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The majority of Kansas City Royals fans seem pleased with what their club accomplished this offseason, but how will the 2016 Royals match up with the divisional competition? During a crucial offseason in what projects to be a tightly contested American League Central, no team improved more than the Detroit Tigers.
Detroit entered the offseason with goals similar to Kansas City’s. Both clubs needed a legit starter and at least one outfielder. Signing Jordan Zimmermann to a reasonable deal is a big win for the Tigers, who desperately needed a more dependable starting five. Last season, only four pitchers threw more than 100 innings for Detroit, while seven other guys made at least five starts. Mike Pelfrey will be expected to help the back end of the Tigers’ rotation, though he’s far from a sure bet. For two years and $16 million, Detroit signed a pitcher who averaged a 4.94 ERA over a three-year tenure with his previous team. Nonetheless, Pelfrey should eat up enough innings in 2016 to represent a step up from all the 2015 fill-ins.
Bringing in Francisco Rodriguez and Mark Lowe also shows commitment on Detroit’s part to improve the weakest facet of last year’s club. Lowe finished his prior season strong with the Toronto Blue Jays, where he recorded 14 strikeouts, one walk and a 0.84 WHIP through 23 appearances. Most expect him to control the eighth inning for Detroit and hand the ball over to K-Rod, who posted a 0.86 WHIP through 57 innings of work in 2015.
While Detroit’s pitching staff struggled through the entire 2015 season, the lineup looked as good as ever. The Tigers’ team average, on-base percentage and OPS all ranked in MLB’s top three last season. The additions of Cameron Maybin and especially Justin Upton should make their lineup even more imposing in 2016, despite the fact that switch-hitting Victor Martinez now represents their only left-handed presence in the lineup. Maybin won’t give Detroit Lorenzo Cain-like production, but he should put up similar numbers as Rajai Davis did for the Tigers last season.
Detroit undoubtedly improved this winter, but the most important question still remains: Can these improvements take them from last place in their division to first? No, but they will be good enough to make things interesting for the Royals throughout the regular season. KC’s decisions to re-sign Alex Gordon and sign Ian Kennedy make their new roster very similar to the ones that just completed back-to-back World Series runs. There’s no reason to believe the Royals will regress enough to make the Tigers the AL Central winners. Detroit made the moves necessary to be competitive in 2016, but the World Series champs still stand alone as favorites to win the division.
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