Breaking Down The Tigers - Part 1 of 5

The Detroit Tigers appear to be out of the race for Derek Lowe. Lowe, reportedly, is near a four year, $36 million deal with the Dodgers.

The Tigers haven’t had much luck signing guys this year. They started off well with Troy Percival, but went on to be snubbed by Pavano, Drew, Beltre, and others.

It was reported that Lowe wanted a four year, $48 million deal from the Tigers. Although he had a good post-season, his ERA, 5.42, was too high to command that kind of money. The Tigers passed.

So rather than looking at a gloomy picture, I’ve decided to spend the week breaking down the Tigers. I will piece it out into five parts -- Infielders, Outfielders, Starting Pitchers, Relief Pitchers, and Prospects and the future.

Let’s start with the Infield.

First Base. Carlos Pena signed a one year contract on Friday to remain with the Tigers. Pena adds strong fielding (.995 fielding percentage), and a homerun threat at the place. The downside of Pena is his inconsistency at the plate. Pena is a career .244 hitter who has never hit better than .248, with an on base percentage of only .331. It seems to me that he is always swinging for the fence, and strikes out, flies out, or homers. There are times when Pena looks as if he’s finally coming around, and then he goes back into his hitting slump, reminding us why he might not be the long term answer at first base. Keys for Pena this season will be increasing his batting average, and raising his on base percentage. If he stops trying to hit a homerun every time he’s at bat, these two areas could be self-corrected. Only giving someone who has been touted as the best first base prospect in the American League a one year contract speaks volumes. Get better, or we’ll have to replace you.

Second Base. It appears Fernando Vina could be done. Vina, battling a knee injury, is expected to start the season on the 60 day disabled list. He spent 75% of last season on the disabled list, and he’s not getting any younger. To add to it all, his last season with St Louis was plagued with injuries. To fill the gap, the Tigers called on Omar Infante, and will do the same again this year. Infante did decent behind the plate. He had an average of .264 with 16 homeruns, and 55 RBIs. In the field, he had a field percentage of .976, and 12 errors. Infante can easily keep the job at second base by trimming down his errors, and raising his on base percentage. Out of 503 at bats, Infante struck out 112 times, and only walked 40. A good spring training and starting the season playing should be a factor in achieving this. He’ll be able to work on what he needs, and then enter the season with the momentum he’ll get from spring training. With other problems in the outfield and pitching, second base hasn’t been an area that the Tigers have tried to put a new player at. This is Infante’s chance to cement himself into the roster.

Short Stop. Carlos Guillen is the real deal. Since 2000, his numbers have improved every year, with last year being his break-out season with a .318 batting average, and 97 RBIs in only 136 games. His fielding needs a little bit of polishing. Guillen had 17 errors that held his fielding percentage down to a .974. Although not making excuses, or justifying the high error count, Guillen does have a history of errors. He had a career high 21 when he was with Seattle, and hasn’t really improved since. His goal with the Tigers when camp opens should be improving his fielding. Alan Trammell, former short stop for the Tigers, will most likely try and work with Guillen in this area.

Third Base. Who says catchers can’t be converted to base positions? Brandon Inge did so last year, and did well. Whatever happened to him in his minor league assignment in September 2003 worked well for the season of 2004. Inge hit .287 with 64 RBIs and 13 homeruns. Before that he was hitting right around .200 each season. There is still some skepticism, but with a year of third base under his belt, Inge could turn out to be a viable option at the position. He had fewer errors than Guillen and Infante, with a fielding percentage of .935 in 73 games. He will only improve on these numbers from this point. He needs to work on his reaction to quick hits, and make sure he’s in front of the ball at all times. He doesn’t appear afraid to go after balls. Knocking the ball down can sometimes be as effective as getting it in the glove. He has the arm strength and accuracy to reach first base without problems, now he just has to make sure he’s keeping the ball in play. While not forgetting to keep his hitting up to the levels of last season, he now needs to put most of his focus on his fielding.

Catcher. Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez enters his second season as a Tiger. Pudge, who was in contention for the batting title most of last summer, finished the year batting .334 with 19 homeruns and 86 RBIs. Pudge ran into some trouble with his hip flexor muscles, and often appeared uncomfortable behind the plate. He toughed it out, but was ineffective throwing runners out at second base. A healthy hip flexor will help Pudge next season, and we should see his caught stealing percentage go back up to the 40-50 percent mark. Being a seasoned veteran with a World Series on his resume, Pudge is a proven leader on the field, and at the plate. He’s proven he can carry a team from the NLCS to the World Series, and he’s shown he can carry another team from a 43 win season to a 72 win season. Pudge will finish his next three years without injury, or problems with his back. He will consistently hit over .300, and will lead the Tigers to a Central Division title at least once. With someone of Pudge’s level, there isn’t one thing to work on for improvement. Instead, Pudge must come to Spring Training, get ready for the season, and give it all he can.

Overall I’m pretty happy with the infield. I never considered them the problem with this team, even with Pena’s hitting woes, and the loss of Vina. I would consider this infield good enough to win a division, and maybe even a round in the playoffs. If, during the season, Pena isn’t hitting well, I could see the Tigers using him in a trade. That is, if they have solved some of their other problems.

Tomorrow we’ll discuss the outfield, and try and make some sense of the mess.

Stats provided by ESPN