Detroit Tigers position by position review: second base

The second base spot on the Detroit Tigers roster has been in flux for some time. Ever since the team let Placido Polanco walk out of town without so much as on a offer following the 2009 season. It got so bad that the team had to add Omar Infante back to the roster last year at the trading deadline. That sort of made up for the rather poor decision to trade away Infante in the first palce for Jacque Jones a move that helped lead to the disaster that was 2008. Jacque would only last on the Tigers till May of 2008 and we can argue that the Tigers could have used Infante at short if not at second nearly all of that time. Granted the team had an aging Carlos Guillen, Polanco as well as Ramon Santiago on the roster so there was a surplus of infielders but I think the team would have done better to keep Infante.

Granted none of that is here nor there, and the Infante for Jones deal is hardly the only trade Dave Dombrowski made that backfired. Now the Infante is on the open market, and due a pretty big raise based on his performance for the Tigers the second base situation once again is in flux. It seems to me the first name to sign a contract this off season will be Max Scherzer and no other commitments will be made till that is done.

Infante hit .318 with 10 home runs and 51 RBI and was a nice fit in the bottom third of the Tigers batting order. However, his defensive skills are his value to the Tigers with Prince Fielder at first and Miguel Cabrera at third the Tigers need middle infielderd with range. They had that with Infante and with Jose Iglesias at short. Now they either resign Infante who made 4 million in 2013 or they go with the youngster Hernan Perez at second and save some money to address other needs. The only way I support doing so is if the Tigers go out and upgrade the catching situation. Alex Avila does not have enough offensive production to justify having him hit every day along with the light bats of Iglesias and Perez.

The preferable option is to bring back Infante, but economics might decide that. How much can the Tigers afford to pay him is not known but there seems to be a big fall off from the top free agent 2nd baseman, Robinson Cano, to Infante to the rest of the free agent field at this position. The crazy option, and Mr Illitch has been know to go this route from time to time, would be to sign Cano to a huge deal and get a second baseman and a lead off guy this roster so desperately needs.

I do not think the Tigers can afford to pay Infante anything more than 6 million dollars or so. I also happen to think there is a team out there that will offer him more. That means you take the savings where you can, and play Perez here and look to upgrade the situation at Catcher to help improve the bottom of the order. Good teams, winning teams have a good mix of high priced free agent acquisitions and younger kids that can play adequately and who have good defense. I think Hernan Perez is the likely 2014 starter at second.

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2013 Detroit Tigers week in review: Week 18

Well that was a fun week. Maybe having so many games in the second half against the slumping Chicago White Sox is going to be very good for our Detroit Tigers. The Tigers were at home this past week and busted out the whooping sticks on their competition. They went a perfect 8 for 8 on this home stand but gained no ground as the Cleveland Indians also went 9-1 over their last 10. That sets up a early August showdown between the two teams. If the Tigers can go to Cleveland and win tow or sweep they could make the race to the division title a moot point. It is showdown time in the American League Central. 

There are a few comers and goers as well. After the trade deadline Jose Veras and Jose Iglesisas have made their debuts here in Detroit and both look like solid additions to the roster. Jeremy Bonderman will also rejoin the Tigers (for Evan Reed) tonight in Cleveland, and we await the announcement at 3pm which will likely include a suspension for SS Jhonny Peralta effectively ending his career wit the team. 

We move to the splits. The Tigers are 64-45 and hold a full three game lead over the Tribe for first place. They are 37-19 at home and 27-26 on the road. That means winning the division isn't going to cut it anymore they need to have a good enough record to insure home field advantage in the playoffs. This team still has some work to do and that includes handling their business in Cleveland starting tonight. 

The Good:

• The Starting Rotation- very soon all five Tigers starters will have at least 10 victories. Very soon all five Tigers starters will have at least 100 strike outs. Doug Fister is a ground ball inducing machine and now the tigers have the defense behind that can convert those outs. 
• Jose Veras- He has made three appearances so far with the Tigers not allowing a hit, fanning one and earning a hold. He is exactly what this bullpen needed.
• Victor Martinez- after heating up in July Victor is hitting .272 and since he has gotten hot the Tigers are wining more, is that just a coincidence. 

The Bad:

• Alex Avila- He had a pretty good home stand, but even with that he is hitting less than .200. He handles the staff well but at what point does this team need more offensive production out of their catcher. 
• Omar Infante- Looks like he had a setback and this is a tam that needs him defensively and in the daily lineup. No matter how good the kid might be Jose Iglesisas can only play one position at a time. 
• Phil Coke- the team needs to find him a role he can excel in. Clearly that is not how they have been using him. 

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Detroit Tigers week in review: Week 13

This was a bad week in Detroit Tigers baseball, there is no denying that. The Tigers were swept by the Los

Angeles Angels at home, then lost two of three to the Tampa Bay Rays and as I sit here and write this they are losing to the Toronto Blue Jays 8-2. To be perfectly honest it is starting to feel a little 2008ish around this team.

The Tigers are 43-37 and that is the second worst record among the seven teams that own a piece of first place in their divisions. Only the Arizona Diamondbacks at 43-39 have a worst record with a least a piece of first place. And yes the Tigers are currently tied with the Cleveland Indians for first place in the American League Central.

There are not many answers in the splits either. The Tigers are 22-19 against teams with a winning record and 20-17 against team with a losing record. that seems to suggest this team just isn't all that good. The 2-9 record in extra inning games and 8-12 record in one run games suggest the Tigers have two big problems. The bullpen of course, and an offense that goers cold at exactly the wrong times. That is not an new issue. It is very hard to explain and the only logical thing seems to be that the team is to top heavy. The great player play great but the role players are not picking up any of the slack. The misguided loyalty of this organization to certain players is once again threatening to derail a season here the team was expected to contend for a World Series title.

The good:

• Max Scherzer- 12-0, 110.1 innings pitched, just 74 hits. This cat is unreal. he has started 16 games in 2013 and has 12 wins. Think about how good that is. Better than that the Tigers have only lost three of those 16 games he has started. 
• Miguel Cabrera- pick a stat, pick a situation, and realize this is the best hitter of this generation and it is a little scary that he seems to be getting better.
• Omar Infante- hey he did have a four hit game today, and he entered today hitting .299 and he and Jhonny Peralta are two solid bottom of the order guys. This roster seems to need at least one if not two guys like that that can play adequate defense and produce at the plate. 

The bad:

• Victor Martinez- It is sad to say, and even when we see flashes from time to time of the player he once was, but Victor is not getting it done in the five hole. It is an issue and he is hitting just .232 and one has to wonder how long Jim Leyalnd and Dave Dombrowski will ignore this issue, 
• Phil Coke- This bullpen needs Coke to be something weather that is the left handed specialist of the 7th inning guy but he is having a hard time getting anyone out. His ERA in 24.1 innings pitched is 6.29 and that simply isn't good enough even if the bullpen was in better condition that it is. 
• Take your pick on anything else. This team is in a slump and we knew that was gonna happen, even with all the expectations of this team this is still baseball and good teams find  a way to play through sub par weeks like this. 

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Detroit Tigers week in review: Week nine

This as not the best week in the history of the Detroit Tigers, and it was probably he worst week of the 2013

season thus far. Once again the Tigers have shown that annoying habit of the offense going to sleep. It happened last fall at the worst time and whatever the problem is it really needs to be addressed. Is it the lack of a clubhouse leader? Quite possibly. Is it a flaw in the lineup? Maybe. Is tit the failure of Alex Avila at the plate? Is is due to the struggling Victor Martinez? There are no easy answers here, but when we start to look at the splits it gets to look a little more ugly than it really is.

The Tigers are 30-25,and they lead the American League Central by two full games over the Cleveland Indians. Over the last 10 games they are 4-6, and the included a 1-3 record versus the Pittsburgh Pirates and a 1-2 sting in Baltimore. At home they re a very impressive 17-9, but on the road they are just 13-16. Even more troubling they are just 14-15 against teams with a winning record. that is certainly a number that needs to improve. They are 10-7 against the teams in their division and that is also a number that needs to improve.

The Good:

• Omar Infante- I think Omar gets overlooked a lot, but he has really cemented a trouble spot for this team since being reacquired last summer. He is a solid defender and he is hitting .294 and has a .739 OPS. He has nine doubles and 18 RBI along with two steals. Better than that he has only 18 strike outs which means he is getting the most out of every at bat. 
• Miguel Cabrera- I mean this guy is freaking scary good. He is hitting .367, has 17 home runs, and 65 RBI. He is the best pure hitter since Tony Gywnn and Ken Griffey Jr. He is simply amazing and he only seems to get better. 
• Anibal Sanchez- His 5-5 record doesn't really reflect how good he has been. He has 71 innings pitched, 89 strike outs, a 2.79 ERA, and has pitched the only complete game by a Tigers starter so far this season. 

The Bad:

• Alex Avila- Alex just isn't getting it done at the plate. he is hitting just .169 and has 47 K's. To put that number in perspective that is the same number of K's as Prince Fielder absent all of the offensive production. He is struggling, and it is affecting the bottom of the order. 
• Victor Martinez- he is hitting just .230 and has 28 strike outs. We have seen flashes of the old Victor but they have been few and far between.The lineup could use a hot bat in the five hole. 
• Jose Valverde- We are not going to freak out over one blown save. Everyone blows a save or two during the season but his splits do not look all that great. I think the Tigers can get by with him as the closer and it no longer looks like the 9th inning is the issue for this team. In just 12.2 innings he has a 3.55 ERA, and has given up five earned runs along with 2 home runs. Not the stat line of a legit MLB closer. 

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