Detroit Tigers

Contract options—whether they are vesting options or player/team options—present a headache to baseball managers who would rather play the best nine men each day without having to worry about the business side of the game.

Ah, but it matters. In fact, it matters a lot.

For example, there are two vesting options in the AL Central alone worth watching.

The Detroit Tigers, if they're smart, will not repeat the mistake they made in 2009 when they allowed Magglio Ordonez's 2010 option to vest by a mere 61 plate appearances.

Yesterday I made my guess at which hitters will be named to the Tiger's opening day roster -- I'll finish up with the pitchers today.

The locks:
Justin Verlander (R)
Rick Porcello (R)
Ryan Perry (R)
Jose Valverde (L)

We're not quite halfway through the spring campaign yet, but I can already see that Jim Leyland and Dave Dombrowski will have some tough decisions to make before naming the 25 guys they'll take back to Detroit to begin the season.

We're probably looking at thirteen hitters on the opening day roster (12 pitchers), so let's try to figure out who it will be.

The locks:
Gerald Laird
Miguel Cabrera
Adam Everett
Brandon Inge
Johnny Damon
Magglio Ordonez
Carlos Guillen

Nearly locks:
Austin Jackson
Ryan Raburn
Ramon Santiago

Last year was pretty heartbreaking for Detroit Tigers fans, as they had to watch their team blow the seven-game lead they held at Labor Day. Detroit ended up tied with the Minnesota Twins but lost their one-game playoff in the 12th inning to miss out on the postseason. It was surprising that this team won as many games as they did when only two Tiger hitters had 275 at-bats and a batting average above .250. The pitching staff was a pleasant surprise though and should be strong once again in 2010.  Those hurlers give this team a real chance to compete for the division.

Before we begin, a (slightly) brief introduction:

The year ended badly for Detroit Tiger baseball. There was so much hope over the course of the year that when the team began to fall apart in September, there was almost a consensus of disbelief among the fans.

If Nate Robertson were a right-handed pitcher, he’d be as expendable as a finished bag of potato chips.

Robertson ought to thank the right-minded God who made him a lefty, because that’s what’s keeping him in the big leagues right now.

The Tigers say that, if worst comes to worst, they’d be happy to venture north with five righties in their starting rotation—if they are the five best, most capable starters.

That’s a bunch of bull excrement.

Word got out the other day that Major League Baseball's "special committee for onfield matters" has discussed a "radical floating realignment" idea.

While I believe that competitive imbalance issues in baseball are widely overstated (more on that later), I understand the need for new, revolutionary ideas.

One idea struck me as I read the story: Why do we need divisions, anyway?

I try not to get too carried away with spring training stats. Usually at least one veteran will slump heavily only to perform as expected in the regular season, and at least one minor leaguer will get hot only to be assigned to a farm club where he fails to impress.

But that doesn't mean I ignore spring stats—I'm a stats geek at heart.

Today—as usual—I checked up on the Tigers box score to see who's hot and who's not down in Lakeland.

Top Story: The Battle of Lakeland

Spring training has finally begun. Everyone likes to say that the games are meaningless, yet for some, they mean too much. There are guys out there fighting for jobs that mean everything to them.

Sure, most of the rosters are pretty much set from the get-go, but many guys are auditioning for other teams and playing for future considerations when guys get hurt.

I've been a very well behaved boy for quite a while.  But this gave me a screaming headache.  From Samuelsen at the Freep...

Tigers don’t look like a playoff team to me

That’s exactly the title of an article that I’m sure all Tiger fans want to see on March frigging third. Bring on the doom and gloom!