It’s Time to Put the 2008 Tigers to Rest

Detroit’s recent run was probably its high-water mark.

Just when you thought you’d heard the last of the Detroit Tigers - the most overhyped, overpriced and overrated team in recent memory - a recent stretch where the team won 17 out of 21 games has put them back in the spotlight. For a few weeks there it seemed as if the baseball world had moved on, leaving the Tigers languishing in the dust with the Mariners and the Padres, two other teams with outsized expectations. But the recent run of wins has the talking heads at ESPN saying things like, “Now that they’ve gotten back to .500, they can relax and play their game.” Whatever that means. Or they start with the “Ifs”, as in, “If (Fill-in-the-blank) can turn it around…” or “If (Fill-in-the-blank) can get healthy and regain his form…” I for one, thought we were past all this. I thought we were going to start talking about teams that actually had a chance this season, not one that just completed a breathless charge to get to… .500, seven games out of first, 3.5 games behind 2nd place Minnesota, 3.5 games ahead of 4th place Kansas City. So, in the interest of moving on, here are a few reasons why the Tigers aren’t going anywhere this season.

1) Their pitching is a mixture of the old, and the not very good.

On Opening Day, Detroit’s rotation looked like this: Justin Verlander, Nate Robertson, Kenny Rogers, Dontrelle Willis and Jeremy Bonderman.

Looking back, it’s hard to see just what we saw in that group that made us think they were a contender for the AL crown. Several problems should have been apparent to us all and are still plaguing the Tigers: The first one is that Kenny Rogers is almost as old as the other Kenny Rogers, and is now pitching like him. The second thing is that Bonderman is, and always has been, mediocre at best. The third thing is that Dontrelle Willis has been sliding downward since the first half of his first season. He’s not likely to get any better either, until he gets rid of that floppy pitching motion that makes all his fastballs follow his hat bill toward the left-hand batter’s box. To be honest, I don’t know what’s wrong with Verlander and Robertson, but their combined record of 10-16 is due in part to their walk-to-strikeout ratios, which are roughly 2:1 on the season. It’s not the first time bad baseball has proven to be contagious.

2) They have no speed.

They also lack athleticism on defense, though that’s tougher to quantify. One thing that everyone can see is that the Tigers are last in the AL in steals with 30. Or, one roughly every third game. Catcher Pudge Rodriguez is tied for the team lead with 6. Needless to say, this lack of speed is keeping the Tigers from turning singles into doubles, going from first to third, scoring from second, etc, etc, leaving them playing station-to-station offense and relying on the home run.

3) They can’t beat right-handed pitching.

Which is too bad, since most of the world consists of right-handed people. The Tigers are 26-37 v. righties and 16-5 v. lefties. The lineup is stacked with right-handed batters and the numbers for nearly every regular go down significantly against right-handed pitchers. For example, shortstop Edgar Renteria’s OBP, SLG and BA are .317, .345, and .268 overall, respectively. Against righties those numbers are .278, .309 and .247. Placido Polanco goes from .367, .415 and .320 to .335, .375 and .290. And speaking of Renteria,

4) This team is old

Which doesn’t bode well for the future. In addition to Rogers, Sheffield, Rodriguez, Renteria and closer Todd Jones are all 33 years of age and older. Others, such as Willis and Jacque Jones, just look washed up no matter their age.

5) They can’t win on the road, and they can’t win in their division.

The Tigers are 25-17 at home and 17-25 on the road. They are also 11-21 versus the AL Central, which can pose a problem when you’re trying to catch the teams you keep losing to. That 17-4 run that has everyone talking about them again was done mostly against the National League, against which they are 13-5. Even the Royals had a hot streak against the NL.

As a lifelong Texas Rangers fan, I know mediocrity when I see it. There are a few bright spots on this team, though. Armando Galarraga has moved into the starting rotation and quietly gone 7-2 with a 3.40 ERA. Polanco is 6th in the AL in batting average (.320) and 10th in hits (94). But for this season let’s put talk of the Tigers contending to rest. Detroit is merely the latest victim of a syndrome that has plagued the Yankees for years, and which is now affecting the Seattle Mariners also. Let’s call it Buy an All-Star Team Disease, in which a bloated payroll loaded with “names” inevitably crashes and burns amid much excitement and hoopla. The Tigers are merely another attempt to buy a championship gone awry.