Hang On Baby, Here Comes Part Two

While we are slightly more than half way through this 2011 season, the All Star Break is pretty much viewed as the mid season intermission in Major League Baseball.

And if you thought the first half of 2011 was a roller coaster, well brace yourself my friend – because you ain’t seen nothing yet.

In a nutshell, the first half unfolded something like this.

The Tiger’s stunk, then they were great, then they stunk again, and then they were great again, and closing into the end they stunk and were just on the brink of being great aagian.

Did ya get all that?

The difference between this Tigers team and that of 2006 is that we have more great players, and we have more not-so-great players.

On the great side – we lead off with a powerfiul 1-2-3 combination of Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera and Alex Avila along with Jhonny Peralata and Victor Matinez. And Brennan Boesch’s name should be added to this list as well.

Man, that does sound pretty good, don’t it?

And even though Jose “Papa Grande” Valverde has scared the bejesus out of Tiger Fans with ninth inning walks and hits – he hasn’t blown a save yet. He’s got the best stats in the American Leagues.

Really? Let me check that again … yup – son of a gun he does so.

Counter that with Old Man Maglio Ordenez, and his checkers partner Brandon Inge – along with decent bat but no glove Ryan Raburn, I just don’t seem to have it because I’m in my sophomore slum Austin Jackson, and Brad Penny and Phil “hey I’m not in the starting rotation no more” Coke throwing 4th and 5th in the rotation.

We are watching the changing of the guard right now as we witness the final games of Ordonez, Inge, and Carlos Guillen – should he ever come back up from Toledo.

Let me put it this way. Cleveland was supposed to be in a rebuilding year (exactly like our Tigers of 2006 were), and this was supposed to be the do-or-die season for our Detroiters.

But right now our Tigers are in more of a transition state than probably any other team in the Major Leagues. Manager Jim Leyland and and President / GM Dave Dombrowski are struggling to find answers for second, third, and the last two spots in the rotation.

And our bull pen has not been … stellar.

But there is hope Tiger fans. Indeed, there is always hope. But this hope is not so far removed.

We have some good players who slumped in the second quarter . Guys like Max Scherzer – who in the opening weeks was challenging Verlander for the title of Ace. And Rick Porcello has started picking up his end of the slack in his last two starts. Austin Jackson is much better than he has shown in the first half and hopefully he will rebound and return to his stellar “Curtis Granderson who?” form. Danny Worth and Don Kelly could both start to grow from their current 4A status into major leaguers.

And then there is the looming July 31 trade deadline. What the heck is going to happen there? A second baseman? A thirdbaseman? Reyes of the Mets? Baker of Chicago? If so, who do the Tigers sacrifice? Boesch?

As I sit here and type this now, the dastardly bastards that are the Chicago White Sox are about to start play here at Comerica Park. Verlander is to kick off the second half against Gavin Floyd. Miguel Cabrera is in the line up – although Austin Jackson is not.

And we always count on Verlander for a win. But now we are into the second half?

The Tigers have not played the second half of a season above .500 for the last ten years. The last five since we have called Jim Leyland “Skip”.

So all statistics from April until now go right out the window. The Tigers are starting fresh with a clean slate and a tie for first place with Cleveland.

And Chicago and Minnesota are not to be counted out just yet – not by a longshot.

Man, this is gonna be good.

Let’s just hope for a happier ending in 2011.

What's On Second?

Jim Leyland explains infield
changes to 1st baseman
Miguel Cabrera

Okay, I know. The old Abbot and Costello bit right?

Well given the fact I have worked with guys named Hu and Watt – that bit has made for hours of stupid rehashed jokes when figuring project work assignments.

But now I’m serious.

Who’s on first? Why Miguel Cabrera – no issue there – hitting nicely over .300 and playing a solid one bag. No problems.

But what’s on second? That’s the question.

This season started with Will Rhymes, who could barely hit the ball past the grass line of the infield – despite some really nice defensive plays.

But the Tigers need offense.

So Scott Sizemore – hitting .400 or so in Toledo comes back up and Will goes back down. Sizemore starts hot but fizzles to the two hundred range. A month later and Sizemore is traded to Oakland for a nice reliever. Oakland sent Sizemore back down to Triple A.

And we all miss Placido Polanco. He’s on second.

In Philadelphia.

So what’s on second?

Well, Jim Leyland came out and told us it was going to be Ryan Raburn. Raburn is to be our everyday second baseman.

Raburn? Left fielder 4A player Ryan Raburn? The star of many outfield highlight reel bloopers like the fly ball that bounces off him and over the fence for a home run Ryan Raburn?

What?

Okay, so What’s on second. But not all the time – because also playing second is Ramon “I’ve been trying to be an everyday player with this team for five years now” Santiago. And that just ain’t happening because Santiago apparently isn’t good enough to play every day.

I never really understood the concept of a Major League ball player who can field and hit being considered not to be good enough to play every day? Did he sleep with the wrong guy’s wife?

Well, if he plays everyday his numbers go down.

Okay – play him every other day. Then Raburn won’t be your everyday second baseman. Right?

Well, there’s also Danny Worth – who’s also listed on the official roster as an infielder like Santiago. Play him too? Raburn is after all listed on that same roster as an outfielder.

Maybe he plays a deep second base. Chatting with Boesch and Jackson in right and center between pitches?

I dunno.

Third base.

Well that’s Brandon Inge, has been for a decade now – great defense – no bat. He’s floating around the .200 mark right now.

What? Inge has mononucleosis? Really? He must have caught it when diving into the stands for a foul ball.

Well then who play’s third?

I don’t know.

No questions about the Tigers’ shortstop though – Jhonny Peralta is hitting great – although some may critique his range. I love the guy myself.

Our starting pitching is pretty solid right now. Sure the fourth and fifth spot guys might show up and might not – but so far pretty good. And we finally seem to have our bull pen tightened up, And Alex Avila has proved me so wrong about being our everyday catcher I feel I need to send him flowers for what I wrote here about him at the start of the season. Now he’s on the All Star ballot – and he deserves to be there.

And I really like that Andy Dirks kid – I think he is going to grow into our everyday left fielder – every day with Casper Wells and Don Kelly – oh yeah – and Ryan Raburn.

No Raburn’s on second.

Right.

No that’s Brennan Boesch.

Okay, okay I get it.

There has to be a deal brewing. There has to be something happening out in the trade waters that GM Dave Dombrowski is scheming up – perhaps building a deal to acquire Jose Reyes from the Mets?

Wouldn’t that be sweet? The Mets are struggling to keep the team afloat and Reyes is hitting .285 ish. And he plays a great second base.

Could be?

I don’t know.

What I do know is that until all this nonsense get’s straightened out – the Tigers will likely be no better than a .500 team. And that Cinderella mistake by the lake Cleveland no longer looks like a fluke – this first half of the season looks like the Tigers in 2006 and 2009 – blowing the AL Central away before the All Star break – a month away now.

Can Cleveland keep this pace up?

Are the dastardly bastardly Chicago White Sox starting to put it together to make a run after the Tigers? Will the Tigers – currently in second – four and a half behind the Indians and three games up on Chicago as June starts – will they even be in the race come mid July?

What a strange season.

It’s like a bad Vaudeville skit, for sure.

A Look Ahead At The 2011 Tigers

Here we sit at the holiday season, halfway through the 2010 – 2011 offseason, and the Tigers have made some roster changes.

Myself, there is absolutely nothing I would rather talk about at Christmas time than Tigers baseball.

And this, I think, is the perfect time to take a look at what the Tigers have done in the off season so far, and what else does this organization need to do.

Here is a quick recap so far of what’s happened so far.

Jhonny Peralta has been re-signed to two years for $11.25M to play shortstop.

Brandon Inge has also been re-signed for $11M for two years to play third.

A big name in the offseason market, Victor Martinez of Boston was signed to four years for $50M mainly for his bat, with the possibility we are told to catch maybe once a week. The starting catching position so far falls to Alex Avila.

Joaquin Benoit has been signed from Tampa Bay for 3 years at $16.5M To strengthen our bullpen.

And Magglio Ordonez has been resigned for a year at $10M to play right field.

So far, that’s it.

Is more to come, I hope so.

If not, is this enough to lift the caliber of the Tigers roster to get past the dreaded Minnesota Twins and those despicable Chicago White Sox?

Well, before we go comparing the Tigers to their American League Central rivals, let’s see if this new version of the Tigers will be better than last year’s version.

I would project our starting players for 2011 to be:

• Alex Avila catches
• Victor Martinez will DH
• Miguel Cabrera at first
• Carlos Guillen at second
• Jhonny Peralta at short
• Brandon Inge at third
• Maglio Ordonez in right
• Austin Jackson in center
• Ryan Raburn in left field

Avila in my book is not yet ready to be an everyday catcher. I don’t think he frames a pitch well enough for him to work every day with your starting rotation. And Avila hit .228 in 2010.

Avila is a weakness. And I am disappointed that the thought is to start Victor Martinez behind the plate one in five games – albeit the years reek havoc on a veteran catchers body, most notably his knees. But then Martinez is ranked as an average defensive catcher at best.

So catcher is still a defensive weakness with no improvement at the plate.

The DH however is now strengthened – if indeed Martinez is okay with not being on the field and only hitting. The designated hitters role is a hard one for some players to adapt to as they are sitting down most of the game.

Miguel Cabrera at first – if he continues his drive towards the kind of power numbers and his bid for American League most valuable player – the first base remains the same both offensively and defensively – which translates to very very stong.

Carlos Guillen is a very good second baseman. Some will argue this point, but Guillen (.273) is one of our old core rocks of Gibraltar – second only to former second baseman Placido Polanco – whom we will continue to miss wearing the old English D.

But Guillen is prone to injury. It seems you can only get a month or so out of Carlos. So to be realistic about second base, you currently have to look at either Scott Sizemore (.224) or Will Rhymes (.304).

I could fill ten pages talking about the options for the Tigers second base spot, but I will simply say that for the 54 games I saw of Rhymes last year, I really liked him. He is a smart player who gets on base and he has this knack of making things happen. But some will argue that Rhymes – a veteran minor leaguer would be exposed over a full season, and that Sizemore will have a better year with a fully healed ankle – but if Carlos goes down this year, I would prefer to see Rhymes have the chance at second over Sizemore. Spring training will have to bear this out. I don’t see any better available second basemen on the free agency this year to warrant getting somebody else.

So I see perhaps a slight improvement at second between Guillen and Rhymes over Sizemore – but that might be unfair. Health is the factor in 2011 to determine who is there. Likely the majority of the year will go to Scott Sizemore. No improvement there.

Jhonny Perraulta at shortstop means another year of adequate defense and .253 hitter in the bottom third of the lineup. No improvement.

Brandon Inge at third. Inge is a Detroit enigma. You love him or hate him. I love his defense. And while his average is sub-par at .247 – he did finish 2010 higher than his .237 career numbers. Sometimes Inge steps up to the task – but watching Inge watch strike three go by with a man on third is maddening. The Tigers make no great improvement here.

Magglio Ordonez in right field broke his ankle just before the All Star break in 2010. To that point the Tigers were in first place, and Mags was hitting .303. When Mags went to the DL, the Tigers offense went in the proverbial toilet. The team crashed to a horrendous losing streak following the All Star break. So in my opinion, Magglio means more to the Tigers than just his strong offense and adequate outfield play. Magglio – I believe – is the leader of this team in his own quiet unassuming way. Signing Mags for only one year seems like a start financial move by the front office – albeit an expensive one – but I think Magglio gives this team a confidence that they lack when he is not.

Maggs coming back – and staying healthy improves this Tigers offense significantly – and hopefully with Ordonez and Martinez before and after Cabrera – this front five in the lineup will prove to be a powerful offensive weapon able to create more big innings and increase run production significantly.

Austin Jackson will return in center field.

Detroit loved Curtis Granderson , but last year – rookie Austin Jackson moved in and stole Tiger fans hearts making the same dazzling plays we were used to seeing from Granderson – and hit an impressive .293 – fifty points higher than Grandy in the damned Yankee pinstripes hit.

Centerfield remains strong offensively and defensively for 2010.

And then there is left field. This position has more options than any other on the team. The Tigers seem to have a roster packed full of left fielders. Ryan Raburn and Brennan Boesch are the two primary contenders for left field.

Everyone remembers how Brennan Boesch tore the cover off the ball for the first half of 2010 – hitting and incredible .347 with an on base percentage of .397. Boesch was the talk of the league.

But Boesch fizzled in the second half – along with the rest of the Tigers – but in much more dramatic fashion – hitting only .163. It was as if during the all star break that Brennan starting believing what everyone was saying about him – and nose dived.

But Ryan Raburn played steady in 2010 – and while the rest of the team was in full slump mode – Raburn kept improving finishing the year with an abover average .280. His past demonstrations of weak outfield defense were replaced by some really nice catches and throwing improvements.

So if Raburn is the Tigers 2011 left fielder – there is improvement as Raburn continues to improve.

But left field is a fickle position for Tigers management – it seems to be the place to try out the new kid up from Toledo with a hot bat. As well, if a big name outfielder in free agency with a strong bat should come to Detroit – only left field is considered to be open.

So the Tigers have only gotten weaker in Centerfield, and have gotten stronger in the bullpen, at the DH role, and perhaps second base.

But clearly one more big deal is needed.

And clearly catcher is the biggest weakness for the 2011 Tigers roster.

There is nobody out there to go get. And you already paid a steep price for Martinez.

While I am certain the Tigers have one more trade to make – it won’t be a catcher.

With Adam Dunn going to the White Sox – a player every Tiger fan was begging the Tigers to go after and sign, and the Minnesota Twins being a team that would be strong contenders if they signed women softball players – the battle for the 2011 American League Central again seems to be tipped towards the White Sox and Twins – but again it will be close.

That’s why the play all 162 games every season.

But is there enough happening yet for Tiger fans to get excited about? Not yet.

But that being said, remember 2008, when the Tigers were picked in November of 2007 to win the World Series after signing Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis.

They finished at the bottom of the lowly AL Central.

So this speculation means nothing. And 2011 looks like it can shape up to be another exciting Tigers baseball season.

We’ll Get ‘Em Next Year – But This Year’s Still Fun

Brenan Boesch and Miguel Cabrera celebrate

Here we sit on September 7, and the Tigers are 13 games back of the Minnesota Twins for the lead of the AL Central.

9.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox for second place in the division.

10.5 games ahead of Kansas City and 11 games ahead of Cleveland.

There are 24 games left to play in the 2010 regular season.

The season is pretty much done for the Detroiters of 2010. But all the games still have to be played.

This is not the position I predicted the Tigers to be in at this point of time.

They were supposed to be in contention. That was my 2010 prediction. And if a couple of things would have happened differently – they could have been.

I did predict Verlander and Cabrera would have great seasons. They have.

And I did predict a great year by Austin Jackson – but cautioned against hoping for Rookie of the year acclaims – but he seems to be on pace to achieve the award.

And once Max Scherzer returned from the Triple A Mudhens after getting some pitching instruction – returned as a starting pitcher that has almost rivaled Verlander for the treasured title of Ace.

I didn't predict Scherzer's turnaround.

In fact, I predicted Guillen and Laird would be gone – traded away to acquire some strengths. But they weren't. Guillen was on the DL more often than not – and aside from a great arm to throw out stealers at second – Laird has done little to increase his perceived value to other teams.

And rookie second baseman Scott Sizemore was just not up to the task of playing in the bigs with his busted ankle still healing. He headed back down to the minors in June but will be called back up for September play.

Guillen stepped up to play a pretty darn good second base … until he was injured and on the DL a month later … again. He will be out the remainder of 2010 – and unlikely to return in 2011.

Losing Maglio Ordonez for the season – and most likely the end of his career as a Detroiter – was indeed a difficult pill to swallow as Maglio was playing up to his potential in the early days of 2010.

Inge has held his third bag defensively well – recuperating knees and a newly healing injured wrist that left sidelined for several weeks.

And I had no idea Brenan Boesch existed – let alone explode onto the scene as he did in the first half of the season with no signs of being found out by the opposition. But the return to play after the All Star break saw Boesch's streak end with a screeching halt of a NASCAR driver slamming into a wall.

And the Tigers hit that wall with him – losing first to the Indians in Cleveland – 4 in a row.

And the slide continued for three series until 10 days later the Tigers were 8 games back.

And where I thought Mr. Illitch's patience would be exhausted by another weak second half performance – the Tigers stayed put with Jim Leyland – and Dave Dombrowski. In a public statement made in the opening days of August – it was announced that Mr. Illitch was committed to Leyland and Dombrowski through 2011.

So I blew that call too.

There are some nice things to say about the Tiger Rookies this year. You know about Jackson. But rookie Will Rhymes has stepped up to play a pretty decent second. Seemingly a guy who makes things happen – much like a Roberto Alomar … but not quite the skill or instinct of the great second baseman now sadly only renowned for spitting in an umpire's face.

At this point Rhymes is rivaling Inge for fan favorite … and sports talk radio hosts most least favorite player to talk about.

I like Rhymes a lot. He is fun to watch – and comes through for you more often than not.

The Tigers have lost more than their share of one run games. 23 to be exact so far. They have won 15.

The question is "why did the Tigers of 2010 drop after the All Star Break?"

They are losing the close games - usually with men on base. 12^th worst in the American League. Worst in the Central Division.

This has been the main point of failure for the Tigers. The inability to win those close games.

Closer Jose (Papa Grande) Valverde was outstanding in the first half, blowing only one save opportunity before the All Star break. But after the All Star break – Valverde faltered and Coke, Perry, Schlereth, and Weinhardt all took turns blowing a total of 12 save situations.

They just couldn't finish.

The inability to close out save situations accounts for a good majority of games lost by one or more runs.

And in those closing at bats in those 1 run losses – more often than not a runner was left on base.

But that being said – these tigers have come back to win in 33 games, with their largest comeback made up a deficit of 6 runs.

But when behind in the ninth inning have only came back 5 times to win.

Those are the numbers. The fact is that this year, more than recent memory, fan confidence in the Tiger's pulling out a victory is higher than before. Even higher than in 2006.

Rhymes, Raburn, and Jackson

And the Tigers are still fun to watch – exciting – with faces like Jackson, Boesch and Rhymes stepping up from the minors – and Austin Jackson chasing down everything in center field.

The Tigers are fun again.

That's the bottom line. Fans are in love with this new young face of Jackson, Boesch, Casper Wells, Will Rhymes. They are hoping these are the faces of the future. But the pundits will tell you that it is unlikely fans will ever see any of these faces – except Austin Jackson. It's agreed now that he is an upgrade from Curtis Granderson.

Who would have thunk it?

So now – as we watch the remaining 23 games of the season (our boys of the old English D are beating the White Sox 6 – 1 as I write this … wait … Inge just hit a three run dinger to make it 9 -1 in the bottom of the eighth) – we can at least enjoy this new found fun baseball to watch.

Even if it doesn't really mean anything to this post season.

We'll get 'em next year.

At The Forty Game Mark

Sizemore and Ordonez

The first quarter of the season – thereabouts – has been played.

A good time to take stock of this 2010 Tigers team.

Not bad timing, as Detroit just swept a two game series at Oakland. And they knocked Dallas Braden – perfect game pitcher just ten games earlier – out in the fifth.

After forty one games played – the Tigers sit pretty with a 24 – 17 record. And as I write this they sit tied for first place in the American League Central with those rotten Minnesota Twins – after the Twins have just now lost to Boston .

So how are the Tigers doing?

So far, so good.

Not bad.

Better than expected.

This team has been exciting to watch. They have come back from five or more run deficits to win five times so far.

The rookies have really contributed so far.

Austin Jackson has all but made Tiger fans forget about losing Curtis Granderson to the Yankees. Batting .331 and showing speed and agility in center field – with a strong gun that has cut down several runners at the plate.

Equally impressive, in only half the time, has been Toledo call up Brennan Boesch. Called up at the end of April to fill the vacancy left behind by Carlos Guillen's appointment to the designated hitters list. Boesch entered The Show and announced his presence with a streak of home runs, triples and doubles, hit hard and placed in the gaps. He currently sits with an average of .372 after 21 games.

As well, Miguel Cabrera has been stellar so far. Miggy is the leader on this edition of the Tigers. And it couldn't have happened to a guy who needed to redeem himself more.

As the pundits frequently remind us – water always finds its level,

But it sure has been fun to watch so far.

Here is your Tigers roster at this snapshot of time:

As of May 20, 2010

Pos		Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA
C	Gerald Laird	30	28	101	89	6	14	1	5	10	21	0.157
1B	Miguel Cabrera	27	40	176	152	27	51	8	36	23	23	0.336
2B	Scott Sizemore	25	30	115	97	12	20	1	8	13	26	0.206
SS	Adam Everett	33	24	69	64	4	12	0	2	2	13	0.188
3B	Brandon Inge	33	39	160	143	8	32	4	21	13	34	0.224
LF	Johnny Damon*	36	40	169	141	29	40	3	17	26	26	0.284
CF	Austin Jackson	23	39	180	166	29	55	1	11	14	47	0.331
RF	Magglio Ordonez	36	38	169	145	27	45	5	24	23	17	0.31
DH	Carlos Guillen#	34	16	69	61	8	19	1	8	8	8	0.311
	Boys in The Dugout
Pos		Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA
SS	Ramon Santiago#	30	30	95	80	12	20	1	6	13	13	0.25
UT	Brennan Boesch*	25	21	81	78	8	29	3	19	2	12	0.372
C	Alex Avila*	23	21	66	57	5	8	2	2	8	18	0.14
UT	Ryan Raburn	29	17	54	47	4	10	0	5	4	18	0.213
UT	Don Kelly*	30	30	40	38	4	9	1	3	1	8	0.237
OF	Casper Wells	25	3	9	9	0	2	0	2	0	2	0.222
2B	Danny Worth	24	2	7	6	0	4	0	2	0	0	0.667
	Team Totals	29.8	40	1560	1373	183	370	31	171	160	286	0.269
	Rank in 14 AL teams				8	7	5	11		4	6	5

Source: Baseball-Reference.com

As you look at these numbers, you have to ask yourself the question – how does a team do so well, when only half their offense is hitting respectably?

Good question.

I would like to tell you that it's because our starting pitching has been stellar. But that has not exactly been the case. Justin Verlander is the only starting pitcher with a winning average at 5-2.

The rest of the rotation has not been winning. There have been good outings by Porcello, Bonderman, and Willis – but the offense could not recover from early inning lapses.

Scherzer was sent to Toledo to figure out what's wrong. Let's hope he finds the answer and returns shortly.

Jeremy Bonderman has been a welcome surprise with his results. Although his record is 1 – 2, the fact is he has exceeded my expectations. He is a quality starter again. He just hasn't been able to get the wins.

Dontrelle Willis was replaced for two consecutive starts by Minor and Bonine from the bullpen to start. Both resulting in wins. He was doing pretty well too. I expect Willis to be moved somewhere shortly.

It has been the Tigers bullpen that has made the difference so far. Minor, Bonine, Zumaya, Perry, and Ni. And Valverdi dancing on the pitcher's mound when his efforts result in a save.

Most noticeably, Joel Zumaya has been a real stopper. New pitches to augment his 100 mph plus fastball have allowed Joel to rise again to a national recognition level.

Defensively, the Tigers have been over achieving and underachieving at the same time. Catchers Laird and Avilla have been horrible at the plate, and only mediocre behind the plate. They are not holding runners as effectively as in the past.

The Tigers lead the American League in errors with 34, resulting in Ryan Raburn returning to Toledo. As well, second baseman Scott Sizemore – the reason why Placido Polanco was traded to Philadelphia – was sent back down to Toledo as well.

Sizemore was just not ready yet for the major leagues. Ankle Injury limiting his range and effectiveness at second, and poor offensive results, the outlook is not to expect Sizemore back any time soon.

This leaves the Tigers in an odd spot.

Brennan Boesch has been so significant in his debut, the Tigers will not easily be moved to return Guillen to left field to replace Boesch. So the plan at this point in time is to put Carlos at second base when he returns from the DL.

But in the meantime the spot had to be filled. Casper Wells was called up from Toledo in the mean time to fill the gap. And has also been … impressive.

Great problems to have, but a problem none the less. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

So to recap, the rookies Jackson and Boesch, as well as future hall of famer Miguel Cabrera have been boosting this teams otherwise struggling offense with big numbers. The starting pitchers have been struggling – but when the bullpen comes into the game, they shut the opposition down.

That is the Tigers of 2010.

So what happens next?

Guillen comes back to play second. And I bet he does a pretty solid job – because he is an infielder who wants to play infield again. And his bat will help buoy the Tigers to stay in the race – if not hold the lead – for first.

And a trade will be made. Maybe two. A pitcher. And an infielder or a catcher. The key will be if the trade is a good one, or a bad one.

But as for getting the Tigers into a tie for first place after forty one played … credit Jim Leyland. He has danced his lineup around – as well as masterfully managing his bullpen to yank wins out of losses. Some moves didn't work, but most did.

So after forty games, how are the Tigers doing?

So far so good.

And so far, it is very exciting to be a Tigers fan in 2010.