The 2001 Tigers are going to have to rely on a little
bit of luck and some players having career years in
order to compete with the Indians and the White Sox in
the AL Central this year. Here's a breakdown of this
years projected starters:

Outfield
Roger Cedeno will take the pressure off of Juan
Encarnacion to play center field where  he has always
seemed uncomfortable and add some needed speed to the
top of the Tigers lineup. Bobby Higginson was on fire
for the second half of last season and he will have to
do it agian this year for the Tigers to go anywhere.
Juan Encarnacion will be better in left field than
center and if he gets a chance to hit second in the
lineup should produce decent numbers. The overall
defense should be outstanding. Higginson has a cannon
for an arm, Cedeno can cover that huge outfield, and
anything will be an improvement over Juan Gonzalez's
defense. Unfortunately Juan Gonzalez is going to have
a monster year in Cleveland and make Detroit look like
even bigger fools.

Infield
With Dean Palmer at 3rd you know what you are going to
get. .260, 30 HR, 90 RBI, and decent defense.
Deivi Cruz improved last year and has the potential to
drive in a lot of runs from the bottom of the order.
Daimion Easley had a career year 2 years ago and got
himself a nice fat contract. He needs to get off his
ass and hit a little higher than .240. And Tony Clark
at first base. For the last 5 years, Tony Clark was
supposed to be that impact player the Tigers thought
he would be. At the end of April he will be hitting
.190 and have back trouble again. I hope he proves me
wrong but he's too big to turn on an inside fastball
and swings at everything. I've been to two Tigers
games the last two years and watched him strickout 5
times.

Catchers 
I like Rob Fick because he is an intense
guy and wants to win. I have never seen Mitch Malusky
play who was acquired in the Brad Ausmus trade. I was
in favor of the trading of Ausmus. I know he is a
great defensive catcher and handles the pitchers
really well, but so do a lot of catchers. You were
paying millions of dollars to a guy that hits .240, 8
homeruns, and 40 RBI in 120 games. Fick or Malusky
will hit better and both provide a left handed bat in
the lineup.

Pitchers
Why they let Hideo Nomo go I have no idea. Jeff Weaver
has the stuff to be a #1 starter, but he will have to
start pitching like one. If he can go something like
18-7, the Tigers will have a chance at a wild card
spot. Brian Moeller, Dave Mlicki, Chris Holt, and C.J.
Nitkowski will probably fill out the rotation. In the
bullpen, there is some talent with Matt Anderson and
Todd Jones, but depth is a problem. The only team in
baseball that doesn't have pitching problem is the New
York Yankees.

Prospects
Eric Munson was sent down to AA today, but
hive him another year or two and he will be ready. I
don't know what happened to all the great pitching
prospects they were supposed to have in A ball in
Grand Rapids three years ago, but Seth Greisinger and
Dave Borkowski have not been the answer.

Coaching
Phil Garner will get the most out of the players he
has, he always does.

Front Office
Randy Smith should have been fired a long time ago,
but it was Ilitch who made the call on the Juan
Gonzalez deal. Ilitch is broke, his pizza sucks
(except at the Joe where they actually put cheese on
the pizza), and the TIGERS ARE A SMALL MARKET TEAM. We
may not like to believe it, but the Tigers lost more
games in the 90's than any other franchise and are in
the same boat as the Pirates, Brewers, and Royals. If
there was a winner on the field, the stands would be
filled in a heartbeat but they don't have the cash to
take on teams that spend three times as much on their
player payroll.

Stadium
Comerica park is a nice stadium, but you
still have to put a winner on the field in order to
sell it out.

Prediction
Optimist 88-74 2nd in the A.L. Central
             Realist  74-88 4th in the A.L. Central