Friday Hotstove: the Tiger's offseason to date

Everybody needs a gimmick, right? Mine for Fridays will be hotstove baseball talk. (I don't exactly know why they call it "hotstove," but they do.)

The Tigers had the most active offseason of any team so far - so active, in fact, that a HUGE move (trading for Gold Glove SS Edgar Renteria) pales in comparison to the blockbuster that brought two All Stars (Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis) on board. Some would say that the Tigers mortgaged their future in these moves, but that is only partly true. I would say that the Renteria move was more in that vein than the Cabrera/Willis trade - those two guys are still in the mid to early 20s, while Renteria is 30+ and was traded for a couple of top notch prospects (Jair Jurjens and Gorkys Hernandez). Just like every stock announcement, minor league players should come with the old "past performance is no indication of future results" - just because someone is a stud in the minors doesn't mean they will pan out in the majors. Just look at Ryan Leaf and pretty much half of the quarterbacks drafted in the first round of the NFL draft. And that is after they have to stay in college for at least 3 years! Imagine if the NFL had the same draft rules that the NBA has - only one year required in college, which just changed a couple years ago and before high schoolers could go straight to the NBA (see James, LeBron and Garnett, Kevin). How would Peyton Manning have done going straight from his varsity high school team to the NFL? But I digress. Basically I'm trying to say that the Tigers got some proven All Start caliber players for some potential future All Stars. I don't think there should be any doubt about the favorite in the AL. No other team has fewer question marks, and the most stable teams have done nothing to improve themselves. Cleveland has not done anything, Boston has not done anything, and the Yankees lost their manager. This all could change if/when Santana gets traded, but moving Santana out of the Central division only helps. The White Sox are an enigma, and I think Kenny Williams sometimes makes moves just to make moves. Living in Kansas City, I have a first hand view of the Royals, and I have to say that they remind me a lot of the Tigers of a few years ago. There is hope in KC - unfortunately, they are in a division where 3rd place would be a huge accomplishment and something they should shoot for in a year or two. 3rd place also means no playoffs. (Side note: the Royals failure to move to the NL Central a few years ago [Milwaukee moved instead] could prove to be the worst decision ever in franchise history - which says a lot about the team that paid Juan Gonzalez more than $2 and who chose Mike Sweeney over Carlos Beltran. They could have been competitive in the NL Central whereas they are perennial bottom feeders in the AL Central.) I am just excited to see the Tigers in their current incarnation. Just imagine this lineup:

Granderson, CF
Polanco, 2B
Sheffield, DH
Ordonez, RF
Cabrera, 3B
Guillen, 1B
Renteria, SS
Thames/Jacque Jones, LF
Rodriguez, C

All Star/Gold Glove catcher Pudge Rodriguez batting 9th?? And how about this rotation:

Verlander
Rogers
Bonderman
Willis
Robertson

Joel Zumaya is hurt again (damn California wild fires) and the bullpen might be thin, but I'm more than encouraged by their chances. (I had to desperately fight off the urge to say "we" about 10 times. I can say "we," right?)

I wish Spring Training was more indicative of what the team will be like once the season starts, but at least there will be baseball played soon. Some things to watch out for: complacency, injuries, blown leads by the bullpen. Our hitters will eventually hit; our pitchers will keep us in most every game. This team will be a good one to watch.