Location: Detroit, Mich. | Ballpark: Comerica Park (41,000) | Spring Training: Lakeland, Fla.
Owner: Mike Ilitch | GM: Dave Dombrowski | Manager: Jim Leyland | World Championships: 4
Season in seven words: "Make it end already. Make it end!" ... Hero: Miguel Cabrera: Imagine what he could do if he actually gave a crap ... Loserhead: Jarrod Washburn in Tigers burnt-orange/black: 7.33 ERA, 51 hits and 12 homers allowed in 43 innings ... Key need: Someone who can reliably set hitters down in the eighth and ninth innings, plus non-gimpsters at third base and the outfield corners ... Prognosis: Regardless of how they do tonight, the bottom's about to fall out.
09/29/2009
14
14
Are they the seventh best team in the American League right now? Maybe! They're behind the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Rays, Rangers and Twins, plus you could make a case -- not a great one, but a case nonetheless -- for the Mariners and the turbo-plucky A's ... Give the Tigers credit for this: They've managed Rick Porcello with aplomb, remaining flexible while sticking to a preset plan. Their careful monitoring of Porcello makes for a nifty contrast with the Yankees' drunk-guy-on-stilts handling of Chamberlain.
09/22/2009
14
9
They lost five of six to the Royals and split with the Jays despite not having to face Roy Halladay. This is a playoff team? ... The lineup boasts two big-name regulars (Curtis Granderson and Brandon Inge) who rarely make contact, the bullpen lacks a single functional arm and Edwin Jackson is either tipping his pitches or losing his mind. ... The only good sign here is that Rick Porcello has consistently been throwing strikes. Of course, the team has no choice but to drive him well beyond his ideal innings limit, which could augur bad elbow things down the road.
09/15/2009
9
8
On Tuesday night at 8:34 p.m. CST, Magglio Ordonez's $18 million option for 2010 will kick in. And when it does, Scott Boras will further cement his reputation as the best person at his job in the history of labor. ... Nate Robertson and Armando Galarraga have been shifted to long relief, meaning the Tigers are just as capable of letting games get out of hand in the fourth or fifth inning as they are in the eighth. ... Gotta love Jim Leyland, who dispensed with the Jeter-totally-plays-the-game-the-right-way platitudes and commented thusly: "If you picked an athlete from each sport to go visit the Pope, he's the one I'd pick for baseball."
09/08/2009
8
11
Nice work against the gasping Tampa pen over the weekend. ... They're up a bunch and there's nobody in the rear-view mirror. It's time to swing, baby. ... Not that anybody west of Pennsylvania cares, but Miguel Cabrera (.336/.402/.561) is having every bit the season that alleged MVP candidate Mark Teixeira (.282/.380/.551) is, even when you factor in Cabrera's base-running (he often requires directions from point A to point B) and defense (improved but still less than balletic). Plus he's shed the cheeseburger gut, which augurs more slugging and less panting for the postseason. He's in a good place about now.
09/01/2009
11
13
As far as reality shows go, "Who Wants to Win the AL Central?" lags way behind anything that involves Flavor Flav getting some tail. ... Mike Cameron, available at the double-last-minute trade deadline for a packet of Splenda, would've been a great addition here to platoon with Curtis Granderson. ... I loved the Jarrod Washburn deal at the time, but he has been pounded flat since coming to the Tigers. Damn you, law of averages! ... If you haven't been following Dontrelle Willis' physical/psychological/emotional rehab starts in Triple-A, don't start now. Look away, baby, look away.
08/25/2009
13
14
Magglio Ordonez oughta be sitting against righties, Curtis Granderson oughta be sitting against lefties, and Brandon Inge oughta be sitting, period. Inge's knee has rendered him a liability. ... Even with Aubrey Huff around to provide ostensible protection against such tactics, I'd still walk Miguel Cabrera in any situation where there's even the slimmest possibility he can do some damage. ... This team needs a few weeks off, pronto.
08/18/2009
14
13
The Tigers/Red Sox tilt wasn't exactly a brawl, but it certainly rose above the level of slapfight. We need to coin a new term here. A shovefest? An un-hug? Send suggestions via e-mail. ... The Aubrey Huff acquisition isn't a game-changer, but it places another left-handed bat in the middle of a lineup that desperately needs one. Equally important in the longer-term scheme of things, the Tigers can allot at-bats to Huff that might otherwise have gone to Magglio Ordonez -– thereby all but annulling Ordonez's $18 million 2010 contract option, which kicks in at 540 plate appearances in 2009. On behalf of every Tiger fan on the planet, I offer the following commentary: Whew!
08/11/2009
13
11
It's been a slow start for Jarrod Washburn in Motown. But there's little question that his pending free agency -- I mean, his win-at-all-costs makeup -- will propel him to new competitive heights ... Something to worry about: Edwin Jackson has slowly returned to his dinger-prone ways, surrendering 10 in his last seven starts after only allowing seven in his first 16. Remember: Before this season, he was the undisciplined mayor of Lazytown ... They're 23-34 on the road, but 36-18 at home. Must ... fight ... impulse ... to make unfair ... and below-the-belt crack ... about how they're ... the only people happy to be in Detroit ... Couldn't do it. Sorry.
08/04/2009
11
9
They are the clear front-runners in the AL Central after acquiring Jarrod Washburn. Crystal-clear. Like, clearer than clear ... I say that fully acknowledging the Tigers lack offense up and down the lineup. At the same time, a 10-3 laugher counts the same in the standings as a tight 2-1 win that prompts Jim Leyland to avail himself of an intravenous nicotine drip ... The Tigers probably oughta shore up the 'pen with a David Weathers type in order to preserve some of those late one-run leads.
Preseason Power Rankings
Date
Ranking
Previous
02/16/2009
22
-
Based on his offseason grumbles, I have a feeling we're going to see the "please put me out of my misery" Jim Leyland of 1998 and 1999 rather than the one who otherwise ranks among the game's great modern-era skippers. ... Hey, didya hear? Dontrelle Willis isn't an unhinged lardbucket anymore. Now, about that whole throwing-strikes thing. ... Except for the genial, serene Curtis Granderson, this team is a migraine waiting to happen.
