The Detroit Tigers hope that a move to DH will keep 34-year old switch hitting Carlos Guillen healthy for the 2010 season. Guillen played in 81 games for the Tigers last season and he was 67 for 277 (.242 avg, .758 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 11 homers and 41 RBIs. Guillen has a career batting average of .301 with a .858 OPS in 721 games with the Tigers in his six years with them. Guillen has averaged only 120.2 games per season for the Tigers but in those games he has averaged 72.5 runs scored, 14.3 homers and 67 RBIs. If the Tigers can get him to play in 140+ games this season they will be expected 20 homers and 90 RBIs out of him.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE DH IN 2010: B-

32-year old righty swinging Brandon Inge will be back as the starting 3B for the Tigers in 2010. He played in 161 games for the Tigers last season and he was 129 for 562 (.230 avg, .720 OPS) with 71 runs scored, 27 homers and 84 RBIs. That is about the best you can expect out of Inge because of his penchant for whiffing which he did 170 times last season. That is what always keeps him from putting up a decent batting average. Inge made 20 errors in 161 games at 3B for the Tigers last season while showing slightly above average range. He has a gun for a arm at 3B as he is a converted catcher.

30-year old switch hitting Ramon Santiago will backup Inge at 3B this season. He didn’t make any errors in 2 games there last season for the Tigers while showing average range. 29-year old righty swinging Ryan Raburn could play 3B in a pinch but he’s a horrible defender there. He made 4 errors in 6 games at 3B for the Tigers last season while showing awful range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 3B IN 2010: C

The Tigers will be using 33-year old righty swinging Adam Everett and 30-year old switch hitting Ramon Santiago at shortstop again in 2010. Everett will get the majority of the playing time in 2010. He played in 118 games for the Tigers last season and he was 82 for 345 (.238 avg, .613 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 3 homers, 44 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Everett doesn’t have much upside as a hitter as his likely goal would be to hit around .250 in 2010. He made 14 errors in 116 games at shortstop for the Tigers last season while showing below average range. He has the reputation as a solid defender so maybe he will rebound somewhat in 2010.

Ramon Santiago played in 93 games for the Tigers last season and he was 70 for 262 (.267 avg, .703 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 7 homers and 35 RBIs. He gets exposed with the bat when he plays too much so don’t look for him to get many more at bats in 2010 than he had in 2009. Santiago made 6 errors in 69 games at shortstop for the Tigers last season and he also showed below average range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SS IN 2010: D

The Tigers let Placido Polanco leave as a free agent and the reason is because they are confident that 25-year old righty swinging Scott Sizemore is ready to replace him. Sizemore played in 130 games in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 160 for 520 (.308 avg, .889 OPS) with 87 runs scored, 17 homers, 66 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. They think that Sizemore will be a solid hitter in 2010 but they are a little bit worried about his mitt as he made 21 errors in only 118 games at 2B in 2009.

30-year old switch-hitting Ramon Santiago will be Sizemore’s top back-up at 2B. He played in 29 error-free games at 2B while showing good range there. Look for Santiago to replace Sizemore a lot of times late in games as a defensive replacement.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2B IN 2010: C-

26-year old righty swinging 1B Miguel Cabrera is the best hitter on the Tigers without a doubt. He played in 160 games for the Tigers last season and he was 198 for 611 (.324 avg, .943 OPS) with 96 runs scored, 34 homers, 103 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. In his first six full seasons in the majors, Cabrera is averaging 98.5 runs scored, 32.8 homers and 115.2 RBIs per season so he is very consistent. Cabrera made 7 errors in 153 games at 1B for the Tigers last season so he’s not the best defender around. Still, the Tigers will put up with some lapses in the field as long as Cabrera continues to rake (and he will).

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 1B IN 2010: A