DETROIT -- While the Tigers have plenty to do in the offseason, and most of the attention will go to the attempts to re-sign Max Scherzer, Victor Martinez and Torii Hunter, nothing may be as important as rebuilding the bullpen.
This season, Detroit's relievers posted a 4.29 ERA, one of the worst in baseball, and were never able to find a group that could consistently turn a good starting performance into a win. Even in save situations, where the team is expected to have its top pitchers on the mound, the Tigers could only manage a 4.23 ERA.
Al Alburquerque was one of the few relievers to have a good season -- putting up a 2.51 ERA in 72 appearances and picking up a save or hold 18 times in 19 opportunities -- he was pigeonholed as a middle reliever by Brad Ausmus' old-school bullpen scheme. Even with the Detroit bullpen collapsing in the first two games of the ALDS, Ausmus never used Alburquerque, who he called a "fifth- and sixth-inning guy."
Alburquerque will be back in 2015, and should get a chance to earn a more trusted role, but it could be tough. Ausmus and Dave Dombrowski have both indicated that Joe Nathan will keep his closer's role, despite posting one of the worst seasons of his career at the age of 39. Nathan finished with an ERA of 4.81 and gave up more hits and walks per nine innings than he ever had since becoming a full-time reliever in 2003, while striking out the fewest batters in that stretch.
"I would think he starts as our closer," Dombrowski said at this week's season-ending press conference. "But he has to perform up to the capabilities required of doing it."
For the eighth inning, the Tigers are likely to pick up Joakim Soria's contract option and let Joba Chamberlain leave as a free agent. Soria struggled after joining the team in a July trade, although Dombrowski said he might have already been suffering from the injury that placed him on the disabled list in early August. When he returned, he was nearly untouchable, allowing two hits in 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his last six outings, but Ausmus rarely used him in high-leverage situations.
His postseason, of course, was a disaster, as he allowed five runs while only getting three outs in Detroit's eighth-inning meltdowns in Games 1 and 2 against Baltimore. However, given his age (30) and the fact he showed himself to be an outstanding reliever last season in Texas and at the end of the regular season, he should be the reliever that Ausmus turns to against the opposition's best hitters in the late innings of a close game. That's not likely to happen, since the manager doesn't consider that a defined bullpen role, so Soria will almost certainly end up with the eighth inning.
This guy's a good pitcher, and if he's back, he'll be an important part of our bullpen," Dombrowski said. "When he pitched in September, his September numbers, if you look at them, are tremendous. He threw the ball great the last week, and he had a tough couple outings in the postseason, no question."
Alburquerque will get a shot at the seventh, but the Tigers are hoping that Bruce Rondon will be healthy enough to fill that job on his way to eventually taking over as the closer. Rondon, though, only pitched once in the last six weeks of the 2013 season, then missed all of 2014 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Dombrowski said he's expected to be at full strength for spring training, but Joel Zumaya showed the Tigers how risky it is to count on a reliever who throws more than 100 mph, especially once he's had his first injury.
Blaine Hardy and Ian Krol will get a chance to battle for the left-handed specialist role in spring training, but Phil Coke probably won't be joining them. After a terrible start, Coke posted a 2.98 ERA after the All-Star break, and a lefty that throws 95 mph is likely to get a bigger contract offer in free agency than the Tigers will want to match.
Dombrowski has said he will look outside the organization for bullpen help, but with Nathan, Alburquerque and Rondon already signed and the team expected to pick up Soria's option, it will probably be middle relief rather than a back-of-the-bullpen pitcher like Baltimore's Andrew Miller. Detroit doesn't have much relief help available in the minors -- they went through a club-record 30 pitchers trying to find some -- but it's possible that they could try to convert one of their starting prospects to the bullpen. Drew VerHagen, Kyle Ryan, Robbie Ray and Buck Farmer could all be candidates if they fail to beat out Kyle Lobstein for the fifth-starter job in March.
Dombrowski is never predictable, but the best guess is that the back end of Detroit's bullpen will be filled with familiar names in 2015, with any new acquistions fitting into the middle innings and long relief. That might not be the major overhaul that fans expect, but with $17 million committed to Nathan and Soria, there's not a lot of money left, even with Mike Ilitch's checkbook.
