Is it too early to panic??

Our new and improved bullpen has been more of a liability then an asset. Outside of Farnsworth, our top three have vastly underperformed. They’re also 0-3 in one run games, which was a number several people pointed to as the bane of the 2004 Tigers and the inadequacies of that team’s bullpen. I know it’s early, but Urbina and Percival have already lost a game each.

Throw in inconsistent starting pitching and a slew of injuries, and it could make for a rough first month. Guillen and Ordonez were both out of the lineup, and with Ramon Martinez on the DL, Tram’s very limited in what he can do.

Fortunately, the Tigers go to Kansas City. If they can beat the Twins tonight, then take two of three against the Royals, they’ll be right back at .500.

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One of the reasons I was down on the Vina pickup was his injury problem. Now the Tigers go out and sign another talented, yet injury prone player, to take over in a corner outfield spot.

Like Vina, Rondell White is a good player. Very good at times. When he plays. Only once in his career has he played more then 150 games in a season. He’s average in the field, and he’ll supplant Craig Monroe, who had a pretty good season last year, as the starting left fielder. In right, we’ll have Higgy, making a boat load of money, and platooning with Monroe in right. Unless they plan on moving White into right field.

Two decent pickups so far for Dombrowski, but there’s a ton of risk. Our upside is, these guys play the entire season, and the Tigers win 70 games. Downside is (Lions fan can appreciate this) they both get hurt, which is likely, and we’re as bad, if not worse then last year.

So I’m still not giving Dombrowski a grade yet. We still have to take care of shortstop and center field, and we could use a good pitcher or three as well. Probably won’t fill all of our needs this year, but if we don’t, then in two years, when White and Vina are gone, we’re going to have to do this all over again.

I was happy to see the Tigers picked up Chris Shelton in the Rule 5 draft. He’s put up pretty good numbers, but the problem is, he’s 23, and he just made it to AA last year. That’s not encouraging. And hopefully he doesn’t play catcher like Ben Petrick does, which is rarely. If he makes the team, he could see time spotting Inge, since he’ll have to stay on the 24 man roster.

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