Somewhere back in, oh, October and November I guess, I started the yearly Grading The Tigers series. Sometime about two or three weeks later, I got tired of writing the series and never returned to it. (Whoops).

With pitchers and catchers reporting in nine days, I guess I have to get those grades finished up soon, huh? So I'm going to do it in accelerated form rather than the up close and personal look I used before.

Today we'll do the starting pitchers: Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and (re-hashing) Brad Penny. Incompletes are issues to Phil Coke, Andy Oliver, Jacob Turner, Duane Below, Doug Fister and Charlie Furbush.

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Pitchers and catchers countdown: 9 days

Walkoff Wonders: Just How Slow Are the Tigers? -- Walkoff Woodward, Josh Worn
We all know the Tigers have some "husky" guys. At least that's what Lynn Henning tells us. But does that mean Detroit can't steal bases with the best of 'em? Well, yeah, it kinda does. But maybe it's not such a terrible thing.

Tigers tight-lipped on Yoenis Cespedes, but confirm he didn't visit Detroit -- The Detroit News, Tony Paul
The Yoenis Cespedes saga continues. Rumor has it that he could leave the U.S. by the weekend, which means the Miami Marlins will have most likely been the only team to have met with him.

Pressing Questions: The Detroit Tigers -- Yahoo! Sports, Scott Pianowski
Pianowski answers questions on Detroit's options in the infield and outfield, and whether Jose Valverde will have another "perfect" season.

Detroit Tigers rank No. 24 in MLB farm systems by ESPN.com -- MLive.com, James Schmehl
*Cue The Jeffersons theme song* The Detroit Tigers finished No. 24 on the list of top 30 MLB farm systems. Last year they ranked No. 25. The good news is, I'm not sure anyone should take this too seriously. And if you read the link below, you'll figure out why.

Detroit Tigers' roster leaves little reason to worry about farm system -- MLive.com, Justin Rogers
"The Tigers boast a roster of talented players under 30, which lessens the concern about depth in the farm system." Nicely said.

Position preview: catcher -- EAT EM UP TIGERS
A breakdown of catcher Alex Avila and what the Tigers have in store in 2012 in that position. The big question is: Can Avila have the same kind of season as last year? I think he can. But Jim Leyland needs to figure out a way to not run him quite as ragged as last season.

Platooning the DH Position Would Work Fine, as Long as the Tigers are Smart about it -- The Tigers Den, Matt Snyder
I like this notion a lot, actually. Though the idea of having Ryan Raburn and Delmon Young as regular DH alternates makes me a wee bit queasy.

If necessary, Tigers have ability to put good defensive team on field | The Detroit News -- detroitnews.com, Tom Gage
"The give-and-take for the Tigers is they're electing to put offense over defense -- but doing so with a safety-net awareness of having better defensive players they can turn to at several positions if needed." I, however, think Miguel Cabrera is going to turn a lot of heads at third base. No, seriously.

Detroit Tigers' Nick Castellanos, Jacob Turner named to ESPN.com's top 100 prospects -- MLive.com, James Schmehl
Who said we didn't have any good position players in the farm system? We have ... one.

The latest incarnation of Justin Verlander -- Roar of the Tigers, Samara Pearlstein
#JustinVerlander #Ninja #Awesome

Tigers statues getting cosmetic work -- Beck's Blog, Jason Beck
The Comerica Park ceramic tigers get a face-lift. About time.

Playing devil's advocate: Why each team in the AL Central could pose a threat to Detroit Tigers -- MLive.com, Justin Rogers
For all you optimists out there, Justin Rogers wants to bring you back down to reality for a quick sec. Here's a look at a few reasons why the Tigers maybe should be worrying about their competition.

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Ed. note: Promoted to the front page. Nice wrap-up of Tigers players in the DR this winter. - allikazoo

As a lot of you are aware by now, I am no longer affiliated with Aerys Sports at this time. I am currently in the process of constructing a new website which I hope to have up and running before spring training starts. In the meantime, their loss is your gain, as I would really like to conclude my series on the players in the Tigers organization who played in the Dominican and Venezuelan winter leagues this offseason. And I'll start with the home country of the 2012 Caribbean Series champions: The Dominican Republic.

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Some of you may know of PECOTA, the Baseball Prospectus projection system. Developed in 2002-03 by Nate Silver -- son of Dr. Brian Silver, who was my favorite professor at Michigan State at around that same time -- the system uses statistical modeling to create projections for the upcoming season.

(His father was also heavily involved in statistical modeling and elections. All I did in his class, however, was read Supreme Court rulings and debate things, which thankfully involved a lot less math. Full disclosure brag: I got a 4.0 in the class and a letter of recommendation from Dr. Silver.)

PECOTA had its up years and its down, sometimes coming back as the most successful system and sometimes not. Nate Silver has since left to model elections for FiveThirtyEight and the New York Times, leaving the system in new hands. Now, Colin Wyers runs the system after making a few tweaks to it. You can read more details at the Baseball Prospectus site.

While you should never trust any one projection system to consistently the most accurate, I still enjoy the PECOTA system. Maybe because it shows up like Christmas in February every year. Probably because of the list of comparable players given back based on stats, position and body type.

Obviously, giving you a full look at the PECOTA sheet for the Detroit Tigers isn't possible because Baseball Prospectus sells the information to subscribers only. But I thought I'd share a few of the fun ones.

Price Fielder -- Norm Cash, Todd Helton, Frank Thomas
A famous Tigers slugger and my favorite player of the 90s. Not the best comparables but not bad.

Max Scherzer -- Pedro Martinez, Jake Peavy
We'll take it.

Adam Wilk: Mark Buehrle
Wait, what?!

Justin Verlander -- Kevin Appier
Wait, what?! Part 2

Delmon Young -- Moises Alou, Carlos Lee
See, Detroit didn't need to trade for Lee after all!

Jose Valverde -- Kerry Wood
I was really expecting to see Al Alburquerque here, to be honest.

Magglio Ordonez -- Al Kaline
Sure Maggs isn't with Detroit any more, but it's nice to see Kaline come back as the best comparable

There's plenty more fun stuff on PECOTA, from Miguel Cabrera's three stolen bases to Brandon Inge's batting average. (Hint: they're about the same.) So if you subscribe, be sure to go download your copy now and check it out. If you don't subscribe, give Baseball Prospectus a look.

The Detroit Tigers announced the games that will be televised and on the radio during the 2012 spring training.

TV Dates:

March 14 -- ESPN
March 19 -- ESPN
March 20 -- ESPN
March 21 -- Fox Sports Detroit
March 29 -- Fox Sports Detroit
March 31 -- Fox Sports Detroit
April 4 -- Vs. Toledo Mud Hens -- Fox Sports Detroit

Other games may be picked up by the MLB Network, but those seven are the bare minimum.

Radio dates:

March 3 -- 97.1 FM
March 4 -- 1270 AM
March 5 -- 97.1 FM
March 9 -- 1270 AM
March 10 -- 97.1 FM
March 11 - 97.1 FM
March 17 -- 97.1 FM
March 18 -- 1270 AM
March 25 -- 97.1 FM
March 31 -- 97.1 FM
April 1 -- 1270 AM

As out-staters know, you may or may not get these games on your affiliated stations. (I know I don't get them in Marquette).

Who would you rather have: Danny Worth or Brandon Inge?

As with any topic that involves Inge, I suspect a lot of people snapped right to a judgment on that question.

"ANYONE BUT INGE!!!"

But is it really that simple?

Lynn Henning asked and answered the Worth or Inge dilemma at the Detroit News. While money may play a part of it - Inge is owed $5.5 million and will likely be given every opportunity to earn it during spring training - a key factor is versatility. Worth has it; Inge does not.

Henning writes:

For all his flexibility, Inge offers value only as a third baseman. And that value isn't what it once was due to his age and relative decline in defensive skills. In short, he isn't the One Man Infield Left Side he was five years ago.

Here, Worth has a significant edge. He can play third base almost as well as he plays shortstop and second base, which is very well indeed.

Inge, the king of making outs, does have an ace up his sleeve with his past history of power. He showed that in force during the first half of 2009. It has been missing since. Worth will never be confused with a hitter, let alone a guy who can hit 15 or 20 home runs. So it seems fair to give Inge anywhere from a slight edge here to a bit bigger advantage.

However, as Henning pointed out, Inge is not the same player he used to be. You don't need me to make a fancy graph to show you the direction Inge's defense has gone: down. The slick-fielding, should-have-won-a-Gold-Glove fielder from six seasons ago just hasn't returned to being the player he was before the knee problems of late 2009. So Inge's best selling point - his defense - is quickly moving toward "average."

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Pitchers and catchers countdown: 11 days

Justin Verlander 'a ninja riding a cheetah' in new 'MLB 2K12' ad -- Detroit Free Press, Steve Schrader
I'm going to assume that you've all seen this. But I'm also going to urge you to watch it again. And so by me including it here, I'm simply making that easier for you. You're welcome.

Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes expected to arrive in Miami, meet with Marlins -- MLB.com, Joe Frisaro and Jesse Sanchez
Yoenis Cespedes has reportedly received a travel visa and is scheduled to meet with the Miami Marlins Wednesday. It's not clear if he's meeting with other teams in Miami, but it likely means the Tigers will have their first opportunity to schedule a meeting with the highly sought-after outfielder in person.

Prince is part of third father/son duo to play for the Tigers -- Detroit Athletic Co. Blog, Dan Holmes
But are they the first father/son duo to openly hate each other?

Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski speaks at Detroit Sports Broadcasters Assn. banquet -- Out of Left Field, Matthew B. Mowery
In case you "accidentally" missed this, Mowery provides a brief overview of Dombroski's Q&A session at DSBA Tiger Day.

MLB preview: Detroit Tigers in Morris -- The Morris Mirror
"Even with Prince Fielder, Detroit may have only the sixth-best roster in the American League in my book." Yeah? Well your book is stupid.

Memo to owners: spend money! -- SI.com, Joe Sheehan
Sheehan says Detroit Tigers Mike Ilitch is one of the few owners in baseball who is more concerned with winning than money. He says more owners need to take greater risks in signing free agents instead of worrying about putting their team "in red" so to speak.

Best Pitching Rotations Ever -- Tiger Tales, Lee Panas
Panas breaks down the best pitching rotations in the history of baseball. The final list includes the 1946 and 1949 Detroit Tigers. Can you name both those rotations without peeking?

Detroit Tigers' Dave Dombrowski expects Collin Balester to make roster; says one spot left in bullpen -- MLive.com, James Schmehl
Right-handed reliever Collin Balester is expected to be on the Tigers opening-day roster. So who does that leave for the final spot in the bullpen. My bet is on Duane Below, but it's possible I have a soft-spot for the guy. Who do you guys have?

Detroit Tigers' increased revenue could absorb cost of Prince Fielder's $214 million contract -- MLive.com, Justin Rogers
Rogers says if you factor in "attendance increases from the 2006 postseason appearance, and jumps after big acquisitions such as Miguel Cabrera and Pudge Rodriguez, the Tigers increased revenue could easily cover Fielder's massive contract." But will it cover the one we're about to give Yoenis Cespedes? What? I can dream.

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