With injuries to set-up men Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya the Tigers’ bullpen appears very weak heading into the 2008 season. 40-year old righty Todd Jones will be the closer again this season for the Tigers. He pitched in 63 games (0 starts) for the Tigers last season and he was 1-4 with 38 saves, a 4.26 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Jones also only whiffed 33 batters in 61.1 innings which shows that he doesn’t miss many bats so he will have to be very fine with his control to succeed in 2008.

31-year old righty Fernando Rodney will be the top set-up man for the Tigers when he returns from the D.L. He pitched in 48 games (0 starts) for the Tigers last year and he was 2-6 with 1 save, a 4.26 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. Rodney whiffed 54 batters in only 50.2 innings which shows what kind of stuff he has. The Tigers need him to get healthy quick.

23-year old righty Yorman Bazardo could sneak his way into a important role in the Tigers’ bullpen. He pitched in 11 games (2 starts) for the Tigers last season and he was 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP. Bazardo was a starting pitcher in the minors last season. He pitched in 23 games (21 starts) in AAA ball last season and he was 10-6 with a 3.75 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP.

33-year old righty Aquilino Lopez was a stopper in AAA ball last season so he could help out late in games early in the season. He pitched in 10 games (0 starts) for the Tigers last season and he was 0-0 with 1 save, a 5.19 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Lopez also pitched in 48 games in AAA ball last season and he was 3-5 with 26 saves, a 2.35 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP.

30-year old lefty Bobby Seay will be the Tigers lone lefty in the bullpen when the season begins. He pitched in 58 games for the Tigers last season and he was 3-0 with 1 save, a 2.33 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Look for him to do a solid job in 2008 for the Tigers.

26-year old righty Zach Miner will likely be one of the long men in the Tigers’ bullpen. He pitched in 34 games (1 start) for the Tigers last season and he was 3-4 with a 3.02 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. Miner also could help out in the rotation if the Tigers have injury problems there.

27-year old righty Denny Bautista had an outstanding spring and it helped him make the Opening Day Roster, but, he has never had much success at the major league level. He pitched in 9 games (1 start) for the Tigers last season and he was 2-1 with a 12.46 ERA and a 2.54 WHIP. Bautista has now pitched in 35 games (21 starts) in his major league career and he is 4-10 with a 6.93 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP.

31-year old righty Jason Grilli will likely be the long man in the pen again this season. He pitched in 57 games (0 starts) last season for the Tigers and he was 5-3 with a 4.74 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP.

23-year old righty Joel Zumaya will likely miss the first half of the season due to surgery on his right shoulder. He pitched in 28 games (0 starts) for the Tigers last season and he was 2-3 with 1 save, a 4.28 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Zumaya has now pitched in 90 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 8-6 with 2 saves, a 2.62 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. He has also whiffed 124 batters in only 117 innings in his major league career. The Tigers were probably going to give Zumaya a chance to be their closer but he will likely have to wait until next season unless Todd Jones is doing poorly when he returns.

25-year old lefty Macay McBride could get another chance at some point for the Tigers in 2008. He pitched in 38 games (0 starts) for the Braves & Tigers last season and he was 1-1 with a 4.96 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. McBride walked an amazing 25 batters in only 32.2 innings last season and manager Jim Leyland will not tolerate that.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: D

Las Vegas has set this number because of the bullpen woes that the Tigers might have. I look at the fact that they will likely have the best offense in all of baseball and that they have five quality starting pitchers. With that in mind I would make a small play on the over.

The Detroit Tigers are depending on their starting rotation to get deep into games as the bullpen is hurting right now due to injuries. 25-year old righty Justin Verlander is definately the ace of this group. He started 32 games last season for the Tigers and he was 18-6 with a 3.66 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. He has the best stuff on the Tigers pitching staff and he will make a big run for the Cy Young Award with the Tigers’ offense backing him up.

43-year old lefty Kenny Rogers is back as he attempts to rebound from a tough 2007 season. He only started 11 games last season for the Tigers but he was 3-4 with a 4.43 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. Remember though, the crafty lefty was 17-8 with a 3.84 ERA in 2006 so he should still have some bullets left in his arm.

26-year old lefty Dontrelle Willis had his worst season of his major league career last year for the Marlins. But, playing for Jim Leyland on a winning team will likely lead him back this season. He started 35 games for the Marlins last season and he was 10-15 with a 5.17 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. Willis is a much better pitcher than that however as he has started 162 games in his major league career and he is 68-54 with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. Look for him to be especially difficult for batters the first time around the league because of his odd, funky delivery.

25-year old righty Jeremy Bonderman appeared to turn the corner in the first half of the season as he was 9-1…but then the roof caved in. He started 28 games for the Tigers last season and he was 11-9 with a 5.01 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. If he can stay healthy in 2008 this could be the season he breaks out.

30-year old lefty Nate Robertson will be the #5 starter for the Tigers this season. He started 30 games for the Tigers last year and he was 9-13 with a 4.76 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. Look for Robertson to win more games this season due to the added run support.

The Tigers can’t afford any injuries to the starting staff because they moved a lot of the top prospects in trades this off-season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: B

If Alex Rodriguez didn’t have such a freakish season last year, Magglio Ordonez would have been the MVP in the American League. The 34-year old righty swinging Ordonez played in 157 games for the Tigers last season and he was 216 for 595 (.363 avg, 1.029 OPS) with 117 runs scored, 28 homers and 139 RBIs. He also cracked 54 doubles last season to lead the American League. Ordonez doesn’t have much range in the field but he only made 1 error in RF in 143 games there.

Ryan Raburn will likely be the top backup in RF for the Tigers this season as he didn’t make an error in 16 games there while showing outstanding range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: A

27-year old switch-hitting Curtis Granderson had a breakout 2007 season for the Tigers. He played in 158 games for the Tigers last season and he was 185 for 612 (.302 avg, .813 OPS) with 122 runs scored, 23 homers, 74 RBIs and 26 stolen bases. He also led the American League with an amazing 23 triples! Granderson played in 157 games in CF for the Tigers last season and he made 5 errors while showing outstanding range. He also had 10 assists from CF. There is nothing on a baseball field that Granderson doesn’t excel at so he should have a great 2008 season for the Tigers.

27-year old switch hitting Freddy Guzman will likely be the backup in CF for the Tigers this season. He played in 8 games for the Rangers last season and he was 1 for 6 (.167 avg, .834 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. He also played in 133 games in AAA ball last season and he was 144 for 535 (.269 avg, .711 OPS) with 92 runs scored, 4 homers, 34 RBIs and 57 stolen bases.

26-year old righty swinging Ryan Raburn could also get some P.T. in CF for the Tigers. He played in 49 games for the Tigers last season and he was 42 for 138 (.304 avg, .847 OPS) with 28 runs scored, 4 homers and 27 RBIs. Raburn played in 13 error-less games in CF for the Tigers last season but he showed poor range there.

24-year old righty swinging Brett Clevlen regressed in the minors last season for the Tigers. He played in 104 games in AAA + Rookie Ball last season and he was 86 for 370 (.232 avg) with 43 runs scored, 9 homers and 44 RBIs. He also whiffed 121 times! Clevlen played in 13 games for the Tigers last season and he was 1 for 10 (.100 avg, .200 OPS) with 2 runs scored. Still, Clevlen is the #16 prospect in the Tigers minor league system according to the Baseball America Prospect Handbook so he still has time to turn things around.

If the Tigers don’t trade Brandon Inge before Opening Day he could help them out in CF.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: A