The following is the third and final article in a three-part series that will offer a 2012 season preview for the Detroit Tigers.
March 31st – Projected Lineup and Bench
April 2nd – Projected Starting Rotation and Bullpen
April 3rd – General Season Outlook
April 5th – Detroit Tigers’ Season Opener vs. Boston Red Sox
Projected Record
97-65, AL Central Champions. I don’t like to count my chickens before their hatched, but that’s exactly what I’m doing here. If the Tiger’s fail to win the AL Central this year, given the quality of the rest of the teams in the division, everyone will consider the season a devastating failure. Hell, anything short of a World Series appearance will be considered a failure given this payroll. Mike Illitch didn’t open up his wallet to pay for a team to win the easiest division in the MLB and bow out in the divisional series.
Projected Team MVP
Miguel Cabrera, 3B. I’m thinking out of the box and really stepping out on a limb on this one, eh? The majority of analysts are picking Miggy to win the AL MVP, so projecting him as the team MVP might seem easy. In the words of the fabled Lee Corso, “Not so fast, my friend!” I took a really long deciding between Miggy and Verlander here, but I think the addition of Prince Fielder and the insurance he offers in the lineup put Miggy over the top in my mind.
3 Players who need to improve on their 2011 results
1. Austin Jackson
2. Max Scherzer
3. Phil Coke
3 Players who can’t be expected to recreate their 2011 results
1. Justin Verlander
2. Jhonny Peralta
3. Doug Fister
1-3-1 Sports 
Dude, needs to play other games, listening to his whine is IRRITATING to the Google. I can’t hit as well &I like plnayig THE SHOW on LEGEND level. & as frustrating as it is to hit I stuck with it, and my issue is SWINGING (or tapping X) too slow. I had? to coach myself into tapping x much more quickly, rather than spend time guessing the pitch TYPE or LOCATION. I just keep my eye on the ball and mentally, & ignore the pretty display indicators as they would not B there in real life anyways.