B1G predictions way too early (Awards)

This is my preseason All-B1G offensive and defensive teams.  I am going off of 2011 production along with 2012 potential. I will also guess on a kicker and punter and returner, so out of these 25 picks I hope I can get 5 of them right. 

Offense

QB: Denard Robinson, Michigan (Braxton Miller, James Vandenberg, and Taylor Martinez are special mention)

RB: Monte Ball, Wisconsin

RB: Le’Von Bell, MSU (Rex Burkhead and Fitz Toussaint are special mention)

WR: Jared Abbrederis, Wisconsin

WR: Kyle Prater, NW (Kenny Bell, Roy Roundtree, and Keenan Davis are special mention)

TE: Jake Stonebrunner, Ohio *he might switch to WR, but I will leave him as a TE for this list* (Jacob Pedersen special mention)

T: Taylor Lewan, Michigan

T: Ricky Wagner, Wisconsin (Jack Mewhort and Michael Schofield are special mention)

G: Chris McDonald, MSU

G: Spencer Long, Nebraska (Graham Pocic, Patrick Omameh, and Brian Mulroe are special mention)

C: Travis Frederick, Wisconsin (Ricky Barnum and James Ferentz are special mention)

Defense

DE: William Gholston, MSU

DE: John Simon, Ohio (Michael Buchanan, Cameron Meredith, and Marcus Rush are special mention)

DT: Jonathan Hankins, Ohio

DT: Jordan Hill, PSU (Kawaan Short, Akeem Spence, and Baker Steinkuhler are special mention)

LB: Denicos Allen, MSU

LB: Chris Borland, Wisc

LB: Jonathan Brown, ILL (Max Bullough, Mike Taylor, Gerald Hodges, and Kenny Demens are special mention)

CB: Johnny Adams, MSU

CB: Ricardo Allen, Purdue (Micah Hyde, Josh Johnson, Terry Hawthorne, and JT Floyd are special mention)

SS: C.J. Barnett, Ohio (Jordan Kovacs and Ibraheim Campbell are special mention)

FS: Isaiah Lewis, MSU (Thomas Gordon is special mention)

Special Teams

PK: Drew Basil, Ohio (Brett Maher and Dan Conroy are special mention)

P: Brett Maher, Nebraska (Ben Buchanan and Will Hagerup are special mention)

Ret: Raheem Mostert, Purdue (Jeremy Gallon and Jared Abbrederis are special mention)

Offensive POY

Denard Robinson, Michigan.  Yes this might be a homer pick and a very hopeful choice, but this award comes down to a battle between QB and RB’s.  Monte Ball was off the charts last season, but I just don’t see him repeating as POY.  That leaves Denard or Le’Von Bell for this award according to my preseason list.  While Taylor Lewan might be the best player in the B1G this year, I am choosing Shoelace. If Denard can somehow become close to a 60% passer he will likely be holding up a very prestigious award in December.  That is a big if though.  Currently I see this race shaping up like:

2. Monte Ball

3. Braxton Miller

4. Le’Von Bell

5. Rex Burkhead

Defensive POY

This is a tough one for me to choose, but at this point I have to go with William Gholston.  He is by far the most dynamic defensive player in the league.  We will get to see how he performs without Jerel Worthy taking up the middle, but I think he will do just fine.  He is a monster to block and is an athletic freak.  He will be the key to MSU's Rose Bowl run because if their defense is going to be in the top 5 again, they will need a pass rush.  Gholston will face a double team almost every play, so if he can still reak havoc for opposing offenses this award will be his. Currently I see the race shaping up like:

2. Chris Borland

3. Denicos Allen

4. Jonathan Hankins

5. Ricardo Allen 

 

 

B1G predictions way too early (Legends Division)

Legends Division
1. Michigan

I know this is most likely a homer pick, but a little piece of my heart was crushed at the thought of putting MSU in this number 1 spot.  At the end of the season Michigan’s record will not reflect the quality of the team (just like last season, but in the opposite way).  This year’s schedule is absolutely brutal, I would say that only 3 teams in the country would be able to finish with 2 or less losses playing the same teams.  So while MSU will likely have a better overall record, I think Michigan can grab the top spot in the Legends Division.  This is the first time in my recent memory that Michigan has a solid back 7 and some depth behind the starters.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see any one of the 7 make All-B1G recognition at the end of the year. There are question marks on both lines, but I think that will get solidified as the season progresses.  Offensively, the team will be one dimensional until Denard can prove he can be a 55%+ passer. If he can be, this team’s ceiling is very high.

2. Michigan State

As much as I dislike Sparty, I think they are a legitimate top 10 team.  At this point I believe that they have less question marks than Michigan, but the difference is that Michigan’s question marks have higher ceilings than Michigan St.  A great MSU season results in a Rose Bowl appearance and maybe a 5^th overall ranking, but an average season has MSU finishing still inside the top 15.  On the otherhand, Michigan’s great season would likely involve a BCS championship game appearance and a top 5 finish, but an average season puts Michigan outside the top 15. Michigan State is definitely the safe pick at this point to win the conference, but I still don’t want to think about Sparty in Pasadena. The defense in East Lansing will be the best in the B1G and likely a top 5 overall group again, but the offense will be a big question mark.  The offensive line is more experienced, but are strides behind Wisconsin’s road graters, the receiving corps has a lot of young potential, and they are breaking in a new quarterback.  Le’Von Bell will need to shoulder the load, at least in the beginning of the season.

3. Nebraska

Nebraska might be the 3^rd best team in the conference this year, but the problem is the top 2 teams are in the same division.  Taylor Martinez looks to correct his nasty side arm slinging to become a real quarterback, and Rex Burkhead is back again to carry the ball 25+ times a game. If Martinez can stay healthy all season, Nebraska could finish with 10 wins. They do have some questions on the defensive side of the ball, but have young talent to fill those big holes left by the graduating players.

4. Northwestern

The Wildcats lose their best quarterback in recent history, Dan Persa, but the signal caller’s job is made a little easier knowing that talented Kyle Prater is going to be catching his passes.  Northwestern has lacked a big time play maker over the years, and now that they finally have one, will they be able to get him the ball.  Again, like the Nebraska preview, Northwestern would fare much better in the Leaders Division (and likely get 1-2 more wins). Unless something goes very wrong, the Wildcats will be bowling again.

5. Iowa

Well Iowa is not getting much hype this offseason which is usually about the time that the Hawkeyes make a run for a B1G title.  I have a very hard time seeing history repeating itself this year.  It seems like Iowa has lost its top 10 running backs in the offseason and are now down to two freshman players remaining.  If one of these guys can take some pressure off of Vandenberg, Iowa could again surprise some people.  They have lost their big play receivers and some depth on defense.  We will see how far a veteran quarterback can carry the Hawkeyes this year.

6. Minnesota

Well Minnesota is going to be better this year, but the problem is they are in the tougher division.  If Marqueise Gray can stay healthy at quarterback, the Gophers could push for a bowl game.  It seems that all 6 teams in the Legends Division are in the top 10 of the conference right now (including 5 in the top 7). Lets hope that Coack Kill can stay healthy enough to enjoy his improving team.

B1G predictions way too early (Leaders Division)

I have to admit, with only 8 days until the start of the 2012 college football season, I have been sucked back in and am already wrapped up in all of the hype. So lets dive into the B1G conference and try to see who will be playing in Indy for the championship.

Leaders Division
1. Wisconsin
Whether Wisconsin is a dominant as the past 2 seasons or they take a step back, the Leaders Division seems to be all but wrapped up before Labor Day because OSU and PSU are not elgible for the B1G championship game.  The 3 toughest games on the Badgers schedule are: @ Nebraska, MSU, and OSU.  Wisconsin could lose all of these games and still make the trip to Indianapolis for the 2nd straight season.  I don't think the Badgers are as good as they have been the past 2 seasons, but they still will have some fire power. The defense should be greatly improved from last season, but still will be lacking the overall speed that the elite defenses have.  I think the offense will take a step back with Wilson gone, but the best OL group in the conference will cover some of those problems.  It seems like Bielema will continue his success with another 10+ win season.

2. OSU
The Buck-nuts could be the best team in the Leaders Division, they surely aren't lacking talent, but with the post season ban, ole Urb will be building for a future powerhouse. While the Scarlet and Gray will be missing from Indy for another year, they will still play a major role in determining the 2 teams that do play for the title.  Ohio plays @ MSU, @ Wisc, Michigan and Nebraska. I think Braxton Miller will improve a lot as the season goes on under the new offense. Which might lead them to be a top 15 team by the end of the year. 

3. Purdue

The Boilermakers are my sleeper pick this season.  They ended 2011 with a little momentum, including beating OSU and winning a bowl game, and I think it can carry over into 2012.  If Purdue can stay healthy they might be able to compete for the Leaders Division title. Ricardo Allen is back, and he is one of my favorite cornerbacks in the conference.  Purdue starts the B1G schedule with Michigan, Wisconsin, and @ OSU.  This is the toughest 3 weeks of anyone in the conference all season.  If they could find a way to win one of those games, especially a division opponent, they could be setting up for a January 1^st bowl game.

4. Illinois

Year 1 of the Tim Beckman project in Champaign.  Ron Zook left some talent on the roster so will this be the year that they play up to that talent?  I think the transition will be a difficult one, and that the Illini will struggle to be bowl eligible. Nathan Scheelhasse is back, but he will need weapons around him to be effective. 

5. Penn State

How will Penn State respond to all of the transfers, sanctions, and new coaches?  I have no doubts that the players left are going to play with fire all season, but how far does that take you if you are lacking so much in talent?  We will find out this season.  The Nittany Lions have enough talent left in their first line to compete for 3^rd in the division, but there is little to no depth behind that.  I have a feeling this team will win a few games early, but eventually run out of gas and finish out of the bowls.

6. Indiana

Well it is going to be another long year for Hoosier fans.  Yes, their coaching staff has not changed so they could improve as a team, but Indiana’s talent deficiency is so large that they will struggle to win a B1G game all season.  I guess some team has to finish last… it just seems like Indiana is in the cellar more than most.

Justin's preseason top 25

It is the time of year where everyone becomes fortune tellers and makes up crazy preseason rankings.  I think it is way too early for rankings, and that polls should be released for the first time after the 4th week of the season.  But, since everyone else is doing it.. peer pressure. 

So how should preseason rankings be determined?  Is it how I think these teams will end the season, or based on last years results, or just overall quality... no matter how many losses I think the team will end up with. I think it is too early to predict the end of the season results, so I am going to go with overall quality. 

USC, Bama, OU, Oregon, LSU, GA, UM, MSU, SCar, Ark, WV, FSU, Wisc, Clem, Stan, OKSt, Neb,

25. Purdue.  I know, I am a little biased to B1G, but I think Purdue has a realistic shot at coming out of the Leaders Division for the B1G championship game.
24. NC St. They are one of the most experienced teams in the ACC, so even though they might be lacking in superior talent... they have a good chance at pushing for an ACC crown.
23. TCU. In the Big 12 now could get knocked down a peg from facing actual teams all season long, but I think they have decent quality and some depth to actually compete with the big boys. 
22. Georgia Tech. Running that crazy offense, they return their top 3 rushers.  They could be primed to put up a lot of points.
21. Virgina Tech. Well lets face it, they are always ranked at the end of the season.
20. Kansas St. After the surprising top 10 finish last season, they will look to follow it up with another strong year with their QB returning. He actually could be a Heisman dark horse.
19. Ohio. Gross, but talented.  It will be fun watching them beat up on the B1G knowing the whole time they cant go to the championship game or a bowl.  I think Braxton Miller will thrive in the new offense.
18. Texas.  With all of those 4 & 5 star recruits, they have to put it together soon enough, right?
17. Nebraska. With side slinging Martinez back to impress all with that form and Burkhead continuing to carry the load, Neb could sneak by the Legend's favorites into the championship game.
16. Oklahoma St. Even with losing a lot of talent last year, the system under Mike Gundy is just scary. 
15. Stanford.  Same explanation as above.  Their recruiting has gone nationwide.  They will likely take a step back this seaosn, but the Cardinal is a program here to stay.
14. Clemson.  One of the most talented teams in the nation will likely under perform like every Clemson team in the last 40 years.
13. Wisconsin.  Do they still have a road grating offensive line? yes. Enough said.
12. Florida St. Will this be the year that all of those top recruiting classes actually shows up on the field?  I doubt it.  Will Jimbo be on the hotseat, I think so.
11. WVU. They will fit right into the Big12. All offense and no defense. Should be fun to watch some of their matchups with Geno Smith back.
10. Arkansas. Returning Tyler Wilson and injured RB Davis.  If the Hogs can overcome the stupidity of their old coach (and new), they will finish in the top 10 again.
9. South Carolina. Talented enough to take away the SEC West's dominance, but will likely have 1-2 bone head losses.
8. MSU. Ugh, I hate this, but they are going to be good again.  If Maxwell can figure out the offense and live up to his hype, MSU could get to their first BCS game. They will again have a top 5 defense.
7. U-M. Remember this is going on talent.  I think Michigan will finish around 12-13, but be a far better team than last year.  One of the toughest schedules in the nation will make this season tough to get to double digit wins.  Will this be the year that Denard is actually invited to NY for the Heisman presentation? I think so.
6. Georgia. Aaron Murray is a monster and will be one of the best QB's in the nation. If he can cut down on turnovers, you might be looking at the Heisman winner.
5. LSU. How will the lose of the Honey Badger hurt the Tigers? I think enough to keep them below Bama.
4. Oregon.  I am already dreaming about the ABC 8pm game between USC and Oregon this fall.  So fast and the system is close to unstoppable.
3. Oklahoma. The dirt stache that is Landry Jones will likely cruise through the Big 12 this season.
2. Alabama. Bama loses a lot of starters on the defense, but will replace them with future All-Americans. The offensive line might be the best college football has ever seen.
1. USC. Even with the scholarship reductions, USC is extremely talented.  Matt Barkley is on a mission for a national title and likely a Heisman.  Will they have a normal USC mid-season slip up, or will they be headed to face the SEC champ undefeated?

State of the Tigers

Hello everyone, I am back.  I know you had many sleepless nights and worried work days since I havent posted in over a month, but now you can relax.  I have to be honest, I didnt know how much work blogging about every Tiger series, posting power rankings, and trade rumors was going to be, but by mid-July I was burned out.  So I took a break, and now I have the blogging itch again.

Since my last post, the trade deadline has come and past and the Tigers were again amongst the major buyers.  Detroit offered up their once untouchable pitching prospect, Jacob Turner, with 2 other possible major leaguers for a rental pitcher, Anibal Sanchez, and former Detroit Tiger Omar Infante.  At first I thought that the Tigers over spent for these two players, but in reality, every team in the league knows that Mike Illitch wants to win a world series title before he leaves ownership.  On paper, this trade should sure up the Tigers rotation, and actually make a decent competition for the 4th (and final) starting spot for the playoff rotation.  This is of course if the Tigers can get to the postseason again.  But after a month of this trade, Sanchez is taking longer than expected to get accustomed to the AL.  However, Infante continues to show Tigers fans just how big of a black hole second base has been for the past 2 seasons. 

Anibal has had one quality start out of 4 with his new team and just seems uncomfortable pitching in the new league.  He is struggling to get people out with the low strike out rate and appears to be over-pitching because of a lack of confidence in his stuff.  I don't know if he will turn things around to even push Rick Porcello for the final spot on the postseason rotation.  I hope so.  Luckily, Omar Infante is proving that this trade was positive.  He started slowly, but now is quickly becoming one of the Tigers most consistent hitters.  All the while, he plays an above average 2nd base.  I am glad he is locked up through next year. 

The good: the offense seems to be more consistent than earlier in the season.  If they can continue, hopefully they can carry the Tigers into the postseason.  The best of the lineup has been Miguel Cabrera.  He has become the first Tiger to ever hit 30 bombs with 100+ RBIs in 5 straight seasons.  Folks, he is the best hitter in baseball right now, and we are witnessing history with each at bat.  At this point in the season, Miguel should make the Tigers the first team in 13 years to have back to back MVP's.  Yes, wonderboy Mike Trout can push Miguel for the crown, but I am crossing my fingers that the voters finally reward Miguel for being incredible.  The starting pitcing, overall, has been very good.  Justin Verlander is having similar secondary stats to his historic season last year, but has been the victim of the least amount of run support in the AL.  This has led to only a 12-7 record, with many NDs.  Verlander likely will not win back to back Cy Young awards, but he is still the clear best pitcher in the game.  Doug Fister is practicing his inner Ryan Raburn by having his second strong last half of the season in a row.  He has gotten his record back to 7-7, and had looked dominant on the mount lately.  Finally, Max has continued his unbelievable strike out rate throughout the season and seems to be a lot more consistent this year.  His less than dominant starts are still going for 6 innings and 3-4 runs, I think we can all live with that.  If he continues on this pace, we can easily say we have a Big Three starting pitchers and a Big Three bashers.

There have been a few disappointing things lately, mostly it involves the gas cans in the bullpen... but this is my first post back so I dont want to focus on the bad right now.  If Benoit keeps giving up bp homeruns, then I might complain soon, but for now Go Tigers.

Currently the team sits at 2.5 games behind the Dirty Sox and 1 game behind the surprising O's for the final wild card spot.  With a weekend series against Baltimore, Detroit can be back in the playoff picture soon.  With 16 games at Comerica in the next 19, look for Detroit to get on a bit of a hot streak.

Trade Market

As the trade deadline approaches, it is almost guaranteed that Dombrowski will make a move to, in theory, improve the 2012 Detroit Tigers.  The problem this could bring is that it would likely come at the expense of our already depleted farm system.  People disagree about how to build a baseball franchise.  One theory is to go through a rough patch with the major league team, and in the mean time accumulate draft picks and prospects.  This is the method used by the more frugal spending teams (Kansas City).  The problem that many teams have with this method is they are not able to keep their young talent when they demand an 8 figure paycheck, and the teams that can afford to spend that kind of money do not want to waste 2-5 rough years with their MLB team.  This brings me to the 2^nd theory, buy anyone you want in free agency and get carpel tunnel from writing all of those zeros. This is usually the fans dream scenario, until the team stops winning and then shit hits the fan (welcome to the Tigers 2008 and 2012 seasons).  There are issues with both methods, so the ideal situation lies somewhere in between.  The Rangers, Giants, Cardinals, and the Braves have done this very well over the past 5-10 years.  More teams are trying to replicate this method than the Yankees buffet style, all you can spend, roster.  The Tigers fall just beside the Yankees with their spending habits.  It keeps the fans happy in the off-season but creates a lot of frustration during the 162 schedule. 

So this season as Detroit tries to improve the 25 man roster with some mid-season moves, the farm system will likely be full of 27 year old journeymen.  Let’s start by looking at the possible trade assets Dombrowski currently has to throw at other GMs.  The golden egg is Nick Castellanos.  He is shooting up through the minors right now and quite the hitter.  Every GM in the league will ask if he is available, and the question will be what is his price.  Next the Tigers have a stable of pitchers they can add to a marquee deal: Jacob Turner, Andrew Oliver, Casey Crosby, Drew Smyly, and even Rick Porcello.  Then they have a list of mediocre borderline major league type guys: Ryan Raburn, Delmon Young, Brennan Boesch, Jhonny Peralta, Don Kelly, Andy Dirks, and Danny Worth. 

Now the next step is for the team officials to decide what is the weakest link of the baseball team.  Overall, the 2^nd base position has been a black hole.  That is likely the top priority.  An average corner outfielder with a decent OBP would be welcomed to slide into the 5 hole (and this would be my first choice).  Then the Tigers could also solidify the starting pitching staff with, ideally, a left-handed pitcher. 

Here is the fun part, what is available?  For 2^nd basemen there are levels of talent, super-star, franchise-type players at this position are all locked up for the next 5 years and are not on the market.  That takes us to a young unknown Jose Altuve from the Astros, Jed Lowrie also from the Astros, Darwin Barney from the Cubbies, or Marco Scutaro from the Rockies.  Altuve likely has the highest trade value, but has the highest ceiling.  He has speed and would be a great 2 hitter behind AJ.  He could even be the lead-off guy, but Leyland likes AJ there (and why move someone who is so hot).  Lowrie would add an average bat to the lineup, but the intriguing thing with him is he would dramatically improve the defense at short stop, and we could move Peralta to 2^nd base.  Lowrie could potentially hit in the 2 hole, but likely would be a bottom half guy.  Barney’s trade value is also high right now.  He would be an improvement defensively, and he is a low power .270-.280 average guy.  He would be a good fit in the 2 hole, or down in the order as well.  Depending on what the Cubs and Astros ask for, one of these guys could help improve the infield defense for our many ground ball pitchers. It would be great to move Peralta away from the shortstop position, but then he might get that pouty attitude he had in his last season with the Indians if he doesn’t like playing there and he becomes utterly useless.  It would be great to improve the infield defense, but I would not be willing to give up a lot of players for any of these 2^nd basemen, especially when Raburn will likely hit at least .250 in the 2^nd half with some power. 

I personally think the Tigers are in desperate need of a 5 hitter that can get on base around a .330-.350 clip.  It would reduce a lot of pressure on Miguel and Prince and add it to the opposing pitchers and managers.  I think this can be addressed with a corner outfielder, and when VMart comes back from injury they can slide down to the 6^th hitter easily enough.  The marquee name in this area is Justin Upton.  His career OBP is .357 and he hits for power.  The problem here is that Castellanos will likely have to be involved in this trade for it to even be considered along with 2-3 more players.  Losing our prized prospect will plummet Detroit’s farm system to the bottom of the big leagues and give them little to no trade assets moving forward.  On the other hand, Castellanos is still an unknown.  Most people believe he is going to be in the MLB sooner rather than later, but his stock has never been higher than it is now after he won the MVP of the futures  game.  The other outfield options are: Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Quentin, Shane Victorino, and Jeff Franceur.  Upton is by far the best player in this bunch, on top of that, Upton is not 25 yet.  If he wants to play in Detroit, is it worth selling the farm for? I would be willing to give up Castellanos, Young, Worth/Raburn, and Crosby/Oliver for Upton, but is that offer even going to make the Arizona GM think twice?  Soriano is past his prime, can barely field his position and brings a huge contract with him.  Shane Victorino isn’t really what Detroit is looking for in terms of an offensive threat, and Franceur isn’t much of an upgrade at the plate from Boesch.  That leaves Quentin.  I would be interested in making this move if the price was right.  I would only give up 2 players at the most (one of the young pitchers and a Raburn/Worth type). 

Starting pitching has a few names on the trading block, but the asking price seems too high for the returned value.  The Phillies are shopping Cole Hamels.  Dempster and Garza from the Cubs are available, and Greinke from the Brewers are the well known names.  The A’s are usually looking to dump a pitcher or two, and the Astros have Wandy Rodriguez.  Most of these pitchers would improve Detroits starting 5, but the problem is that none of these guys will come at anything resembling a value.  The Phillies are looking for 3-5 prospects for Hamels, a 2 month rent-a-player.  The Cubs want to dump Soriano’s contract into a trade for one of their pitchers, and the Brewers want 1-2 prospects and an semi-impact player right now for Greinke.  Detroit should not trade Castellanos for any of these pitchers.  It seems likely that Detroit will roll with the 5 starters they currently have, and if they can make it into the playoffs they will move to a 4 man rotation with Smyly out of the pen. 

One thing that is for sure is that this month is going to be exciting to see which players are traded and who Detroit adds to the roster.  Dombrowski will do something, but depending on how untouchable Castellanos is will determine the overall added value.  I do not think the Tigers will find another Doug Fister or Delmon Young this year. 

First Half Recap (44-42)

Hello again folks I am back again.  Sorry for the long absence, not that anyone really noticed, but I have been on vacation and needed a break from blogging about my frustrations with the Tigers.  Everyone says that the baseball season is a marathon, and I am beginning to realize how correct that statement is while trying to blog about every game and/or series.  It is easy to project a single game’s failures over the course of a season and get frustrated with this high payroll team “under achieving.”  Seriously, why can’t they just win every game (or at least every series).  Well people, it is tough to win baseball games in the MLB, even with a high payroll.  Let’s take a look back at the first half and see if we can find any encouragement for the second half.

A few short months ago the Tigers were a favorite to make (and likely win) the World Series, so what has changed?  Well every role player seems to be having an average or slightly below average season.  Verlander, Cabrera and Prince are doing what they can to put the entire load on their shoulders, but they need help.  Delmon Young has been forced into the 5 hole and he just isn’t a 5^th hitter, he doesn’t get on base enough.  Delmon is putting little to no pressure on the pitcher if Prince gets on base.  Young has become everyone’s least favorite Tiger, and while some of that has to do with his stupidity off the field, the rest is a little unfair to him.  A big lipped square peg cannot fit into the round 5 hole.  Did you know that Delmon is having an average season for him?  His split is .271/ .298/ .418.  The average is just below his career average and the slugging is right at average.  Yes, his OBP is 20 points lower than average, and that has been the main issue.  But his is on pace to have close to 20 home runs, he averages less than 14. knew Delmon cannot field a position, so with VMart being sidelined it has given him a spot in the lineup.  The encouraging thing here is that we don’t have to see Young in the outfield.  There is no way that Delmon Young is not squarely on the trading block this month as part of a package deal to get another bat in the lineup.  The Tigers have made their DH decision for the next 3 years with VMart, so might as well try to get something for the soon-to-be free agent. 

The Tigers are getting no production out of the 2^nd basemen by committee.  Yes, Raburn is hitting over .300 since coming back from Toledo, but his batting average is still under .200 for the season.  This position is the weakest on paper, but every team has holes.  We knew the 2^nd base position was our weak link going into the season.  Most people want the Tigers to trade for a franchise 2^nd bagger, but that just isn’t a realistic possibility at this point (more on the trade possibilities in the next post).

Avila, Peralta, and Boesch are struggling offensively.  The home runs are down for all 3, and the averages for Avila and Boesch are much lower than anyone expected.  On top of this, 2 of the 3 (Peralta and Boesch) have been terrible in the field. I will give Alex a little pass here, he has been injured for most of the first half and continues to get abused behind the plate, but in the last few series before the All-Star break he seemed to be driving the ball again. 

Defensively this team is beyond awful.  Some of the games looks worse than the LLWS.  Coming into the season we expected the defense to be a weakness, but the offense would score enough to cover up the lack of consistency in the field.  On top of that, everyone was most worried about Miggy moving back across the diamond to play 3^rd.  Do you realize he has been the best starting infielder for the first half.  My hat is off to Cabrera for how hard he worked in the off season.  Austin, Avila, and Miguel have been good defensively (with Austin being the best CF in baseball in my mind).  The rest of the 5 starting position players are below average fielders with Fielder and Boesch having career worst years.  On top of that, the middle infielders really struggle with turning double plays consistently.  As fans, we cannot expect the defense to get any better over the 2^nd half of the season, so we could very well be looking at close to 100 unearned runs in 162 games… I am starting to feel sick.

There have been some very encouraging things about the first 86 games though.  Austin, Cabrera and Prince are knocking the cover off the ball.  Miguel was just the 7^th player in Detroit Tigers history to have more than 15 home runs, 60 rbis and 100 hits before the ASG and he is easily clear of that mark: 18/71/108.  He is having one of the best offensive seasons of any Tiger ever, and should be in the middle of the MVP discussion at this point in the season. I mean, how many players that finish with 35 HRs, 138 RBIs and 210 hits with a .320 average do not win the MVP?  I would guess not many.  Currently Austin is second in the AL in OBP and BA, and if he continues to get on base Miguel will continue to drive him home.  Most people were frustrated with Prince’s lack of power in the first half, but he has started to pick things up over the last week.  I would be surprised if he does not finish with 30+ hrs and 110+ RBIs.  I am not sure if you can ask more from just 3 guys. 

The starting pitching and bullpen have been very good overall.  Yes, Doug Fister is not 12-2 with a 1.75 ERA like most people expected and JV doesn’t have 20 wins yet, but quietly Max and Rick have put together a solid month of June.  Verlander is still in the top 3 of most pitching categories, and if he can get some consistent run support he will have a big second half.  Drew Smyly has been better than anyone expected (and if you expected more you are a moron). Fister still looks a little bothered by his oblique injury, but hopefully the All-Star break was a good rest period.  There is no reason to believe he will be as bad as he has been in the first half.  The Tigers are on pace to crush the AL strikeout record for an entire team.  Verlander, Max, and Smyly have been striking out a lot of batters, but the bullpen has been off the charts so far.  Besides Below, the rest of the bullpen comes in and strikes people out.  The dynamic thing about them though is they get people to swing and miss in different ways.  Villareal uses pin point location with a 98 mph heater to set up a nasty drop off the table slider.  Benoit uses his best changeup in baseball.  Coke uses effective wildness and knee-locking breaking balls.  Valverde… well lets move on. 

There is still a lot of things to be excited about this year’s Detroit Tigers team (that statement is as much for me as anyone).  They have made it through some injuries and a stretch of playing some of the worst baseball anyone will ever see from an MLB team, and somehow they are 44-42 (one game behind last year’s dream season).  Go Tigers.