Major League Baseball

Punchless Tigers somehow still in first

Published Aug. 5, 2009 6:44 a.m. ET

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The Tigers were a last-place team in 2008. They lead the American League Central now. If they maintain this pace, they will be baseball's latest worst-to-first phenomenon, right beside last year's lovable Tampa Bay Rays.




But this might be the goofiest-looking Cinderella we've seen in some time.

Can anyone really perceive this Detroit team as an underdog? At the moment, according to Major League Baseball calculations, the Tigers have the fourth-highest payroll in baseball, at roughly $136 million.

Last year, they also had the fourth-highest payroll. At roughly $136 million.

Yet this spring, plenty of people figured the Tigers were destined for a second straight finish among the also-rans in one of the game's weaker divisions. Jim Leyland's team was dismissed as roundly as it had been exalted the previous year, when many pundits forecasted a world title.

For those who haven't been watching, this has been their season in brief: The pitching has been strong, despite Jarrod Washburn's disappointing Detroit debut in an 8-2 loss to Baltimore on Tuesday. The defense, particularly around the infield, has improved since last year. But the offense has been mystifying, with outputs of three runs or fewer in 10 of 18 games since the All-Star break.

In the end, the Tigers have done just enough to maintain a precarious hold on first place.

But let's not disparage them too much. A first-place team is a first-place team.

"Up until the trade deadline, everybody kept saying we needed this, we needed that," center fielder Curtis Granderson said. "Yet, from the start of the season until the trade deadline, we'd been in first for the majority of (the time). So, our team was pretty good.

"The change we made (acquiring Washburn from Seattle) was a great one. I don't think we had to restructure our team — a lot of people were saying we had to. ... As long as I've played the game, everyone keeps saying, 'Pitching and defense, pitching and defense.' Well, we've got that."

Yes, but that doesn't make nights like Tuesday any easier for Leyland to endure. The Tigers scored one run against star prospect Brian Matusz in his big league debut, while Washburn surrendered six in 5 1/3 innings.

Leyland said repeatedly that he isn't worried about Washburn. And he shouldn't be. The Tigers identified Washburn as a good fit for their staff "awhile ago," according to team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski.

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