The Tigers ended a miserable season on a positive note by taking the season finale 6-0 over the White Sox. Daniel Norris and the much maligned bullpen combined on a three hit shutout.
The 74th win of the 2015 campaign was good for a last place Central Division finish and will provide the Tigers with a top 10 draft pick next season.
Here is my Good, Bad and Ugly for the 2015 season:
The Good:
- James McCann finishes the year without making an error. He has taken over the #1 catcher position
- J.D. Martinez followed up last year’s impressive year with another one finishing with 102 RBIs, not bad for a guy the Tigers got for virtually nothing.
- Justin Verlander looks like he will come back and be the Ace of Tigers staff in 2016
- Nick Castellanos had a good year at the plate. Remember this was only his second year.
- Drew VerHagen, Alex Wilson, and Blaine Hardy look like they will be competent arms out the pen
- Miggy won is fourth batting title
The Bad:
- Victor Martinez’s injury riddled season
- Miggy’s injury ridden power numbers
- Castellanos’s play at third base
- The inability to play as a team. No part of the team “picked up” the other
- Finishing in last place in the AL Central
The Ugly:
- The base running – leading baseball in runners thrown out at home plate and just the overall incompetence on the base paths.
- Hitting into the most double plays in baseball
- Pitching – 28th in ERA 4.64
- Bruce Rondon being sent home
The season in over for the Tigers but I’ll still be posting throughout the post season. I’m predicting a Mets | Blue Jays World Series. I’d like to see Granderson get a WS ring.
A big Flashin’ Leather Thank You to everyone that reads and comments! I really appreciate your support!
Flashin' Leather 
I’m going with Pirates/Royals, even though I think KC is a flawed team… The whole AL is void of championship caliber teams.. The best game is going to be this Wednesday night – Cole vs. Arietta.. Too bad one has to lose..
As for our Tigers, they have so many holes to fill it’s hard to imagine them being serious contenders for at least a couple years..
Starting Pitching: JV and Norris.. They can pencil Sanchez in at #5, meaning they need at least 2 quality pitchers
Bullpen: Wilson and maybe Verhagen, and maybe Hardy as a LH role guy. That leaves 4 pitchers minimum needed.
Hitting: Miggy should bat 2nd if he is going to be a singles/doubles hitter, which is what he will be without some serious conditioning. V-Mart either bounces back or he’s done.. JD should be signed long-term.. His hard-hit ball % is highest in the league, by a lot.. Plus his D has really surprised.. Seemed to tire by seasons end, or pressing to hit 40 HRs.. Will likely be voted team MVP this year..
Defense: McCann, Iggy, Kinsler make for a solid middle.. Not sold on Gose yet.. Good range but his throws are awful. Great arm, don’t know where it’s going most of the time.. Nick C keeps improving.. The primary hole is LF.. They have nobody in the system to fill this spot, so they will have to overpay for a FA or make a bold trade.. Neither is likely..
Then there is the rookie manager.. While I won’t lay the failings of this team at his feet, it is curious why they sent Rondon home for lack of effort, yet Miggy and V-Mart are allowed to trot on the bases.. I don’t like when guys make major mental blunders and don’t get benched.. Physical errors happen all the time, but the mental stuff shows lack of focus and/or concentration, and ass professionals this should not be accepted..
When you have $105M tied up in 5 guys, and 3 of them have ? health (Miggy, V-Mart, Sanchez) it will be hard to fill out a competent roster – which is why they are in this position in the first place..
I still say blow it up: Keep JD, McCann, Nick C, Iggy, and maybe Kinsler on offense, and JV, Norris, and Wilson.. I’ve grown tired of the rest… I think the individual accomplishments of Miggy are fine (for him), but doesn’t bring any championships.. I know he won’t get traded as long as Ilitch owns the team, but perhaps we can start this rebuild by trading Ilitch?
Love the blog Chris. Keep up the good work.. And congrats on the 3rd place finish in Fantasy baseball.. For those not aware, Chris and I were tied going into the last day.. Still tied until Chris Davis hit a meaningless HR near the end of the day.. I got 4th, still in the money.. Good stuff!!
There are so many moves that need to be made. I wondered what moves and in what order do you see those moves? What free agents do you like that will fit and fit financially?
I don’t think any FA signings fit financially – that would actually help anyway. They would have to overpay to get anyone of great talent.. They’ll miss DD because he was one of the best at making good trades. I think they need to start moving in the direction of player development and create their own talent pool – like Cubs and Red Sox.. Look at Schwarber and Bryant, two studs in one season, plus Russell thru trade.. Yes it takes lots of years and patience to pull off, which is why we need to trade Ilitch 🙂 DD is going to have a field day in Boston trading away all their in-house talent for MLB players..
Sark You hit it they need to develop their own talent they can maneuver for a long time and FA in the blanks. I suspect we really don’t know just how tough this will be without DD and I think Avila is a good man but not a GM.Long winter. Hockey starts this week. Big THANX Crippy!