March 13
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Jermaine Dye hit 27 HR last season. That's tied for 37th most home runs among players in either league last year, one less than Joe Mauer and one more than Justin Upton. And he has no job. Joe Pawlikowski did a good job breaking down why Dye doesn't have a job on FanGraphs . To recap for the lazy, he had a terrible second half and his defense is utter excrement. Basically, Dye's a DH or nothing. Problem is, AL teams have generally sorted out their DH slots. It seems like everyone has some version of the big dude with bad knees and a boppin' bat. Dye's on his last legs, so he's probably best used on a one-year contract for a team that needs just a little more offense to contend. Sure, he'd ..."
March 9
Detroit Free Press
columnist Michael Rosenberg
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Dave Dombrowski is entering his ninth season in charge of the Tigers, and people still don't know what to make of him. He turned one of the worst franchises in baseball in the 1990s into the 2006 American League champions. But … in his first eight years, Dombrowski's Tigers have made one playoff appearance. But … they have won at least 86 games and contended in three of the past four seasons. But … they have spent far more than their AL Central counterparts during that time. You can go on and on. Dombrowski foolishly spent almost $30 million on Dontrelle Willis, but it was a small price to pay for Miguel Cabrera … on and on."
March 7
Detroit Free Press
columnist Michael Rosenberg
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I am starting to think this year's Tigers will win at least 130 games, which is a pretty good sign that it's time to go home. Spring training, like graduation days and weddings, is a time for optimism. Nobody gets married and says, "Remember that time I cheated on you and we broke up for six months?" And nobody at spring training says, "Man, have you ever seen a lineup with so many holes? Yikes!" There are a few things you won't hear from the Tigers this spring, no matter how much time you spend around them: "You know, we were actually outscored by our opponents last year. We made up for it largely by winning every time we led in the ninth inning and by coming back from ninth-inning ..."