Needless to say, this weekend blew hard.
Issues heading into the winter:
Catcher -- Can Avila continue playing when he takes so much physical punishment?
Shortstop -- Is Iglesias ready to take back his job?
Center Field -- Is Davis good enough to the be everyday CF?
Right Field -- If Hunter retires, who takes over/who is brought in?
Designated Hitter -- Can you re-sign Martinez?
Starting Pitching -- Who replaces Scherzer in the rotation as the #1 and where do you find a new starter?
Relief Pitching -- A full reconstruction of the bullpen is needed. Will Rondon be an answer as a setup man or future closer?
Manager -- Is Ausmus cut out for this job and will he learn from his rookie mistakes?
Scary thing with Avila is that despite his horrible bat, he still had the fifth best WAR among catchers in the AL (among players with at least 400 ABs). Part of me wants to advocate buying him out because of health questions, but it'd be surprisingly hard to replace him. I think our best bet would be to keep him for the last year of his contract, but bring up McCann to back him and apprentice to take the reins the following year.
SS: If Iglesias isn't ready to go, I'd be fine rolling with Suarez as the fulltime SS next year.
CF: Do we have much of a choice? Our best option outside of Davis is a healthy Dirks or just handing it over to Collins. Dirks has bigger health questions than Avila, though.
RF: The guy I like the most is probably Melky Cabrera, but are we still seriously contending next year? If so, he would probably be worth the investment. If not, have to consider just going with Moya.
DH:Not a lot of options outside of Martinez. could be a spot for Hunter, if Hunter wants to come back.
Starting pitching: Good question. Ray didn't look ready at all. Lobstein was up and down, do we want to risk sending him out there every five days? If we wade into free agency, I don't think we'd be aiming for one of the top guys at all. Here is where a Price or Kinsler trade help us, bringing back a young SP with some upside who could step into the fifth spot. Or at least give us enough high end kids that we can rotate them up and down from the minors.
Relief pitching: I think we have to pick up Soriano's option, and hope Rondon can be healthy. Other than, take a flier on someone. Maybe a healthy Hanrahan. Maybe look at bringing Veras back or one of the older closers on the market will be looking for a home. We haven't had great luck spending big bucks (hello Nathan), so just maybe look for the best arm.
Manager: Ausmus gets at least another year. It's not like these Tiger teams aren't flawed, and they didn't finish drastically below (or above) expectations this year. I think the players let him down more than vice versa.
