I think I've mentioned this before, but I have a general rule about the Detroit Tigers. On January 1 of each year I attempt to let last year go and focus in on reasons to look forward to the upcoming baseball season. (Beyond better weather, hot dogs, sausages and my life long love of the game, of course.) I try to find reasons, no matter how difficult they may be to uncover, to be optimistic about our local baseball club. This attempt to rejuvenate my Tiger interest almost never fails. Somehow, though, this year the positive vibes took much longer to arrive.
Truth be told, I became optimistic about the 2006 Tigers sometime in the middle of this past week. I can't say there was a specific moment when my '05 negativity relinquished it's control, but I have unquestionable made the transition from the disappointing end of last year to being upbeat about the '06 season. Four months tardy, I admit. But, hey, I made it, right?
Now, I could continue to opt for the traditional sky is falling routine. You know the bit. It goes like this: Dave Dombrowski is a moron, the Tigers farm system still stinks, the big league club is filled with overpaid, injury prone veterans and Jim Leyland isn't going to help. That's an easy and, perhaps, accurate assessment. However, from now through Opening Day, I'm going to take the opposite approach.
Even if Pudge Rodriguez, Magglio Ordonez and Dmitri Young don't produce up to their full potential, couldn't they still contribute significant numbers? If Carlos Guillen and Placido Polanco produce close to their potential, wouldn't the Tigers offense be rather formidable? What of Chris Shelton and Curtis Granderson? Couldn't full seasons from them be better than what the Tigers got out of their firstbase and centerfield spots a year ago? The potential for a strong offense is there and I'm not even tossing in Craig Monroe who had his best season ever in '05. (I honestly just take any offense Brandon Inge provides as a bonus. I like the guy, but an offensive force, he's not.)
Then comes the wildcard in all of this--pitching. No, I'm not crazy about Kenny Rogers. However, he does seem to win games. Sometimes lots of them. No, Jeremy Bonderman hasn't lived up to the hype yet, but how many other big leaguers have his stuff at his age? It's a very short list. Mike Maroth is steady, if unspectacular and Nate Robertson isn't horrible, either. In fact, I'm not quite sure what Robertson's upside is. Let's just assume that Rogers gives Detroit 15 or more wins and the younger arms make normal progress, is it that hard to figure the staff could be very much improved?
Then toss in the just promoted Justin Verlander. You've read the articles. You've heard the Tigers' brass fawn all over him. You know the guy's got (if I may borrow Sam's terminology) wicked stuff. Sure, Verlander could have a typical up and down rookie season. Or he could be in the running for Rookie of the Year. If it's the latter, just how much improved would the staff seem then?
This rotation has three lefties. Two of them--Maroth and Rogers--are the soft tossing variety. Robertson has more velocity and then there's the righties. Bonderman and Verlander just throw nasty hard stuff. Come on, admit it. They might not end up as terrible as we think.
The bullpen is a tad scary. Todd Jones is your basic "Smoke three packs of cigarettes per batter" type of reliever. Calling Jones a reliever is a misnomer. He doesn't provide much relief at all. In fact, Jones creates far more anxiety than relief. He also saves quite a few games, which is his job.
The bullpen guys we know for sure are coming north are Fernando Rodney, Jamie Walker and the other pitching phenom, Joel Zumaya. While all three are question marks in my mind--Rodney still recovering his surgery of two years ago, Walker because he make me as nervous Jones, and Zumaya because he's a rook--they have all shown enough to make me believe they can, if properly used, be an effective lot.
The primary reason for my optimism on the bullpen is Zumaya. Again, here's another youngster we've heard tons about. The organization and scouts rave about just how hard he throws. If Zumaya's electric stuff can stun batters for an inning or two prior to Jones' arrival, then maybe Jones stuff will look that much more confounding to the opposing batters.
Even with all of my bubbling optimism, I'm not calling for a World Series, division title or even a wild card run. Nope, I just have the hope that the 2006 Detroit Tigers can be a fun baseball team. Maybe even a winning one. Crazy talk? Yep, but what's wrong with some high hopes a week before the opener? We'll have the rest of the season to think otherwise.
2 comments:
I'm excited and optimistic, and I think the Tigers can break the streak of under-.500 seasons. Unfortunately, they picked the wrong time to do it.
The rest of the AL Central is so much improved. Even if the Tigers play well, can they still contend with a likely better White Sox team and a still-improving Indians club?
To me, it feels like the Tigers blew their opportunity. The time to make a move was while the Indians were deconstructing and rebuilding. But that cycle's already spun, and Cleveland's back in contention. And the White Sox finally figured out the right formula for their team. Where does that leave the Tigers?
I guess it comes down to expectations, like you said. Expecting a division title or wild card spot is probably a ticket to disappointmentville. But putting a competitive team on the field, one that's fun to watch, would mean a lot.
I think the opportunity is still there. I have a feeling the White Sox and Indians will drop back a little bit this year. The Indians won't lead the league in pitching. The White Sox won't win all those one run games and they won't go through the season without pitching injuries this year. I believe the window is still open. I don't think the Tigers will sneak in but I don't see any dominant teams either.
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