2008 Detroit Tigers

2007 was a disappointment for Tiger fans. After going all the way to the World Series in 2006, they failed to make the post season. The Tigers had the best record in baseball on July 21, but after an injury to OF Gary Sheffield the team finished the rest of the season seven games under .500. 2008 looks a lot better after they team went out and got SS Edgar Renteria, 3B Miguel Cabrera, OF Jacque Jones, and LHP Dontrelle Willis. They also have had a chance for players such as Sheffield and pitchers Kenny Rogers and Jeremy Bonderman to get healthy. Manager Jim Leyland has a roster full of superstars that resembles that of past Yankee teams. The Tigers might have best combination in baseball of pitching and hitting. With that said lets take a closer look at this years Detroit Tigers.

Pitching:

They are led by ace Justin Verlander who is coming off an 18-win season. Behind him they have three very good starters in Bonderman, Willis, and Rogers. These three if healthy can easily put up 15 win seasons. What we like about Willis is the move to the American League. While many National League pitchers struggle coming over to face the deeper AL lineups, Willis’s unusual pitching style should throw AL hitters off. While Rogers was only able to start 11 games last year, we expect him to return to the form of 2 years ago where he went 17 – 8 and led the Tigers to the World Series. Fifth starter Nate Robertson isn’t anything special, but the team will need him to stay healthy and give them some solid innings to keep the bullpen rested. Speaking of the bullpen, this might be a unit of concern. They return closer Todd Jones, but will have to go at least half the season with out star set up man Joel Zumaya. What you need to remember is that we expect this offense to put up big numbers, so the pitchers won’t have to be great.

Offense:

The Tigers are one of the few teams that can rival with the Yankees for the best lineup in baseball. We believe that if Sheffield returns to full strength that this is the best offense team. We are talking about top to bottom there really isn’t any easy out. Newly acquired Jacque Jones is expected to ninth. He started off very slow last year but ended up hitting .285. He was one of the main reasons the Cubs were able to overtake the Brewers in the NL Central race. The addition of Cabrera adds one of the best young bats in baseball in the middle of a lineup where almost every hitter can hit .300. They have speed at the top with Curtis Granderson, and one of the best contact hitters in the game in Placido Polanco right behind him. You know this offense is good if we still haven’t mentioned 2007 MVP candidate Magglio Ordonez who led all of baseball with a .363 batting average. This will be a fun unit to watch all season long.

Defense:

What maybe makes this team so good is that they are also great on the defense end. They are led by Gold Glove C Ivan Rodriguez who is known for his ability to shut down teams running games. They also improve in the infield with the addition of Cabrera and Renteria to the left side. On the right side they have Gold Glove winner Polanco. Granderson does a great job covering a lot of ground in centerfield, making everyone else look better out there.

Prediction:

We believe that this is the best team in baseball. They will squeeze by the Red Sox in the first round, and then past the Yankees in the battle of the best offenses in the game. We then see them going to the World Series and winning it all. They are solid in all three categories. They also have the mixture of veteran leadership and young talent.

2008 Detroit Tigers Odds to Win World Series 6 - 1

For every team’s odds head over to Sportsbook.com and check them out. You can also go to Sportsbook.com to look at the odds for teams to win their division or league pennant. Feel free to leave any comments in the comment section.

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