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Detroit Tigers Links: No Max, ZiPS Projections, infield the worst

By Matt Pelc

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Another day, another non signing of Max Scherzer.

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Which means the clamoring of inevitability about his return to Detroit grows. There is no question Max fits here, I mean he rose from obscurity to star status in his years here from 2010 through 2014, but should the Tigers bring him back? Gwen De Young of our sister site Detroit Jock City answers that question in the negative.

To the fan of advanced stats the revealing of the annual ZiPS projections is akin to the NFL fan pouring over the next season’s schedule when its announced every April.

ZiPS isn’t very kind to certain members of the Tigers’ infield and that is outlined in the last link from the Free Press.

The Detroit Tigers Should Hold Out Signing Scherzer – Gwen De Young, Detroit Jock City

"Scherzer is worth a $155 million, maybe a little bit more, but not $200 million. His high price demand could easily be the reason the market for him is soft. Teams such as the San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees have dropped out of the running for him, Scherzer is running out of time and teams to sign him. It seems like there is a high chance the Tigers will end up resigning him.However as the title suggest, the Detroit Tigers should hold out as long as they can on giving him a deal. As time ticks down, so does the amount that he is asking for. Max Scherzer is not a dumb man, he is not going miss any playing time because of contract issues, least he doesn’t seem like a player who would. So the Tigers in a way have the upper hand on him."

2015 ZiPS Projections — Detroit Tigers – Carson Cistullim FanGraphs

"The Tigers have featured some almost laughably talented rotations in recent years. Over the last three seasons, for example, Detroit starters have produced a collective 65.4 WAR. The distance between them and second-place Washington is roughly equivalent to the distance between Washington and 19th-place Milwaukee. The likely departure of Max Scherzer, however — coupled with the trade of Rick Porcello to Boston — renders the rotation less well balanced than in previous seasons. Alfredo Simon (a strike-thrower who features one of the league’s hardest fastballs) and Shane Greene (who recorded a 90 xFIP- last year in nearly 80 innings) aren’t without merits. It’s just, those merits don’t influence ZiPS’ computer math significantly at the moment."

Stats say Tigers’ infield defense the worst in 2014 – Anthony Fenech, Detroit Free Press

"The difference between the top and bottom, Panas found, was 133 extra hits on the ground, which translates into 100 runs.“The Tigers allowed an estimated 59 more hits on ground balls than an average infield given the same number of opportunities,” Panas writes. “Since the average failure to convert a batted ball into an out costs about 0.75 runs, the Tigers infield was responsible for an estimated 44 extra runs which translated into four wins.”They ranked worst in the major leagues in 2013, too, with a batting average of .276.The infield defense was supposed to be improved this past season but shortstop Jose Iglesias was shelved all season with leg injuries and rookie Nick Castellanos turned in major league-worst numbers defensively at third base in his return to the hot corner.And despite stellar defense from Ian Kinsler, first baseman Miguel Cabrera was hobbled for much of the second half of the year."

Next: Avila should bat second for Tigers

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