The Detroit Tigers’ middle infielders should be the strength of the team. Of course, this is dependent mainly on their ability to remain healthy throughout the season. Health is the concern for Carlos Guillen, who was limited to 87 games last season due to complications and chronic pain following knee surgery. 2006 represents his second year following a torn ACL, which frequently is the time table for such an injury to completely heal. A return to health for Guillen will do wonders for the Tigers’ everyday line-up and he will likely return to the form this year that made him an All Star in 2004. Guillen is a solid defensive SS as he had a .978 fielding percentage last year in limited time and .974 the year prior. He is able to make both the routine and difficult plays. However, where Guillen’s return will help the Tigers the most is on the offensive end. He hit .318 in 2004 and despite injuries last year hit .320. The 6’1” 215 lb, 30 year old does have some power in his swing as demonstrated by his 20 HRs in 2004. He also drove in 97 runs two years ago and had a .542 slugging percentage. I expect Carlos to have a bounce back year and hit over .300 with 15-20 HRs and 90-100 RBIs. Although it wouldn’t surprise me if he bettered the numbers he put up in 2004.Last year the Tigers’ made a great deal in trading away their closer at the time Ugueth Urbina for second baseman Placido Polanco. All the 30 year old Dominican right hander did was hit .338 in 86 games with the Tigers while slugging 6 HRs and 36 RBIs. Urbina is currently in prison pending attempted murder charges and the Tigers have their second place hitter locked up for the next few seasons. The emergence of Chase Utley made Polanco expendable for the Phils, but the Tigers got the better end of the trade. Polanco can flat out hit (.300 career average) and he will be given the opportunity to do so everyday with the Tigers. He is also a great fielder with a .988 career fielding percentage over 7 seasons. Guillen and Polanco give the Tigers a shortstop and second base combination that should be a foundation to build around the next few years. Hopefully they can provide stability up the middle the Tigers have lacked since the retirement of Trammell and Whittaker.
The Tigers used similar strategies to obtain the services of Guillen and Polanco. Dombrowski made great trades to get them to Detroit and moved quickly to sign them to long-term deals at a very reasonable price. Sometimes the best moves are the ones teams end up not making. In the off-season heading into 2004 the Tigers, following the 119 loss season, were desperate to bring in talent and willing to pay big money for it. They wanted to sign Rich Aurilia, but ended up losing him to Seattle. So the Mariners now had an abundance of shortstops so they traded Guillen to the Tigers for prospect Ramon Santiago. Aurilia struggle in Seattle before being released and Guillen became an All Star. The ironic thing is that Santiago has returned to the Tigers and along with Omar Infante will be the back-up infielders. These roles better suit both players who were forced to be the starting SS and 2B in 2003 in the disastrous 119 loss season. Infante and Santiago are young guys who should bring energy to the line-up when they are called upon.
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Go Tigers!!!
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