The American Freedom Network

Prediction 2009: Detroit Tigers in the Playoffs

January 31, 2009 – 12:36 pm

On Super Bowl weekend, what else is there to do in Michigan, always on the sidelines because of the Lions, but to dream of baseball?  So, on to the Tigers…

They underachieved, they were hurt, they were saddled with dud contracts (think “Edgar Renterea”), they were picked to win it all, they finished dead last.  That’s the 2008 story of my beloved Detroit Tigers.  Why will 2009 be different?  My Top 10 reasons:

1.)  Justin Verlander went 12-17 last year with the best stuff in the game.  His first taste of athletic adversity made him angry; a new pitching coach should be able to show him what to do about it.

2.)Jeremy  Bonderman won 4 games, with his season over in May due to surgery.  Look for him to win his usual 14 (or more) this season.

3.)  Edwin Jacksom won 14 for Tampa Bay last year; he should do at least was well this year.

4.)  Todd Jones was reliable as a closer until he got hurt in June.  The bullpen collapsed in his absence.  Brad Lyon is just like Jonsey:  he throws strikes.  He ought to surpass the 26 saves he had last year for Arizona.

5.)  No position switches this year.  Last year, Miguel Cabrerra started at third, then went to first base, due to his limited range;Carlos  Guillen started at first, after playing shortstop the year before, then got moved to third.  He’s set for left field this year from the get-go. Brandon  Inge went from starting third baseman in 2007 to utility player last year, to starting catcher, to back at third.  One of the game’s best defenders will be at third all season this year.

6.)  The Tigers have four legitimate starters for the last two spots in their rotation.  Armando Gallaraga won 13 as a rookie, so he’s a lock for one spot..  Dontrelle Willis is all of 26 years old, has a Cy under his belt, and appears to have put the weight and control problems behind him; Nate Robertson was overweight and lost something off his pitches, but has worked diligently all winter to regain his old form; Zach Miner pitched well last year as a starter, and deserves a spot in the rotation.

7.)  A lineup with Curtis Granderson (lead league in triples last two years),Placido  Polanco (career .300 hitter), Guillen (career .300 hitter), Cabrerra (last year’s HR champ), Magglio Ordonez (battiing champ in ‘07), and Gary Sheffield (499 career HRs, and healthy this year) should score enough runs to support an excellent pitching staff.  If the bottom three hitters do nothing offensively, it may not matter, if the top six mash like their resumes say they can.

8.)  Stone glove Renterea is gone, replaced by defensive wiz Adam Evrett.  (Renterea didn’t hit last year, either, so no loss there.)  Inge can pick them with the best, and he’s an upgrade over last year’s 3B mix of Cabrerra and Guillen.  Pudge Rodreiguz  lost a step behind the plate, and the new catchers are known as good defenders, making for an upgrade at that position.  Cabrerra did his on-the-job training last year; his defense should be better at first this year.  If defense wins games, then the Tigers stand to win a few more for defense alone.

9.)  Jim Leyland’s job is on the line.  A potential Hall-of-Famer, he’s a quality leader who was professionally embarrassed last season, as were his coaches and the front office.   They’ll light a fire under the team this season.  They also have a motivated owner in Mike Illich, who turned the Dead Wings into perennial winners, transforming Detroit into Hockeytown.  His resume says he’ll do that with the Tigers.

10.)  The pipeline is full of quality young players, pitchers especially.  The Tigers will be able to promote from within or trade for the help they need, if holes develop.  Years of quality drafts are about to yeild the next generation of Verlanders, Joel Zumayas and Grandersons.  (Can’t help but contrast that to the Lions, who have consistently had bad drafts…)

In closing, everything is alinged to make this a good baseball year.  Detroit needs that.  Just as the 1968 Tigers helped life a city torn b y riots, the 2009 Tigers can inspire a city decimated by a lingering depression, as the storied auto gialns that made the Motor City fight for their very survival.  The hunger for good news, for hope on any front, may well be fed by the team nobody’s talking about, here in the winter of Michigan’s discontent.