At this point in time, Sean Casey is the Tigers 2007 starting first basemen.  He’s had his share of injuries the past couple of years and in Will Carroll’s latest positional health report, Casey comes in with a high risk red light.  So the question is, if Casey is an injury concern how should he be handled day to day by Jim Leyland.  While it’s not a certainly, I tend to agree with Carroll that if Casey starts day and in day out, his chances of hitting the DL are pretty good.  So the question is, do we keep Chris Shelton on the team or do we shuffle things a bit and move Carlos Guillen to first once a week and then give Ramon Santiago, or even better, Omar Infante, some time at shortstop.  If the Tigers keep 12 pitchers, there might not be room for Shelton, which would force them to do the shuffling.  I’ve also heard they might try giving Marcus Thames some time at first base, which could be another potential solution.

I guess I never realized it, but Magglio Ordonez has a solid throwing arm.  His range might not be up near the top, but in a column at the Hardball Times, Ordonez came in with the third best throwing arm amongst right fielders.  His kill rating was a second best 164 although his hold rating was a slightly above average 106.  Regardless, his arm saved about five runs last year. 

While Curtis Granderson was near the bottom of the centerfielder list, Craig Monroe came in fourth place amongst left fielders.  His 187 kill rating was best on that list while his hold rating was an average 101.  Expect to see those numbers close on one another as more people respect Monroe’s arm in 2007.

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