Detroit Tigers Links: Dayan Viciedo, James Shields, 10 days of Lakeland

Not much Detroit Tigers news yesterday as everyone awaits word later today on the type of surgery Victor Martinez had and whether the slugger will be out until around Opening Day or much, much later.

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One bit of information that did come out yesterday was the Tigers exploring adding Dioner Navarro from the Toronto Blue Jays, but also out there is former White Sox outfielder available and it would not cost Detroit a thing to pick him up. I was never impressed with Viciedo in a Chicago uniform (he was released last week) though he did seem to hit the Tigers well, but Brad Faber says bringing him in to fill V-Mart’s hole would be a mistake.

James Shields finally decided on a team Monday, signing with the San Diego Padres. It made sense for Shields since his home is in San Diego and let’s face it, San Diego weather is awesome! Why wouldn’t you want to go. The perennial afterthoughts have made a ton of moves to become relevant in the hotly contested NL West and signing Shields puts an exclamation point on a solid offseason. Tigers fans who were hoping he’d come here–well there were never discussions toward that happening.

Finally, while not much can be determined about how a team will fare in a season early on in Spring Training, manager Brad Ausmus feels as if the first 10 days of Spring Training will be the most important for the Tigers.

Detroit Tigers Rumors: Dayan Viciedo Would Be A Poor Choice To Replace Victor Martinez – Brad Faber, Rant Sports

Although Viciedo’s shaky defense wouldn’t be much of an issue with the Tigers, as he would likely see the majority of his at-bats as a DH, he still wouldn’t be a very good fit. Yes, he has proven to have the ability to hit 20-plus home runs in a season, but there may not be enough upside to justify bringing him aboard.For starters, while having V-Mart and Cabrera out at the same time would undoubtedly sting, the Tigers still have J.D. Martinez and Yoenis Cespedes to anchor the middle of the order. Additionally, while Viciedo’s power is certainly intriguing, he is only a .254/.298/.424 lifetime hitter. Over the past four years, he has never had a wRC+ higher than 98, which indicates that his bat would likely grade out at near league-average at best.Viciedo is also a right-handed hitter, and the Tigers are already packed with right-handed bats. As a matter of fact, the switch-hitting V-Mart may have been the team’s only consistent threat from the left side of the plate last season.Instead of signing Viciedo, perhaps this could be a chance for up-and-coming sluggers Tyler Collins and Steven Moya to show what they can do. Even though Jordan Lennerton is coming off of a somewhat disappointing season at Triple-A, maybe he could also be of help.

Dombrowski: Tigers never dealt with James Shields – Steve Schrader, Detroit Free Press

Yet the Tigers never negotiated with James Shields, according to Dave Dombrowski.So it seems like the Tigers are just in a wait-and-see mode. If it’s not adequate, they’ll have to search for help during the season — assuming they have the luxury of patience in the more-competitive AL Central.Then again, maybe it’ll all work out. Maybe they should worry more about designated hitter.

Ausmus: First 10 Days of Camp Most Important – Chris McCosky, Detroit News

For the vast majority of players on the Tigers 40-man roster, the first 10 days of spring training are mostly a fundamentals refresher course, a chance to kick off the winter rust and reactivate the muscle memory.“Those first 10 days, there are a lot of moving parts,” said manager Brad Ausmus, who will oversee his second spring training with the Tigers beginning Feb. 19 when pitchers and catchers report. “The important thing in those first 10 days is you have to make sure you cover all the fundamentals that you want your team to be aware of at least once — bunt plays, pickoffs, relays, defensive positioning, that kind of stuff.“It doesn’t mean you won’t cover them again once the games start, but you want to cover them at least once before the games get underway.”

Next: Tigers Rumors: Interest in trading for Navarro