Detroit Tigers

After finishing in fourth place with a 72-90 record last season, the Tigers improved the bullpen a bit this year by trading for former Cub Kyle Farnsworth and signing free agent closer Troy Percival. Already having Ugueth Urbina in the pen will make this team hard to score on after the starters wear down. The Tigers will once again look to catcher Ivan Rodriguez for leadership and are hoping new addition Magglio Ordonez will produce runs necessary to put the bullpen in position for a lot of saves.

The pitching staff was ranked second last in the league last season and didn't grab another starting pitcher in the off season. Not even having Jeremy Bonderman ranked fourth in the league in strikeouts per nine innings helped this staff last season. The returning starters; Bonderman (11-13, 4.89), Jason Johnson (8-15, 5.13), Gary Knotts (7-6, 5.25), Mike Maroth (11-13, 4.31), and Nate Robertson (12-10, 4.90) don't exactly strike fear in the hearts of opponents, but all they have to do this season is get to the seventh inning before handing the game over to Farnsworth, Urbina, and Percival.Rodriguea, Dmitri Young, Bobby Higginson, Ordonez, and Carlos Pena will try to improve a middle of the pack offense this season to get games to the bullpen.

Alex Sanchez will provide speed at the top of the lineup and will steal a lot of bases to get into scoring position for the big bats. Rodriguez was fourth in the league in batting average last season and doesn't look at all like he'll fall from the top of his game. The Tigers are a talented team and are a little bit older than the Indians. The new stadium in Detroit could finally produce a consistent winner this season, if only the stacked bullpen would matter.