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The Tigers should play no one in left field

All our problems are solved.

By Patrick Whelan
Jimmy Sawczuk

The speculation on what the Tigers will do with left field has been exhaustive, and frankly, unhelpful. Give another player 150 million dollars? Cameron Maybin, Anthony Gose or Tyler Collins? Or are we really going back to Ryan Raburn? Hey, they just signed John Mayberry Jr to a minor league deal! I'm sure many of you have prayed that these can't be the all the solutions, and I am here to tell you that they are not. Tigers fans, there is a better option.

The Tigers should play no one in left field.

All our current problems will be solved.

Look, it is time to be a realist. Mike Ilitch has hit his spending limit, and the Tigers won't be putting a good player in left field. And if they aren't going to spend big, don't half ass it and go get Ryan Raburn. It is literally more effective to play no one in left than to play Ryan Raburn.

We can't have him out there throwing balls over the fence. So avoid the fiasco and stay under the luxury tax limit. Win-win.

Besides, we have already found our left fielder of the future. Enter former cricketer and future raking machine Kieran Powell. I mean he is one of only 81 players to ever score centuries in both innings of a test match. Do I have any idea what that means? Of course not, its a totally made up sport, but the Internet informs me that it was impressive. Swing is already Miggy-esque.

And consider how often this will allow Brad Ausmus to shift. Guy will be ecstatic. Imagine all the harebrained schemes that crazy guy is going to get into. Two outfielders in right. Shifts to every inch of Comerica. Using the size of the park and BIG DATA to confound opposition.

That final batting spot can be any number of players. Really maximize that bench. Get Mike Avilés involved! Thats why we brought him in, meaningful, high leverage at bats. And I hear that there's some new cat in the minor leagues thats shooting up the prospect rankings. Give him some swings too.

Some might call this revolutionary, but I'm a bit more humble. It's really straight forward. Sign no one and save the team money, give the manager the flexibility he craves and dumbfound the opponent with intricate shifts and a revolving door of batters. You are welcome Tigers fans. I look forward to the Joe Maddon copying this idea three weeks into the season.

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