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The Detroit Tigers sign Brent Dlugach

chinmusic — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:29:13 +0000

The Tigers have signed 28-year old righty swinging infielder Brent Dlugach to a minor league deal. Dlugach played in 63 games in AAA-ball last year for the Red Sox and he was 48 for 216 (.222 avg, .626 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 6 homers, 25 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. His only taste of the majors came back in 2009 with the Tigers. He played in 5 games for the Tigers last year and he was 0 for 3 (.000 avg, .000 OPS) with 1 run scored and 2 whiffs. He will be a longshot to win a bench job for the Tigers this spring.

The Detroit Tigers have a very solid starting rotation for 2012

chinmusic — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:10:31 +0000

The Tigers will likely try to fill the #5 spot in the starting rotation from within, but they are very strong from #1-#4 in the rotation. Here is a look at how the rotation is going to fill out in 2012:

#1: Justin Verlander: 28-year old righty Justin Verlander was the best pitcher in all of baseball last year. He won both the American League Cy Young Award and the American League MVP Award in 2011. Verlander pitched in 34 games (all starts) for the Tigers last year and he was 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. Verlander led the major leagues in wins (24), WHIP (0.92), innings pitched (251) and whiffs (250) last year. He also led the American League in ERA with a 2.40 mark in 2011. Verlander has now pitched in 199 games (all starts) in his first seven years with the Tigers and he is 107-57 with a 3.54 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. I look for Verlander to have another monster year in 2012.

#2: Doug Fister: 27-year old righty Doug Fister came to the Tigers in a deal with the Mariners last year and he pitched really well. Fister pitched in 32 games (31 starts) for the Mariners & Tigers last year and he was 11-13 with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. He has now pitched in 71 games (69 starts) in his first three years in the majors and he is 20-31 with a 3.49 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. It will be interesting to see if Fister can pitch like he did last season as it seemed to come out of the blue.

#3: Max Scherzer: 27-year old righty Max Scherzer is a very solid #3 starter for the Tigers. He pitched in 33 games (all starts) for the Tigers last year and he was 15-9 with a 4.43 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Scherzer has now pitched in 64 games (all starts) in his first two years with the Tigers and he is 27-20 with a 3.96 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Scherzer has outstanding stuff and this could be the year that his results catch up. Scherzer has now pitched in 110 games (101 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 36-35 with a 3.92 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP.

#4: Rick Porcello: 23-year old righty Rick Porcello was rushed to the majors 3 years ago and he has done a decent job so far. He pitched in 31 games (all starts) for the Tigers last year and he was 14-9 with a 4.75 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. Porcello has now pitched in 89 games (all starts) in his first three years with the Tigers and he is 38-30 with a 4.54 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. I look for Porcello to improve his performance in 2012.

#5: Jacob Turner: 20-year old righty Jacob Turner will try to beat only lefties Andy Oliver and Duane Below for the #5 job in the Tigers’ rotation this spring. Turner pitched in 20 games (all starts) in AA+AAA-ball last year and he was 4-5 with a 3.44 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. But, he didn’t fare too well in his first shot in the majors. He pitched in 3 games (all starts) for the Tigers last year and he was 0-1 with a 8.53 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. Turner will be the favorite in the competition for the #5 spot in the Tigers’ rotation this spring as he is one of their brightest prospects.

Andy Oliver: 24-year old lefty Andy Oliver pitched in 26 games (all starts) in AAA-ball last year and he was 8-12 with a 4.71 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. He also worked in 2 games (both starts) for the Tigers last year and he was 0-1 with a 6.52 ERA and a 1.97 WHIP. Oliver has now pitched in 7 games (both starts) in his first two years with the Tigers and he was 0-5 with a 7.11 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP. Despite his lack of success in the majors, the Tigers know that Oliver has a big time upside.

Duane Below: 26-year old lefty Duane Below pitched in 18 games (all starts) in AAA-ball last year and he was 9-4 with a 3.13 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. He also pitched in 14 games (2 starts) for the Tigers last year in which he was 0-2 with a 4.34 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Below will likely make the Tigers’ bullpen if he doesn’t win the #5 job in the starting rotation.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE STARTING ROTATION IN 2012: B+

The Detroit Tigers sign Prince Fielder

chinmusic — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:16:08 +0000

The Tigers have signed 27-year old lefty swinging 1B Prince Fielder to a 9-year, $214 million dollar deal. Fielder played in 162 games for the Brewers last year and he was 170 for 569 (.299 avg, .981 OPS) with 95 runs scored, 38 homers, 120 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 998 games in his first 7 years in the majors and he is 996 for 3,527 (.282 avg, .929 OPS) with 571 runs scored, 230 homers, 656 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Fielder has won 2 Silver Slugger Awards and he has been to the All-Star Team 3 times in his career so far. In the last six years, Fielder is averaging 94.8 runs scored, 38.0 homers and 107.7 RBIs per season. Fielder will be the starting 1B with Miguel Cabrera shifting to 3B or LF or RF for 2012. This was an epic signing for the Tigers as Fielder returns to the city where his father (Cecil Fielder) excelled. Imagine what kind of numbers Miguel Cabrera is going to put up with Fielder hitting behind him!

The Detroit Tigers lose Victor Martinez for the season

chinmusic — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:11:32 +0000

The Tigers have lost 33-year old switch-hitting DH/C/1B Victor Martinez for the entire 2012 season due to a torn ACL. He was injured during winter conditioning. Martinez played in 145 games for the Tigers last year and he was 178 of 540 (.330 avg, .850 OPS) with 76 runs scored, 12 homers, 103 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 1,149 games in his first 10 years in the majors and he is 1,298 of 4,279 (.303 avg, .840 OPS) with 585 runs scored, 143 homers, 741 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. One had to think that this was a big loss for the Tigers, until they signed Prince Fielder today.

The Detroit Tigers sign Brad Eldred

chinmusic — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:10:31 +0000

The Tigers have signed 31-year old righty swinging 1B Brad Eldred to a minor league deal. Eldred played in 112 games in AAA-ball last year for the Giants and he was 103 of 371 (.278 avg, .887 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 23 homers, 57 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. He last played in the majors back in 2010 with the Rockies. He has played in 85 games in his first three years in the majors and he is 53 for 260 (.204 avg, .678 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 15 homers, 33 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Eldred could get to the Tigers at some point in 2012, but he will likely start the season in the minors.

The Detroit Tigers sign James Avery

chinmusic — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:07:31 +0000

The Tigers have signed 27-year old righty starting pitcher James Avery to a minor league deal. Avery pitched in 27 games (26 starts) in AA-ball for the Reds last year and he was 6-12 with a 4.70 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. He has now pitched in 146 games (141 starts) in his first 7 years in the minors and he is 43-49 with a 4.53 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. Avery will likely pitch most, if not all, of the 2012 season in the minors as he has yet to pitch in the majors.

The Detroit Tigers sign outfielder Matt Young

chinmusic — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:05:11 +0000

The Tigers have signed 29-year old lefty swinging outfielder Matt Young to a minor league deal. Young played in 20 games for the Braves in his first taste of the majors last year and he was 10 for 48 (.208 avg, .498 OPS) with 4 runs scored and 1 RBI. He also played in 99 games in AAA-ball last year and he was 100 for 366 (.273 avg, .719 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 1 homer, 24 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. Young will probably start the 2012 season in the minors, but he could surface with them at some point this year.

The Detroit Tigers have not been too busy this winter

chinmusic — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:11:57 +0000

The Detroit Tigers have not been too busy this winter, but that’s a good thing. They didn’t need to make sweeping changes for 2012 as they have a pretty good team already. Here is a look at the new faces for 2012 so far:

In the field: The Tigers went out and signed catcher Gerald Laird. He will be Alex Avila’s full time backup, allowing Victor Martinez to concentrate on playing some 1B, while DHing most of the time in 2012. The also inked IF/OF Eric Patterson to a minor league deal and he will compete for a backup job this spring.

On the mound: The Tigers signed Octavio Dotel to make the bullpen even more dominating in 2012. He will team with Jose Valverde and Joaquin Benoit to make the Tigers very hard to beat late in games. The Tigers also added righty reliever Collin Balester in a deal with the Nationals and he will work early in games out of the pen in 2012.

Overall: The Tigers are ready to win right now, so adding Dotel and Laird is really going to help them in 2012.

The Detroit Tigers sign infielder Niuman Romero

chinmusic — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:10:02 +0000

The Tigers have signed 26-year old switch-hitting infielder Niuman Romero to a minor league deal. Romero played in 75 games in AA+AAA-ball last year and he was 55 of 238 (.231 avg, .555 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 0 homers, 23 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. He last played in the majors back in 2010 with the Red Sox. Romero has played in 12 games in his first two years in the majors and he is 2 for 18 (.111 avg, .269 OPS) with 3 runs scored. I see Romero playing most, if not all, of the 2012 season in AAA-ball.

The Detroit Tigers sign Eric Patterson

chinmusic — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:07:17 +0000

The Tigers have signed 28-year old lefty swinging 2B/OF Eric Patterson to a minor league deal. Patterson played in 47 games for the Padres last year and he was 16 of 89 (.180 avg, .564 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 2 homers, 8 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. He has now played in 226 games in his first five years in the majors and he is 110 of 508 (.217 avg, .637 OPS) with 65 runs scored, 10 homers, 50 RBIs and 35 stolen bases. Patterson will compete for a bench job this spring for the Tigers.