like Braden Looper, Paul Byrd, Pedro Martinez, Freddy Garcia and Jon Lieber. The Tigers will likely target a veteran stopper like Trevor Hoffman to bridge the gap until Joel Zumaya or Fernando Rodney is ready to take over that role. The Tigers could use another lefty in the bullpen to team with Bobby Seay. Will Ohman, Alan Embree or Dennys Reyes make the most sense here. The Tigers will also probably look at Russ Springer, Luis Ayala, Juan Cruz, David Weathers and Bobby Howry to help out in the bullpen. Shortstop is a big need for the Tigers but they probably won’t be inclined to spend on a player like Rafael Furcal or Orlando Cabrera. With that in mind they might look at Felipe Lopez, Juan Uribe, Ramon Vazquez, Omar Vizquel or Cesar Izturis to handle the job. The Tigers could also use a lefty hitting backup catcher like Gregg Zaun or Javier Valentin to back up Brandon Inge.