The Detroit Tigers have designs on winning a World Series title, and they have looked to reload again this offseason after coming up just short in recent years. The team has been active in the offseason, and now there is talk surrounding former MVP Justin Verlander.
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The Tigers still look like they may lose staff ace Max Scherzer in free agency, and could find themselves down another starting pitcher depending on what they decide to do with Justin Verlander. According to ESPN, there are some that think that the former All Star might be best suited for a move to a relief role.
The Tigers have had their share of bullpen issues over the past few years, and a case can be made that their relief corps cost them a World Series appearance in 2013, if not this past season. The team currently has a crew of aging or uninspiring arms that make the bullpen look to be the weak point on the team in 2015 once again.
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Enter Verlander, who is no longer the dominant pitching ace that we are used to seeing. He has begun losing velocity on his fastball, and although his control has not suffered drastically, he and the Tigers may be better served if he switches to a kind of "super-relief" role that would allow him to pitch more frequently but in shorter stints.
The San Francisco Giants have had some success with a similar experiment with Tim Lincecum, and Verlander is still a better pitcher than Lincecum has been for the past few years.
Detroit's starting rotation is also in flux, however, so the team may keep Verlander as a starter in the hopes that 2014 was an aberration rather than the start of the decline from his outstanding apex as a pitcher.
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