Detroit Tigers: 2010 Fantasy Baseball Preview

The Tigers made some bold moves this offseason, but it is difficult to tell which direction they are headed.  Fan favorite Curtis Granderson was traded to the Yankees and promising right hander Edwin Jackson was dealt to the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

It seemed as though the Tigers felt that they had enough young talent to fall back on in the outfield, but then they signed Johnny Damon.  After the offseason the Tigers are left with a healthy mix of established veterans and young breakout candidates.

Justin Verlander

Verlander stepped up his game last season big time.  Not only did he increase his strikeouts per nine to a career high (10.1), but he reduced his walks per nine to a career low (2.4).  Therefore, this hard-throwing righty gave fantasy owners a ton of production.  Can he possibly maintain those ratios?  Verlander led the league in innings last season when he averaged nearly seven innings per start. With that many strikeouts, you can bet that added a lot of mileage to his young arm.  This makes it difficult to believe that Verlander will keep up last years pace, but it is still reasonable to expect 17 wins and 200 Ks from him.

Rick Porcello

A lot of times rookie pitchers wear down during the stretch since their arms are not used to the marathon of a full length major league season.  In Porcello's case, his numbers actually got stronger as the year progressed.  This is good reason to believe that "Porchy" could have an even better 2010 than he did 2009.  Don't hesitate to select him in the middle rounds, especially in long term keeper leagues where the 21-year-old could turn into a fantasy ace for years to come.

Max Scherzer

The Tigers saw something in Max that led them to trade away the productive Edwin Jackson to the D-Backs for him this offseason.  So far, what fantasy owners have seen is inconsistency.  Scherzer can look like an ace one moment, but a loose cannon the next.  So what can we expect out of him this season? 

Scherzer is only 25, so he has room to improve.  But he didn't show last year that he could improve throughout the course of a full season.  It is possible that a change to the Tigers could suit him well so don't rule him out as a fantasy breakout.  Take him ahead of guys that are past their prime that had similar numbers last season.

Draft Order

1. Justin Verlander - Improved his K/BB ratio from 1.87 to 4.27 allowing him to achieve "ace" status.
2. Miguel Cabrera - Consistently puts up 30 HR and 100 RBIs per year
3. Rick Porcello - A great rookie season at age 20 - where does he go from here?
4. Max Scherzer - Still hasn't reached his potential, but he will rack up the strikeouts.
5. Jose Valverde - Watch out for Zumaya.
6. Brandon Inge - loses his catcher eligibility in most leagues, which makes him a low end third baseman.
7. Johnny Damon - He's not in that Yankee lineup anymore...
8. Magglio Ordonez - A third outfielder at best.