The Five Questions The Detroit Tigers Will Have To Face In 2009

The Tigers are 64 games into their 2009 season and are in control of the AL Central, with a slim two game lead over the Minnesota Twins. While Detroit has played good baseball this season, they seem to let the other teams in the division sit in striking distance.

Through the first 2 1/2 months of the season, many questions have arose. From difficulties at the back end of the rotation, injuries, solid catchers and many, many more.

I took the chance to catch up with some of the biggest Tigers' fans on Bleacher Report recently, to see how they saw the 2009 season playing out, along with my answers as well.

Our Detroit fans consist of; Dave Hampton, Johnny Lawrence, Kurt Mensching and John Parent, all who do nearly exclusive work with the Tigers.

1.What will Detroit do to sure up the backup catching situation?.... Dusty Ryan? Stick with Sardinha? Somebody else? Trade?

DH:No one can deny the presence Gerald Laird has provided behind the plate, but going into today he was hitting a pathetic .219 and has been a major hole in the lineup. As badly as the 4th and 5th starters have been, of their own accord, how badly do we really need Laird behind the plate right now? Perhaps not on an everyday basis right now. The Tigers could demote Dane Sardinha in favor of Dusty Ryan and give him the bulk of the playing time, allowing Laird to be the backup. The problem with this is his defensive inefficiencies.

What I do know is this: Dane Sardinha is not the answer and is a career minor leaguer at best. One of my biggest criticisms of him, beyond his bat, is how he tips pitches when he sets up. I can always tell when a breaking ball is on the way versus a fastball or changeup, and I am sure opposing offenses have caught on to this as well.

If the Tigers decide to go outside of the organization to get a backstop, there could be plenty of good backup catcher talent on the market. This of course assumes we are still contending in another five weeks. If we are, then I say we will go out and get someone. With the call up of Matt Wieters in Baltimore, Gregg Zaun could be had and would be a good fit. Henry Blanco could probably be plucked from San Diego, or if the Braves fall out of it, David Ross.

JL: I don't see the Tigers making any catching moves within the organization anytime soon. Simply put, Sardinha is more than adequate defensively, which appears to be the new focus of the Tigers.  And to be honest, I can't really argue with a philosophy that has left the Tigers sitting in first-place for so long.

He handles the pitching staff very well.  Although his stick is invisible, he will keep Detroit in more games than Dusty Ryan and at this point, and I see Ryan as the only other viable option at the moment.  Ryan showed some nice things at the plate last year, but over a larger sample size, I don't think he's ready to bring much more to the table.  Like I've said before, he has a serious passed balls/wild pitches issue.  I doubt we'll see Ryan until August or September.

Cancel this perspective, however, if the Tigers were go after a free agent, like Corky Miller, or make a trade for a perennial backup backstop.  I haven't heard any rumors about Detroit making a move, so I just assume Dombrowski is planting Sardinha into the roster until September call-ups.

KM:Backup catcher nothing, you have to admit that the starting catcher is not really doing a great job either right about now. Gerald Laird batted .178 in May and he's batting .179 in June, and this isn't a case of batting average saying one thing while the OPS looks good. In the .550-.575 range, the OPS for both months looks bad, too! So if that's the starting catcher, you can only imagine how bad backup Dane Sardinha is.

I'm all for bringing Dusty Ryan up from Toledo and cutting down on the number of days a week Laird catches. Laird is wearing down already and has the batting stats to show for it. You don't expect much from your catchers, but this is pitiful.

JP: I would love to see Dusty Ryan called up to replace Sardinha, I'm just not sure that's going to happen soon.  The Tigers' staff seems to really like the way Sardinha handles the pitchers and calls a game.  His offense is amazingly bad however, so you would think a move needs to be made.  I would guess that if something were to happen to Laird, that Ryan would be recalled and take over the starting role, but it seems that the Tigers are comfortable with Sardinha as the backup.  I wouldn't expect a trade since they have Ryan seemingly ready to come up.

AD: As of right now, I think Dane Sardinha is doing a solid job with controlling the pitchers and playing a defensive game. But as the season goes along, the Tigers are looking for offense, so it might come to calling up Dusty Ryan once again.

If they do not turn to their minor league teams for a catcher, a trade may be in order. As I've said all season, either of Philadelphia's catchers; Carlos Ruiz or Chris Coste, other fits could be David Ross from Atlanta who can hit left-handed pitching decently.

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