Since 1995 the number of pitchers who saw big league action at age 19 or 20 has not been large.  We average no more than 3 such rookies each year.  What this means, in part, is less that Rick Porcello is in ‘elite’ company as it does that Rick Porcello is hard to find comparables for.  We understand the progression of pitchers in normal circumstances a bit better, …

Since 1995 the number of pitchers who saw big league action at age 19 or 20 has not been large.  We average no more than 3 such rookies each year.  What this means, in part, is less that Rick Porcello is in ‘elite’ company as it does that Rick Porcello is hard to find comparables for.  We understand the progression of pitchers in normal circumstances a bit better, …

Tom Gage recently published an article for the Detroit News arguing that Rick Porcello is 2011′s most important Tiger. While we might split hairs over the (perhaps) equal importance of Jhonny Peralta‘s glove or Austin Jackson‘s strikeouts, I doubt you’ll find anyone around here that downright disagrees. You don’t win division crowns because your studs do what’s expected of them (unless you were expected to …

Phil Coke seems all set to join the Tigers starting rotation this spring, but does he “have what it takes” to be a successful starter? I’m not sure anyone can know that answer for sure, but we can look at how Coke attacks hitters to get an idea of what he’ll need to do in order to find that success.
We can use pitch selection data (available on FanGraphs) to …

Pre-order your copy today

As I mentioned earlier, the 2011 Maple Street Press Tigers Annual will hit newsstands on March 1. Kurt Mensching of Bless You Boys fame headed up the project and he has revealed the table of contents.

This project features two pieces authored by yours truly as well as one from our own Matt Snyder. You’ll also find tons of minor league features, prospect rankings by the Bless You Boys …

“I always turn to the sports pages first, which records man’s accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man’s failures.” – Earl Warren
Today marks my one year anniversary with the FanSided Network and as the lead writer for this site. I was a bit of an internet nomad before coming “home” for the first time on February 3, 2010.
I had launched two independent blogs, written for a couple of random sites. I even spent …

OK Tigers fans, who is your most hated team? Is it the evil empire of the New York Yankees? Those pesky Minnesota Twins? Both would be good answers, however one will become an ally for the next couple weeks.
Spring Training is just around the corner but we have to keep those competitive juices back for a little longer for a collaborative project with the other AL Central FanSided …

Such is life during the hot stove season I suppose, but mere hours after I waxed philosophical about the Tigers odds of re-signing Jeremy Bonderman, Tom Gage dropped this nugget today. Bonderman will not be returning to Detroit.
Gage’s post today talks about his recent conversation with Dave Dombrowski, who said “We are not signing Jeremy Bonderman.” Gage took that to mean that Bonderman has (or will) come to an agreement …

Word filtered out late yesterday afternoon that the New York Yankees have signed former Tigers hurler Freddy Garcia to a minor league contract. The Yankees have been seeking low cost rotation depth in hopes that one of their reclamation projects can turn into a reliable starter in the Bronx this year.
Their rotation begins with perennial Cy Young candidate CC Sabathia, but it goes south in a hurry from …

Word filtered out late yesterday afternoon that the New York Yankees have signed former Tigers hurler Freddy Garcia to a minor league contract. The Yankees have been seeking low cost rotation depth in hopes that one of their reclamation projects can turn into a reliable starter in the Bronx this year.
Their rotation begins with perennial Cy Young candidate CC Sabathia, but it goes south in a hurry from …

The Minnesota Twins have won the AL Central two years running, but they face the 2011 season without many key members of a previously outstanding bullpen. Even with the return of closer Joe Nathan, the Twins will be without the services of Jon Rauch, Brian Fuentes, Matt Guerrier, and Jesse Crain; all of whom left via free agency.
The Twins retained Matt Capps, who closed …

Just two more days and it will be February… two weeks after that Spring Training will begin… but we don’t have to wait that long to watch some quality baseball.  I’m not talking about Magglio Ordonez serving up fries with the winter caravan, I’m talking about the Caribbean Series.
For those of you who aren’t in the know, the champions of the four offseason Caribbean leagues (Venezuelan, Dominican, Puerto Rican …

Alex Avila struggled at the plate last year, there’s no getting around that, but as we examined back in the fall, some of those struggle could be attributed to poor luck on balls in play.
But what can we expect from the Tigers’ anointed catcher of the future in 2011? Quite honestly, I have no idea, but there are a few projection systems out there that could give us a …

I really thought we had gotten past this. In 2009, both Cy Young winners combined for all of 31 wins. Last season, Felix Hernandez won the award with only 13 victories. If we are comfortable looking beyond wins to determine which pitcher had the best year in the league, why can’t we do the same when debating the reasons that the Tigers chose Brad Penny over Armando …

The retirement of Mike Maroth may not even register as a blip on the run-of-the-mill baseball fan’s radar but that doesn’t mean it isn’t newsworthy, especially to baseball fans in Detroit.
Maroth came to the Tigers from the Red Sox organization in 1999 when the Tigers sent Bryce Florie to Boston. He made a seemingly normal year by year progression through the minor leagues and earned his major league …

Tom Gage got word from Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski that the club remains open to bringing right hander Jeremy Bonderman back to Detroit. Dombrowski said the club wouldn’t give him a major league deal.
This situation was first mentioned as a possibility when the season ended and Dombrowski informed Bonderman and several of his fellow free agent teammates that they would not be pursuing him this offseason. Now that camp is …

This is supposed to be the time of the year when optimism abounds. Pitchers and catchers report in just about three weeks, after all. Yet as I look at the Tigers roster, there are a couple of things that stand out as huge potential problems. I’m not alone in this sense, as Jonah Keri penned a piece for fangraphs that highlights some of the issues the club could face this …

The deal is official, according to multiple outlets. The Detroit Tigers today traded right handed pitcher Armando Galarraga to the Arizona Diamondbacks for right hander Kevin Eichhorn and lefty Ryan Robowski.
Eichhorn is just 20 years old and was Arizona’s third round pick in 2008. He’s made just two starts above rookie ball and his results haven’t been great unless you look at his strikeout to walk ratio. Eichhorn has …

In the past 15 months, the Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired two Tigers pitchers in Dontrelle Willis and Edwin Jackson. Niether one stuck around in the desert for long (although in fairness Jackson was traded by Arizona for Daniel Hudson). Now it appears that a new D-backs GM will go back to the same well his predecessors went to and make a deal with Detroit for starting pitcher Armando Galarraga.
I mean, …

“I always turn to the sports pages first, which records man’s accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man’s failures.”
- Earl Warren
Let the countdown officially begin. With the annual TigerFest over the weekend at Comerica Park, the next time you see your Detroit Tigers, it will be in Lakeland, FL as they report to Spring Training.  I didn’t personally get to attend this year, but I enjoyed watching the online stream. Matt …