In the 108th season of Tigers Baseball, it really was a big disappointment. One of the best fielding third basemen in the game today was forced to play catcher, Miguel Cabrera, even though his bat got hot later in the season, it was rustier than a barn nail trying to play in the first base. Although we were predicted to win the AL Central, it took the Tigers 8 games into the season to get their first win, and by mid-September their chances were all but exhausted. It was a season plagued by injuries, but more importantly, poor defense. Edgar Rentería signed with the San Francisco Giants this offseason for $18.5 million, which tells me the management in San Francisco aren’t big fans of the Tigers, or they would have seen how much he declined at shortstop. Yes, there was a lot of disappointment last year, but I have a few reasons why the 2009 season will be a little more exciting for Tigers fans.
I’ll start where I left off; the Tigers replaced Rentería with Adam Everett. We knew the Tigers weren’t going to come out this offseason and dump a lot of money, but he seems like a good cheap fix at $1 million for a year. I think you could stick a glove to a stick and that’s a major improvement from Rentería. They also signed Gerald Laird and Matt Treanor, allowing Inge to move back to third base. Carlos Guillen will be moved to left field to keep his bat in the lineup, which is an easy transition for most players. And one move that I found under the radar, but extremely important, would be the signing of Brandon Lyon. To be honest, I’m not going to miss Todd Jones living up to his rollercoaster nickname. I’m definitely not sold on Fernando Rodney’s shutdown, so it’s another cheap deal the Tigers made to improve.
The deal for the Tigers’ 2009 season would depend on the bullpen. They need Verlander to be his old self again, Zumaya to be healthy and Dontrelle to get back to his old form would be unexpected, but greatly appreciated. With two possible Verlanders in the minors (Rick Porcello, Ryan Perry) the bullpen, I promise, will look better than it did last season. Let’s hope Bonderman makes a full recovery.