| Christopher Reina. 26th October, 2007 - 7:22 pm
 2007 Record: 88-74
2007 Pythagorean Record: 89-73
2nd in AL Central
2007 Payroll: $95 million (9th in MLB, 6th in AL)
The Tigers were able to get career years in right, center and second but were still unable to make the playoffs.
After an extremely consistent first half, the Tigers fell apart and finished second to the Indians in the AL Central and second to the Yankees in the AL Wild Card.
General Manager
Since 2002 when he was hired, Dave Dombrowski has done an excellent job in building the Tigers through a blend of veterans and youngsters. He inherited a team that was built to consistently lost 100 games (topping out at an astonishing 119 in 2003) and turned them into a big market club that can compete on an annual level with the Yankees and Red Sox.
The acquisitions of free agents like Magglio Ordonez and Ivan Rodriguez resembles what he did in Florida in the mid-90’s with Gary Sheffield, Moises Alou and Bobby Bonilla, which resulted in a World Series win in 1997.
Even the hire of Jim Leyland was a replication.
Manager
It is hard to believe Jim Leyland is a career .496 manager due to all of his playoff appearances in Pittsburgh, along with his two-year stint in Florida and his successful two years in Detroit. He is just 20 games under .500, so if the Tigers return to the playoffs in 2008, he will get there.
His managing style and personality is ideal for a Dombrowski team. He doesn’t back down to anyone, but he treats his players with great respect and despite being ‘old school,’ he’s also unorthodox.
Catcher
Dombrowski’s first major decision was whether or not to pick up Ivan Rodriguez’s $13 million option for 2008, which he swiftly did on October 9th.
“People just throw around other options like you can get anybody to catch, but there are not a lot of future Hall of Famers available," said Leyland.
Rodriguez will turn 36 in November and has played in 140 games just once since 2000. He also posted his second sub-.300 OBP season in three seasons, walking just nine times all season. Rodriguez is one of just two players (Miguel Olivo) to walk less than 10 times and strikeout more than 90 in a season.
In his first season in Detroit, Rodriguez had an OPS of .893 and it dropped to .714 in 2007.
But he did bat .281 with 11 homeruns, which is still respectable for the position, though of course not at that price.
Ultimately, Rodriguez at $13 million is a better option than Paul Lo Duca/Yorvit Torrealba at their salary plus Rodriguez’s $3 million buyout.
He should bounce back if he becomes more patient at the plate and is relatively healthy.
First Base
This will finally be the season in which Carlos Guillen moves over to first base full time. He isn’t terribly happy about the move, but it is ultimately good for him and for the club. Since joining the Tigers in 2004, Guillen has the best OPS (.883) of any shortstop in MLB. Better than Miguel Tejada’s .863, Derek Jeter’s .851 and Michael Young’s .834.
As a first baseman, he is of course compared to the Ryan Howard’s and Albert Pujols’ of the world, but the .883 is third to just Mark Teixeira and Paul Konerko amongst first basemen.
Second Base
The Phillies need a third baseman and it is safe to say that they wish they could have Placido Polanco back. In 2007, he hit .341 and had an OPS of .846, both were career bests. He is affordably signed through the 2009 season, which will allow the club to enjoy two more prime seasons and determine whether or not a decline has begun. He is an extremely smart hitter who rarely strikes out and is an ideal second baseman and an ideal second place hitter.
Third Base
Brandon Inge is inked through the 2010 season, so they appear stuck with the 30-year-old third baseman who is coming off a supremely disappointing 2007. While his low .300’s OBP remained steady, his slugging percentage dropped from .463 to .376. The unrealistic power he showed in early 2006 has continued to be absent, as he hit just 14 homeruns. This is far from ideal for a corner infielder, even if he is your 9th place hitter.
Ryan Raburn should be taking grounders at third base every day between now and March 1st. He is an outfielder who can play some third and who has been in the minors too long at this point and had an .847 OPS in his 148 plate appearances in 2007.
Shortstop
With Guillen moving to first base, the Tigers will have multiple options at shortstop to plug the hole. They could look for a short term stopgap via free agency in Omar Vizquel, a trade for Edgar Renteria or Jack Wilson, or they can simply throw Omar Infante and Ramon Santiago in the water and see which one floats.
The price to trade for Renteria will be too high for what they will get in return. He is an ideal second place hitter, which they already have filled in Polanco.
Wilson is a more attractive commodity to acquire via trade, but his production will be just slightly better than the Infante and Santiago platoon.
They will also likely speak with Scott Boras about Alex Rodriguez.
Left Field
Andy Van Slyke and Gary Sheffield may not like it and Leyland has already said it won't happen, but signing Barry Bonds would make more sense for player and team than any other situation. If Bonds still wants to play left field for the Giants, why can’t he play about 80 games in left in Detroit? He would also get some of Gary Sheffield’s off days at DH, giving him as many as 120 games for the season.
Bonds would be the left-handed slugger the Tigers have been missing for several seasons now. The promise of contending for a World Series, as well as playing for Leyland would make him very affordable on a one-year deal.
They could then give the other 80 games to Marcus Thames, who has spurts of quality play, and to the very talented and very young Cameron Maybin. Maybin’s ascent through the minors has been hugely impressive and is ready for a full season in the bigs, though not on an everyday level. He is currently lighting up the Arizona Fall League and should be one of the Tigers' two everyday corner outfielders.
Luis Gonzalez played one season in Detroit in the late 90's between his stints in Houston and Arizona and is a nice left-handed short term bat.
Centerfield
Curtis Granderson went from a nice young player to a true star in 2007. Granderson and Jimmy Rollins joined the 20-HR/20-triple/20-double club in 2007, which previously had just five members. An annual OPS of .913 is unlikely, but with his speed and improvement as a heady baserunner, Granderson will continue to find ways to score runs amongst the league-leaders. He also may have been the best postseason analyst on any channel.
Right Field
Now that he is two full years removed from his injury-ridden 2004/2005 seasons, Magglio Ordonez is once again one of the most productive hitters in MLB. He is a career .892 OPS hitter and had a 1.029 in 2007. Now that he is healthy, he is every bit as good as he was during his prime White Sox seasons. Like Polanco, Ordonez is signed through 2009, giving the Tigers great stability for two more seasons.
Designated Hitter
Like so many other Tigers, Gary Sheffield will be in Detroit through 2009. The fact that Sheffield made nearly 600 plate appearances has to make his 2007 season at least somewhat successful on that fact alone. He had an excellent May, June and July, but the Tigers began to fade as Sheffield did. He played in just 14 games in August, hitting .184 with one homerun. When he’s right, he still is one of the most feared hitters in the game, so it’s merely a question of that for Sheffield and the Tigers.
Starting Pitching
A lack of quality pitching behind Justin Verlander made life difficult for Leyland and also for a bullpen missing Joel Zumaya for much of the season.
Verlander was excellent again, posting a 3.66 ERA and also throwing a no-hitter.
The front of the rotation potential Jeremy Bonderman has shown from time to time is difficult to determine due to nagging injuries. He was excellent in the first half of the season, going 9-1 with a 3.48 ERA, but in the second half he went 2-8 with a 7.38 ERA.
The Tigers will have to look at free agency to add a middle of the rotation starter. There aren’t any highly attractive options, but a Jason Jennings or Livan Hernandez could be an affordable option.
Nate Robertson’s 2007 ERA was almost a full point worse in 2007 than he was in 2006 when he had an ERA of 3.84. Robertson may bounce back some, but he is 30 already and if he was anything more than a back of the rotation starter he would be so already.
Kenny Rogers hasn’t yet made a decision if he even wants to pitch again next season, but if he does it will likely be in Detroit. He was injured for much of 2007, but he wasn’t dreadful when he was actually on the mound.
Jair Jurrjens doesn’t appear ready to start, but he could be a midseason call up if they don’t deal him for a shortstop. He has shown dominance in his minor league stops.
Andrew Miller didn’t show the movement of his fastball and slider as what was expected and he therefore was hit hard in 13 starts.
Relief Pitching
If Zumaya had a 2007 like his 2006, there would be no question he would be the closer and Todd Jones would walk, but since he’s not, Dombrowski will need to bring the elder statesman back one more time.
Fernando Rodney took a step backwards in 2007, but lefties Bobby Seay and Tim Byrdak were very good.
Jason Grilli, meanwhile, is an effective innings-eater.
Farm System
Maybin is the unquestioned star of the Tigers’ system, but his days on the farm are nearing completion. As are Jurrjens’ trips to the minor league mound.
The Tigers had an excellent 2007 draft and high school pitcher Rick Porcello headlines that class.
Gorkys Hernandez is a very talented and very very fast centerfielder who is just 20 and had 54 stolen bases and hit .293 in A ball in 2007.
First baseman Jeffrey Larish had 28 homeruns in AA ball, but his average isn’t where the club would like to see it and he’s already 25.
Hayden Parrott is another name to watch, because he should be ready to replace Inge or Polanco when their contracts are up.
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