Developed Teams 2011: Detroit Tigers

With the first-place Tigers having just swept the second-place Indians in a crucial three-game series, the upstart team's chances of holding onto contention just dropped another peg. In honor of keeping the momentum going, here's an entry on the Detroit Tigers:

The first thing you'll notice is the lack of an impact bat in the middle of the order.  Yes, Curtis Granderson is enjoying an historic year, but seasons of 40-30-120 with an OPS close to 1.000 are hardly the career norm for Grandy.  Alex Avila made a trip to the All-Star game this year, but he's far from a proven major leaguer.  Matt Joyce and Brennan Boesch are shaping up into solid young power threats, but they project more as very competent sidekicks than heroes in their own right.  Cameron Maybin has been very impressive this year, but, as I've said MANY times before, these lists are based mostly on pre-season rankings.  Hence the presence of Ryan Raburn, who has a lot of Fantasy value, which is probably mostly because of his versatility.

In addition to Raburn, there are a few key players plagued with disappointing seasons.  Brandon Inge actually went down to AAA for a spell to work on his swing before his return this weekend.  Omar Infante has regressed to his career norms after an enigmatic All-Star selection last year, but the Marlins are losing a lot of his value by letting him play all 114 of his games this year at 2B, rather than shifting him around the diamond as the Braves (and the Tigers before them) used to do.  Andres Torres has reminded us all why last year was his only full season in the majors.  And his teammate Cody Ross has some pop in his bat, but one good October does not a serviceable regular make.

What appears to be a one horse race for supremacy of the pitching rotation is actually a one-two punch, if we take 2011 stats into account.  Justin Verlander is obviously the leader here, in terms of stuff, style, and consistency, but Jair Jurrjens is dominating opposing hitters the way he did in 2009.  Let's hope he's not developing into a sine wave type player, alternating good years with bad ones.  After those two, however, there's very little in terms of substance, at least in 2011.  Rick Porcello still shows a lot of promise, especially at the tender age of 22.  French and Oliver should be on very short leashes, considering their performances in the minors this year.

The bullpen has it all: a current workhorse closer (Cordero), a former closer (Rodney), a career setup man (Frasor), a veteran LOOGY (Miller), and an oft-injured potential star (Zumaya).  However, there is not enough collective star power to make up for the lack of starting depth and a patchwork offense built around questionable pieces.  If only this were a few years ago and John Smoltz could have bolstered that rotation...