Detroit Tigers Links: Spring Training Roster, Ausmus Begins His Drills

Feb 14, 2014; Lakeland, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez (41) and manager Brad Ausmus (7) talk during the Detroit Tiger

2014 Tigers’ Opening Day roster is all but set – Patrick OKennedy – Bless You Boys

"Two questions are foremost in the minds of Tiger management with respect to the bullpen:First, will Phil Coke regain enough of his old form to claim the second bullpen job, and secondly, will Putkonen beat out the competition for the last job in the pen?"

It’s going to be interesting to watch the bullpen competition, but then again, the small sample size of Spring Training stats means that performance in games isn’t going to tell us everything.

Brad Ausmus begins drilling his methods into Tigers – Tom Gage – Detroit News

"“We didn’t need a culture change around here,” said Scherzer, “but it’s nice to have a little different feel in the clubhouse.“Skip (Jim Leyland) was great, but Brad is going to add some new stuff and make us even better. Like those lasers that were being hit at us today.“We’ve never had that in the past, where someone about 20 feet away was smoking balls right at us,” Scherzer added. “I liked it.”"

It’s fun to see new guys bring new ideas, but the real test is going to come when Brad Ausmus starts managing real games. It’ll be an exciting year.

Scherzer keeps his focus on winning, not his contract – Dana Wakiji – Fox Sports Detroit

"“When I’m down here at spring training, this is baseball. I play the game to win,” Scherzer said on the first day of workouts for pitchers and catchers. “It’s as simple as that. That’s my No. 1 goal when I come here is to start preparing to win.”Scherzer gave that answer when asked about his impending free agency and the expected windfall that will accompany that for a Cy Young winner."

It’s looking more and more like Max Scherzer is going to hit the open market next November, and that’s fine. He wasn’t going to take a discount to stay anyway.

How Many Runs Will The Tigers Score in 2014? – Lee Panas – Tiger Tales

"The 760 total would be 36 runs less than the 796 they a scored in 2013, but you have to expect that with the losses of Fielder and Peralta. Base running will make up for some of the loss in power, but not all of it. They should still have a better than average offensive team though to go along with a fantastic starting rotation and improved defense."

Lee crunches the numbers and predicts a lower run total than in 2013. That was to be expected, though, and better defense and base running may mean they’re no worse overall.