Detroit Tigers: Mediocre Defense Could Cost Them a Shot at a World Championship

Contrary to popular belief, defense matters in Major League Baseball.

People have gotten so caught up with power numbers, they have forgotten that without solid defense, all the home runs in the world don't matter.

The Detroit Tigers acquired one of the best hitters in baseball in Prince Fielder this offseason, and Fielder is surrounded by guys who can find the seats at any time.

But someone forgot about defense.

One through nine, the Tigers lineup is loaded with 20-plus home run guys, but on the other side of the ball, Detroit doesn't have a single position player that has won a Gold Glove, and there are several liabilities if anything is hit their way.

In the Tigers' second loss of the season Friday against the White Sox, Detroit had several chances to pull ahead late in the game. But stellar defensive plays by Chicago left fielder Dayan Viciedo and shortstop Alexei Ramirez kept the Tigers from taking the lead and allowed the Sox to win.

Those stellar plays would not have been made by Detroit in the field.

After Viciedo displayed the correct way to track down a fly ball, Delmon Young made my point and showed how not to play left field, with a stumbling, whirling dervish attempt at a fly ball that dropped, which scored a run, padded Chicago's lead and put Young on the blooper reel.

Young has been consistent at the plate, but since 2008 he has gotten slower, less athletic, has committed 24 errors and had a fielding percentage of under .984 three of those four years.

The Tigers don't have to worry about defense in center field with Austin Jackson roaming the real estate at Comerica Park, but Brennan Boesch in right field is moderate at best.

Boesch is a better option than the Tigers' previous right fielder, Magglio Ordonez, but that's not saying much.

Coming into this season, Boesch committed 13 errors in just 435 total chances. He's below-average athletically and recorded just seven assists in 108 games in the outfield last season.

The Tigers' biggest problem is the infield.

Up the middle, Detroit may have the worst double-play combination in baseball.

With the Indians from 2005 to 2009, shortstop Jhonny Peralta committed 87 errors and never had a fielding percentage higher than .979. Since coming to Detroit, his range has decreased and his ability to make difficult plays has vanished. 

At second base, the Tigers plan on platooning Ryan Raburn, Ramon Santiago and the newly appointed second baseman Brandon Inge.

Raburn has only kept his head above water in the big leagues because he can hit an occasional home run and can play a few different positions.

In his career at second base, Raburn has committed 18 errors in 407 total chances. In 55 starts at second last season, Raburn's fielding percentage was .950, one of the worst in baseball for players who started at least 50 games.

Santiago has been in the league since 2002, and entering his eighth year with the Tigers, but he's never been an everyday player.

He's never played more than 84 games in a season for Detroit, and although he's a decent fielder, it's tough to develop a chemistry with your shortstop if you're not consistently in the lineup.

Nobody knows what the Brandon Inge experiment will be like at second base. The fact is, if Inge can't produce offensively, his fielding percentage won't matter.

Inge hasn't hit higher than .247 in a season since 2006, and if you're in the batter's box, focusing on maintaining a paycheck, switching to a completely new position will be difficult.

Prince Fielder is solid at first base, despite weighing 275 pounds. Surprisingly, his range is good, and because he works hard at it, his fielding instincts and ability to pick throws in the dirt allow him to play every day without being a defensive liability.

Because of the Fielder acquisition, Miguel Cabrera has moved back to third base, where he began his career with the Marlins.

Cabrera worked hard during the offseason to shed some weight and lay off the bottle, and after losing 25 pounds, he's more athletic and appears to be better defensively.

He has extremely quick hands, but he has zero range, and after taking a nasty hop to the face in spring training, Cabrera is admittedly timid about sharp grounders hit his way.

Alex Avila is a good young catcher who's getting better every day, but the Tigers had better hope and pray that Avila, who plays almost every day and takes a beating behind the plate, doesn't get hurt, because backup catcher Gerald Laird is dreadful offensively, and at 32, his arm isn't getting any better.

The Tigers have arguably the most potent offensive lineup in all of baseball, but if you're giving up a run or two here and there because you can't field your position, the bats are going to have to come alive more often.

Detroit has only committed one error in eight games so far this year and is still the runaway favorite to defend its American League Central Division title, but in October, in a five-game, or seven-game series where one miscue could cost you a victory, the lack of flash defensively could come back to bite the Tigers.