Week One: Detroit, We Have A Problem.
by Asher B. Chancey, BaseballEvolution.com
April 7, 2008

In my pre-season preview for the Detroit Tigers, I noted that the Tigers have all the makings of one of history's great offenses, but despite their off-season moves they arguably did not address any of their needs - namely, pitching and defense. I predicted that this could give the Tigers issues when they least expected it. Little did I know that the Tigers pitching and defense would immediately give them issues, and they would fail to win a single ballgame in the first week of the 2008 season.

Despite everything you have seen, however, this is still a very talented team, and they will be back. And despite everything you may heard about how rarely teams that start 0-5 (and now 0-6) make the playoffs, this team is more likely to prove to be the exception rather than the rule. They'll win their first game soon enough, and should be back in the race by the middle of May.

Here's another way to look at it: we would never count a team out after a six game losing streak, right? Well, when would you rather lose six games in a row, in the middle of the race, or at the start of the season?

Of course, they'll have to prove they can win a game sooner rather than later, and even though the team isn't in too much trouble just yet, another loss or two and this season could very quickly be out of control. And of course the larger issue is, what if this is not just a bad start, but an indication that this team isn't actually that good? The Detroit Tigers could quite possibly usher in the Line of Death well before I thought any team would.

And given the early season performance of the San Francisco Giants, that is saying a lot.

Without further ado, here is the first installment of the 2008 BaseballEvolution.com Power Rankings. Enjoy, and feel free to comment.

Rank	Team	Comments	Prev
1		Milwaukee Brewers Record for the Week - 5-1 vs. Cubs, Giants Cut a Brewer with a knife and you’ll end up covered in raw talent.	-
2		St. Louis Cardinals Record for the Week - 5-1 vs. Rockies, Nationals Dear Scott Rolen: Boy did you back the wrong horse.	-
3		Arizona Diamondbacks Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. Reds, Rockies Kingman-no-more? Young on pace to match 2007 BB total by mid-May.	-
4		Toronto Blue Jays Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. Yankees, Red Sox Blue Jays have "Pitching Staff I Am Most Ashamed of Not Predicting".	-
5		Cincinnati Reds Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. D'Backs, Phillies Come on guys. The name of the game is to hit (.230 AVG/.329 OBP).	-
6		Baltimore Orioles Record for the Week - 2-4 vs. Rays, Mariners D. Cabrera walks batters like he’s raising money for cancer research.	-
7		Boston Red Sox Record for the Week - 3-4 vs. A's, Indians Batter Beware: BoSox pitchers: 59 Ks in 60.0 innings.	-
8		Chicago White Sox Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. Indians, Tigers 2008 is an even year, so Sox will be all offense.	-
9		San Diego Padres Record for the Week - 4-3 vs. Astros, Giants Petco Park = Coors Field for pitchers; Jake Peavy = Todd Helton?	-
10		Los Angeles Dodgers Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. Giants, Padres Find a three-player combo less valuable than Jones-Pierre-Kemp so far.	-
11		Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Record for the Week - 4-3 vs. Twins, Rangers Jon Garland auditioning for role in those “clap-on, clap-off” commercials.	-
12		Atlanta Braves Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. Pirates, Mets Say what you will about Kotsay, he’s lapping Andruw Jones right now.	-
13		New York Mets Record for the Week - 2-3 vs. Marlins, Braves Santana and Perez could be the Latino Johnson and Schilling	-
14		Cleveland Indians Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. White Sox, A's Uh-oh: Sabathia + Carmona = 16 BB, 16 K. in 23.2 innings	-
15		Kansas City Royals Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. Tigers, Twins You have our attention. Now, explain how you win w/B. Tomko.	-
16		Chicago Cubs Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. Brewers, Astros Look, just because Soriano never succeeded batting second before . . .	-
17		Oakland Athletics Record for the Week - 3-4 vs. Red Sox, Blue Jays Harden showing fans what they’ll miss when he gets hurt next month.	-
18		Minnesota Twins Record for the Week - 3-4 vs. Angels, Royals Pretty good record considering early underperformance.	-
19		Tampa Bay Rays Record for the Week - 3-2 vs. Orioles, Yankees Hitters have apparently gone on strike to protest Longoria demotion.	-
20		New York Yankees Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. Blue Jays, Rays Hard to get excited about even hating the Yankees at this point.	-
21		Texas Rangers Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. Mariners, Angels I’m starting to think this Marlon Byrd kid isn’t going to pan out.	-
22		Washington Nationals Record for the Week - 3-4 vs. Braves, Phillies, Cardinals Still Cristian Guzman: .316 AVG, .308 OBP.	-
23		Pittsburgh Pirates Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. Braves, Marlins Ad. LaRoche may become a blackhole, suck all talent out of clubhouse.	-
24		Florida Marlins Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. Mets, Pirates Trading Cabrera was addition by subtraction? No.	-
25		Philadelphia Phillies Record for the Week - 2-4 vs. Nationals, Reds Schools offering counseling to kids who watch pitching staff in person.	-
26		Seattle Mariners Record for the Week - 2-4 vs. Rangers, Orioles Can Wilkerson+Sexson beat Ichiro in hits in 2008?.	-
27		Houston Astros Record for the Week - 2-5 vs. Padres, Cubs Mark Redman candidate: W. Rodriguez, 12K, 1BB in 12.1 innings.	-
28		Colorado Rockies Record for the Week - 1-5 vs. Cardinals, D'Backs This looks like the Colorado Rockies I know and love.	-
29		Detroit Tigers Record for the Week - 0-6 vs. Royals, White Sox How important is Curtis Granderson to this team?	-
30		San Francisco Giants Record for the Week - 1-5 vs. Dodgers, Brewers Eerie: Feliz relative OPS = 55. Giants team relative OPS = 55.	-

Questions? Concerns? Comments? Asher lives in Philadelphia, PA, and can be reached at asher@baseballevolution.com.