It's that time of year again!

Ah...

The smell of the fresh cut grass... the palm trees blowing in the wind... the... what?

Baseball my friend is just a mere 41 hours away. Pitcher's and catchers are for the most part already in Lakeland. The gear has been packed and arrived last week. Now we just wait and imagine the first ball pop in the a catchers mit.

Tiger's baseball really has a lot more questions this year than in years past. Many feel that this is their strongest club in the past few years due to off season acquisitions.

I'm not a huge believe that acquisitions are the key to winning the World Series... note the New York Yankees of the past 20 years (granted they've won it five times in that time frame).

I myself enjoy the players that make decisions for enjoyment, family and whatever else that doesn't put them in a New York uniform. Cliff Lee is a good example.

The Tiger's have two major concern's in my eyes. #1 Rotation and #2 2B. I think the rotation could be the strongest in the majors but we won't know till September. Scherzer was questionable the first few months of last year and Porcello had a nasty Sophomore slump. If they both repeat them and Verlander has his third bad April in a row the Tiger's will be in third having to find a way to get back in a race. You can't enter August 15 within 2 games of the Twins, odds are your going to be sitting at home in October.

Phil Coke is interesting. I have VERY mixed feelings. On one hand I say he shocks baseball for a 16 win season as he mixes energy with craftyness (remember Kenny Rogers?) on the other hand I can see him in the bullpen May 8 with us all knowing that was a disaster. That could mean the promotion of Jacob Turner who will more than likely be successful as a big leaguer but I'm not sure we want to find out while chasing down a pennant. Brad Penny's addition really wasn't a surprise. An upgrade of Gallaraga but we'll probably have to see Turner at some point because Penny's age has a chance of catching up to him.

My other concern is the clubhouse. Chemistry is one of the most important parts of baseball. I hope the signing of Victor Martinez does more than add 20 home runs next year. Rumor's say he's a great clubhouse guy. We need this. Body language over the past couple years tells me theirs a bit of division in the clubhouse. Hope we can shore that up.

Overall, I'd like to see some blow out wins in April... I mean some 12-3, 14-2 games. We haven't seen much of that early on lately.