***//official Detroit Tigers Thread\\***

[SBriand 4]

Well after spending over 3 hours in line on Saturday to get tickets for games this season I thought it was time to start up the thread. This time though I will put no year on it so I can just use it next year and the years to follow.The title description is just a play on the 19-0 topic on the Football board for those unaware. I promise not to be an arrogant asshole in this thread. I do not actually believe they will go 162-0. 140-22 maybe...So getting tickets was pretty hard this year. They actually had to stop selling season and half season tickets a month or so ago because at the rate they were selling there would be no single game tickets left. Sadly other priorities took control over most of our fun cash so we had to settle trying to get 7 games worth of tickets. That didn't work out well. After 3+ hours in line we were only lucky enough to score tickets for 3 games. Luckily though I got the ticket I really wanted and that was to the Dodgers. I am still looking to get more but I didn't have time to really search for tickets to games I didn't have on my list. Seems there are a few games here and there with tickets still available in sections that don't suck and I will head up to Comerica today or tomorrow to get the rest. Anyway, should be a great season with our lineup. I will get into that more as time permits but till then, feel free to come in and talk Tigers or trash talk.

[KowboyKoop 0]

Detriot Tigers = overrated.88 wins.

[SBriand 4]

Detriot Tigers = overrated.88 wins.

Still 25 more than what the Royals will get.

[CaneBrain 95]

Detriot Tigers = overrated.88 wins.

I would like to hear why you think so.

[CaneBrain 95]

Detriot Tigers = overrated.88 wins.

I would like to hear why you think so.

[SBriand 4]

I would like to hear why you think so.

I assume he is just being the way he always is. He seems to go into many topics spouting off his knowledge and usually ending up wrong. The Pats thread is a good example. Did you ever go back into that Kow and admit you clearly had no clue?

[KowboyKoop 0]

I would like to hear why you think so.

Because good teams are built on pitching, not on just offense.Verlander is very very good.Kenny Rogers is getting old and wasn't good at all last year.Jeremy Bonderman, for ALLLL of his potential, has a career ERA of 4.78...including going above 5 last year.Dontrelle Willis has regressed significantly the past two years, including a terrible year last year. Now he goes from a light hitting division to a powerhouse division......he'll be lucky to keep an ERA under 4.50....Nate Robertson is Nate Robertson....not great, not terrible. A true #5 guy.Their bullpen is nothing special.....is Zumaya gonna get healthy?? Is Todd Jones still the closer??Their pitching was below league average last year and their offense was already awesome last year....their offense improved some but their pitching has not improved, in fact they were probably worse. Just because Sportscenter says that the Tigers are now super duper awesome because they traded for two big names doesn't mean they are the best. The Indians are the favorites. The Tigers need a LOT of things to go right for their pitching staff to win the division.

[KowboyKoop 0]

I assume he is just being the way he always is. He seems to go into many topics spouting off his knowledge and usually ending up wrong. The Pats thread is a good example. Did you ever go back into that Kow and admit you clearly had no clue?

I don't even remember what I said in the Pats thread...and if I did say something wrong, how does being wrong one time mean I know nothing??

[KowboyKoop 0]

Still 25 more than what the Royals will get.

Lol..really? 25?? You think the Royals will be much worse than last year??? Please explain...I'd love to hear how our superior pitching will make us 6 games worse than last year.

[KowboyKoop 0]

I don't even remember what I said in the Pats thread...and if I did say something wrong, how does being wrong one time mean I know nothing??

Oh, I see...I predicted the Pats would go 10-6. Guess you are right, based on that one off prediction, it has been proven that I know nothing. Good one.

[SBriand 4]

Because good teams are built on pitching, not on just offense.Verlander is very very good.Kenny Rogers is getting old and wasn't good at all last year.Jeremy Bonderman, for ALLLL of his potential, has a career ERA of 4.78...including going above 5 last year.Dontrelle Willis has regressed significantly the past two years, including a terrible year last year. Now he goes from a light hitting division to a powerhouse division......he'll be lucky to keep an ERA under 4.50....Nate Robertson is Nate Robertson....not great, not terrible. A true #5 guy.Their bullpen is nothing special.....is Zumaya gonna get healthy?? Is Todd Jones still the closer??Their pitching was below league average last year and their offense was already awesome last year....their offense improved some but their pitching has not improved, in fact they were probably worse. Just because Sportscenter says that the Tigers are now super duper awesome because they traded for two big names doesn't mean they are the best. The Indians are the favorites. The Tigers need a LOT of things to go right for their pitching staff to win the division.

Do you think you just posted something no one else already knew? 1. Verlander is a beast. No question.2. Rogers was no good last year? Duh. He didn't play almost the entire season last year. Hard to play good when on the bench. He was out then came back and pitched one good game and injured himself and then was back on IR after a few bad outings. Good observation there. lol3. Nate is as you said a good #5 guy. The guy gets no run support whatsoever. He lost many 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 games the last two seasons that it is just pathetic.4. I don't know Dontrell since I never paid attention to the Marlins.5. Bonederman is my greatest fear. You never know what you are going to get. Has all the potential to be the ace of this team but cannot remain consistent to save his life. I am sure he will have a great first half of the season and than...well we just have to wait and see.6. Zumaya thinks he will be back mid-season. No rush imo. He was amazing two seasons ago but last year well before he injured himself mid season he was lackluster and no where close to the Zoom Zoom he was the year before. I don't expect him to ever be like he was 2 seasons ago. 7. Bullpen: It is a but ugly. But to be fair you can't look at last season as the barometer. Many of our RP'ers were doing things they normally would not do and thus it got ugly fast. Players like Girilli are 1-2 inning relievers, last year because of injuries and starting pitching that could only go 5 he was asked to pitch 3-4 innings and that made him look worse than he really is. Miner as well. Brydak was solid and should be again this year. Jones is Jones. I think they dropped the ball on not getting Cordero or Dotel or well, anyone other than Jones. So yeah, we are pretty much in agreement here. I never yet posted my thoughts on the team and the pitching would have been the sore spot for sure. The lineup and the bench are outstanding and one of the best in the MLB right now. Everything you posted has been talked about each and every afternoon on the radio the last two weeks. We are very well aware of what this team is about. Still going to be a fun season.

Lol..really? 25?? You think the Royals will be much worse than last year??? Please explain...I'd love to hear how our superior pitching will make us 6 games worse than last year.

Thanks for proving my point. Really? No, I think the Royal will easily win more than 63 games. I would put money on it. I was just poking back like you poked me. Seriously, learn how to not take this shit so seriously.

Oh, I see...I predicted the Pats would go 10-6. Guess you are right, based on that one off prediction, it has been proven that I know nothing. Good one.

Did I say you know nothing? I don't think I did. Let me check....Nope. I just pointed out that you have a history of going into sports topics and trying to start shit and that sometimes you are wrong. So am I. So are some of the experts on TV or in the newspapers. I was just taking a little stab at you because I know that is how you like to play. You were wrong about the pats but you were pretty adamant about giving it to Flush in that topic. You know you were trying to get him riled up, it's what you like to do. Anyone can go into a topic and see you having heated discussions about how much knowledge you think you have and how wrong the other person is. Do you think I am new to FCP? Nope. Trouble is in this topic I never made any real outlandish claims. My topic is a parody of flushs topic. Do I think the Tigers will go 162-0? Obviously not. And my 120 was clearly a joke as well. But they will win more than 88 games. 100? Don't know. But over 90 for sure. But unlike you, I don't claim to know everything. Either way, at least we will still be better than the Royals, like most of the MLB. Sorry, I had to take that jab because I enjoy watching you get all pissy.

[KowboyKoop 0]

Do you think you just posted something no one else already knew? 1. Verlander is a beast. No question.2. Rogers was no good last year? Duh. He didn't play almost the entire season last year. Hard to play good when on the bench. He was out then came back and pitched one good game and injured himself and then was back on IR after a few bad outings. Good observation there. lol3. Nate is as you said a good #5 guy. The guy gets no run support whatsoever. He lost many 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 games the last two seasons that it is just pathetic.4. I don't know Dontrell since I never paid attention to the Marlins.5. Bonederman is my greatest fear. You never know what you are going to get. Has all the potential to be the ace of this team but cannot remain consistent to save his life. I am sure he will have a great first half of the season and than...well we just have to wait and see.6. Zumaya thinks he will be back mid-season. No rush imo. He was amazing two seasons ago but last year well before he injured himself mid season he was lackluster and no where close to the Zoom Zoom he was the year before. I don't expect him to ever be like he was 2 seasons ago. 7. Bullpen: It is a but ugly. But to be fair you can't look at last season as the barometer. Many of our RP'ers were doing things they normally would not do and thus it got ugly fast. Players like Girilli are 1-2 inning relievers, last year because of injuries and starting pitching that could only go 5 he was asked to pitch 3-4 innings and that made him look worse than he really is. Miner as well. Brydak was solid and should be again this year. Jones is Jones. I think they dropped the ball on not getting Cordero or Dotel or well, anyone other than Jones. So yeah, we are pretty much in agreement here. I never yet posted my thoughts on the team and the pitching would have been the sore spot for sure. The lineup and the bench are outstanding and one of the best in the MLB right now. Everything you posted has been talked about each and every afternoon on the radio the last two weeks. We are very well aware of what this team is about. Still going to be a fun season.Thanks for proving my point. Really? No, I think the Royal will easily win more than 63 games. I would put money on it. I was just poking back like you poked me. Seriously, learn how to not take this shit so seriously.Did I say you know nothing? I don't think I did. Let me check....Nope. I just pointed out that you have a history of going into sports topics and trying to start shit and that sometimes you are wrong. So am I. So are some of the experts on TV or in the newspapers. I was just taking a little stab at you because I know that is how you like to play. You were wrong about the pats but you were pretty adamant about giving it to Flush in that topic. You know you were trying to get him riled up, it's what you like to do. Anyone can go into a topic and see you having heated discussions about how much knowledge you think you have and how wrong the other person is. Do you think I am new to FCP? Nope. Trouble is in this topic I never made any real outlandish claims. My topic is a parody of flushs topic. Do I think the Tigers will go 162-0? Obviously not. And my 120 was clearly a joke as well. But they will win more than 88 games. 100? Don't know. But over 90 for sure. But unlike you, I don't claim to know everything. Either way, at least we will still be better than the Royals, like most of the MLB. Sorry, I had to take that jab because I enjoy watching you get all pissy.

Lol...just because I type alot doesn't mean I'm all pissy...but I guess if that's what you think...1. Kenny Rogers threw 63 innings. That's hardly "one good game and then a few bad outings." I didn't say he threw a full year, but he had a bad year and he's old.2. Dontrelle Willis is the guy who had an above 5 ERA while facing light hitting teams. Now he is your #3 starter?? Oops.3. Bonderman has under-produced every year he's been in the bigs now. Why will it change? Maybe it will...but I wouldn't count on it. 4. Nate Robertson is what he is. We agree. Average at best.By my count, you have one reliable starter, two average at best starters (Bonderman and Robertson) and two big question marks. Everyone is predicting the Tigers will be some monster unstoppable team. I say they are overhyped and will thus be overrated. They will be a good team, but not a great team. Their starting rotation is questionable and their bullpen is worse. Zumaya is coming back in mid season?? I thought that was the story last year as well. He's a question mark. Todd Jones is a question mark. Pretty much every arm in the entire staff outside of Verlander is a question mark. That's all. There is NO way you can say they will win "90 for sure." They had a very good offense last year and only won 88. Their offense is a little better, but so is the entire AL. And you said I was clueless based on one wrong prediction in the Pats thread, so I poked back. Deal with it.

[JoeyJoJo 18]

2. Dontrelle Willis is the guy who had an above 5 ERA while facing light hitting teams. Now he is your #3 starter?? Oops.Everyone is predicting the Tigers will be some monster unstoppable team. I say they are overhyped and will thus be overrated.

Dontrelle Willis ERA by age - 21 - 3.3022 - 4.0223 - 2.6324 - 3.8725 - 5.17I think it's a little disingenuous to call him the guy with the above 5 ERA. Also, doesn't switching leagues usually help a pitcher early on? That being said, he's no ace, but I think he's just fine as a #3 guy.Also, most of the predictions I've seen still have the Indians on top of the Central. The stuff about the Tigers being unstoppable is about how many runs they will score this year and they really should have a great offense.

[SBriand 4]

Lol...just because I type alot doesn't mean I'm all pissy...but I guess if that's what you think...1. Kenny Rogers threw 63 innings. That's hardly "one good game and then a few bad outings." I didn't say he threw a full year, but he had a bad year and he's old.2. Dontrelle Willis is the guy who had an above 5 ERA while facing light hitting teams. Now he is your #3 starter?? Oops.3. Bonderman has under-produced every year he's been in the bigs now. Why will it change? Maybe it will...but I wouldn't count on it. 4. Nate Robertson is what he is. We agree. Average at best.By my count, you have one reliable starter, two average at best starters (Bonderman and Robertson) and two big question marks. Everyone is predicting the Tigers will be some monster unstoppable team. I say they are overhyped and will thus be overrated. They will be a good team, but not a great team. Their starting rotation is questionable and their bullpen is worse. Zumaya is coming back in mid season?? I thought that was the story last year as well. He's a question mark. Todd Jones is a question mark. Pretty much every arm in the entire staff outside of Verlander is a question mark. That's all. There is NO way you can say they will win "90 for sure." They had a very good offense last year and only won 88. Their offense is a little better, but so is the entire AL. And you said I was clueless based on one wrong prediction in the Pats thread, so I poked back. Deal with it.

Well at least we are talking baseball and that is good with me. And before I go point by point I would like to say that I do all of this with a friendly smile on my face. I am just playing with ya, so...deal with it?1. Rogers. Okay if we want to get specific. He had major surgery to repair a blood clot in his shoulder I believe. Came back in what I always felt was too soon and pitched 3 decent games. Then fell off hard the next..what 7 or 8 times? Sorry for not being specific. 3-4 with a 4.43 era and essentially injured for the majority of his starts as it turned out. Either way, I can't personally look at that situation last year and then compare it to previous years where he was healthy and immediately decide he is old and bad. You can cause that is your opinion, but I disagree with it.2. Dontrelle. I am sensing a pattern here. You only look at last years stats to form your opinions I see. I also see someone who has won 20 games in a season and I see someone who has 68 wins and an under 4 ERA in his career. But I guess only previous seasons stats mean anything. Also the rotation is Verlander, Bondo, Rogers, Willis, Robertson the last I saw.3. No argument there.4. We agree.The rest: I agreed that our sore spot is pitching and that the bullpen is a mess. Here, let me get you a few quotes...

Bullpen: It is a but ugly

which was my typo way of saying, It is butt ugly

the pitching would have been the sore spot for sure.

So yeah, I think 90 is not unrealistic. It's also a lot more than just a little better hitting, we also took care of a couple problems defensively that have cost us runs in the past. Guillen was a error whore at SS and now with Renteria we put him on SS and move Guillen to 1st which is better for his legs which should also help his hitting as if he needed to hit better. We essentially had no 1st baseman last year so now we can put Thames back in RF along with Jones and that should help out defensively. We lost a solid 3rd baseman but in reality the bat he comes with is just sick. So yeah, 2 more, 10 more wins than last year is not outrageous. Maybe if you watched all 162 games as I did you would see that more clearly.At least we will start off 3-0. :wink:

[GeneralGeeWhiz 0]

Tigers are coming out of the central, obv

[jeff_536 3]

Dontrelle Willis ERA by age - 21 - 3.3022 - 4.0223 - 2.6324 - 3.8725 - 5.17I think it's a little disingenuous to call him the guy with the above 5 ERA. Also, doesn't switching leagues usually help a pitcher early on? That being said, he's no ace, but I think he's just fine as a #3 guy.Also, most of the predictions I've seen still have the Indians on top of the Central. The stuff about the Tigers being unstoppable is about how many runs they will score this year and they really should have a great offense.

I think AL pitchers going to the NL have had much more success than vice versa. I expect Santana to clinch the NL Cy by July 15. But the AL is a better hitters league so NL pitchers often struggle. It's a big year for Willis to determine his future.

[SBriand 4]

I think AL pitchers going to the NL have had much more success than vice versa. I expect Santana to clinch the NL Cy by July 15. But the AL is a better hitters league so NL pitchers often struggle. It's a big year for Willis to determine his future.

He has looked pretty good so far in spring training. Not that you can actually make any serious determination of how good a pitcher may be based on ST, but he has looked pretty solid. For fun...Willis: 7.1 innings, 7 hits, 7 SO 2ER 5BB 2.45ERA

[jeff_536 3]

He has looked pretty good so far in spring training. Not that you can actually make any serious determination of how good a pitcher may be based on ST, but he has looked pretty solid. For fun...Willis: 7.1 innings, 7 hits, 7 SO 2ER 5BB 2.45ERA

he's definitely high risk-high reward.

[SBriand 4]

he's definitely high risk-high reward.

Yeah. He is better than what we had though with the exception of Jurgens. I don't think Miller is going to be the superstar we thought he was going to be. Not until he learns a second pitch at least. He should be ok in Florida though. I still believe our starting pitching will be ok but our bullpen is just scary right now. They were having a discussion yesterday morning on the radio asking people to call in and tell then what level of defcon was the tigers bullpen at. I wanted to call in and say that the nukes were shot at us hours ago.

[KowboyKoop 0]

Well at least we are talking baseball and that is good with me. And before I go point by point I would like to say that I do all of this with a friendly smile on my face. I am just playing with ya, so...deal with it?1. Rogers. Okay if we want to get specific. He had major surgery to repair a blood clot in his shoulder I believe. Came back in what I always felt was too soon and pitched 3 decent games. Then fell off hard the next..what 7 or 8 times? Sorry for not being specific. 3-4 with a 4.43 era and essentially injured for the majority of his starts as it turned out. Either way, I can't personally look at that situation last year and then compare it to previous years where he was healthy and immediately decide he is old and bad. You can cause that is your opinion, but I disagree with it.2. Dontrelle. I am sensing a pattern here. You only look at last years stats to form your opinions I see. I also see someone who has won 20 games in a season and I see someone who has 68 wins and an under 4 ERA in his career. But I guess only previous seasons stats mean anything. Also the rotation is Verlander, Bondo, Rogers, Willis, Robertson the last I saw.3. No argument there.4. We agree.The rest: I agreed that our sore spot is pitching and that the bullpen is a mess. Here, let me get you a few quotes...which was my typo way of saying, It is butt uglySo yeah, I think 90 is not unrealistic. It's also a lot more than just a little better hitting, we also took care of a couple problems defensively that have cost us runs in the past. Guillen was a error whore at SS and now with Renteria we put him on SS and move Guillen to 1st which is better for his legs which should also help his hitting as if he needed to hit better. We essentially had no 1st baseman last year so now we can put Thames back in RF along with Jones and that should help out defensively. We lost a solid 3rd baseman but in reality the bat he comes with is just sick. So yeah, 2 more, 10 more wins than last year is not outrageous. Maybe if you watched all 162 games as I did you would see that more clearly.At least we will start off 3-0. :wink:

On the Willis point, you are using wins to define how good a pitcher is??? Uhhh..no. I am not saying Willis sucks because he had one bad year, but he IS coming off a terrible year and is moving into a league with WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY better hitting. He ain't gonna get to stack up the K's against the Washington Nationals over and over....he's gonna be getting shelled by the Indians and White Sox and Red Sox and Yankees and Angels.....Anyways, the Tigers have one real good pitcher in their starting rotation and then a bunch of question marks. Willis might struggle or might bounce back. Rogers is old and might struggle or might be decent. Robertson might be average again or might get worse. Bonderman might finally break through, or might keep on struggling to keep a sub 4.80 ERA. That's a lot of mights for the supposed "AL favorite," and that's not even going into their bullpen.....they won't have Zumaya for how long..'til midseason??? And....my final point...Todd Jones. Done.The Tigers pitching is a HUGE question mark this year. I'm not saying it's gonna be awful altogether....but to contend in the AL...they are gonna have to have a LOT of things go their way just to keep up with Cleveland......I think the Tigers will be fighting with the BoSox for a wild card spot this year (that's right, I have the Yanks winning the division....)

[SBriand 4]

On the Willis point, you are using wins to define how good a pitcher is???

No, I made a point based on his whole career, with wins and ERA. You based your earlier statement strictly on last year. So, uhhh...no.

[KowboyKoop 0]

No, I made a point based on his whole career, with wins and ERA. You based your earlier statement strictly on last year. So, uhhh...no.

Yes, I did base my point on Willis on his previous season. He had a terrible year last year and will now be facing much much much more potent offenses. I didn't say he's done as a pitcher for the rest of his career, I said he's a huge question mark for this year. I think the chances that he struggles are FAR greater than the chances that he wins 17 games and puts up a 3.56 ERA with 194 Ks.......there's a fair chance he'll struggle, there's MORE than a fair chance Rogers struggles, there's a good chance Bonderman puts up his usual 4.80 ERA...and there's a good chance Nate Robertson will do about the same......they have one real good starter and four question marks....and again..their bullpen is nothing worth bragging about....especially considering Zumaya is out until AT LEAST the All-Star Break. So..the point remains the same...considering everyone is pretty much just handing Detroit the division because they made a trade is rediculous..the Tigers are overrated. Will they suck? No..but they won't win 98 games either.

[SBriand 4]

Yes, I did base my point on Willis on his previous season. He had a terrible year last year and will now be facing much much much more potent offenses. I didn't say he's done as a pitcher for the rest of his career, I said he's a huge question mark for this year. I think the chances that he struggles are FAR greater than the chances that he wins 17 games and puts up a 3.56 ERA with 194 Ks.......there's a fair chance he'll struggle, there's MORE than a fair chance Rogers struggles, there's a good chance Bonderman puts up his usual 4.80 ERA...and there's a good chance Nate Robertson will do about the same......they have one real good starter and four question marks....and again..their bullpen is nothing worth bragging about....especially considering Zumaya is out until AT LEAST the All-Star Break. So..the point remains the same...considering everyone is pretty much just handing Detroit the division because they made a trade is rediculous..the Tigers are overrated. Will they suck? No..but they won't win 98 games either.

88 or 98. Make up mind.

[SBriand 4]

So a few things going on for the Motown Kitties this week...Curtis Granderson was hit by a pitch this weekend and has been placed on 15 day DL with a broken (cracked) hand. That sucks. Speculation is that it will be longer but obv just have to wait and see. Word is that Inge might be the starting CF if he doesn't get dealt this week. He made an amazing play in CF yesterday and should do fine.We signed Cabby to a 8 yr $152mil deal this weekend. Not a bad payday but a lot cheaper than I thought he was going to get. I figured he would be at least $23m/yr but this is fine. 4th highest contract I believe. 8 yrs is a good to see as well.Bullpen is still a mess.Starting rotation was announced yesterday:VerlanderRogersBondermanRobertsonWillisand since I was reading this topic over and wanted to make some points regarding some of the willis talk...While I agree that coming from the NL to the AL is a negative usually, would not coming to a team with the killer lineup Detroit has and the very good defense he will have behind him not count towards something? How many gold glovers did he have playing behind him in Florida? I really don't know, but I will bet 1 or zero. He has gold glovers at C, 2nd, and SS for sure and a future gold glove CF'er. I think he will be fine. I predict he will start slow but finish strong. Sure it's a change and they have been working on him this spring and he is slowly getting there but I have to think his situation here is much better for him than in Florida regardless of the switch from NL to AL.

[KowboyKoop 0]

So a few things going on for the Motown Kitties this week...Curtis Granderson was hit by a pitch this weekend and has been placed on 15 day DL with a broken (cracked) hand. That sucks. Speculation is that it will be longer but obv just have to wait and see. Word is that Inge might be the starting CF if he doesn't get dealt this week. He made an amazing play in CF yesterday and should do fine.We signed Cabby to a 8 yr $152mil deal this weekend. Not a bad payday but a lot cheaper than I thought he was going to get. I figured he would be at least $23m/yr but this is fine. 4th highest contract I believe. 8 yrs is a good to see as well.Bullpen is still a mess.Starting rotation was announced yesterday:VerlanderRogersBondermanRobertsonWillisand since I was reading this topic over and wanted to make some points regarding some of the willis talk...While I agree that coming from the NL to the AL is a negative usually, would not coming to a team with the killer lineup Detroit has and the very good defense he will have behind him not count towards something? How many gold glovers did he have playing behind him in Florida? I really don't know, but I will bet 1 or zero. He has gold glovers at C, 2nd, and SS for sure and a future gold glove CF'er. I think he will be fine. I predict he will start slow but finish strong. Sure it's a change and they have been working on him this spring and he is slowly getting there but I have to think his situation here is much better for him than in Florida regardless of the switch from NL to AL.

Having a little bit better defense makes a very minute difference.........and please don't use Gold Gloves to account for how good defensive players are.......Gold Gloves are a joke award given based on reputation as the most important factor. Your manager has already said he's worried about Willis because his delivery is all messed up.......that is a TERRIBLE sign.............the entire pitching staff is a question mark. They could step it up and be decent, or things could fall apart and they could be pretty bad outside of Verlanders........not to say what could happen if the injury bug hits....already two key relievers out for significant time...Rogers is old..........there are legit question marks all over that pitching staff....Cleveland is the team to beat. Detroit is merely a contender.