Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Everyone wants to put the Tigers into the elite category of teams in the AL but I wonder if their pitching rotation is really all that great. Sure Justin Verlander is a stud but after him there are lots of question marks. Kenny Rogers is 43 and is not only coming back from an injury plagued season but one where he was awful on the road (5.79 road ERA). Do you really want a 5.00 ERA out of your number 3 starter? That's what you get with Jeremy Bonderman. Speaking of ERA's over 5.00 - how about Dontrelle Willis' 5.17 last year in the NL? Normally there's like a half run jump in ERA for pitchers coming over to the AL - so does that mean that Dontrelle is looking at a 5.67 ERA this year? Nate Robinson has a career 4.60 ERA and if he can match that this year he just may have the second best ERA among the top 5 starters for the Tigers. Oh and have I mentioned that Todd Jones is still the closer for the Tigers? I'm just not sold on this pitching staff getting it done in 2008.... Oh and I should point out that the Tigers are also a very old team. Only Miguel Cabrera and Curtis Granderson among the starters are less than 33-years old. Outside those two - the average age for the other 7 players in the starting batting order is almost 35-years old. It may turn out that the Tigers are one of those teams that just looks great on paper... Is it the pressure of being a hometown hero? Last season Joe Mauer hit just .248 at home for the Twins but a blistering .342 on the road. Maybe Mauer's poor production at the Metrodome has something to do with being occupied with Chelsea Cooley (Miss USA 2005) while at home. Poor guy could be exhausted. Just one of those things that make you say hmmm... Is Jim Thome a Hall of Famer? He could end up this season ahead of Joe DiMaggio and Rod Carew in runs scored. He could easily pass Ted Williams and Willie McCovey in home runs this year. With a good year he could catch or pass Mickey Mantle for career RBI. I used to be on the fense about Jim Thome and the Hall of Fame but I think if he can finish his career up with two decent seasons (not great - just decent) then he will have the numbers that will make it impossible to keep him out...