Dave Dombrowski has been very busy on the final day of the 2014
Winter Meetings. What we know is that Rick Porcello is now a Boston Red Sox.
Yoenis Cespedes is the Tigers new starting left fielder, and Eugenio Suarez has
been moved to the Cincinnati Reds for RHP Alfredo Simon. It would also seem
that the Tigers have made the choice to not resign Max Scherzer as their rotation
has now been remade without him in mind. Not to say they are out on Max, but it
looks less and less likely he will resign in Detroit
With these moves we now see a clearer
picture of what the 2015 Tigers will look like. The starting five will be Justin
Verlander, David Price, Anibal Sanchez, Alfredo Simon, and Shane Greene. That
is still very strong and if JV can have a bounce back year, Sanchez stay
healthier, and Price be who we think he is the starting rotation could be just
slightly less dominant as it has been. Granted at this point Simon is something
of a question mark.
The Tigers have also saved a bit of money
here. Porcello was set for yet another big raise in his final year of arbitration
and due a huge raise following the 2015 season. He has the look of a 100
million dollar deal and the Tigers simply cannot afford to have another
contract of that size. Simon is due to make less than half of what Porcello
would command for next season which leaves payroll dollars to address the one
issue that the Tigers brain trust as once again failed to improve...the
bullpen.
The outfield for 2015 looks like Cespedes
in left. A Rajai Davis and Anthony Gose platoon in center and JD Martinez in
right. That is stronger defensively that it has been and if JD can continue to
show some power gives the middle of the Tigers lineup some teeth. More on that
later.
The infield will be Miguel Cabrera at
first, Ian Kinsler at second, Joe Iglesias at short and Nick Castellanos at
third. The fifth infielder will likely be Andrew Romine so that Hernan Perez
can play everyday at Toledo
The lineup looks to be something like
this:
1. Gose/Davis
2. Kinsler
3. Cabrera
4. Victor Martinez
5. Cespedes
6. JD Martinez
7. Castellanos
8. Alex Avila
9. Iglesias
That has a lot of potential, and on paper
the middle of that lineup looks mean. However I wonder how Cespedes fits into Comerica Park
Dombrowski has made another set of bold
moves, and some of this is continual fall out from the disastrous Doug Fister
trade of a year ago. With that being said I am mostly positive about the moves
made today both in terms of production and in terms of savings to the payroll moving
forward. While Dombrowski has a lot of money tied up in his stars the remainder
of his roster remains flexible enough to make moves. We can complain about the
state of the minor league system another time...given that with Jonathan
Crawford going to the Reds means four of the top prospects of this team have
now been dealt away this off season.
