Today, it’s time to talk about the Detroit Tigers, a team that has been rebuilding for far too long after trading Justin Verlander back in 2017.  However, they are getting closer now with a huge inventory of young talent, one of which, their first overall pick Spencer Torkelson, has unfortunately suffered an injury and will miss some Spring Training games.  The problem?  Yes, it’s one of those injuries – he cut his finger while opening a can.  You couldn’t afford a good can opener with that $8 million bonus?  All joking aside, he should be fine and back very soon and is one of many massive talents that this team has in their system.  Today, however, we’re going to focus mainly on the 2021 team, which will feature newly hired manager A.J. Hinch, getting another opportunity after being let go by the Astros in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal.

Additions

• SP Jose Urena (FA/Marlins)

• C Wilson Ramos (FA/Mets)

• OF Robbie Grossman (FA/A’s)

• OF Nomar Mazara (FA/White Sox)

• 2B Jonathan Schoop (Re-Signed)

• OF Akil Baddoo (Rule /Twins)

• SP Derek Holland (Minors)

• C Dustin Garneau (Minors)

• 2B Greg Garcia (Minors)

• 1B Renato Nunez (Minors)

• SP Julio Teheran (Minors)

New additions to this club include some recognizable names but no real game changers for 2021.  Jose Urena isn’t a signing I completely understand.  Not only has he not been very good with an ERA over 5 for the past 2 seasons, but he’s wild, he hits batters too often, he doesn’t have great strikeout numbers, and has dealt with controversy more than once.   Yet, somehow he earned a $3.25 million contract.  Whoever is agent is, he or she deserves a round of applause.  They signed Wilson Ramos for some much needed depth at catcher while some of their younger options get more development.  Robbie Grossman was signed to be a veteran presence in the outfield and he should get every opportunity to contribute on a daily basis in Detroit. 

Nomar Mazara struggled in 2020 with just one home run but is normally good for 20 bombs and at least a .250 average and close to a .320 on-base.  In a somewhat surprising move that I’m sure made a lot of Tigers fans happy, Jonathan Schoop was re-signed on a 1 year, $4.5 million dollar deal.  Schoop has 25-30 home run power over a full season and hit well in 2020. Finally, the Tigers snagged Akil Baddoo from the Twins in the Rule 5 Draft, a guy with great speed and a decent bat but hasn’t played above Single A.  He looks to trend more towards being a 4th outfielder and with all the good talent the Tigers have in their system, I would be surprised if he makes it through the entire season without getting sent back to Minnesota.  Other than that, you can see a few familiar names on Minor League Deals, all of whom have had big league in the past.  Renato Nunez has the biggest chance to contribute and he may end up in the Starting Lineup with 30-home run potential.

Lineup

1.       Robbie Grossman LF

2.       Jonathan Schoop 2B

3.       Miguel Cabrera DH

4.       Jeimer Candelario 1B

5.       Wilson Ramos C

6.       Mazara/Reyes RF

7.       Paredes/Nunez 3B

8.       JaCoby Jones CF

9.       Willi Castro SS

Bench

Harold Castro IF

Niko Goodrum IF

Christin Stewart OF

Grayson Greiner C

Jake Rogers C

Daz Cameron OF

Akil Baddoo OF

Robbie Grossman should be the everyday left-fielder, with a career .350 On-Base-Percentage and power numbers slowly increasing.  He hit 8 home runs in 166 at bats in 2020 and stole 8 bases.  Jonathan Schoop, as mentioned, is a massive re-signing as he brings real power and on-base skills to his lineup while playing good defense.  In 2017, Schoop hit 32 home runs and over 100 RBI for the O’s, just to show his potential and he’s still only 29 years old.  Miguel Cabrera is still a feared hitter with an average exit velocity of 93.2 in 2020.  In 2021 he will be hitting his 500th home run and maybe even his 3000th hit.  He can’t run very fast but other than that, Miggy is some one you want in this lineup even at 38.   Jeimer Candelario is a switch hitter who makes good contact often and is a plus defender.  He hit .297 with 7 homers in 2020.

After that, there’s newcomer Wilson Ramos, a 2-time All Star who brings some experience to the catcher position after some disappointing seasons by Jake Rogers and Grayson Greiner.  Greiner is an obvious backup while Rogers might need more work in the minors.  Like I said earlier, Mazara has 20-home run power but Victor Reyes should get plenty of starts in the outfield as well as a switch hitter with good bat speed and some nice advanced stats from 2020 indicating good things to come, such as a 41% hard hit rate.  If Renato Nunez makes the team, he’s another big-power bat that hit 31 home runs in 2019 with another 12 in 216 at bats in 2020.  He’s got a career .248 average with a .313 on-base.  The downside is he doesn’t walk much, strikes out a lot and is considered a one-dimensional player.  Still, with that power potential, I expect him to make the team.  The other option is Isaac Paredes, a much more patient hitter with some pop who hasn’t shown much at the big league level yet but should get another opportunity in 2021.

Jacoby Jones has improved his patience at the plate with a career-high .333 on-base last season and .849 OPS.   He could be in line for the breakout season he’s been waiting for in 2021 if he can stay healthy.  Willi Castros is a switch-hitter who had an insane 2020 with a .349 average, hitting over .340 from both sides of the plate.  He won’t maintain that over a full season but obviously has strong bat to ball skills and some power as well with 6 home runs last year.  Another infield option is Nico Goodrum, who provides strong defense but strikes out too much at the plate. Overall, this lineup is better than one might expect from the Tigers, especially without Spencer in there yet.  There’s a lot of home run potential, decent speed, some good contact hitters and even a Hall-of-Famer mixed in.  There is currently a lack of young superstar talent and a lot rides on how JaCoby Jones and Robby Grossman will do.  Still, I’m going to give the Tigers Starting Lineup a decent score of a C+.

Rotation

1.       Matt Boyd

2.       Spencer Turnbull

3.       Michael Fulmer

4.       Casey Mize

5.       Jose Urena

6.       Tarik Skubal

Julio Teheran

Matt Manning

Daniel Norris

Franklin Perez

The rotation won’t be officially set until Opening Day and some guys like Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal might start the year in Triple A.  That said, the youngsters might be the only hope for this rotation.  At the top, Matt Boyd had the worst ERA in the American League last season.  His slider isn’t what it used to be and he has to prove he can still get it done in 2021.  A lot of Tigers fans have already given up on Boyd and think that General Manager Al Avila should do the same.  Spencer Turnbull has a good fastball/slider combo and can eat up some innings but gives up a lot of hits and struggles with fielding his position.  Michael Fulmer hasn’t looked great since his Tommy John Surgery but with another offseason of rest, he’ll get another shot to see if he can figure something out. 

Finally, there’s Casey Mize, the first overall pick.  He absolutely has to be ready as soon as possible for this rotation to be even serviceable.  He’s got a potentially elite splitter and obviously filthy stuff that made him the top prospect in the draft.  Now, he has to unleash that potential.  Urena, as I mentioned, for a $3.25 million deal is a head-scratcher and only provides some extra depth while the youngsters develop.  Tarik Skubal is the another major prospect who blew away his minor league competition in 2019, striking out 179 batters in 122 innings.  The big prospects don’t end there as first round pick Matt Manning should be about ready for an opportunity after an excellent minor league career.  Franklin Perez will probably start in the minors but is also a great looking young arm with strikeout stuff.  Daniel Norris might get another crack at the rotation if necessary, but he can also be a solid long reliever.

This rotation is tough to grade because there are two possible iterations – one with all these studs in the Minors while Boyd, Turnbull, Fulmer and Urena get lit up and the other with arms like Mize, Skubal, Manning and Perez in the rotation and living up to the hype.  The most likely 2021 scenario is somewhere in the middle as the youngsters complete their development and get some experience, it seems 2022 is the year where this rotation might actually look great.  So, for now I am going to assume the rotation will still be rough at least to start the season, but the future is starting to look interesting for this pitching staff.  I’m going to give this rotation a C- until the new phenoms start to kick out the old guard. 

Bullpen

• Bryan Garcia

• Gregory Soto

• Buck Farmer

• Jose Cisnero

• Joe Jimenez

• Kyle Funkhouser

• Beau Burrows

• Rony Garcia

• Daniel Norris

• Tyler Alexander

• Derek Holland

• David McKay

Looking at the bullpen, Bryan Garcia has a nice rookie campaign in 2020 with a 1.66 ERA.  He creates soft contact with a hard sinker and plus slider.  Gregory Soto brings the heat with a high 90’s fastball and improving slider.  He struck out 29 in 23 but has some control issues.  Buck Farmer is a solid long-time Tiger with a solid changeup and will provide decent but not spectacular stuff out of the bullpen.   Jose Cisnero is a guy with swing-and-miss stuff with a nice slider/fastball combo.  Then there’s Joe Jimenez, who has a nice fastball but it’s not as good as it used to be and he gives up a lot of bombs.  There’s lots of long relief options like Daniel Norris, Tyler Alexander and possibly Derek Holland if he makes the team.  If the top 5 guys out of the pen all pitch to their potential, this could be a pretty good bullpen, but there aren’t a lot of guaranteed shutdown arms.  Overall, I’d say it’s around a C+ with room for improvement.

Overall, this Tigers team is not half bad, especially when all the prospects are up and contributing.  The rotation has B+ or even A- potential and the lineup will obviously be a lot better when Spencer is ready.  For now, although it will tough to compete with teams like the Twins and White Sox in the central, I won’t be surprised if this team crawls out of the basement in 2021 and finishes in 4th or maybe even 3rd place.  I’m going to give the Tigers as an overall team a C.