Detroit Tigers Season Preview

Victor Martinez will help the offense a lot by providing
 protection for Miguel Cabrera in the batting order

Another baseball season is just a few days away and this is my preview for the 2011 Detroit Tigers baseball season.  The Tigers got their off-season moves done early by signing C/1B Victor Martinez and relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit.  Victor will be a huge addition to this team offensively.  He is a guy who every year will hit around .300, get around 20 home runs, and finish with about 80 RBI's.  He is also a switch hitter who can hit well against righties and lefties.  He will also provide Miguel Cabrera with some protection in the lineup, which will help the teams offense a lot.  Joaquin Benoit will be a huge help to the tigers bullpen.  Benoit had a break out season last year after not doing so well in the majors.  If he plays as well as he did last year he will be a very good set up man in the bullpen.  He would do a good job of getting the ball to the closer in the ninth inning.  He will also prevent Jose Valverde from pitching 2 innings, which we saw last year usually ends up in a disaster for him.  Both of these additions should help the team tremendously this season.
The pitching rotation this year has the chance to be one of the best in the majors.  My projected pitching rotation is Verlander, Scherzer, Porcello, Penny and Coke.  Verlander will probably be solid as usually at the top.  If Scherzer can pitch like he did in the second half the season and Porcello gets back to the way he pitched in '09 then the top three should be pretty solid.  Penny has pitched pretty well the last few years and hopefully he will keep it going this season.  It will be interesting to see how Phil Coke handles the switch from set-up man to starting pitcher.  If he is able to be effective and have a good year as the fifth starter it would be a huge boost for the team.
Last year the offense finished in the top 11 in all four of the major offensive categories and with the addition of Martinez the offense should be even better this season.  My projected line up is:
1. Jackson
2. Rhymes
3. Ordonez
4. Cabrera
5. Martinez
6. Raburn
7. Peralta
8. Inge
9. Avila
Austin Jackson is a big key in the line up.  If he can have a good year like he had last year and hit around .300 it would be great for the Detroit Tigers.  I expect that his numbers will probably drop a little bit this year but he should still do a good job in the lead off spot.  Also I have Raburn starting in left field this year because I have seen that in limited playing time the last few season he has put up good numbers and I think it is time to see what he can do as a starting player.  Carlos Guillen and Brennan Boesch are 2 key bench players for the Tigers.  Guillen is coming off a injury and if he is able to get fully healthy he might even be able to take a starting job.  Boesch had a great first half of the season but slowed down drastically in the second half.  He is another player that could find himself in the starting line up if he starts playing like he did in the first half of last season.  With the addition of Martinez and the improvement of some other players the Tigers offense should be even better than it was last season.
My prediction for the Tigers this season is 85-90 wins.  They should be contending with the Twins and White Sox all season for the AL Central crown.  It will be a tough hard fought season that will hopefully end with a playoff birth for the Detroit Tigers.

Michigan Basketball Season Review

Last weekend The Michigan basketball team got knocked out in the second round of the NCAA tournament by the Duke Blue Devils, but this was by no means a bad season.  They started the season and were predicted by many people to finish last in the Big Ten Conference.  It looked like it was going to be a long Big Ten season when they started Big Ten play with a 1-6 record with bad loses to Northwestern and Indiana.  They also showed some promise early in the season by playing teams like Syracuse, Kansas and Ohio State very tough but always come up a little short in the end.  They also had some nice early wins against Clemson and Oakland University who both made the NCAA tournament this season.  The highlight of the season was Michigan beating Michigan State twice this season.  This was the first time that Michigan won in East Lansing since 1997.  This was also the first time that Michigan swept the season series between the two schools since 1997.  After beating Michigan State in East Lansing, Michigan began to play a lot better and ended up finishing 9-9 in the Big Ten and won one game in the Big Ten tournament.  In the NCAA Tournament they beat Tennessee before losing to Duke in the second round 73-71.  

Freshman Tim Hardaway Jr. is one of the
brightest young stars
when it comes to Michigan Basketball

This was also a season where most people didn't know many of the players on the team.  We learned that Michigan basketball should have a very bright future as long as the players continue to develop.  Sophomore Darius Morris is a very good point guard who was second in the Big Ten this season in assist.  He also carried the team at times this season and is very capable of hitting the big shot.  Another player who was very strong this season was Freshman Tim Hardaway Jr.  He  played great during the second half of the season and into the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments.  He is a very good three point shooter and is someone who can create his own shot if he has to.  Two other freshman that played great during the second half of the season were Jordan Morgan and Evan Smotrycz.  Another freshman who didn't play much in the second half of the season was Jon Horford.  He has a lot of potential in my opinion, but over the off season he needs to bulk up so he can play on the inside and help the team with rebounding.  Once he bulks up and matures his game a little bit so he doesn't commit too many bad fouls I think that he can be a real difference maker on this team and help them a lot for years to come.  With so much good young talent on this team we could see Michigan Basketball in the tournament for many more years to come.
I think that for Michigan to make it to the next level they first need the kids they have to stay in school and not leave early.  This would help the team, but would also help the kids develop their skills more before they go to the NBA.  I also think that they need to add some more big men because they need to be a better rebounding team.   If Michigan continues to improve like they have been doing they will soon be contending for Big Ten titles on a yearly basis.

Jimmy Howard Signs 2 Year Extension

Jimmy Howard has signed a 2 year extension with the Wings!

On monday the Detroit Red Wings agreed to a two year contract extension with goalie Jimmy Howard.  I think in the long run this is a good move.  Jimmy has played well most of the year.  He is leading the league in wins and his numbers have been good for most of the season.  He has gone through some rough stretches but has also kept us in some games throghout the year.  I believe that he has also won us some games, and made game saving stops at key points in games this season.  I also like the move because it was only for 2.25 million per year.  I thought it would cost at least a million more per year.  I also like the move right now because since he has gotten the contract he has played well.  So may be taking his mind off his contract situation will help his play for the rest of the year.  The one reason I didn't like the deal when I first heard it is because I would of waited to see how Jimmy finished the year before giving him a new contract.  Especially with the number of quality goalies that are free agents after this season.  But after looking at all the facts, and seeing the way Jimmy has played since he got the contract, I believe that it was a very good move that will help the Red Wings for the next two seasons at least and hopefully for many more years after that.