2014 Detroit Tigers Preview (Out of the Park)

Scherzer to stay with Tigers through 2018 at least. 

So one of my few Out of the Park Developments projects, was trying to take the 2012 Detroit Tigers and the teams that followed to World Championship success.

2012 was safe to say, a disaster, I made all the moves necessary (featured in Daddy's Got a New Ride & Tigers Off to a Solid Start) for the 2013 season, and felt we made the right moves after rolling to a solid start, the first two months, but then the team slid to a 81-81 finish, falling a game short to the division champion Chicago White Sox (82-80).

So it was back to the drawing board, we started by making Max Scherzer, priority number one, for obvious reasons. I did not want to repeat the real Tigers mistakes, although in all fairness I have missed getting them to the playoffs completely, while the real-life Tigers made the playoffs from 2011-2014.

Scherzer, who was due for a raise via arbitration, I decided to jump quickly and extend his contract. Scherzer's camp came back wanting a 10-year deal worth $171,210,000 -- which was a no-brainer, getting Scherzer and his talent for $17.12 million per year is quite a deal, considering what other pitchers are making with less talent; He does have a player option, and could use that after the 2017 MLB Season. We have Max for 4 more seasons at least, and that makes me very happy.

Bullpen has been our serious problem (what a surprise), and we made all the steps necessary to correct that problem. We re-signed Jesse Crain, who did well for us in 2013, to a 2-yr deal worth a total of $5.2 million. Dellin Betances and Brandon Kintzler, are 2013 Rule 5 Picks are now full-time Detroit Tigers, and will only get better after awful 2013 seasons for us.

One of our biggest signings is bringing back Andrew Miller to the Tigers. Miller was drafted by the Tigers 6th overall in the 2006 MLB Amateur Draft, and was a huge trade piece to the Florida Marlins to acquire Miguel Cabrera; His first time in Detroit was an overall disappointment. He would become one of the game's absolute best relievers, so when I saw his relatively cheap price tag, I had to go for him -- We would land him for 5 years / $12.8 million ($2.56 million per year).

Back in the D: Andrew Miller returns to the Tigers for better time around.

We also brought back Joaquin Benoit, a move I thought I would not be able to do, I found that he was actually affordable at $6.7 million (over two seasons)... I also made this move due to bringing back a legit reliever, Betances is not quite ready (but likely will be next season) to become the closer, and I like Miller in the setup role, and plan to use him much in the way that the Cleveland Indians used him during the 2016 season.

This is how the bullpen plans to be played out...

• Closer - Joaquin Benoit
• Setup - Dellin Betances (8th inning)
• Setup - Andrew Miller (7th or later)
• Setup - Jesse Crain (6th Inning)
• Brandon Kintzler (Middle Relief)
• Al Alburquerque (Middle Relief)
• Phil Coke (Left Hand Specialist)
• RP - Luis Marte (Relief depth)

Before we get onto the other signings, I must mention some of the deals to help shed some payroll, starting with Jhonny Peralta; We traded Peralta ($17.2 million) to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for SS-Zack Cozart ($820,000) & a minor league reliever Tyler Burgoon. 

We knew we were going to sign a starting pitcher a bit cheaper than Doug Fister, and we felt we had a deal lined up that will save a little money while landing a prospect. I traded Fister to the Houston Astros, along with minor league RP-Ryan Woolley in exchange for Lance McCullers Jr. 

We decided to go for starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo, signing him to a 7-year deal worth $48.02 million ($6.86 million per year), hoping that he may take the player option after the 2016 MLB Season.

Gallardo joins the Tigers' rotation as the #3 starter. 

With this signing our rotation looks like this...

• Max Scherzer 
• Justin Verlander
• Yovani Gallardo
• Rick Porcello
• Drew Smyly

Drew Smyly is likely the 5th starter, with Taylor Jungmann waiting in Toledo (Triple-A) possibly, I sometimes think Smyly may serve me better out of the pen, but the new bullpen makeover, I am not sure if I have room for him there. 

Moving Justin Verlander down to the #2 slot, might better my chances in match-ups, Scherzer is the better pitcher now, and should be the one facing other #1 aces.

I made some minor deals, starting with the one which involved all minor leaguers, sending OF-Steven Moya and RP-Jose Alvarez to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for OF-Mitch Haniger and RP-Nick Bucci. The other deal was with the Boston Red Sox in which we sent P-Drew VerHagen & minor league OF-Zack Kirksey in exchange for RP-Drake Britton.

I was almost done with free agency, until I glanced at my lineup....

• 1. Devon Travis - 2B
• 2. Nicholas Castellanos - 3B
• 3. Miguel Cabrera - 1B
• 4. Justin Upton - LF
• 5. Kole Calhoun - RF
• 6. Austin Jackson - CF
• 7. Andy Dirks / Brennan Boesch - DH
• 8. Zack Cozart - SS
• 9. James McCann - C

In real-life Andy Dirks last played in MLB was during the 2013 MLB Season (due to back issues), with Out of the Park games, the computer can generate an alter reality, where a player may stick around longer, but his performance is still likely to decrease. I also had Brennan Boesch who was splitting time with Dirks as the designated hitter for Detroit, Boesch has stuck around longer (2015), but has not played full-time since 2012.

I felt that traded Peralta also has given my team one less power bat, my real bulk only being my 3-through-5 hitters in Miguel Cabrera, Justin Upton & Kole Calhoun (who just won the 2013 A.L. Rookie-of-the-Year Award for Detroit).

So I decided to go for Albert Pujols...

Albert Pujols

He may not be the powerful bat that he was with the St. Louis Cardinals, but he still provides a lot of bang at 33 years of age. He batted .280 with 31 home runs & 99 RBI for the 2013 World Champion Los Angeles Angels (who defeated the Washington Nationals, by the way), while him & his agent were demanding too much. We would sign him to a four-year contract worth $20.6 million ($5.15 million per year). 

So yes I did add some money back on the books, but I think it was well thought-out, I distributed the money in different areas that best fit the team. Extending Scherzer was a must, while trading away about $20 million in two players, while landing about 5 players for a bit more than that $20 million per year in Andrew Miller, Joaquin Benoit, Yovani Gallardo, Albert Pujols & Zack Cosart.

Our success didn't stop during free agency or with our trades, we did really well in the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft, by drafting pitcher Aaron Nola (1st Rd / 19th overall), shortstop Ozzie Albies (2nd Rd / 52nd), third baseman Rafael Devers (3rd Rd / 83rd), pitcher Brent Honeywell (4th Rd / 117th), pitcher Michael Kopech (5th Rd / 148th), outfielder Eloy Jimenez (6th Rd / 178th) & Michael Chavis (7th Rd / 208th).