Detroit Tigers Links: Verlander “the worst,” current roster, bullpen improvement from within

When Keith Olbermann hosted his show on MSNBC, he had a segment called “Worst Person in the World,” which usually let him thunder away at someone in the news.

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Since making the jump back to sports, he has taken the segment to his ESPN show with a (usually) softer and more light-hearted tone. The other day he jokingly lambasted Justin Verlander when he tweeted out his annoyance with the increased fares of his car service. Yes, Justin Verlander. The man who has a $200 million contract was complaining about the price of something.

The Tigers roster is assembled without any glaring holes at the moment. Of course the bullpen is still a hole, but there doesn’t seem to be anything big on the way to improve it. Our final two stories look at how the roster looks now, three days before Christmas and how the plan for the bullpen is still to hopefully improve it from within.

Olbermann: Verlander ‘world’s worst person in sports’ – Brian Manzullo, Detroit Free Press

Two days after Verlander tweeted “.@Uber I used to love you and now your ridiculous surge charges are causing me to take my talents elsewhere. #lyft,” Olbermann named the Tigers pitcher “the world’s worst person in sports” during a segment on his “Olbermann” show Friday on ESPN2.Why? Well, Olbermann said, you shouldn’t complain about a $40 car ride on social media when you’ve already made “$86.5 million in career baseball earnings.”“I’ll confess; sometimes, when Uber does the surge-price thing, I’ll hit the ‘no’ button and take the cab. Today, I took the subway. See ya on the subway, Justin, it’s only two-and-a-half bucks!” Olbermann shouted. “Just don’t tell people about it (on social media)!”

A look at how the Detroit Tigers roster stands two months before start of spring training – Chris Iott, MLive

Spring training starts almost exactly two months from today. But how would the roster for the Detroit Tigers look if spring training ended today?Clearly, things can and will change between now and the middle of February. They can and will change again between the start of spring training and opening day. Therefore, there is absolutely no chance that this roster projection will be 100 percent accurate. All we’re trying to do here is to put together a 25-piece puzzle using the parts that the Tigers have in place right now and ponder where some changes might come.

Tigers plan to bulk up bullpen from within – Chris McCosky

The Tigers haven’t signed or acquired any marquee relief pitchers this offseason — much to the consternation of most of their fan base — so on paper it would appear last year’s bullpen concerns haven’t been addressed.Dombrowski would dispute that notion.“I feel good about (Joakim) Soria and (Bruce) Rondon, I can tell you that,” he said.The Tigers are confident Soria, whose $7 million option was picked up for 2015, will return to his previous All-Star form after being injured and struggling down the stretch last season. They also believe hard-throwing right-hander Rondon is healthy after missing last season with a torn ligament in his elbow.

Next: Detroit Tigers will regret dealing for Yoenis Cespedes