My belief they would trade Magglio
I spent much of last year trying to figure out how the Tigers could get better - on the field, and in making their payroll more flexible.
I came up with only one answer: As painful as it would be, they had to trade Magglio Ordonez.
Every way that I tried to analyze it - up, down, sideways - I could not see them retaining Ordonez. They had too many needs.
I believed an eventual buyer making the right offer would come about. So far, that hasn't come close to happening.
That doesn't mean it won't. A deal is possible, although hardly probable, for one big reason: The Tigers haven't come close to filling their pitching needs.
All along, I never believed they could get a catcher, a shortstop, and bullpen help and not make Magglio available.
A couple of things proceeded to happen that changed the landscape - and somewhat altered my belief there.
The market became glutted with big hitters (Manny Ramirez is still out there) who drove down the desire, or need, by other clubs to invest in Ordonez.
It meant that cheaper talent was desirable. In Detroit's case, a player such as Matt Joyce was suddenly attractive. He ended up going to Tampa Bay, not for bullpen help, but for a starting pitcher in Edwin Jackson.
There is still this bullpen issue the Tigers must address. On that front, I seriously doubt anything big happens until deep into spring camp. The Tigers must wait --to see if Joel Zumaya makes it back, or if another team suddenly finds itself at the end of March with an extra relief pitcher.
Another possibility is that a particular club - say the Blue Jays - panics because it's now outmuscled by the other East Division contenders and decides to grab a hitter, even if he has Ordonez's big contract as part of the package, and even if it means dealing a solid reliever.
It's not a likely scenario. But I wouldn't dismiss the idea entirely.
The Tigers will almost certainly need to find bullpen help of some kind at some point - or face a potential catastrophe in 2009.
Other teams - the Blue Jays, the Angels - could well decide that, in their case, offense is a crisis waiting to happen. Even in that instance, any trade of Ordonez with Joyce now out of the picture could be problematic.
But it wouldn't be as lethal as staring at a bullpen that could be waiting to collapse.
It's still a month until spring training begins. It could be another month, or more, before the Tigers have any clue how their Opening Day relief pitching will stack up.
