Detroit Tigers Ongoing 2013 Thread

[adrian2]

terrific news. word is Lance parrish is set to take over as manager of the AA Erie Seawolves . Good to have the Big Wheel back in the Tigers organization.

 

[broncosmitty]

terrific news. word is Lance parrish is set to take over as manager of the AA Erie Seawolves . Good to have the Big Wheel back in the Tigers organization.

Nice! He managed The Loons their first season. Carlos Santana, Clayton Kerhaw, Kenley Janson... he had some talent to deal with. Hope the Tigers give him plenty to manage in Erie.

 

[Chief602]

I'd be down with Cruz, nice piece to the puzzle. If Dirks struggles or we have injury problems we need to know we can survive. What if Nicky C. struggles mightily?? Miggy can go back to 3rd and Victor can play 1st with Cruz DH until they fix Nick. Really not sold on the roster being set yet, still hope to see an addition or two with a little pop.

K-Dawg, Iffy is the reason I haven't even read these boards in a month or so. That and the ass load of snow!!

 

[Tigertowner68]

Tigers' best shot at going all the way.

Lost power in Prince. Lost zero postseason contribution.

Gained HOF closer in Joe Nathan. Got outstanding 2B in Ian Kinsler (though declining). Will certainly miss Doug Fister. Smyly can cover.

Much better IF defense.

GO TIGERS! Will be there at least 28 times!

 

[burfboy]

PAWS didn't see his shadow this morning! Spring Training is just around the corner...

 

[adrian2]

heading down to Lakeland in 3 weeks. This michigan weather sucks.

 

[jdwills126]

The way winter is going the Tigers may get an extended stay in Lakeland.

Cabrera at first base will be a good move but I am cautious on Castellanos at 3b. Not the stick but glove was not the best to begin with.

 

[broncosmitty]

heading down to Lakeland in 3 weeks. This michigan weather sucks.

Im jelous! And frozen.

 

[jalopy]

The way winter is going the Tigers may get an extended stay in Lakeland.

Cabrera at first base will be a good move but I am cautious on Castellanos at 3b. Not the stick but glove was not the best to begin with.

He has a very good arm but very poor footwork. His accuracy suffers if he isn't balanced when he releases the ball. He is reputed to be hard worker and hopefully Vizquel can help him. Regardless, he is an upgrade defensively over Miggy. His bat should more than make up for being an average 3B

 

[burfboy]

Better with Miggy at 1B this year......should help Nick C......

 

[Howie115]

heading down to Lakeland in 3 weeks. This michigan weather sucks.

As it happens, my daughter has been in Florida for the last two months and just got a job down there. I may have to run a car down to her and fly back. If so, Lakeland is also on my agenda!

Regardless, he is an upgrade defensively over Miggy.

Maybe in range, but not any better otherwise. Perhaps worse.

 

[jalopy]

Maybe in range, but not any better otherwise. Perhaps worse.

I hope I'm right assuming that not many agree with you that Nick C could be a worse 3B than Miggy.

 

[Cleaves2000]

He has a very good arm but very poor footwork. His accuracy suffers if he isn't balanced when he releases the ball. He is reputed to be hard worker and hopefully Vizquel can help him. Regardless, he is an upgrade defensively over Miggy. His bat should more than make up for being an average 3B

But miggy had a good arm too.....

Springs around the corner....so soon we will see if nicky c is good or not.....im just not sold on him....too many tiger prospects of the past who came up and couldnt hit MLB pitching.....231 AVG. 11 HR's. 42 RBI's.......thats what i think his numbers will look like....so i hope raji gets on base....and kinsler goes back into time to 5-6 yrs ago.

 

[Cleaves2000]

Maybe in range, but not any better otherwise. Perhaps worse.

I hope I'm right assuming that not many agree with you that Nick C could be a worse 3B than Miggy.

I never thought miggy was bad...he lacked range....i thought he had a great arm and a good glove....i cant say nicky c is an upgrade because hes yet to play...but if miggy had range and wasnt so slow, he couldve been a poor mans beltre....injuries didnt help him either.

 

[Cleaves2000]

Anyone heard if nick added any weight....he seemed skinny....he needs to add more muscle IMO.

 

[jalopy]

I don't have a lot of concerns about Castellanos. He is easily capable of being a major league third baseman. He could face some pressure if he gets off to a slow start. Believe it or not, some Tiger fans can be a little fickle and judgmental. Even some on these message boards.
Not that worried about the BP either. I think the Nathan acquisition takes a lot of pressure off other guys. I expect Rondon to establish himself as the coser-in-waiting by the All-Star break.
I am a little concerned about the starting pitching if someone gets hurt. The Fister trade leaves us a little thin there and we don't have a lot of option in Toledo. Far as I can tell, the reserves will be Alvarez, Ray, and Drew VerHagen. The latter two have higher ceilings but Alvarez is probably the best option right now. The good thing about JV's injury is we can probably get by with 4 starters in April if he isn't ready.
My biggest concern this year is the same as last. Austin Jackson. The team's success is largely dependent on his consistency. Even moving down in the order, if he is the player we saw in the first half of '13, this team will be very tough to beat.

When is someone going to start a '14 thread??

 

[Howie115]

Cabrera made 13 errors in at 3B in 2012, and 12 errors in 2013. His fielding pct was .966 in 2012 (league 3B fielding pct was .952), and .958 in 2013 (league average was .959). His range factor in 2012 was 2.52 (league average 2.60), and 1.98 in 2013 (league average 2.50). I'd argue the decline in RF in 2013 was due to his injuries. He was NOT a bad defensive third baseman.

The news I've heard is that Castellanos plans to work hard on defense (as did Cabrera when he went back to 3B). That's good. Still, I'd wager that in his first season at 3B, Nick will get to maybe 15% more balls than Cabrera, but will make double the errors.

 

[jalopy]

One thing to take into account is that Nick C will be throwing to a better 1B than Miggy was.

Errors tell very little of the story about how good of a 3B a player is. I'm not just talking about how many more ground balls Nick C will get to. I'm talking about infield pop-ups, relays, and bunts. I can't tell you how many foul flys fell harmlessly to the ground (Peralta shares in the lame for this). Miggy was less than average at getting the cut-off from LF and pivoting to throw home. Nick C actually does this very well. let's not forget that Nick C only switched to LF (from 3B) when it looked like the Fielder experiment would last longer.

15% is a huge number to increase the number of fielding opportunities. I'm not saying Miggy was a bad fielder, just not a complete 3B. It is going to be hard to judge the difference this year because the IF is improved all the way around but one way is to look at how Porcello improves this year. This should help him the most.

 

[Howie115]

I agree on the getting to bunts... that was a big issue with Miguel.

 

[broncosmitty]

Maybe in range, but not any better otherwise. Perhaps worse.

I hope I'm right assuming that not many agree with you that Nick C could be a worse 3B than Miggy.

Nicky C is going to be rough over there IMO. Never bought his move to outfield was on account of Miggy being at third. Not anymore than I would have bough his move from short was on account of Peralta. Miggy never seemed like a giant liability to me. Not with Prince, Jhonny and Avila sharing an infield with him.