The Tigers re-signed 28-year old righty swinging shortstop Jhonny Peralta because of his power bat. Peralta played in 148 games for the Tigers & Indians last season and he was 137 of 551 (.249 avg, .703 OPS) with 60 runs scored, 15 homers, 81 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Peralta has averaged 79.0 runs scored, 17.8 homers and 78.5 RBIs over his first six years in the majors and the Tigers are expecting those kinds of numbers out of him in 2011. He had 3 errors in 46 games at SS for the Tigers last season while showing slightly above average range. If Peralta can play league average defense while popping 15-20 homers in 2011, the Tigers will be very happy with him.

31-year old switch hitting Ramon Santiago will back up Peralta in 2011. He had 7 errors in 85 games for the Tigers last season while showing excellent range. Santiago is more than capable of giving Peralta a break whenever he needs a day off.

25-year old righty swinging Danny Worth played in 39 games for the Tigers last season in his first taste of the majors in which he was 27 of 106 (.255 avg, .653 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 2 homers, 8 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He also played in 45 games in AAA-ball last year and he was 47 of 164 (.287 avg, .687 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 2 homers, 18 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. Worth didn’t make any errors in 24 games at SS last season for the Tigers while showing average range. Worth will likely start the 2011 season in AAA.

24-year old righty swinging Argenis Diaz played in 22 games for the Pirates last season and he was 8 of 33 (.242 avg, .578 OPS) with 2 RBIs. He also played in 80 games in AAA-ball in which he was 68 of 274 (.248 avg, .586 OPS) with 28 runs scored, 22 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Diaz didn’t look too good on defense for the Pirates as he had 2 errors in 15 games at SS while showing awful range. Diaz, like Worth, will likely be starting the 2011 season in the minors.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE TIGERS SS IN 2011: B-

If 35-year old switch hitting 2B Carlos Guillen could just stay healthy he would without a doubt be the starting 2B for the Tigers in 2011. But, he won’t likely be ready to start the season as he continues to rehab from another knee surgery. This opens the door for Will Rhymes, Scott Sizemore and Ramon Santiago to battle for the starting 2B job when the 2011 season starts. Back to Guillen, he played in 68 games for the Tigers last season and he was 69 of 253 (.273 avg, .746 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 6 homers, 34 RBIs and 1 stolen base. In his first seven years with the Tigers, Guillen has played in 789 in which he has a batting average of .299 with a .849 OPS. Guillen only had 3 errors in 47 games at 2B for the Tigers last season while showing excellent range. The Tigers are a much better team with Guillen in the lineup so they hope he gets healthy soon.

27-year old lefty swinging Will Rhymes was impressive in his first taste of the majors last season. He played in 54 games for the Tigers in which he was 58 of 191 (.304 avg, .763 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 1 homer and 19 RBIs. Rhymes was also solid in the field for the Tigers as he made 4 errors in 53 games at 2B while showing excellent range. Rhymes could win the job outright this spring or he could platoon with Scott Sizemore or Ramon Santiago.

26-year old righty swinging Scott Sizemore was pretty much handed the starting job last spring but he didn’t hold onto it too long as he was overmatched at the plate. He played in 48 games for the Tigers last season and he was 32 of 143 (.224 avg, .631 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 3 homers and 14 RBIs. Sizemore often looked like he had a hole is his bat as he whiffed 40 times last season. He took his offensive problems into the field with him as he had 7 errors in only 40 games at 2B while showing terrible range. Sizemore better come to spring training as an improved player or he’s going to spend a lot of time in the minors in 2011.

31-year old switch hitting Ramon Santiago is a solid utility man for the Tigers. He played in 122 games for the Tigers last season and he was 84 of 320 (.263 avg, .662 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 3 homers, 22 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Santiago only made 1 error in 25 games at 2B last season while showing good range. The Tigers like having Santiago coming off the bench as he can handle 2B, SS and 3B defensively.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE TIGERS 2B IN 2011: C

27-year old righty swinging 1B Miguel Cabrera might just win the A.L. MVP Award this season. He played in 150 games for the Tigers last season and he was 180 of 548 (.328 avg, 1.042 OPS) with 111 runs scored, 38 homers, 126 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Last season was Cabrera’s 7th straight season with at least 103 RBIs! Cabrera has no weaknesses when batting which led to pitchers working around him as he was walked 89 times (32 of them intentional) last season. To help rememdy that the Tigers have signed Victor Martinez to back him up at 1B and to be the full time DH, batting right behind Cabrera in the batting order. Cabrera isn’t the best defensive 1B around as he had 13 errors in 148 games but he’s not pitiful either as he was a 3B when he came to the majors.

32-year old switch hitting Victor Martinez will give Cabrera a break once in a while when he needs one. He played in 14 games for the Red Sox last season at 1B and he had 2 errors. He’s a much better defensive 1B than he is behind the plate. I don’t look for him to get much P.T. at 1B for the Tigers in 2011 unless Cabrera gets injured.

29-year old lefty swingng Scott Thorman will start the season in AAA and if he gets off to a good start he could get called up by the Tigers at some point. He played in 125 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 134 of 479 (.280 avg, .839 OPS) with 78 runs scored, 22 homers, 85 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. He last played in the majors back in 2007 with the Braves.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE TIGERS 1B IN 2011: A++++++

The Tigers have signed 35-year old lefty swinging outfielder Timo Perez to a minor league deal. Perez played in 84 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 75 of 276 (.272 avg, .729 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 6 homers, 35 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Perez last played in the majors way back in 2007 with the Tigers. Perez played in 29 games for the Tigers in 2007 and he was 35 of 90 (.389 avg, .960 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 13 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 603 games in parts of 8 years in the majors and he is 449 of 1,671 (.269 avg, .690 OPS) with 187 runs scored, 26 homers, 185 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. Perez will be a longshot to make the Tigers this spring but they wouldn’t mind stashing him in AAA when the 2011 season starts.