2013 Tigers Hitting Projections

POSITION	PLAYER	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	R	SB
C	Alex Avila	16	70	280	361	65	3
1B	Prince Fielder	42	118	310	423	96	1
2B	Omar Infante	9	53	285	329	79	10
3B	Miguel Cabrera	40	128	337	420	116	5
SS	Jhonny Peralta	19	76	279	330	62	1
LF	Andy Dirks	14	64	294	349	72	7
CF	Austin Jackson	18	70	304	390	102	16
RF	Torii Hunter	21	82	287	359	80	5
DH	Victor Martinez	17	100	317	378	83	0
C	Brayan Pena	3	23	265	301	18	0
UT	Don Kelly	7	36	258	298	25	7
IF	Ramon Santiago	2	22	247	290	23	2
UT	Matt Tuiasosopo	10	34	270	309	20	2
OF	Quintin Berry	1	22	247	307	29	13

Tigers Sign Prince Fielder

The deal is for 9 years and 214 million, which are both fine and the fit is perfect, it’s the best fit Prince could have and Prince and Cabrera will do more than Prince and Braun did.  he should give the Tigers years of great production and should hit 35-50 HR every year.  He will hit a ton of homers out to right field in Comerica and should feast on AL Central pitching and AL pitching, the transition should make him better.  By the time this contract is done he should be better than Cecil was as a Tiger.  Prince should destroy in 2012 and through his age 34 or 35 season.  He’s everything you want in a power hitter and should put the Tigers over the top.  It’s a great move on both sides.  His wing is perfect too and the Tigers will get monster production and some MVPs possibly too.  He should have some of his best season ahead and they could be amazing.  As far as the logjam, I’d Dh Fielder more than Cabby in 2012 but put Prince at first and Cabrera at third and let Martinez DH, when Castellanos is ready in 2014, stick him at third and move Cabby to DH or left field depending on whether or not you still have Victor.  The Tigers offense is very scary in 2012 and will be even scarier in 2013, Prince is better than Victor though and this team should get better on 2012 and make another deep run.  Prince will hit 45 homers or so for the next few years probably and both sides should enjoy this deal very, very much.

Line-Up Now For the Tigers

1. CF Austin Jackson
2. RF Brennan Boesch
3. 1B Miguel Cabrera
4. DH Prince Fielder
5. LF Delmon Young
6. C Alex Avila
7. SS Jhonny Peralta
8. 3B Brandon Inge
9. 2B Ramon Santiago

Ranking The Tigers DH Options

Soon will be a write-up on the best guys and why they should come here or not

1. Prince Fielder
2. Yoenis Cespedes
3. Carlos Pena
4. Johnny Damon
5. Vladimir Guererro
6. Johnny Gomes
7. Hideki Matsui
8. Derrek Lee
9. Cody Ross
10. JD Drew
11. Raul Ibanez
12. Magglio Ordonez
13. Juan Pierre
14. Wilson Betemit
15. Miguel Tejada
16. Carlos Guillen
17. Xaiver Nady
18. Manny Ramirez
19. Brad Hawpe

1-5 would be great, 1-2 being the best obviously and 5-14 are good to okay and the rest won’t probably cut it.

Victor Martinez Out For 2012

The Tigers line-up has taken a huge hit as DH Victor Martinez is out for the 2012 season, or at least until September.  He was a huge hitter for them last season, being the bat they needed to get into the playoffs and having a oWAR of 3.1, which is pretty good but the Tigers can still make the playoffs without him and win, they do that with their pitching, which is great.  The Tigers will win this division no problem still because the White Sox don’t have enough talent, Twins don;t have pitching and could be without Morneau, the Indians already have shown they are too weak and the Royals pitching isn’t there yet.  the Tigers should still win over 90 games and if they replace Martinez right, they could still do very well in the playoffs.  Martinez is a huge loss and he is the Tigers second best hitter but the Tigers can rebound with minimal damage and if he comes back at the end of the year it will be a great boost and in 2013 he could do very well too.  With this, Cabrera should probably hit third unless a top of the order guy is signed and Boesch can hit third.  Martinez shouldn’t have caught again anyways, so that’s not a concern.  His offense will be missed but I still like the Tigers a lot, and the talent on this is big in quantity and quality.  His average and OBP will be the biggest thing missed and it should effect the Tigers by 2-3 less wins than expected, so I see them at 93-94 wins.

Giving All The Tigers Hitters Grades for 2011

Miguel Cabrera: A
Victor Martinez: A-
Alex Avila: A-
Jhonny Peralta: A-
Ryan Raburn; C-
Austin Jackson: D
Brandon Inge: D-
Wilson Betemit: B-
Delmon Young: B+
Brennan Boesch: B+
Ramon Santiago: B
Andy Dirks: C+
Don Kelly: B-
Danny Worth: C
Omir Snatos: INC
Casper Wells: C-
Carlos Guillen: D+
Will Rhymes: D-
Scott Sizmore: F

Can The Tigers Comeback?

Yes but there is one key.  They have to win tomorrow, if they don’t win I see them losing this series in six.  I going to make a bold prediction right here and say the Tigers win this series in six still.  Tomorrow you have Fister and Lewis and Lewis may be a great postseason pitcher but still the Tigers can start hitting back at home and they really can hit Lewis and after that game the way Porcello has pitched he can beat Harrison and if the Tigers can get to CJ and have JV return to himself they can take a 3-2 series lead and it’s very possible to that, I’d give it a 40% chance and then you have a rematch and if the Tigers can get to Holland a little better the Tiger win the series.  If the Tigers lose tomorrow you have to start Verlander Game 5 but to win at all this offense has to start-up.  Tomorrow Kelly deserves a start at third and leave Santiago at second and Raburn in right and then the Tigers need to get their middle of the order alive, especially V-Mart and Miggy, if those to can hit the Tigers are in shape even if Avila and Peralta don’t follow and at least one should.  Jackson might geta hit here or there but he probably will struggle no matter what, they only other two guys I’d start in the leadoff spot right now are Santiago or Kelly.

1. Don Kelly 3B
2. Ramon Satiago 2B
3. Demon Young LF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Ryan Raburn RF
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Alex Avila C
9. Austin Jackson CF

A Look At The Tigers Game 1 Line-Up

1. Austin Jackson CF- If he can get on than he can stay here and he found ways to get on even when he wasn’t hitting very well in the ALDS
2. Ryan Raburn 2B- A Ranger killer who does good in Rangers Ballpark and is doing well right now should stay here
3. Miguel Cabrera 1B- As long as he hits a few homers, gets on and gets RBIs he can hit third or fourth, third might be the better choice because he could get ane extra at-bat along the way but it doesn’t really matter a lot
4. Victor Martinez DH- I like him hitting fourth and should do a lot better this series and I have a feeling he will flash his power
5. Magglio Orodnez RF- He’s been hot and is a great postseason hitter, he should shit here or second but no lower
6. Alex Avila C- He needs to regain his swing and then he can hit a couple of homers and he can hit here with ease
7. Jhonny Peralta SS- A great number seven hitter who will contribute a lot
8. Ramon Santiago SS- When he gets a start he has some pop and can geta few hits here and on another note his defense is great
9. Brandon Inge 3B- He does well and will hit a few homers in the playoffs

Losing Delmon hurts but this line-up can still get a lot of runs and do well.  Betemit should hit a homer and get a few hits here and there if he stops swinging at everything.  Kelly can do some nice things for the Tigers with a few starts too

What The Tigers Line-Up Should Look Like For ALDS Game 5

Here’s what I’d do

1. CF Austin Jackson
2. RF Magglio Ordonez
3. LF Delmon Young
4. 1B Miguel Cabrera
5. DH Victor Martinez
6. SS Jhonny Peralta
7. C Alex Avila
8. 3B Brandon Inge
9. 2B Ryan Raburn

I’d do this because Jackson has been getting on and I’m not sure Dirks would do much better and Maggs had his best game in the two hole.  I trust Inge more than Kelly or Betemit right now and I’d put Avila in the seven hole because even though he’s struggling he can hit a homer just like that in Yankee Stadium.  Santiago will start doing worse and worse if he plays everyday and Raburn will come up better and I like Peralta in the six hole for some reason.  Betemit then Kelly then Dirks would be my pinch-hitting options in order of who I’d want up there the most.

Leyland said Kelly and Maggs will start so I’d put Kelly hitting ninth and Raburn seventh in that case and the lien-up Leyland is putting out there is decent but could easily win more importantly.

Ranking The Tigers Hitters From Who’ll Do Best To Worst

1. Miguel Cabrera
2. Victor Martinez
3. Delmon Young
4. Johnny Peralta
5. Magglio Ordonez
6. Alex Avila
7. Wilson Betemit
8. Austin Jackson
9. Ryan Raburn
10. Brandon Inge
11. Ramon Santaigo
12. Andy Dirks
13. Don Kelly
14. Omir Santos

Most of these guys should do very well.  The first nine will make some contirbutions and Inge could do something big and Satiago is sneaky, very sneaky

Tigers Line-ups

THE BEST: That’s what Leyland is putting out today but a close second would be

1. CF Jackson
2. LF Young
3. SS Peralta
4. 1B Cabrera
5. DH Martinez
6. C Avila
7. RF Boesch/Ordonez
8. 3B Betemit
9. 2B Raburn

Simply put the best line-up for the Tigers right now is the one where their best hitters get to bat the most and this is how I’d rank the guys

1. Cabrera
2. Martinez
3. Peralta
4. Avila
5. Young
6. Boesch

Jackson and Dirks are the only two who can hit leadoff and one of these guys would be good in the bottom along with Raburn and Betemit so the line-up can be feared all the way around.  Another way to spice the line=up is to start Don Kelly less, he hasn’t done much on offense lately.  Ordonez and Raburn could really show up soon too.

Best line-up with Maggs and Young hitting third

1. CF Jackson/Dirks
2. RF Ordonez
3. LF Young
4. 1B Cabrera
5. DH Martinez
6. C Avila
7. SS Peralta
8. RF Ordonez
9. 3B Betemit

Let’s also face this, Boesch is the Tigers two hitter and though he may not be the best two hitter he will give you something and actually show up in this year’s second half.  Ordonez could hit there too and if Raburn heats up, he’s okay there every once in a while.  Avila and Peralta may need to move up too they can’t miss the ball right now and with Young they could alternate.   This is a good group of players that can win even in a mismatched line-up.