OT: Tigers re-sign Inge

Not to start a fight, but how old are you?  Two quality seasons in your lifetime?  I'm under 30, and they were good for most of the 80's and recently made some nice runs recently.  Sure, they sucked for virutally all of the 90s and early 00s, but talk to a Pirates/Royals fan if you want to see extended sucking.

And I don't see how they have made any more horrible decisions than most other teams.  They have been drafting reasonably well, turned a couple of hyped-but-unproven prospects (Andrew Willer and Cameron Maybin) into Miguel Cabrera (and yes, Willis was a bad signing), and have remained relevant in recent years.  They are not the Yankees/Red Sox so injuries will slow them down considerably, but they are still an above-average team that can make a run every once and a while.  I'll take that.

2006: The team massively overperformed in 2006. Some of our pitchers struggled down the stretch and our lineup was harmed when Polanco was injured against Boston (injured shoulder while making a great catch), leading to the use of Neifi Perez.

2007: The arms of our starting rotation exploded in August. Pitchers like Robertson and Bonderman did not have the best seasons of their careers as they did in 06. Cleveland overperformed and had a tremendous finish to the season, going 96-66.

2008: Sheffield and Renteria had absolutely horrendous seasons. Renteria in particular was far worse than anticipated. Verlander had his worst year to date by far. Our best pitcher was Armando Galarraga (no offense to him, but he's not an ace). That said, Dombrowski is squarely responsible for the failure of the rotation, because it was reliant on some grouping of Rogers (age issues), Bonderman (health issues), Robertson (health issues and not a good pitcher anyway), and Willis (who inexplicably got an extension).

2009: The lineup was horrendous for several reasons. First of all, Everett and Laird were pegged as everyday players and we went into the year hoping the core of the lineup could get it done. This was then compounded by Ordonez's struggles and Guillen's inability to shake his injury problem. As a result, our outfield often featured a number of mediocre to poor players including Thames, Thomas, and Josh Anderson, among others (I won't count Raburn since 2009 was a career year for him). We also had issues at the bottom of the rotation, but everyone else did too. We attempted to fix some of these issues during the season, but Jarrod Washburn and Aubrey Huff both were awful beyond anyone's expectations. Despite all these issues, the Tigers managed to somewhat inexplicably come very close to making the playoffs.

2010: We never had much of a shot with the deadweight on our roster. This was the year where the litany of bad contracts really really hurt us. We had known holes at second base (we hoped that Sizemore would do well, but when you're starting rookies at multiple positions, somebody's not going to pan out), catcher (Laird/Avila rotation), and shortstop (Everett/Santiago). We also saw Porcello take a step back this year. This team was expected to be mediocre and it was.

Conclusion: The Tigers have made a mix of good and bad decisions over the past several years. On the good side, we have a number of trades, including the Cabrera/Willis deal (Cabrera panned out, nobody else that we traded did) and the Granderson trade (reduced expenses and got better value than what we gave up). We also have drafted fairly well, especially when you look at Porcello and Perry's talent (whether they should have gotten more time in the minors is another story). On the bad side is a number of extensions, including those given to Sheffield, Willis, Bonderman, and Robertson, as well as the Renteria/Jurrjens trade. It is also a fair question as to whether we are giving our pitchers enough time in the minors before calling them up.

Ilitch and Dombrowski have shown a tendency to take gambles. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't. Part of the reason the Tigers became respectable in the first place was because they invested in risks like Rodriguez, Ordonez, and Rogers. That said, they've also made some very poor gambles, especially with regards to the Sheffield and Willis extensions. A lot of money comes off the books this offseason, so this is the year to turn the Tigers into a playoff team. It's an open question whether Dombrowski can pull it off.

Also, on a somewhat unrelated note, re-signing Inge was a great move because Brandon Inge is the best player in the history of baseball and anyone who says differently is a terrible person with no redeeming qualities whatsoever...
OK, not really. But I like Inge and he's a good defensive player whose bat is by no means good, but is acceptable for a bottom of the order hitter.

How many times have you blown Brandon Inge?