Detroit Tigers 2005 Season Preview

Ordonez Joins the Tigers

It all began last season with a pre-Spring signing. Before this signing stepped in, he had lead a young team to a World Series victory and ended up turning the laughing-stock of the baseball world into a bonafide contender.

And now, after Ivan Rodriguez helped the Detroit Tigers surprise everyone with their improvement, another late offseason signing will be thrown into the mix to increase their chances of winning the AL Central: former White Sox right fielder Magglio Ordonez takes his bum knee (with two surgeries, no less) to Motown and will become the centerpiece of a lineup that combines experience and power to attempt to throw the Minnesota Twins from their place in baseball's weakest division.

But starting with that lineup, there are still questions that must be answered, starting with the knee that kept Ordonez from being signed until last week. If he can show us the Ordonez that had four of the most solid offensive seasons from 1999 through 2002, the Tigers will finally have the cleanup hitter they've been waiting for to complement Pudge and Carlos Guillen. That is, if Guillen can repeat the breakout success of 2004. Guillen had never driven in more than 56 runs in his career and absolutely tore up the baseball with his bat, knocking in 97 and finishing the year with a .921 OPS. He's another "if", as the Detroit faithful hope that he can repeat last year's success.

With that nucleus set in place, the Tigers are also praying that the enigma known as centerfielder Alex Sanchez can bring some needed speed to this team. They also want to make sure Rondell White and Dmitri Young stay healthy and that Carlos Pena finally lives up to his potential. While Pena knocked 27 dingers last year, he hit a paltry .241. All of these role players, along with younger guys like Omar Infante and Craig Monroe, could make for a very dangerous lineup in the AL Central if all the "ifs" swing the Tigers' way.

On the other hand, in Detroit's rotation, it's all about the kids growing up. While their win-loss records don't tell you much, the Tigers have future ace Jeremy Bonderman and improving arms who showed flashes of brilliance in Nate Robertson and former 20-game loser Mike Maroth. Along with Jason Johnson, the entire group (except for Bonderman) seemed to fade in the second half of the season. This season, they'll have even more run support and another year of experience under their belts.

The staff might also feel better if they don't have to pitch late into games. Though Detroit GM Dave Dombrowski was criticized for throwing quite a bit of money at an aging Troy Percival, he has still acquired one of the most consistent closers of the past decade. The Tigers also have Ugueth Urbina who closed last year, and together, Dombrowski might think that having these two exchanging saves and eighth and ninth inning roles could be the second coming of Mariano Rivera and John Wetteland. The busy GM also picked up fireballer Kyle Farnsworth, who can still push 100 on the radar gun but who also looked like he needed a change of scenery after last year. Finishing out the bullpen are two players who were considered to have closer-type stuff before Dombrowski acquired Urbina in Franklyn German and Fernando Rodney. Once again, the Tigers present a handful of "ifs" in their bullpen who could be the group that holds a lead for their young counterparts in the rotation or who could be a mess by midseason.

Of course, nothing is safe in the AL Central. With the Minnesota Twins' young lineup looking hungry and Chicago White Sox revamped rotation, those two teams will certainly be favored to compete at the top. Even the young boys playing for the Cleveland Indians could be upstarts. While the Tigers probably have the best set of bats in the division (eking out the Twins), there may be too many question marks to hand them an AL Central title this year. But we know that they'll be in the thick of the race for a long time and certainly in years to come. Now, let's begin the group prayer that the entire Motor City organization will be doing 162 times this year for Maggs' knee.