That being Anibal Sanchez, of course.

With Greinke set to earn a whopping $24.5 million per year (on average) with his new contract, it’s pretty safe to assume that Sanchez will get very expensive. It would be hard to imagine that the Tigers would over-spend on a rather middle-of-the-road guy like Anibal. While he struggled a bit in his new surroundings, he settled in nicely – especially during the postseason. Despite the record (which screams of “lack of run support”) of 1-2, his ERA was a scant 1.77 in 3 postseason starts. But is that worth say, $15 or $16 million per season?

For probably 5 years?

Anibal Sanchez (photo: H. Darr Beiser-USA TODAY Sports)

Maybe to someone, he’s worth that. But I’m not sure it’s the Tigers who should be that someone. Sanchez is in a very good spot here: he’ll be 29 when the 2013 season starts, and for him a 5 year deal isn’t out of the realm of possibility. And the fact that the overall free agent pool for starting pitchers is reasonably shallow (quantity hammers quality here) puts Anibal in a position where he stands to make a lot of money, regardless of what he’s done in the past. It’s a matter of being in the right place at the right time, and Sanchez is there – thanks to Greinke.

So what do the Tigers do to fill out the rotation? Justin Verlander, Doug Fister, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and Drew Smyly are the guys who at least at the present time hold down the rotation (in my opinion, anyway). Do the Tigers try and trade for someone better?

Better? Better than who, Porcello or Smyly?

Hard to imagine the Tigers doing much else with the rotation as it sits now. Sanchez will likely be too expensive, especially in the long term. Especially expensive when you consider that Verlander will eventually be up for a new deal following the 2014 season. Just think about that potential market-setter.

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Follow me on Twitter, @DisplacedTgrFan.

Except that the Tigers have only scored 3 runs in 3 games of this series so far. And it’s put them in a 0-3 hole that is all but insurmountable.

The Tigers fell to the San Fransisco Giants tonight by a 2-0 final score, the same score they went down with 2 nights ago after a solid start from Doug Fister (a good outing despite the line drive that glanced off his head during his outing). Tonight, it was Anibal Sanchez, who suffered the loss thanks to a poor 2nd inning, with a run scoring Gregor Blanco triple accounting for the game winning run.

Prince Fielder (Photo: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports)

Yes, that’s right, game winning run, produced in the 2nd inning of tonight’s game. The anemic Tigers offense, fresh off a measly 2-hit effort in game 2, managed to scratch out only 5 hits tonight. The team did manage some life at 2 different stretches in the game, having 2 on and 1 out both times, only to hit into gut-wrenching, rally killing double plays, one by Prince Fielder and the other by Quintin Berry.

As for Fielder? Now batting .100 in the World Series. In addition to the GIDP, he struck out twice.

As for Sanchez, 7 innings, 2 runs, 6 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts, zero run support.

The Giants Ryan Vogelsong went 5 2/3, giving up all 5 hits the Tigers could muster, walking 4 and striking out 3. In addition to the lack of Tigers clutch hitting has been the stellar defense behind Giants pitching in this series. Well placed in the field, as the Tigers are continuously hitting the ball right at, or in the vicinity of the defense. And if you take away the late game error by Brandon Crawford at shortstop, which had no ill effect, then it’s been a rather flawless series for the Giants as a whole.

The Tigers will attempt to salvage this series tomorrow night. Game 4, Max Scherzer vs. Matt Cain. The team will attempt to score a run for the first time since the 9th inning of game 1.

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Follow me on Twitter, @DisplacedTgrFan.

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