Kuzul

Few teams in baseball have enjoyed the kind of recent success that the Detroit Tigers have.

Winners of three consecutive American League Central crowns, the Tigers have a legitimate chance to make it four in a row in 2014.

But a World Series title has remained elusive, and the pressure is on general manager Dave Dombrowski to figure out how to best position his club to claim baseball’s biggest prize.

While Justin Verlander’s struggles have been concerning, Detroit’s bullpen remains the team’s biggest weakness, as has been the case for a number of years. Will Dombrowski look to add a few hard-throwing arms to the mix before the trade deadline arrives? 

Keep it here for the most up-to-the-minute rumblings about the Tigers, along with analysis and everything else that comes with it. While the post date will always show as July 1, simply click to the next slide to see the latest from the rumor mill as the Tigers try and fend off the hard-charging Kansas City Royals in the AL Central.

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In 2013, the Detroit Tigers had many people convinced they might be baseball’s best team. Boasting arguably the game’s best pitcher (Max Scherzer) and inarguably its best hitter (Miguel Cabrera), they seemed to have the necessary weapons to dominate any opponent.

However, after qualifying for the playoffs for the third straight year, Detroit’s season ended again in disappointment. A superior Red Sox team dismantled the Tigers 4-2 in the ALCS. Something had to give.

The first step was a change in management. Jim Leyland retired, and Brad Ausmus was hired as manager. Second, subtle tinkering to the team roster—a trade here (Ian Kinsler) and a signing there (Rajai Davis)—has morphed it into a more versatile and successful unit in 2014. 

Detroit has begun this season in great style. Despite a four-game losing streak, the Tigers still maintain a stellar 4.5-game lead in the AL Central. With a record of 27-16, it is their best start to a season since the 1984 World Series-winning Tigers team.

ESPN’s Buster Olney commented on The Michael Kay Show this week about Detroit’s championship credentials: “Without a doubt the Tigers are the best team in baseball. Their lineup is so much more dynamic. They are settling their bullpen issues. That’s the team to beat.”

The following slides will list and describe the five main reasons why the Tigers’ title drought will end at 30 years.

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When baseball fans think of the Detroit Tigers, names like Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Miguel Cabrera are quickly associated with one of baseball’s best teams. For some reason, designated hitter Victor Martinez is lost in the shuffle and allowed to quietly go about his business.

Over a 12-year career, Martinez has been in the business of hitting—and business has been good. Prior to the start of the 2014 season, the former Indians and Red Sox catcher owned 157 home runs and an OPS+ mark of 121. 

Thus far in 2014, the 35-year-old switch-hitter has taken his game to another level. In the process, Martinez has helped Detroit offset the trade of first baseman Prince Fielder. Through 40 games, the Tigers have scored 193 runs, good for an average of over 4.8 per game. Last year, the team scored 796 total runs, good for just over 4.9 per game.

Thanks to the efforts of Martinez, Detroit hasn’t missed a beat despite trading away one of baseball’s top sluggers in Prince Fielder.

After blasting his 11th home run of the season in a series-opening game with Cleveland, Martinez takes a .329/.379/.605 slash line into play on May 20. While an AL-leading slugging percentage should be enough to generate headlines in Detroit, another aspect of Martinez’s season is equally eye-opening and deserving of attention: strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Home runs and runs batted in will get the attention of casual baseball fans, but Martinez’s approach at the plate and throwback style should resonate across generations. After he hit his latest home run off Indians starter Corey Kluber, Martinez now has more home runs (11) than strikeouts (nine) for the season.  

Furthermore, Martinez has walked 14 times in 152 plate appearances, giving him five more walks than strikeouts for the season. Although the season is still young, it’s reached the quarter mark. With that comes merit and distinction for statistics.

According to ESPN’s updated projections, Martinez has established a pace that will yield the following 2014 statistics: 45 home runs, 57 walks, 36 strikeouts. Even if those kind of numbers look unsustainable, the baseline for special performance has been set by Detroit’s star early this season.

In the history of baseball, only seven individual seasons of 40-plus homers and 40 or fewer strikeouts have been recorded. With the rise in strikeouts across the years, not one of those seasons has occurred since 1955.  

Over the last 20 years (1994-2013), only two players—Barry Bonds and Moises Alou—posted seasons of 30-plus home runs and 45 or fewer strikeouts, per Baseball-Reference (subscription required). Barring an unlikely meteoric late-career rise, Martinez will never be mentioned in the same breath as Bonds, but parallels to the underrated Alou (career 128 OPS+) are fair.

To put Martinez’s season in perspective, consider that his current wRC+ (weighted runs created plus) of 160 was exceeded by only three hitters—Cabrera, Mike Trout and Chris Davis—over the course of the 2013 season. Martinez is raking like the top three finishers in the last AL MVP vote. 

Although an excellent career and special 2014 season has flown under the radar, one of baseball’s best and most visible players has noticed.

Cabrera, the AL’s reigning MVP, didn’t mince words when asked to describe the prowess of the hitter tasked with protecting him in the lineup, per Terry Foster of The Detroit News: “He is one of the best hitters I have ever seen in my life…He does not take anything for granted.”

Based on the first 40 games of this season and an underrated career since 2002, it’s hard to argue with Cabrera. Right now, Martinez is performing at a unique and special level. 

Martinez certainly has the talent to perform at a high level for an extended period. After all, he did just hit .330 in 540 at-bats in 2011. His ability to switch-hit will provide excellent protection for Cabrera, as teams cannot pitch around him with V-Mart crushing lefties this season.

If it continues, the Tigers will ride the coattails of a once-in-a-generation season all the way to October baseball and a shot at the World Series.

Agree? Disagree?

Comment, follow me on Twitter or “like” my Facebook page to talk about all things baseball.

Statistics are from Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted. All contract figures courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Roster breakdowns via MLBDepthCharts.com.

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A quarter of the way through the season, the 2014 American League Cy Young race isn’t lacking in participants. Masahiro Tanaka is one standout. So is Sonny Gray. And Mark Buehrle. And usual suspects Felix Hernandez and Yu Darvish.

But don’t sleep on the guy who won it last year. Or underestimate him.

In fact, it’s probably best if we all recognize that Max Scherzer is still the guy to beat.

The Detroit Tigers ace right-hander was at it again Friday night, taking on the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Though the rains came and tried to cool Scherzer off after he opened with three hitless innings, he shook off a lengthy delay to ultimately make it through six scoreless innings. He allowed three hits, walked four and struck out seven.

Torii Hunter’s RBI single in the first proved to be enough, as four Detroit relievers combined to finish off what Scherzer started for a 1-0 Tigers victory.

Detroit is now 25-12 and, interestingly, holds both the best home record (13-8) and road record (12-4) in the American League.

According to MLB.com’s Jason Beck, this is not lost on the man of the hour:

Scherzer‘s actual performance, meanwhile, wasn’t the most dominant we’ve seen from him since he rose to prominence in 2013. It did, however, succeed in launching him to the top of some key AL categories.

After entering the game tied with Buehrle for the AL lead in ERA at 2.04, Scherzer‘s now all alone at the top with a 1.83 ERA.

As for what Scherzer‘s seven punchouts accomplished, the Tigers’ official Twitter feed can fill you in:

On a related note, Scherzer also leads the AL in strikeout rate with 11.14 strikeouts per nine innings. That’s quite the improvement over the 10.08 K/9 he posted on his way to the Cy Young in 2013.

For the more sabermetrically-inclined, one thing Scherzer isn’t leading the AL in like he did last year is FanGraphs WAR. He ranks fifth in fWAR, trailing Friday night opponent Jon Lester, Corey Kluber, Darvish and Hernandez.

But since FanGraphs WAR is based off of Fielding Independent Pitching, a metric that calculates what a pitcher’s ERA should be, it’s essentially WAR based on theoretical runs allowed. For WAR based on actual runs allowed, FanGraphs has RA-9 WAR (Runs Allowed per Nine WAR).

And there’s where we find Scherzer at the top of the AL, and by half a point over Tanaka to boot.

You get the idea. Just like in 2013, it’s becoming very easy to build a case for Scherzer as the best pitcher in the American League. If anything, it’s even easier this year.

There’s a good reason for that: Scherzer looking like a better pitcher can be traced to his efforts to become a better pitcher.

It’s not hard to classify Scherzer. He’s a guy with a mid-90s fastball, and any pitcher with one of those is a power pitcher. Check and mate.

But this leads us to something fascinating about Scherzer. Power pitcher though he is, it’s remarkable how his game is continually becoming less about power.

This graphic from Brooks Baseball can explain:

All you’re looking at is Scherzer‘s pitch selection over the years. What should stand out is the black dots that represent his fastball usage, and how the line connecting them is heading nowhere but down.

Ever so slowly, Scherzer the power pitcher has been trying more and more to craft himself into Scherzer the pitcher, with 2014 being just the latest step in that direction.

And yeah, it’s working pretty well.

In light of how Scherzer‘s been throwing a few extra sliders and changeups in 2014, it’s an awfully good look that the whiff rates on both pitches have gone up. Another benefit of the changeup in particular is that its extra usage has also helped Scherzer‘s ground-ball rate.

And while the less-than-awesome 3.05 BB/9 rate that Scherzer currently boasts suggests he’s having trouble finding the strike zone with this less fastball-heavy approach, that’s not entirely true.

FanGraphs says Scherzer actually entered his Friday start throwing 50.5 percent of his pitches in the strike zone. That ranked seventh in the AL, and is a huge improvement on how many of his pitches found the zone in 2013 (45.9 percent).

So those league-leading statistics we talked about earlier? Those are no fluke.

Scherzer was able to dominate American League hitters with more of a power-oriented approach in 2013. We shouldn’t be surprised that he’s dominating them even more with the use of a more nuanced approach that he has a good handle on in 2014.

That’s a guy who’s not likely to stop making fools of AL hitters. And as long as he’s doing so, he’s not going to make it easy for the competition to go toe-to-toe with him in the AL Cy Young race.

It’s almost as if Scherzer really wants to become the first pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 1999 and 2000 to win two straight AL Cy Youngs.

Though, here’s guessing his upcoming free agency might also be a factor.

If you want to talk baseball, hit me up on Twitter.

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Five players capable of handling the middle infield made the Yankees‘ Opening Day roster. Eduardo Nunez was not one of them.

Surprise rookie Yangervis Solarte made the roster after a very impressive spring training, while fellow rookie Dean Anna will presumably be filling in on the Yankees bench until Brendan Ryan comes off the disabled list. Regardless, the surplus resulted in the Yankees designating Nunez for assignment.

Now, the Yankees have eight more days to decide what to do with Nunez. They could send him to the minors, trade him or release him. He makes a quality depth option, but there may be a job for Nunez on one of the American League‘s best teams.  

With Jose Iglesias out for most, if not all, of 2014, the Tigers went out and acquired Alex Gonzalez from the Baltimore Orioles to take the reigns at shortstop. Gonzalez proved Dave Dombrowski right quickly, playing hero in the Tigers’ 4-3 win on Monday. However, the 37-year old has played in just 65 games over the last two seasons, and in addition to putting up average defense (-3.1 UZR in 2012, 0.5 UZR in 2013), Gonzalez struggled at the plate in 2013, hitting just .177 in 113 at-bats with the Brewers last season. 

So a strong Opening Day aside, Gonzalez isn’t exactly a strong option at short when put into the context of his last two seasons. And if the Tigers are going to pursue Stephen Drew, it seems at this point like they will wait until after the draft in June to avoid giving up draft pick compensation. So unless they want to ante up to acquire Didi Gregorius from the Diamondbacks or Nick Franklin from the Mariners, there aren’t exactly a plethora of quality shortstops available at a reasonable price.

Nunez is average at best as a defensive shortstop, but at the dish, his bat is a significant upgrade over the .177 average Gonzalez posted in 2013. While Nunez is as far from a power hitter as there is, he did hit 17 doubles in just 90 games in 2013, also stealing 10 bases (out of 13 attempts) in just over half a season. And even if the Tigers want to give Gonzalez a shot, having Nunez there to platoon with him will give Brad Ausmus a reliable option when Gonzalez needs a day off, which he will at some point.

Nunez is not as young as Gregorius or Franklin, nor does he have nearly as high a ceiling. But while there aren’t currently any reports indicating that the Tigers will claim Nunez if he makes it to their spot in the waiver order, he was once considered the heir to Yankee legend Derek Jeter, and while he’s certainly not a game-changing acquisition, the fact that he is both cheap and an upgrade makes swinging a deal for the 26-year-old a no-brainer for Detroit. 

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Great player. Bad move. Terrible contract.

“Why?” That was my first thought when it was first reported by CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman that the Detroit Tigers had extended the contract of Miguel Cabrera through the 2023 season. The deal makes the Tigers total commitment to Cabrera now a 10-year contract worth $292 million. Heyman also reports that there is a vesting option for two more seasons if Cabrera finishes in the top-10 of the MVP voting in 2023.

The numbers are ridiculous and completely unnecessary. There was no need to make this move right now.

The Tigers still had Cabrera under contract for two more seasons at a very reasonable $22 million per season for both sides. Unless Cabrera was voicing his unhappiness behind the scenes and demanding a new deal, it is hard to understand the urgency to make this deal at this time.

The move is just one of many in this curious offseason for the Tigers and general manager Dave Dombrowski. Dombrowski has long been considered one of the best executives in the game, but he has had a very erratic winter.

Detroit is very close to being a World Series team again, and they seem to be operating with that mindset. The Tigers added closer Joe Nathan while trading Prince Fielder to the Texas Rangers for second baseman Ian Kinsler. Both of those moves seem to signal that Detroit was going for it. 

Getting out from underneath the majority of Fielder’s remaining contract was a huge move for the franchise in the long-term. It should have allowed Detroit to lock up ace Max Scherzer. Fielder simply wasn’t producing up to expectations during the regular season, and especially the playoffs, as he was starting to show slight signs of decline at the plate. 

Instead, Cabrera’s extension comes on the heels of the Tigers publicly embarrassing 2013 Cy Young winner Scherzer over his unwillingness to take a deal that Detroit felt was more than fair. Dombrowski has since had to clear the air with Scherzer as reported here by USA Today‘s John Lowe.

Looking at Detroit’s payroll obligations for 2014 and beyond, it is hard to see the Tigers retaining Scherzer. Detroit already has $98 million committed to six players on the 2015 payroll without factoring in Scherzer. It certainly feels like once Scherzer rejected the Tigers’ offer, they made the decision to lock up Cabrera long-term. 

At the same time, Detroit seemed to suddenly pinch pennies, dealing off above-average starter Doug Fister for very little immediate return. On this Tigers staff, Fister was easily the best fourth-starter in MLB. The bullpen and the bench for the Tigers could have clearly stood an infusion of talent. 

This is nothing against Cabrera the player. The 30-year-old Cabrera is already in the midst of a Hall of Fame career that will likely land him in Cooperstown on the first ballot that he is eligible. He has won the AL MVP the past two seasons and will likely battle for the crown again this season barring something unforeseen. 

Unfortunately, though, this deal will take Cabrera to the age of 40. Cabrera struggled through injuries last season, something that impacted his play down the stretch and in the playoffs. Cabrera underwent core muscle repair surgery this past winter to fix the groin/abdominal injury and has looked healthy this spring. With the departure of Fielder, Cabrera will benefit greatly from the move back to first base.

Detroit was freed from a cumbersome contract when they moved Fielder to the Rangers at the beginning of the offseason. It was something that Detroit should have learned from. Now they have gone and put themselves in even more of a precarious position over the next 10 years with Cabrera.

Dombrowski, Cabrera and the Tigers would have been much better served to spend this money by keeping Fister earlier this winter and signing free-agent shortstop Stephen Drew once it became clear that Jose Iglesias was likely going to be lost for the season due to injury. This team is built to win the World Series now, not just the AL Central. 

Instead, Detroit will be going into the season with a below-average shortstop situation, questions in left field and questions in the bullpen while also having weakened the starting rotation in the process. 

Detroit made Cabrera an offer he simply couldn’t refuse. Now, the question is how long before the Tigers regret making the offer in the first place?

Information used from Jon Heyman/CBS Sports, Jon Heyman/CBS Sports, Baseball-Reference, John Lowe/USA Today Sports, Cot’s Baseball Contracts/Baseball Prospectus

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The Detroit Tigers signed two-time MVP Miguel Cabrera on Thursday to the highest payout in MLB history per Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.

Heyman wrote that the extension was worth $248 million over eight years, which means he will be paid $292 million over the next 10 years with the two years he had remaining on his old deal. The deal was made just a few days after contract talks ceased with Cy Young winner Max Scherzer.

Should the deal with Cabrera influence Scherzer to test the open market after this season?

Scherzer is fresh off his best season as a big leaguer, setting career-highs in wins (21), ERA (2.90) and WHIP (0.970), including taking home his first Cy Young award. The 29-year-old is currently on the books for a one-year, $15.53 million deal.

Jon Morosi of Fox Sports tweeted on March 23 that the Tigers offered Scherzer six years and $144 million but the right-hander was looking for eight years, per ESPN’s Jim Bowden. The club did not help its cause when it issued a statement making their Cy Young winner sound difficult to negotiate with.

The Detroit Tigers have made a substantial, long-term contract extension offer to Max Scherzer that would have placed him among the highest paid pitchers in baseball, and the offer was rejected. As we have reiterated, it has been the organization’s intent to extend Max’s contract and keep him in a Tigers uniform well beyond the 2014 season. While this offer would have accomplished that, the ballclub’s focus remains on the start of the upcoming season, and competing for a World Championship. Moving forward there will be no further in-season negotiation and the organization will refrain from commenting on this matter.

With Scherzer set to be a free-agent, it would not be a bad idea to look for a new club to pitch for. The Tiger’s will be paying four players at least $16 million each in 2015, including Cabrera and Justin Verlander, who will make $22 million and $28 million respectively.

In a rotation that already features Verlander and Annibal Sanchez, why not give Scherzer the money he wants? It seems odd that the Tigers wouldn’t fork over the deal he is looking for and keep one of the best rotations in baseball intact. 

Not giving him eight years gives Scherzer an incentive to get out of town. It gives an impression that the organization doesn’t value him as much as they value Verlander. Especially considering the performances of each righty last season.

That doesn’t mean that Detroit wouldn’t be willing to give $24 million annually to Scherzer, which is what the deal that was offered would be worth. The eight-year deal he wants would put the contract number at $192 million.

But for a guy who has improved his numbers over the past three seasons, as seen in the chart below, can you argue with him wanting eight years? Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports argues that Scherzer’s total pitch count after six major league seasons is far lower than other aces when they received their big extensions.

“Of course, he and agent Scott Boras can argue his wear and tear pales compared to those peers and thus positions him in the proper place to seek more,” wrote Passan.

It would make perfect sense for Scherzer to test the open market. There would be no shortage in teams interested in his services. He has pitched at least 30 games each season over the past five years and has a career strike out rate of 9.4 per nine innings.

On top of that, Bowden says Scherzer has injury protection through an insurance policy. It would make the former Missouri Tiger more willing to test free agency if he doesn’t get the deal he wants.

Scherzer has been one of the top pitchers in baseball over the past couple of years. He should test the open market and get the deal he is looking for after this season.

All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com

You can follow Trey on Twitter @treydwarren

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Barring major spring training injuries, the 2014 Detroit Tigers profiled as the team to beat in the American League Central. Yet, if Jose Iglesias—last year’s AL Rookie of the Year candidate—misses significant time, the Tigers actually could be an even bigger lock to reach the postseason.

Of course, that’s assuming that Detroit uses its financial muscle to lure free-agent shortstop Stephen Drew off the street and onto the Comerica Park diamond to replace a now-injured Iglesias. 

The news and accompanying Drew-to-Detroit theory was offered by ESPN and Sirius XM baseball analyst Jim Bowden. Outside of media work, the former Reds and Nationals executive is familiar with front-office thinking around the sport.

ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick later confirmed these reports, as it looks like the All-Star break could be the earliest Iglesias returns:

With shin issues sidelining the Tigers infielder, manager Brad Ausmus thinks reinforcements could be necessary, per Jason Beck of MLB.com.

“Depending on how long he’s going to be out, we may or may not need two shortstops,” Ausmus said. 

In this case, the connection is easy to make. Detroit is a legitimate World Series candidate, with or without a high-caliber shortstop. Yet, after trading for Iglesias’ dynamic glove, youth and upside last summer, the team was prepared to watch the 24-year-old infielder graduate into a dynamic two-way player in 2014 and beyond.   

With those plans on hold for the majority of 2014, Drew’s free-agent plight can become a blessing in disguise for a veteran team eager to win a championship before the roster ages and decays into a mediocre outfit. 

Drew isn’t a difference-making player, but he represents an upgrade from the young, unproven Iglesias. 

At this point, swapping Drew for Iglesias actually would bring the veteran Tigers closer to the World Series ring that has alluded them over the course of a highly-successful run atop the AL Central.  

During Drew’s eight-year career, the left-handed hitting shortstop has averaged 11 home runs per season and posted a .329 on-base percentage. While those numbers aren’t eye-opening, they are much more prolific than what the light-hitting Iglesias did with the bat during a 294-game minor league apprenticeship. 

Prior to last year’s call up in Boston, Iglesias owned a career minor league OPS of .622. Barring an unexpected uptick in offensive production, Detroit’s future shortstop will rack up value almost solely with his dynamic glove. On the other hand, Drew is more of a complete, all-around shortstop.  

Not only is Drew a clearly better offensive player, Fangraphs’ defensive numbers actually painted him as the better shortstop last season. Despite the highlight plays from the young and athletic Iglesias, Drew had a tremendous defensive season in Boston. 

While the average fan might call Drew a defensive downgrade, the numbers refute that notion. 

Over the long haul, the Tigers would be foolish to contemplate keeping Drew in favor of Iglesias. Over the next four or five years, Detroit could have a cheap, ascending option at shortstop, allowing the front office to spend lavishly on veterans like Max Scherzer and Miguel Cabrera. 

If a contract discussion with Drew’s agent—Scott Boras—does commence, expect a one-year deal to be as far as Detroit would be willing to go for a shortstop stopgap. Blocking Iglesias’ path and future in Detroit makes little sense.

However, with the Royals and Indians owning the potential to crack the 90-win plateau and challenge an injury-plagued Tigers team in 2014, general manager Dave Dombrowski and owner Mike Ilitch can’t sit around and wait for Iglesias to heal.

For some teams, 2015 and 2016 represent windows to contention and championship baseball. In Detroit, 30-or-over stars are the norm and potential big-money free-agent cases hang over the fate of this franchise.

From Torii Hunter (38) to Victor Martinez (35) to Joe Nathan (39), the Tigers aren’t built for tomorrow. In fact, at Comerica Park, there is no tomorrow.

Max Scherzer—the reigning AL Cy Young winner—is set to hit the open market next winter, perhaps carrying a price tag of $150-plus million. Miguel Cabrera—attempting to win three consecutive AL MVP crowns—could do the same after 2016, with an outside chance of scoring the biggest contract in the history of the sport. 

Through a combination of offense, veteran acumen, underrated defense and desperation for a place to play baseball in 2014, Stephen Drew represents the perfect antidote to what ails the Tigers heading into the final weeks of spring training. 

If Drew simply held the fort and kept Detroit afloat at shortstop, this fit would be obvious. But a stroke of luck has allowed the Tigers the avenue to pursue a shortstop better equipped to help win a title in 2014. 

Iglesias will be the better player over the next handful of years, but Drew is better now.

For the Tigers, that’s all that should matter. 

Agree? Disagree?

Comment, follow me on Twitter or “like” my Facebook page to talk about all things baseball.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs, unless otherwise noted. All contract figures courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Roster projections courtesy of MLB Depth Charts.

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Justin Verlander is healthy and on the path back to reclaiming his throne as the top pitcher in the American League.

For now, that much was clear during his 52-pitch outing against the Toronto Blue Jays at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Fla. Although it’s too early to surmise or predict another American League Cy Young campaign for the 31-year-old righty, Verlander looked comfortable and in rhythm in just under four innings of work.

That comfort and rhythm eluded Verlander for most of the 2013 season. From Opening Day through the end of August, the former American League MVP sported an uncharacteristically high ERA of 3.73.

Then, almost instantly, Verlander transformed back into the stopper of old. From that moment through the end the of Detroit’s ALCS appearance against the Boston Red Sox, the Tigers‘ tenured ace threw 63 innings of dominant baseball, posting a 1.57 ERA and 79 strikeouts.  

Those issues—along with the subsequent turnaround—were overshadowed during the offseason when it was revealed that Verlander needed core surgery. According to MLB.com’s Jason Beck, Verlander believes the injury to his core last season led to mechanical issues that took nearly a full season to uncover.

Just overall last year, there was a tilt in my shoulders. I look back at pitches I made in the past and right when I’m about to fire to throw home, everything’s parallel. My shoulders are almost parallel, my arm’s up behind my head, and everything’s firing on a parallel plane. Last year, if you were to take a snapshot, there’s a lot of pitches where my lead arm’s up here and I’m firing from down here, almost below my neck.

With the procedure in the mirror, Verlander’s first spring start was scheduled for last week. Yet as the Florida weather turned to rain, it was pushed back to this week against the Blue Jays. 

If you didn’t know about Verlander’s surgery, lackluster five-month stretch in 2013 or mechanical issues that threatened to curtail a successful Tigers team last year, those facts wouldn’t have been evident when watching him pitch against Toronto.

From the opening pitch of the game—a strike to Jose Reyes—to a lazy fly ball to left field to a broken-bat ground ball back to the mound, Verlander breezed through the first inning, allowing only a single. His control, during the first live competition since the 2013 ALCS, was slightly off, but far from alarming. 

In the second, Verlander allowed a walk to start the frame. From there, defense took over in the form of a caught-stealing attempt and easy out on a ground ball to shortstop. 

During Verlander’s third inning—his final full frame of the day—the rhythm and fastball life seemed to return to what you would expect from one of baseball’s most accomplished arms. Although the radar gun didn’t reveal any 95-plus MPH fastballs, Verlander was sitting at 88-94 for his outing. Much like during the best games of his career, he had more life on the fastball as the outing progressed.

Yet, despite the ability to limit runs and feature velocity during a strikeout in the third inning, it was an at-bat by Toronto’s Maicer Izturis in the fourth inning that should stay with Tigers fans.

Although the 10-pitch battle curtailed Verlander’s outing before he was able to complete four frames, the at-bat showed that stamina isn’t an issue for the expensive righty. 

After breezing through the first three innings—using only 38 of his allotted 50-55 pitches for the day—Izturis fought to start the fourth, coercing Verlander into his first double-digit pitch at-bat of the season.  
The result was a seemingly innocuous fly ball to left field, but it meant more to both Verlander and the Tigers. 

After surgery, a difficult season and admitted struggles with mechanics, Izturis‘ at-bat was the moment where a rusty Verlander could have been expected to falter, leaving a pitch over the plate and allowing an extra-base hit.

When it didn’t occur, Verlander’s successful day was all but done. 

There are still major hurdles for Verlander to clear in order to become the consistent and dominant starter of old. If the mechanics of today can’t be repeated during his next start, concern will arise. If soreness or comfort issues return before Opening Day, the Tigers’ perch atop the AL Central will be in question.

In Lakeland, the Tigers and manager Brad Ausmus will take it day-by-day with their $20-million arm.

For now: So far, so good.

If Verlander can build off this and stay healthy into April, there’s little reason to believe he won’t soon return to the top of the AL pitching ranks. 

Agree? Disagree?

Comment, follow me on Twitter or “like” my Facebook page to talk about all things baseball.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs, unless otherwise noted. All contract figures courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Arbitration numbers and projections courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors. Roster projections courtesy of MLB Depth Charts.

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I’ve been referring to the blockbuster that the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers pulled off in November as “the Prince Fielder trade.” Beyond having a nice ring to it, it’s struck me as appropriate to name the deal after its principal component.

But right now, it’s hard to ignore that Ian Kinsler was also a pretty important part of the deal. And come the end of 2014, it’s possible he’ll have done enough to make me start calling it “the Ian Kinsler trade.”

If you haven’t caught wind of the day’s drama, Robert Sanchez of ESPN the Magazine has a piece out on Kinsler’s thoughts on the deal, and the big takeaway is that the veteran second baseman is not too happy and, well, kind of a jerk about it.

The highlights include:

• Kinsler calling Rangers general manager Jon Daniels a “sleazeball.”
• Kinsler complaining that he felt “bogged down” by a new leadership role in 2013.
• Kinsler wishing an 0-162 record on the Rangers in 2014. 

[For those interested, Kinsler also spoke of Nolan Ryan as one might speak of Tywin Lannister. Let’s just say they apparently produce gold the same way.]

If the drama aspect of the story interests you, B/R’s Mike Chiari has you covered. Here and now, however, we’re going to skip ahead to some of Kinsler’s less sensational comments that concern how motivated he is to prove himself.

You can find those in the latter half of Sanchez’s article, including the following summarizing remark:

I haven’t been this excited about baseball in years. I’ve got a stomach-butterfly feeling…I want to prove to myself that these last two years are not the direction I’m going. Plus, I want to prove to everybody who thinks it is that I’m still an elite ballplayer.

For the record, FanGraphs says Kinsler was worth 3.0 WAR in 2012 and 2.5 WAR in 2013. This after being worth an average of 5.0 WAR between 2008 and 2011.

Now, sure, every player who’s ever been traded has been motivated in much the same way. The “I’ll show them!” instinct is strong in all athletes.

What makes Kinsler’s case special, though, is that he actually has some specific ideas for how he’s going to get back to being a superstar. These specific ideas also happen to be the right ideas.

Kinsler’s aware that it won’t be easy for him to rebound as an offensive force after being roughly average over the last two years (101 OPS+). He is moving from Globe Life Park in Arlington to Comerica Park, after all. That’s a switch from an awesome offensive environment to a less-awesome offensive environment that, specifically, will make it hard for Kinsler to get back to being a top-notch power hitter.

But as Kinsler said…

I don’t want to go 30/30. That’s not ideal in that ballpark. I want to be more of a gap-to-gap hitter. I’d rather have 10 triples, 40 doubles and 30 bags and score over 100 runs. If I can get on base and steal and put myself in scoring position for great hitters behind me, that’s the goal.

It’s Kinsler’s desire to become more of a “gap-to-gap hitter” that’s important here. Given the circumstances, he’s due for that sort of transformation.

FanGraphs has Kinsler’s career fly-ball rate at 44.8 percent. He’s traditionally been a fly-ball hitter. And while that was fine when he was still capable of putting a charge into the ball, this home run and fly-ball data from BaseballHeatMaps.com says Kinsler’s ability to do that is dwindling:

Trends don’t get more alarming than that, and what this trend suggests is clear: the fewer fly balls, the better.

But here’s the good news: That’s a path Kinsler’s already on.

The 39.4 FB% Kinsler posted in 2013 was the lowest of his career. Even better is that it came paired with a 23.7 line-drive percentage that nearly matched his career-best rate of 24.2 from 2008.

Even then, however, Kinsler wasn’t distributing his line drives as evenly as he did in 2013:

Kinsler was much better about spraying line drives all over the field last season. And while it’s not a big gap, maybe that had a hand in him posting a better overall BABIP on line drives.

Further, his spray chart from Brooks Baseball shows a decent number of line drives into the gaps:

We can look at this as a seed for the type of hitter Kinsler has his eye on becoming with the Tigers, which is encouraging. He doesn’t have a complete reinvention process ahead of him.

One guy whom Kinsler can learn from is Torii Hunter, with whom Kinsler just so happens to be very excited to play.

“I can’t wait to pick that dude’s brain,” said Kinsler. “His style is very similar to mine: very aggressive, takes a lot of chances — educated, calculated chances.” 

Hunter has undergone a transition very much like the one Kinsler’s looking to make. After spending the bulk of his career as a power hitter, he’s spent the last two years as more of a line-drive hitter with gap power. If anybody can give Kinsler pointers on the process, it’s Hunter.

I’m not sure about Kinsler’s idea that he can get back to being a 30-steal guy again. But if he makes good on his mission to alter his hitting style, he’ll settle into a groove in which he’s inflating his on-base percentage with BABIP and rescuing his dwindling power with a steady diet of doubles and triples. And considering the relative offensive weakness of his position, a groove like that would absolutely make him a dangerous offensive force once again.

However, Kinsler’s not content to stop there. He wants to improve on defense as well, and he has Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski to thank for that as well.

“He’s an all-around player. He’s not known for his outstanding range, but we think he’s a real steady second baseman,” Dombrowski told reporters at one point, according to Sanchez.

If we look at UZR’s measure of Kinsler’s range over the last five seasons, we’ll see that part is true:

Kinsler was known for his range on defense. But Dombrowski‘s right. These days, Kinsler’s not known for his range on defense.

Kinsler did, however, go about getting his range back the right way this offseason. He told Sanchez he’s lost 15 pounds. Ideally, being lighter will mean being quicker.

“I want to prove Dombrowski wrong,” said Kinsler. “I want to surprise you. I’m going to impress you with my range.”

And you know what? Maybe he will. Subtract 15 pounds from his listed weight of 200 pounds, and you’re pretty close to the 175 pounds Kinsler weighed when he was still a prospect. Provided he keeps the weight off, improved swiftness on his feet in the field is possible.

Between what Kinsler might do on offense and what he might do on defense, you are left with the sense that he can be better than expected in 2014. If you take Steamer’s word for it, that means he can be better than a 3.7-WAR player. 

And that’s an interesting thought, as that projected WAR is already better than the 3.4 WAR Steamer is projecting for Fielder. If all goes well, Kinsler’s 2014 production is going to completely overshadow that of his blockbuster counterpart.

Look past all the jerky things Kinsler had to say and all you’re looking at is a guy who’s determined to make sure that the Tigers got the better end of “the Prince Fielder trade.” And since he knows how to go about doing that and indeed can go about doing that, we might just be calling it “the Ian Kinsler trade” after 2014.

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