Will the Tiger Finally Lose Its Bite?

Will the Tiger Finally Lose Its Bite?

 

The Detroit Tigers have dominated the AL Central for the last few years. Sure they’ve had very good teams, which cannot be taken away from them. However, the dominance has had more to do with the other teams in the division having a severe lack of talent to compete with them. That changes this season. The White Sox will not sniff the playoffs but they are an improved team who can steal some wins away. Also, Kansas City has improved to the point that not being in the wild card hunt this season would be a disappointment. Then there is Cleveland. They were a wild card team last season under new manager Terry Francona and have the pieces to make a division title run. Many factors have led me to one conclusion; Detroit will not make the playoffs this year.

With Brad Ausmus in his first year at the helm there will be some growing pains as he gets accustomed to managing at the big league level. Managing the bullpen will be a big indicator of how he will fare as a manager. Behind Verlander and Scherzer there is a big dropoff in talent. Everyone points to Anibal Sanchez being so underrated and a terrific pitcher but I don’t see it. Sure you could have a lot worse but I don’t think he’s the be all end all everyone makes him out to be. Drew Smyly is a question mark in the rotation over the long haul of a season. There’s no telling how he will perform. Then there’s Rick Porcello. Everyone is waiting for this guy to have his breakout year which hasn’t happened yet and after a few seasons of waiting people may need to accept that it isn’t going to happen and this is the exact type of pitcher he will be. The infield is completely remodeled and should be better defensively. Miguel Cabrera is no defensive whiz wherever he plays but being at first is much better for him. Ian Kinsler replaces Omar Infante which is an upgrade on defense but may prove to be a wash on offense. I see Kinsler as a guy in regression and taking him out of Texas and putting him in Ford Field will hurt his numbers even more. Nick Castellanos is a rookie who is much better with the bat than he is with the glove. Starting out he is going to have some defensive inefficiencies as he continues to improve but the Tigers have to hope those early struggles in the field do not carry over to the plate. Jose Iglesias is the polar opposite of Castellanos. Thrives in the field and lags behind at the plate. He is out to start the year with bilateral tibia stress fractures and it is uncertain how long he will miss. Losing Prince Fielder will hurt Miguel Cabrera as far as protection is concerned. Pitchers can be more careful and work around Cabrera.

I expect this team to be in the hunt for the second wild card spot, they won’t be falling to 2013 Nationals levels of losing, but I expect them to come up just short. They need to work on their depth and find better protection for their almost quarter of a billion dollar man. Often injured Victor Martinez is not the answer.

We will be back tomorrow with predictions on the playoffs and awards for the year. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @changingspeeds for all our coverage of the national pastime.