Wait Till Next Year Again
Greg Bowman
It's been a foregone conclusion for some time, of course. But the Tigers have now been mathematically eliminated from the American League Central Race. And once again, Tiger fans are left to wonder what went wrong. And also once again, the team collapsed in the second half of the season after a very strong first half. Even in 2006, the Tigers went into a tailspin after the All Star Break, but still managed to make it the World Series. It's happened every year since Jim Leyland became manager, except for 2008, when the team stumbled out of the gate and were never really in the race, after all the experts had predicted a return to the World Series for the Tigers.
Why does it keep happening? Is it Leyland's fault? The players? Or both. You can blame injuries, inconsistent hitting, inconsistent pitching, poor defense or a number of other factors. In any case, you can expect a number of changes next season so the Tigers can actually compete for an entire 162 game season.
So who will be back and who will not return next year? The Tigers should have 70 to 80 million dollars to play with to entice free agents to come to Detroit, as a number of big money contracts are finally coming off the books.
A couple of those big deals involve players (Nate Robertson and Dontrelle Willis) who aren't even on the team anymore, but the Tigers are still paying them. The others include Magllio Ordonez, Jeremy Bonderman, Brandon Inge, and Johnny Damon.
So who do you bring back? I think it may be time to let Brandon Inge seek employment elsewhere, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Tigers bring him back for less money. Acquiring Jhonny Peralta gives the Tigers more flexibility, since he can play short or third. The Tigers may want to go after a free agent like Adrian Beltre or Ty Wigginton to play third, although they both would want big bucks. And we don't need to get stuck with any more big deals for players that don't produce. What about Johnny Damon? I like him and his approach to hitting, but the Tigers way overpaid for him at 8 million dollars. I might him bring him back for 2 or 3 million.
I like going for the home grown players the Tigers were forced to bring up this season, probably many of them before they were ready. But Don Kelley and Will Rhymes have been very impressive and can play almost anywhere. Scott Sizemore was handed the second base job at the start of the season and couldn't handle it at bat or in the field. But he's been on fire since returning from Toledo this fall. And he has a good shot at being the starting second baseman at the start of next year, since Carlos Guillen may not be fully recovered from surgery by next spring.
If the Tigers are going to spend some of that money, and it's easy for me to spend it since it's Mike Illitch's money, and not mine, I wish they would go after Cliff Lee. He and Justin Verlander would make a formidable one two punch at the top of the rotation. And Max Scherzer has been great, along with Rick Porcello, who has had an impressive second half. And they should go after Carl Crawford, even though he probably won't come here. At least make an effort.
Even though the Tigers won't win the pennant, a couple of players have a good chance of winning major awards. Austin Jackson has hit 300, scored 100 runs, and stolen more than 20 bases in his rookie year, and has made some amazing catches in center. He should win rookie of the year. And Miguel Cabrera has put up numbers worthy of an MVP season, but I don't expect him to win because the award usually goes to a first place team.
