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PrintBaseball America's Top 10 Prospects lists are based on projections of a player's long-term worth after discussions with scouting and player-development personnel. All players who haven't exceeded the major league rookie standards of 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched (without regard to service time) are eligible. Ages are as of April 1, 2007.
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At the close of spring training, many in the industry believed the Tigers would be an improved team in 2006. And they were right.
Few, however, could have forecast what came next. Guided by manager Jim Leyland, Detroit had the best record in baseball for a significant portion of the season, finished with the franchise's first winning mark since 1993 and reached the postseason for the first time in nearly two decades.
The Tigers' 95 wins concluded the greatest three-year improvement (52 games) for a 100-loss team in the modern era. On its own, that would have been enough to label the season a success. Then Detroit scored a surprise American League Division Series upset against the Yankees and swept Oakland in the AL Championship Series to earn its first pennant since 1984. A five-game loss to the Cardinals in the World Series couldn't put much of a damper on the year.
The explanation for the runaway success was the same cause for the springtime optimism: power pitching.
The Tigers' top prospects on this list a year ago, righthanders Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya, were two of the best rookies in baseball. Verlander won 17 games and Baseball America's Rookie of the Year award a year after leading the minors in ERA. Zumaya became something of a Detroit rock star, routinely hitting 101 mph on the Comerica Park radar gun and topping all AL setup men with 97 strikeouts--in his first year as a reliever.
The list of the organization's promising young arms, though, does not end with Verlander and Zumaya. Jeremy Bonderman is a four-year veteran but still just 23, and he won 14 games and lowered his ERA for a third consecutive year. Zach Miner, who wasn't even invited to big league camp, joined the rotation when Mike Maroth (elbow surgery) went on the disabled list and won seven of his first nine decisions.
Jordan Tata opened the season in the big league bullpen and was effective as a starter at Triple-A Toledo. Humberto Sanchez and Jair Jurrjens had stellar minor league seasons before each ended the year on the disabled list.
The Tigers were elated to add Andrew Miller with the sixth pick in last June's draft. A power lefthander, Miller was the draft's consensus top talent but fell because of signability concerns. He signed with Detroit by early August, joined the big league bullpen later that month and finished the regular season in the majors. He'll return to the minors to begin 2007 and could progress almost as quickly as Verlander.
All of that pitching depth helped Tigers affiliates combine for a 365-315 (.537) winning percentage in the minor leagues, capturing championships in the Triple-A International and low Class A Midwest leagues. It also allowed Detroit to add more sock to its lineup. The Tigers got Gary Sheffield from the Yankees in exchange for three righthanders who didn't work a single inning in the majors in 2006: Sanchez and promising relievers Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett.
But the long-term forecast for the system's position players appears somewhat less certain--except, of course, for outfielder Cameron Maybin. He's among the best prospects in all of baseball and could be Detroit's regular center fielder by 2008.
However, three key Tigers--shortstop Carlos Guillen, third baseman Brandon Inge and catcher Ivan Rodriguez--could be free agents at the end of 2007, and there are no obvious in-house successors. Detroit's top three farm clubs led their respective hitting leagues in strikeouts, and like the big league roster, their position prospects lack patience and power, especially from the left side.
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