Detroit Tigers 2002 Season Preview

by Adam J. Ulrey

When the Tigers left old Tiger Stadium to move into Comerica Park many people didn't want it to happen. Now after two years they have quit showing up as the Tigers have played poor baseball. Before if the Tigers were playing bad you still had that great old park with all the memories, but now you have this big beautiful park with a lousy team. GM Randy Smith has done a poor job of tailoring his team to the new park. He tried putting a power-hitting team together instead of going for speed, defense and good pitching. Now he's slowly trying to turn that around with the help of former Marlins' GM Dave Dombrowski who was hired as a special assistant. They both need to improve a farm system that hasn't produced much in years.

The Tigers finally lost patience with the oft-injured Tony Clark and they let him walk. They signed free-agent Dimitri Young to play first. Young is coming off four straight years of batting .300 or better. He is a tremendous gap hitter, averaging 35 doubles over the same time period. With all the room in the spacious outfield of Comerica his bat will be a welcome addition. Damion Easley will be the second baseman looking to rebound from his worst year at the plate. His numbers have been on the decline for the last three years. His defense has also been sub par, which could be attributed to his many injuries. The man of many positions, Shane Halter, will be the full-time shortstop this season. He'll help them with his bat as he is coming of his most productive offensive season, hitting .284 with 12 homers and 65 RBI.

Another newcomer will be third basemen Craig Paquette who is another player who can play multiple positions. He has had three straight years with double figuers in homers. He'll be a better glove man than Dean Palmer, but that's not saying much. Palmer will be the DH, which is what he should have been his whole career. He was out most of last year and is looking to help the Tigers with his bat. The catching will handled by the moody Mitch Meluskey, who was injured all of last year, and Brandon Inge, who is revered for his catching ability.

The outfield is a mess, as you have two of the three playing out of position. Bobby Higginson seems to spend more time complaining about what's wrong with the team than worrying about why his numbers are declining. Doesn't it seem odd that Higginson two years ago has a monster year in his contract year, then gets a new deal and goes out and stinks the joint up? Center field will be handled by a converted second baseman, Jose Macias. They want his speed and bat in the lineup. They are hoping he can learn to be a leadoff hitter and be the engine to get their offense going. In right field will be Robert Fick, who is becoming a terrific hitter. He is a gamer and will play harder than anybody the Tigers have. The one worry is he's not known for his defense. He has been a catcher or first baseman and hasn't been very good at either, now they are asking him to play right field. This should be interesting. Anyway you look at it this could be the worst outfield in baseball.

The pitching doesn't look to be too bad. Jeff Weaver is the ace and is one of the young arms that the Tigers so desperately need. He had 13 wins with a very respectable 4.08 ERA and had a better than 2-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio. The old man of the group is knuckleballer Steve Sparks. I love knuckleball pitchers, a dying breed. Sparks led the AL in complete games with 8 and led the Tigers in wins with 14 and ERA at 3.65. He's a perfect compliment to the hard-throwing Weaver. The third man in the rotation is Mark Redman, who played with the Twins before coming to the Tigers. He missed most of last year, but so far has looked sharp in the Spring. Redman should benefit from the big park in Detroit. Jose Lima had some success in his 18 starts for the Tigers and was just glad to be away from Enron Field. If he can be anywhere near the pitcher he was before he let Enron Field intimidate him it will be a real plus for the Tigers. The Tigers were hoping to give the fifth spot to their young phenom Nate Conejo, but so far this spring he is getting lit up like a Christmas tree.

The bullpen will be solid with the closers' job being handed over to Matt Anderson. The Tigers have been waiting patiently for this kid to finally be their closer. He can really bring it in with his close to 100 mph fastball. If his location is on they won't touch him. Over the last two years Danny Patterson has quietly become one of the better set-up men in the game. He has averaged 60 games a year and last year ended with a very solid 3.06 ERA. Matt Miller is a young lefty who the Tigers are counting on to be their main lefty out of the pen. He only has 9 innings of big league experience. Bill Simas, the former White Sox, was out most of last year with an injury. He had some really good years with the Chisox and is hoping to get back to the pitcher he was before the injury. Matt Perisho, a young lefty will be an innings eater, as he will be called on for long relief. He is a former starting pitcher with both the Angels and the Rangers. Both Juan Acevedo and Victor Santos will be counted on to help give the Tigers a solid pen.

The bottom line is simple: until the Tigers get ballplayers who fit their stadium, they will continue to sit at the bottom or near the bottom of the AL Central. If you're a Tiger fan I suspect you're in for a long season.

Ten Years Ago...

Strengths and Weaknesses: The AL Least answer to the Rangers---awesome offense, not much help on the mound. The offense centers around Cecil Fielder and includes virtually the whole line-up: Mickey Tettleton behind the plate, Whitaker & Trammell up the middle, Travis Fryman at third, Tony Phillips everywhere. Rob Deer, despite all the jokes about him, has a potent bat, while Milt Cuyler can fly, and new-arrival Dan Gladden is the aggressive type that Sparky likes.

Weaknesses: Speaking of jokes, how about the rotation? Gullickson is the ace. He missed being the first 20 game winner with a 4 ERA since Jim Merritt in '73 by only .09 points. He won't win 20 in '92. Frank Tanana has been consistent for a long time, but he's 38. The other starters are not even funny. Oh, Terrell may have another mediocre year while turning in 200 innings, Mark Leiter or Scott Aldred will win a few, but this staff won't have them dancing in the streets. They didn't get any starters, and let Jerry Don and Cerutti escape from a flawed bullpen. Little help from the farm is on the way, either. Another weakness is so many 30-somethings.

Outlook : Cecil continues to look like the King of Soul Food Luaus, but continues to hit those gargantuan homers. This is a fun club to watch while they are at bat, but a pitching staff with a 4.54 ERA won't be a serious threat to Jays or Sox. I see '91 revisited here.

Persepctive: Trammell and Whitaker are singing their swan song. Whitaker is aging more gracefully. The current era of Tiger history began when Fielder boarded that plane from Japan. Sparky is a gruff old loveable sort with his bury-'em-alive offense and is good with club house harmony.