Detroit Tigers

I’m a little early on this, I admit. I’m jumping the gun, but this time they can’t call me back to the starting blocks.

You heard it here first, then.

When the Tigers gather for spring training in about three months—it can’t get here fast enough, by the way—it will be 2010 and you can say it.

It’ll be 20 years since Cecil Fielder knocked 51 homers out of the confines of American League ballparks on behalf of the Tigers.

Yep—1990. Even the most mathematically challenged can figure out that 2010 minus 20 equals 1990.

• Year: 1928
• Record: 68-86
• Win %: .442
• Win % Change: -94
• Run Differential: -60
• Pythagorean Record: 72-82
• AL Finish: 6th of 8
• Manager: George Moriarty
• Best Transaction: Traded for Vic Sorrell.  Sorrell was never an All-Star, but the righty put together about a decade of solid starting pitching for the Tigers.  Sorrell won 92 games while with the Tigers and spent his entire big league career with the Tigers.  He retired with an ERA+102.  There have been worse pitchers to sport the Old English D.  Unfortunately...

One question, hundreds of answers. Which member of the Detroit Tigers had the greatest offensive season at his position?

Major League baseball has been asking fans this same question in an effort to choose each team's best-ever collection of stars. They are calling it MLB 9s.

Did Ty Cobb have the greatest offensive season in the history of the game back in 1911? Just how good were the 1937 Detroit Tigers? Was Alan Trammell better than Carlos Guillen? Does Gary Sheffield deserve a spot as the DH?

The World Series has wrapped up, and it has gotten chilly in the Midwest.

While some of the Tigers are home in the tropics or enjoying 18 holes in Florida, The Hammer Toss will keep you warm with the hot stove.   

Is it just me, or is the Tigers' front office being remarkably short-sighted about who will be playing second base in 2010?

• Year: 1974
• Record: 72-90
• Win Percentage: .444
• Win Percentage Change: minus-81
• Run Differential: minus-148
• Pythagorean Record: 65-97
• AL Finish: 11th of 12
• Manager: Ralph Houk
• Best Transaction: Drafting Mark Fidrych and Lance Parrish. Fidrych is good because of his amazing rookie season, but his performance doesn’t exactly stand the test of time as he he was hurt for the rest of his career. The Tigers hit a home run with Parrish, though.
  

The Detroit Tigers are coming off of a heart-breaking finish to their 2009 season. After squandering away the division lead to the Minnesota Twins, they lost a one-game playoff to them and missed the playoffs entirely.

The Tigers now seem focused on shredding payroll heading into the 2010 season. Edwin Jackson and Curtis Granderson have both been mentioned as possibly being on the move to lower a payroll that already sits at well over $100 million between just 10 players.

Curtis Granderson is a nice guy. He’s the kind of man any father would be thrilled to have his daughter marry. He is one of the true ambassadors of baseball, and I don’t throw those kinds of words around willy-nilly.

But I’d trade him in a heartbeat.

Year: 1999

Record: 69-92

Win Percentage: .429

Win Percentage Change: +.028

Run Differential: -135

Pythagorean Record: 68-93

AL Finish: 11th of 14

Manager: Larry Parrish

Best Transaction: Traded Bryce Florie to the Boston Red Sox for Mike Maroth

I love the offseason in baseball. Love it.

I love the trade rumors. I love the rumors about who’s going where and how much they’re going to get when they arrive. I love all the work and research people do during the offseason as well as the prospect lists.

There are two things about the offseason I don’t much care for. One is when the Tigers do dumb things or are rumored to be about to do something dumb. Another thing I don’t love about the offseason is the point we’re at right now. In this early stage, the news is slow and we don’t really know much.