Detroit Tigers
 

The main reason the Tigers have struggled for much of the past decade is because their front office doesn't really have a grasp of what their assets are.  For example, the Tigers play in one of the toughest home run parks in the majors.  So what kind of pitcher do they acquire to fill out their pitching staff?  Hard-throwing flyball pitchers, right?  Guys who get a lot of strikeouts and, unless you hit the ball squarely, get plenty of easy high flyball outs to an athletic outfield, right?  Not the Tigers.  Their pitching staff has largely been made up of soft-tossing ground ball pitchers and their outfield is frequented by at least one immobile outfielder every game.  With the offseason addition of former Marlins GM Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers should finally begin to get a grasp on who they are and what kind of team they should be.
 

Hitting

The Tigers have a number of nice hitters who would make good 4th or 5th options, but there's really no star hitter.  LF Bobby Higginson comes close, consistently posting good on base and slugging numbers.  Even though Comerica park is an extreme pitcher's park, Higginson's home production is significantly better than his away numbers over the past 3 years.

The Tigers have a passel of decent hitters without a position. Robert Fick, Dmitri Young and Mitch Meluskey each have 20 home run power and have passable-to-good on base skills.  And even though each is listed at numerous positions, each is best suited to be a DH.  Each will probably spend some time at first base, DH and right field this season; Fick and Meluskey will get some additional time behind the plate.

C Brandon Inge is supposed to be catcher of the present and future, but has yet to show he can hit major league pitching.  In fact, his minor league hitting record is rather dubious as well.  Mike Rivera, who blasted 33 homers playing at hitter friendly AA Erie last year may get a shot to assume the regular catching duties.  He's having a strong spring at the plate and is at least average defensively, something that can not be said of Meluskey or Fick.

3B/DH Dean Palmer is another player who has passable hitting skills but really doesn't play a position.  He's coming off another injury plagued season and another surgery. He will likely be the full-time DH once he returns.

2B Damian Easley is another typical Tiger hitter, although he's a quality defender.  Easley's tendency to pull the ball was a boon in Tiger Stadium, but is a bane in Comerica with it's ridiculously deep power alleys.  He may never see 20 homers again, but 15 is within reason.  His double play partner SS Shane Halter has some of the same offensive skills as Easley but is more like the rest of the Tiger hitters when it comes to defense.

3b Craig Paquette was brought over from the Cardinals in order to allow Jose Macias to move to center.  Macias is unquestionably the Tigers most gifted athlete as he is above average at second, third and each of the outfield positions.  Unfortunately, he can't play all 5 at the same time.  Macias showed some speed and good on base skills in his first full season last year but has never had much power.  Paquette has modest power and is really more of a utility player.

OF Wendell Magee and 1B Randall Simon head a modest bench.  The Tigers have some interesting possibilities on offense, but trying to play the power game without having an excellent on-base team in that park will likely fall short of a winning offense.
Rating: 50
 

Pitching

RHSP Jeff Weaver is either going to develop into one of the better pitchers in the AL, or is going to completely break down and be a career injury-rehabber, like Cal Eldred has become.  He has excellent movement on all of his pitches and hits 95 with his fastball when he has to.  Unfortunately, he thrown a tremendous number of innings for someone his age - nearly 600.  His second half numbers don't show any signs of a let-down, other than a declining strikeout rate, but his current manager is not known for keeping pitchers healthy.

Neither LHSP Mark Redman nor RHSP Jose Lima top 90 on the gun, but both change speeds very well and both are flyball pitchers, two characteristics that will help them survive in Detroit.  RHSP Steve Sparks uses his knuckler to great effect, quietly leading the AL in complete games in 2001.  He wasn't dominating, but nevertheless turned in 20 quality starts in 35 outings last season, good for 10th best in the AL.

The fifth spot was supposed to go to highly regarded prospect Nate Cornejo, but a rough spring may have him returning to the minors for some seasoning and Julio Santana filling in until he's ready.  Lefty Andy Van Hekken is waiting in the wings as well.

The bullpen is led by Matt Anderson who is probably the hardest throwing pitcher in baseball.  He hits 100 occasionally, but his fastball is straight, making him more hittable than his velocity suggests.  However, he improved his control last year, which, with his terrific knuckle curve, will elevate him to elite closer status.

RHRP Danny Patterson, who is the lone remnant of the Juan Gonzales trade, and RHRP Dave Borkowski are slated for right-handed set-up duties. LHRP Matt Perisho will be the primary left-handed reliever.  The Tigers invited RHRP Juan Acevedo to spring training and he has been very effective.  Adding the hard-throwing former closer will be a big plus for a Tiger bullpen that is not particularly intimidating in the middle innings.
Rating: 50
 

Defense

Other than Higginson, Macias and Easley, this team is well below average in range and ability in the field.  Rivera should be OK behind the plate provided he can win the full-time job, but Garner may elect to go with the better offensive player (Meluskey) and hope the opposition doesn't run wild.  That said, Higginson, Easley and Macias are very good defenders and save this team from having a completely wretched defense.
Rating: 45

 
Management

Well, it hasn't been good.  The Tigers are still hurting from the Juan Gonzales trade: they got one particularly unimpressive, yet expensive year out of Gonzales in exchange for 2 quality hitters (Kapler and Catalanotto) and a potential closer/set-up man (Cordero).  The situation in Detroit would look considerably better with those guys on the team, rather than the consortium of DHs it currently has.  For a guy who has been raised around baseball, GM Randy Smith just hasn't had the knack for making the right decisions regarding his organization's talent.  The addition of Dave Dombrowski, who helped build solid farm systems in Montreal and Florida, will help.  However, it will take a few years to see the results.  Manager Phil Garner has a reputation as a gamer, but his take-no-prisoners attitude just doesn't work well when dealing with a pitcher's arm.  Looking at his record in Milwaukee when he was the head man there, the Brewers did not develop a single quality pitcher who didn't eventually require some sort of reconstructive surgery.  Zero-for-your-career is not the kind of record one would normally want when trying to build a contender with young pitching, which, given the park the Tigers play in, would seem the sensible way to go.
Rating: 35