MLB Team Report – Detroit Tigers – INSIDE PITCH
A goal within reach — winning the World Series — will be the Detroit Tigers’ objective next spring for the fourth straight year.
Detroit was six games shy of its goal in 2011, got swept in the World Series a year ago and was eliminated in six games by Boston on Oct. 19 in an exciting American League Championship Series that tipped the Red Sox way due to timely power hitting and a bullpen back end the offensively challenged Tigers could not be dented.
Muscling up an obviously stringy bullpen is an offseason priority (the loss of flame-throwing strikeout rookie artist Bruce Rondon was keenly felt) and that will start with the decision to re-sign closer Joaquin Benoit or let him go as a free agent.
The other chief decision facing Detroit is at second base, where the Tigers will show whether they learned anything from letting second baseman Placido Polanco depart as a free agent after the 2009 season. After Polanco signed a three-year deal with Philadelphia, Detroit spent more than two years searching for his replacement, finally getting one in a trade with the Marlins that brought starter Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante.
Now it’s Infante, 31, who can leave. He wants to stay and Detroit wants him to return, but money and length of contract may prevent it.
A fallback possibility might be to sign Jhonny Peralta, also a free agent, and ask him to play second. There would be a defensive cost but Peralta provides more power than Infante.
Peralta won’t be offered a contract otherwise because Jose Iglesias is now Detroit’s shortstop and the Tigers are expected to give rookie Nick Castellanos, who still needs a lot of work to become a decent outfielder, first crack at the position in spring training.
There’s no question the late July injury to Miguel Cabrera’s left groin muscle crippled Detroit from September on. It took a couple of weeks but teams figured out that challenging Detroit hitters with fastballs was the way to beat the Tigers because without Cabrera’s power, there was no one left who was a consistent long-ball threat.
Prince Fielder stepped up in September but stepped down in the playoffs, failing to drive in a single postseason run in a streak that now stretches back to the first game of the ALCS against the New York Yankees in 2012.
He has seven years left on an untradeable contract and the boo birds will be flying over his head unless he gets off to a good start next spring.
Cabrera has two more years to free agency but Detroit is likely to attempt to extend him next year if he can return to injury-free status. Victor Martinez has one more year left on his four-year contract.
Probable Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer can become a free agent at the end of next season and people started writing about his future two months ago.
It is commonly believed that his agent, Scott Boras, will take him to free agency to see whose bank he can break, but the reality is Boras isn’t against his clients signing long-term extensions if the money and the situation is right. Tigers owner Mike Ilitch will decide whether the money is right or not.
Regardless, having Justin Verlander, Scherzer and Sanchez as rotation anchors just about assures Detroit will be the team to beat in the AL Central again next season.
Another power bat would be welcomed but given the roster construction, it will take a trade to do that.
Working in speedier players is something the club sees as a project in progress.
The Tigers are likely to pick up the option in Jose Veras’ contract to help the back end of the bullpen. Being a setup man for Detroit proved to be more difficult than closing for Houston but there’s enough left on his fastball and in his curve to make him helpful over a long season.
The Tigers want to get Drew Smyly back to starting to give them a left-handed presence in their rotation but weakness at the back end of the bullpen may preclude that. He went from being the long man to a seventh- and eighth-inning guy at season’s end.
Returning Smyly to the rotation would mean either Doug Fister or Rick Porcello would have to be traded, and that should not be ruled out.
The first thing to be announced was the retirement of Jim Leyland as manager. In the search for a replacement, general manager Dave Dombrowski will consider in-house candidates like Gene Lamont and Lloyd McClendon. He’ll look outside at proven managers like Dusty Baker. He’ll mull hotter, younger names like Brad Ausmus.
Given Dombrowski’s track record, it isn’t going to take long to fill the managerial vacancy and reshape the roster for 2014. He likes to get his free agent work done within a couple weeks and his trades by the winter meetings.
Whatever happens, Detroit will field a strong and talented team next year because of its returning nucleus.
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MLB Team Report – Detroit Tigers – NOTES, QUOTES
2013: 93-69, first place in AL Central, lost to Red Sox in AL Championship Series
TEAM MVP: Miguel Cabrera’s value to the Tigers is as easily illustrated by his late-season injuries as when he is a healthy Triple Crown threat. Detroit had a winning record without Cabrera in the lineup, but toward the end of September, the run production declined noticeably as he dealt with a groin injury. Still, Cabrera led the league in batting average (.348), on-base percentage (.442), slugging percentage (.636), and he finished second in home runs (44) and RBIs (137).
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: LHP Phil Coke went from filling in impressively as the closer during the 2012 postseason to a winless reliever who is in danger of not being on the postseason roster because of a sore left elbow. Coke was 0-5 with a 5.40 ERA and was sent to the minors in mid-August to work out his pitch location problems. Too many Coke fastballs and slurves have seen the heart of the plate and been hit hard. His inability to get left-handed hitters out and a propensity for walks has made manager Jim Leyland reluctant to use him in crucial situations.
TOP PROSPECT: Nick Castellanos has a lot of work to do on his left-field defense two years into the transition from third base, but it appears he’s going to get a full shot at winning the starting job next spring. Castellanos, 21, has a lot to learn about patience at the plate, at least off what he showed during his sparse September playing time with the Tigers, when he hit .278 in 11 games. The lanky 6-foot-4 Castellanos hit .276 with 18 home runs and 76 RBIs for Triple-A Toledo. He has good speed going from first to third and with experience should hit 20-30 home runs in the majors. He was the club’s top draft choice, 44th overall, in one of three straight years (2010) the Tigers did not have a first-round pick, and was given above-slot money to sign.
PLAYER NOTES:
–3B Miguel Cabrera may need surgery to repair a groin strain, GM Dave Dombrowski said Oct. 21. Dombrowski said Cabrera was dealing with a Grade 2-3 groin strain through the late stages of the season. Cabrera will see a specialist and may need surgery this offseason. It is unclear whether an operation could prevent him from being available for spring training or the start of the 2014 season. Cabrera, 30, hit .348 with 44 home runs and 137 RBIs during the regular season, and he is a candidate to repeat as the American League MVP. In 11 postseason games, Cabrera hit .262 with two home runs and nine strikeouts, and he appeared to be inhibited by his injury.
–RHP Max Scherzer will be a hot topic as he enters his final season before he can become a free agent. Big money awaits the likely AL Cy Young Award winner at this time next year, if not before. “That stuff works itself out,” Scherzer said. “There’s really not much for me to say about it.” Already speculation has begun Detroit might trade Scherzer at midseason if it can’t sign him to a long-term deal before the season. It could become a distraction for Scherzer as the season moves along.
–LF/SS Jhonny Peralta was eligible to become a free agent at the end of the World Series and Detroit was expected to let that happen without making a qualifying offer that would ensure it of getting a draft choice should he sign elsewhere. “There’s a chance for sure, yeah,” Peralta said when asked if he’d accept a position switch to remain with Detroit, “because I like the organization here. Do I want to be here? Yeah, I want to be here.” His job as the starting shortstop belongs to Jose Iglesias and rookie Nick Castellanos is expected to have first dibs on left field entering Spring Training, leaving Peralta without a position.
–2B Omar Infante would like to return to Detroit and the Tigers would like to have him but his status as a probable free agent at the end of the World Series could preclude that. “I want to be back,” Infante, 31, said. “I love this team. This organization has a lot of good players. Great team. That’s why I want to come back. But it’s business. I have to wait, and we’ll see what happens.” Infante missed more than a month with a left ankle sprain but hit well until going into a slump in mid-September.
–RHP Joaquin Benoit is eligible for free agency but his return depends on offers other teams may have for his services and whether Detroit views him as its closer going forward or would like to return him to his setup role. “I feel really proud of all the guys here,” he said. “I think everybody did their best. Hopefully, next year we continue to get better.” Benoit, 36, will let things settle down before he thinks about his contract. “I don’t want to think about it right now,” Benoit said. “I want to digest this and see what’s going to happen later on.”
–C Brayan Pena was working on a one-year deal with Detroit and hopes he can return for 2014. Pena backed up Alex Avila for a tad under $1 million so the difference between what the Tigers pay him or a minimum-wage rookie such as Bryan Holaday wouldn’t be an issue. “I want to be back here,” said Pena, who hit well but had problems behind the plate on occasion. “Money’s not an issue. I feel like I want to be here.” Pena said he intended to lose weight during the winter to gain more mobility.
–INF Ramon Santiago, 34, may have come to the end of his time with Detroit. Santiago, who came up to Detroit in 2002, was traded to Seattle for Carlos Guillen and returned to the Tigers as a free agent, has played out the $4 million deal he signed two winters ago and Detroit may be looking to go minimum-wage for that bench seat. Santiago didn’t have a good first half but perked up with more playing time when 2B Omar Infante got hurt in July and when 3B Miguel Cabrera needed time to deal with his injuries.
–1B Prince Fielder will be a big target next spring for fans disappointed at his lack of success in postseason play. Fielder has gone 18 playoff games without an RBI spanning two postseasons. He said after Boston eliminated Detroit in Game 6 of the ALCS on Oct. 19 that it would be easy to slip back into civilian life. “It’s not really tough for me,” Fielder said. “It’s over. I’ve got kids I’ve got to take care of. I’ve got things I’ve got to take care of. For me, it’s over, bro.”
–RHP Bruce Rondon, who was making giant strides toward becoming Detroit’s closer in the near future until being sidelined by a sore right elbow in September, will be watched closely next spring for any signs of lingering soreness. Rondon pitched just once after noticing the discomfort and was not a part of the Tigers’ postseason rosters. Several examinations showed nothing structurally wrong with the elbow but it’s something to watch in the spring.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “I hate to see it end. I always hate to see it end.” — DH Victor Martinez, who lingered in the Detroit dugout as long as he could before returning to the clubhouse to shower away the disappointment of being eliminated at Boston in the sixth game of the American League Championship Series.
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MLB Team Report – Detroit Tigers – ROSTER REPORT
Determining whether they want to bring back potential free agents closer RHP Joaquin Benoit and 2B Omar Infante was Detroit’s first order of offseason business.
Both players have indicated a desire to return but also acknowledge the business nature of baseball, which means if they get a better offer, they’re probably gone.
More and better back-end bullpen help will be high on Detroit’s list of offseason things to do. It was an area of concern with the season-long loss of Octavio Dotel, a poor season by LHP Phil Coke and the sidelining of rookie Bruce Rondon with a sore right elbow in September.
The organization has to decide whether to hand left field to rookie Nick Castellanos in the spring or get a veteran with some power.
BIGGEST NEEDS: Veteran power arms at the back end of the bullpen are a priority, especially if the club fails to retain RHP Joaquin Benoit, who stepped in and did an outstanding job as the closer. 2B Omar Infante must be replaced if he leaves as a free agent and a decision on next year’s left fielder must be made.
FREE AGENTS: LHP Jose Alvarez, RHP Joaquin Benoit, RHP Jeremy Bonderman, RHP Octavio Dotel, 2B Omar Infante, C Brayan Pena, SS/LF Jhonny Peralta, INF Ramon Santiago, LF Matt Tuiasosopo
Detroit would like to retain Benoit and Infante but both may get better offers elsewhere. Dotel won’t return and is expected to retire. Pena might be back and Alvarez will probably be offered a minor league deal. Peralta doesn’t fit and would be too expensive to be a backup. Santiago and Tuiasosopo are likely to be allowed to leave.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE: RHP Al Alburquerque, C Alex Avila, LHP Phil Coke, RHP Doug Fister, CF Austin Jackson, OF Don Kelly, RHP Rick Porcello, RHP Max Scherzer, INF Danny Worth
The Tigers probably will continue their record of not having had a player go to arbitration under GM Dave Dombrowski’s leadership. It’s possible Kelly and Worth would be dropped from the roster and asked to sign split minor league contracts with an invitation to Major League Spring Training. That’s how Kelly wound up returning to Detroit last year.
IN LIMBO: LHP Jose Alvarez, OF Andy Dirks, LHP Darin Downs, RHP Luke Putkonen, RHP Evan Reed, RHP Jose Veras ($3.25 million option, $150,000 buyout), INF Danny Worth
MEDICAL WATCH:
–3B Miguel Cabrera (strained left groin) might need offseason surgery, GM Dave Dombrowski said.
–RHP Luis Marte (right shoulder surgery in June 2013) has an uncertain status for next season.
