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Posted By: Chris Counts

Ultimately, it's pitching that wins championships, and I'm not convinced Willis will make a difference. He kind of reminds me of Barry Zito in that he walks a lot of batters and his strikeouts are going down each year. I believe that's because Willis, like Zito, has deceptive stuff, but hitters are learning to lay off his pitches since he throws a lot of pitches out of the strike zone.

As for Cabrera, he's obviously a great young hitter, but baseball history is filled with great hitting teams that came up short ... there's a really good reason teams are willing to trade excellent everyday players like Orlando Cabrera for average but durable pitchers like Jon Garland.

Personally, I like the Tigers. I was born in Flint, Michigan, which defintely qualifies as Tiger country. But I'm afraid their pitching is too dependant on fading guys like Kenny Rogers and Todd Jones. Plus, it looks like Joel Zumaya, who has the best stuff in their bullpen, could be out all season ...

I'm looking forward to watching their lineup, but I believe they'd have a better team with Dan Haren or Erik Bedard, two guys that could have been had for some combination of the prospects that went to Florida. Imagine last year's Tiger lineup and a rotation of Haren, Verlander and Bonderman ...