Hide Notes 

Slide 1: ==== ==== All information regarding tiger Walking, please check the provided websites: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Cushion, http://www.rightpands.com, and others. http://EzineArticles.com/, http://www.rightpands.com ==== ==== The Tigers, coming into the 2008 season with aspirations of going to the World Series, finished up a74-88 and in last place in the AL Central. Injuries, lack of production, and some bad luck contributed to this, but the fact remains that the 2008 team was built to go to the postseason. The Tigers go into 2009 with a slightly revised lineup and rotation, as SS Edgar Renteria is gone, replaced by Adam Everett, and Edwin Jackson now looks to fill a spot in the rotation. There are still some huge question marks surrounding the consistency of their pitching and whether or not their stars will hit the way they should, but the Tigers still should be competitive in the AL Central, and could make the postseason if they put it together. Look for 86-91 wins out of the Tigers this year, which should put them in the hunt for postseason play. C Gerald Laird - Laird comes over from the catching-heavy Rangers and projects to be the starter for the Tigers in 2009. Offensively, he's pretty average for a catcher, and should put up an OPS of around .700 with 8-10 home runs this year. While those certainly aren't great numbers, they definitely speak to the dearth of catching talent with offensive abilities. Laird doesn't have great patience, and his walk-rate and K-rate probably aren't what you would want, but there just aren't a lot of good offensive catchers out there. Defensively, he is average as well, and typically throws out about 30-35% of basestealers while displaying a solid arm that can occasionally have accuracy issues. When looking at the big picture, Laird is probably an average catcher in the majors, and should contribute at a league-average level for the Tigers in 2009. 1B Miguel Cabrera - Cabrera was supposed to be one of the pieces that put the Tigers over the top in 2008 and propel them into the World Series. Unfortunately, he struggled out of the gate, much like the entire Tigers team, and ended up with an OPS of .887 despite hitting 37 home runs. The main issue for Cabrera was a nearly 40 point drop in his BABIP, which dropped his batting average from its typical place in the .320 range to .292. This isn't going to happen again. Cabrera is an elite offensive talent and should post an OPS in the .950-.970 range in 2009. Defensively, he's not a particularly great first baseman, as his hands aren't quite there on throws in the dirt, and he doesn't have great range as his weight has risen over the last few years. His offensive talents are more than enough to make up for that, and he should return to the ranks of the elite in 2009. 2B Placido Polanco - Polanco has been with the Tigers for the last three years now and has put up three completely different seasons, with his OPS ranging from .693 to .846. Realistically, he should post an OPS of around .760 for 2009 with 25-30 doubles and 8-10 home runs, which is certainly decent production out of second base. His career OPS+ is 99, so you know he's not going to hurt you offensively. Defensively, he has range that is slightly above average thanks to good quickness, and a capable arm that is fairly quick turning the double play as well. He can play third or short if necessarily, so his versatility is also valuable as well. He looks to be a solid contributor for the Tigers in 2009, though he isn't going to put up huge numbers for them.
Slide 2: 3B Brandon Inge - Inge has played what seems like every position imaginable for the Tigers, getting time at catcher, third base, and multiple outfield positions over the last few years. He looks to have a pretty firm grasp on third going into 2009, and should contribute a bit there for the Tigers. Inge hit 27 home runs in 2006, but that looks to be a career year for him, and he's normally good for 15-18 in a given year. He'll hit in the .240 range with decent patience and some gap power. Most projections have Inge's OPS coming in around .710, but I think he's going to have a bit better year than that and should end up around .740. While Inge isn't an offensive force, his positional flexibility gives the Tigers a lot of options, and certainly should not be discounted when considering his value to the team. SS Adam Everett - Everett is a clear offensive step down from Edgar Renteria, who manned shortstop for the Tigers last season. In Everett's best offensive season, his OPS+ was 80, and his career OPS+ is a mere 69. Everett has limited power, doesn't walk much, and doesn't hit for average or work counts very well, making him an ineffective offensive player. Defensively, he is one of the best shortstops in the majors, with good range and hands, and a solid arm that can make plays from the hole. He will make his money for the Tigers with his defensive ability, as he will get to a number of balls that Renteria would not even come close to. While he clearly lacks offensive firepower, the Tigers should have enough other bats to overcome that, and he will greatly improve their infield defense for 2009. LF Carlos Guillen - Guillen has played primarily SS and 3B for the Tigers, but moves to the outfield in 2009 as the infield has shifted around. Guillen's strengths offensively are his plate discipline and his gap power, as he has a career BB% of 9.9% and is typically good for around 35 doubles per season. He hits for good average and should put up a line of .290/.370/.460 in 2009, which is certainly good enough production from a corner outfield spot. It remains to be seen how he will adjust to playing in the outfield full-time, but he is athletic enough that he should have no trouble with it, as it is far easier to move to the outfield than vice versa. Look for his solid production to continue into 2009, where he will be an important part of the Tigers' lineup. CF Curtis Granderson - When Granderson first came up, he was a toolsy guy who didn't really have a good approach to hitting. In the last two seasons, Granderson has transformed himself into one of the best offensive centerfielders in the game, along with Josh Hamilton and Grady Sizemore. He has cut down on his strikeouts while improving his walk rate in each of the past two seasons, and has shown good gap power that allows him to utilize his fantastic speed. He's also good for 20-25 HR a year, so he can hurt you in a lot of different ways offensively. Defensively, he is very solid as well, as he has good speed and tends to get good jumps on balls, though he occasionally will freeze for a second. Look for another tremendous year out of him in 2009, as he should put up 30 doubles, 15 triples, and 20 home runs for the Tigers. RF Magglio Ordonez - Ordonez was always unlikely to repeat his phenomenal 2007 that was built largely on a ridiculous BABIP, and returned to levels near his career averages in 2008, posting a .869 OPS. Ordonez is still a feared hitter who should hit over .300, but he probably won't hit 30+ home runs in a season anymore, more likely settling in the 20-25 range for the next couple of years. He does have solid patience at the plate and works counts well, forcing pitchers to attack him, then capitalizing on their mistakes. Defensively, he is pretty average, but can take some bad routes to balls sometimes, making them a bit more challenging than they should be. He's still an above-average corner outfielder, though probably won't be mentioned among the elite at his
Slide 3: position anymore. DH Gary Sheffield - Sheffield no longer has the elite bat speed that he once had, but he still has quick enough wrists that he can turn around most pitches that he sees. He suffered in 2008 because of a horrendous drop in his BABIP that probably won't repeat itself, but you won't see him topping 1.000 in OPS anymore either. Realistically, he should post an OPS around .800 with 1823 home runs and a batting average around .260. It helps that Sheffield doesn't have to play defense anymore as a DH, because he simply does not have the speed or instincts to be a major league-caliber defender at this point in his career. Sheffield should be a solid contributor to the Tigers in 2009, but his days of smashing 35 home runs while batting .300 are over at this point. SP Justin Verlander - Verlander had a disappointing 2008 after two solid years in the Tigers' rotation, going 11-17 with a 4.84 ERA. The root of his problems was a decrease in his K-rate and a return of his control problems that made him a bit of a question mark coming out of college despite his terrific stuff, as his BB/9 rose to 3.90, which is too high to be an elite starting pitcher. He was also tremendously unlucky, as his FIP was 4.18. Realistically, 2009 should be a bit of a bounceback year, as his BB/9 should stabilize somewhere around 3.1-3.2 and he should post an ERA right around 4.00, allowing him to regain his place as a top pitcher in the American League. His K-rate may never be quite what you would expect, given his stuff, but he will still be more than good enough and should be able to lead the Tigers' rotation in 2009 and beyond. SP Armando Galarraga - Galarraga toiled in the minor leagues for the Rangers for several years before an offseason trade saw him gain a spot in the Tigers' rotation for 2008. He pitched very well for them, going 13-7 with a 3.73 ERA in 178.2 innings while striking out 126. The bad news is that he's probably going to regress a bit, as his BABIP was far below his career levels, but he still should be able to contribute out of the #2 slot in the rotation. Most likely, he's going to put up an ERA of around 4.3-4.5 with a K/9 of 6.5. Watch out for an increase in his BB/9, as he did have trouble with this in the minors, and it could signal some issues that may emerge down the line for him as well. SP Jeremy Bonderman - Bonderman was once a highly-touted prospect who seemed destined to be an ace in the majors. After an injury-riddled 2008 and several seasons of production below what was expected of him, it looks like he is probably going to max out as a #3 starter in the majors, though that certainly is nothing to be upset about. When healthy, Bonderman has good stuff and sports a K/9 in the mid-7s, but he has had trouble with the home run ball and with giving up big innings throughout his career. If he ever puts all of his talents together, he still could be a #2 guy, but he has yet to find the consistency to get there. Look for him to post an ERA in the mid-4s, with 11-14 wins in 2009. SP Edwin Jackson - Jackson has always had boatloads of talent, but has now moved to his third organization in the last four seasons, as both the Dodgers and the Rays have never quite managed to tap into that talent. Jackson has plus velocity and good offspeed stuff, but his career ERA still sits a 5.15, and his K/9 has never been above 8.00 in a single season. A major reason for Jackson's struggles have been the fact that his control is awful, with a career BB/9 of 4.52 that makes it impossible for him to be an elite pitcher. Jackson probably has another year or two to try to work out his control issues, but if he can't get them squared away, he will be just another pitcher with a ton of talent who couldn't command his stuff well enough to be a major league pitcher.
Slide 4: SP Dontrelle Willis - Willis had an absolutely miserable 2008. He was injured for a significant portion of it, and also saw a tremendous decrease in his stuff after injury, causing him to go down to Single A Lakeland in order to work out his issues before coming back up to the big club in September. The problem with Willis is that he showed signs of decline for the last few seasons even before he was officially injured. His BB/9 had risen from 2.09 in 2005 to 3.84 in 2007. His HR/9 had risen from .42 to 1.27 in the same time period. And then there was last year's total breakdown where he walked 35 batters in 24 innings at the major league level. So Willis has a lot to prove this spring. Going forward, he could potentially still be a #3/4 starter, but he's going to have to prove it early in the year or risk ending up in the bullpen. I'm going to hold off on any predictions for now, simply because there are so many different directions that Willis could take going into this season. CL Brandon Lyon - Lyon has spent the last four seasons with the Diamondbacks, and has quietly developed into a solid closer, saving 26 games for Arizona in 2008. The Tigers signed him in January and he looks to be in competition with Fernando Rodney for the closer job, but we give him the edge at this point in the year. He doesn't have great stuff, but doesn't walk many batters, with a career BB/9 of 2.60, and stays out of trouble, allowing him to be effective. Even if he doesn't win the closer job out of spring training, he still will find room as an 8th-inning guy there, which might actually be the best place for him. Realitically, Lyon is good for an ERA around 3.75 and a K/9 of 6.5, so look for him to continue to be a solid option for the Tigers, even if he is not among the elite ranks of closers. [http://www.baseballblackboard.com] Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chuck_Zodda ==== ==== All information regarding tiger Walking, please check the provided websites: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Cushion, http://www.rightpands.com, and others. http://EzineArticles.com/, http://www.rightpands.com ==== ====