The Tigers inked Joel Zumaya to a one year, $1.4 million deal today and in effect, allowed the team to avoid arbitration with the hard throwing relief pitcher.  We all know Zumaya’s story.  He had a come back last year before he yielded to yet another injury and having a full season of Zumaya will go a long way towards the Tigers having a dominant bullpen like they did in 2006 when they went to the World Series.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Tigers pitch Zumaya because they now have plenty of depth in their pen.  Ryan Perry (a favorite of mine) should make some gains and to go along with Jose Valverde, they have Joaquin Benoit.  The starting pitching has some holes, but I’m liking this bullpen more and more.

That leaves Armando Galarraga as the lone arbitration eligible player out there that the Tigers need to sign.  We’ll see how the Tigers handle that one.

For those of you who are around my age, you may remember Al Cowens.  Chris Jaffe at the Hardball Times tells an interesting story that involves Cowens (both before he was with the Tigers and during). It’s a solid read so be sure to check it out.

Permalink | Posted in 2011 Tigers