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-

23-year old righty swinging Austin Jackson came over in the big Curtis Granderson/Edwin Jackson trade over the winter and he will be expected to leadoff and start in CF for the Tigers in 2010. Jackson played in 132 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 151 of 504 (.300 avg, .759 OPS) with 67 runs scored, 4 homers, 65 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. The Yankees don’t usually give up top prospects in trades so it will be interesting to see if Jackson is the real deal or not. He is a solid defensive center fielder.

26-year old lefty swinging Clete Thomas is the fallback plan so the Tigers need Jackson to be for real. Thomas played in 102 games for the Tigers last season and he was 66 of 275 (.240 avg, .709 OPS) with 46 runs scored, 7 homers, 39 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Thomas played in 7 error-free games in CF last season for the Tigers while showing above average range.

30-year old lefty swinging Don Kelly will be back for the Tigers in 2010. He played in 31 games for the Tigers last season and he was 14 of 56 (.250 avg, .651 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 3 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Kelly didn’t play any games in CF last season for the Tigers but he would be at least average defensively there.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CF IN 2010: C

36-year old lefty swinging Johnny Damon will bat 2nd and play left field for the Tigers in 2010. Damon played in 143 games for the Tigers last season and he was 155 of 550 (.282 avg, .854 OPS) with 107 runs scored, 24 homers, 82 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. It will be interesting to see if Damon’s power from last season holds up in Detroit as the new Yankee Stadium favored lefty hitters. Regardless of the power, Damon should give the Tigers a nice season in 2010 as he has shown no signs of slowing down. Damon made 5 errors in 132 games in LF for the Yankees last season while showing slightly below average range. But, he did have six assists out of LF as his arm is a little bit stronger than he gets credit for.

28-year old righty swinging Ryan Raburn will be Damon’s backup in 2010. He played in 70 games in LF for the Tigers last season and he made 5 errors while showing outstanding range. Raburn has a very strong arm as he had 9 assists while playing LF in 2009.

24-year old righty swinging Wilkin Ramirez will likely start the year in AAA but he might get a chance at some point for the Tigers in 2010. Ramirez played in 15 games for the Tigers last season and he was 4 of 11 (.364 avg, 1.203 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. He also played in 113 games in AAA-ball last season in which he was 112 of 434 (.258 avg, .771 OPS) with 69 runs scored, 17 homers, 51 RBIs and 33 stolen bases. Ramirez played in 3 error-free games in LF last season for the Tigers while showing above average range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE LF IN 2010: B

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