Maroth and Inge back and primed for run at World Series

Right: Bob Cluck has no idea where he is. And has a awful fracture in his left "glutal" area.

The Tigers recently announced that Maroth and Inge have agreed to sign with the 2006 DEE-Trrooittt BASEballlll Team.

Mike Maroth, best known as the only pitcher to lose 20 or more games since 1980, has been resigned to a 2-year $5.25 million dollar contract. Even though Maroth hasn't lived up to his potential yet...this is a good signing. Maroth has some good stuff on the mound and his best days are definitely in front of him.

Bob Cluck, pitching coach of last year, has an incredibly optimistic view on Maroth. He recently said "I think eventually, he'll be a 20-game winner and an All-Star. He reminds me of Doug Drabek, who won the Cy Young when I was with him in Houston." To be fair to Bob Cluck, when he made these comments he had taken multiple hits of extacy and polished off an entire fifth of Popov Vodka.

Maroth is a good steady pitcher, and it should be our goal to not have Verlander or Zumaya in the starting rotation to start next year. They aren't ready yet, and they shouldn't be thrown in to the pressure packed environment of Comerica Park Baseball.

Brandon Inge was picked up for another year to be our starting 3b for next year. Inge has a tendency to excel on the impossible plays in the field, but struggle mightily on little dinkers that are hit his way. His lack of fundamentals can be mostly attributed to the fact that he has basically played every position on the field other then pitcher.

The main problem I have with this signing is consistency. Inge is not a consistent fielder or a hitter. At times, he can be our best player on the field, and at times he can look like Kevin Hooper out there. His best role on the team is as a super-sub. He plays all positions well, but not great. He would make a great bench-player and would play in the majority of games next year. With the Tigers obviously going to have at least 7 or more catastrophic injuries by the time spring training is over, finding Inge time in the field would not be hard.

I felt the Tigers did not pursue a 3b or SS strong enough in free agency. Carlos Guillen hardly has knees anymore, and he will struggle if he has to play every game and show great range at SS. I’d prefer to have him at 3b, where his strong fundamentals could excel and his declining range would not be exploited as much. Omar Infante looks as if our management thinks he is the future at SS, which he might be, but he is not ready for an extensive time in the starting line-up unless he improves rapidly.