36-year old righty swinging Magglio Ordonez got off to a slow start in 2009 before finishing strong. He played in 131 games for the Tigers last season in which he was 144 of 465 (.310 avg, .804 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 9 homers, 50 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Tigers really need Ordonez to get his power stroke back because they don’t have a lot of thump in the batting order for 2010. Ordonez made 2 errors in 104 games in RF last season for the Tigers while showing poor range. He did have 6 assists last season showing a decent throwing arm.

28-year old righty swinging Ryan Raburn will be Ordonez’ top backup in 2010. Raburn played in 113 games for the Tigers last season and he was 76 of 261 (.291 avg, .891 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 16 homers, 45 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Raburn played 14 error-free games in RF last season while showing average range. If Ordonez’ play continues to slide look for Raburn to get a lot of P.T. in RF in 2010.

26-year old lefty swinging Clete Thomas will likely also get some P.T. in RF for the Tigers in 2010. He played in 87 games in RF for the Tigers last season making 2 errors while showing good range. He had 5 assists out of RF as he has a very strong throwing arm.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE RF IN 2010: B-