Pat Caputo: More Questions Than Answers For Tigers
Spring training is an interesting exercise. The anticipation, before it starts, is if the remaining questions from the offseason will be answered.
However, once spring training begins, not only do many of those question remain open, but new ones develop.
The 2011 version of the Tigers are following that pattern as the exhibition season moves on.
With 24 days until the season opener in New York against the Yankees, the Tigers are still very much sorting out issues. Here are the four most important ones that need to be resolved:
1. The bullpen — After the Tigers signed Joaquin Benoit, who was arguably the best set-up man in baseball in 2010 with Tampa Bay, to a five-year, $16 million free agent contract, it was within the realm of possibility the bullpen would be the Tigers' biggest strength.
That appears more iffy now that Joel Zumaya and Daniel Schlereth have come down with ailments.
They were being counted on to play key roles in the sixth and seventh innings, before the Tigers turn to Benoit and closer Jose Valverde. There is still Ryan Perry, a tremendous talent, who has lacked consistency, and journeyman left-hander Brad Thomas, who was surprisingly effective in 2010, especially against left-handers, for that role. Fu-Te Ni has had some good moments this spring. But the depth has been depleted. The Tigers wanted to give Charles Furbush, a rookie lefty who has missed a lot of bats in the minor leagues (183 strikeouts in 159 innings at three levels in '10), a look in this role, but he has been ineffective in two outings.
