Seems as if The Barry Bonds Family Foundation has welcomed a new member.

“I don’t try to compare me to anybody,’’ Bonds said. “I was the best on the field. I did more things than he did. My game was different than his game. So comparing him, to me, there’s no comparison.

“He doesn’t have my MVPs. He doesn’t have my numbers. Well, not yet, anyways.

“But does he have that ability? Yes, he does.

“Does he have that gift? Yes, he does.’‘

...“Winning a Triple Crown is amazing to me,’’ Bonds ...

If you wondered what Cabrera would do for an encore after winning the Triple Crown, he’s sailing along. His batting average is 83 points higher than it was at this time last season. He also has three home runs and 13 RBIs more than he did after 42 games last season.

...For his part, Cabrera seemed almost embarrassed by the attention. He said he took no joy from doing great things in a loss. He also said that any talk of comparing him to the all-time greats is premature.

“It’s too soon to say ...

Bah! No mention of Em Lindbeck...he was an on-base machine (.000/.500/.000)!

However, and I know this will irk the legion of Kaline fans out there, Cabrera is a better hitter than #6. He has more power, he pulls the ball better, he goes to the opposite field better, and he is a better RBI man than Al was. It’s not a knock on Kaline, because Cabrera is one of the best hitters to ever play the game. He has a career .320 batting average and his slugging marks are among the best of the last 25 ...

7. OK, where does Cabrera rank among all-time right-handed batters?

Right now he’s playing his age-30 season. He has 327 home runs, which ranks 11th—more than Willie Mays had through age 30 but fewer than Andruw Jones or Juan Gonzalez. He’s fifth in RBIs, behind only Jimmie Foxx, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Hank Aaron, and is a good bet to pass Aaron and maybe Pujols (70 behind).

8. Those are old-school stats. What about some of your fancy sabermetric stuff?

OK, let’s look at OPS+ ...

Team Putkonen on!

The blueprint has worked once again. Cabrera and Fielder are putting up another elite season. Hunter is thriving, Austin Jackson is still getting on base at a .350 rate, and the supporting cast of Andy Dirks, Omar Infante, and Jhonny Peralta are performing well. The offense ranks in the top four in every offensive category. They are doing so while Victor Martinez continues to shake the rust after a year layoff.

The Tigers are not without their flaws. Defensively, they rank ...

Overreaching the Kelly criterion…

Kelly is now hitting .192.

What kind of idiot defends a guy hitting .192?

One that acknowledges he is the 25th man on the roster and has accounted for just about 2.7 percent of the team’s plate appearances, that’s who.

What the well-paid stars of the team do — or don’t do — on a day-to-day basis matters far more than what Kelly does.

Here’s what Kelly does, exactly: play first base. And second, and third, and he’s even played shortstop before, though ...

I haven’t seen a Victor mail it in this bad since Victor Mature in “Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood”.

With two outs in the bottom of the third in Detroit, Tigers infielder Jhonny Peralta sent a line drive single to right field, scoring Prince Fielder from third. Victor Martinez—who had previously doubled—attempted to score from second on the play.

The problem here was three-fold:

1. Martinez was already slow.
2. He’s a season removed from having his ACL (knee) repaired.
3. Royals ...

I didn’t mention Rod Allen’s recent riff of “you don’t need range to have a good defense.”...because my Glasgow Coma Scale numbers hadn’t come in yet.

The Tigers’ few overall weaknesses — an unimpressive bench, shaky infield defense on the right side — shouldn’t be fatal over the course of a long season. But in the first month of this season, the bullpen has been a shambles. And that is a major dilemma.

I’ll pass over the glaring lack of infield range (particularly the ...

AL SO/9 is now up to 7.6. Ho-hum…K’s are becoming the HR’s of the 90’s.

The Detroit Tigers needed 14 innings, 19 strikeouts, eight pitchers and ended the game by throwing out a runner at the plate, all in order to beat the Seattle Mariners 2-1. The two teams combined for 40 strikeouts (Mariners 19, Tigers 21), the second-highest single game total of all time.

Neither starting pitcher was eligible for a decision, but Max Scherzer and Felix Hernandez deserved better. Scherzer and Hernandez ...

Bengough home!

Baseball has had its share of great lineups. Is the Tigers’ current batting order next?

It may not be far-fetched.

...After a dozen games this season, the Tigers have a long way to go to be mentioned in the same breath with “Murder’s Row” and the “Big Red Machine.”

Yet, it does appear the Tigers have put together one of the most formidable lineups in recent baseball history.

The Tigers’ team batting average is .307 - 30 points better than the next best team ...

“I hopped on Baseball-Reference.com” Obviously, Lowe hopped up on something…

I got on the scent of this question during Wednesday’s game between the Tigers and Blue Jays. Miguel Cabrera singled in the first inning, giving the Tigers two .400 hitters on the young season, Cabrera and Torii Hunter.

I hopped on Baseball-Reference.com and learned that the only team to have more than one .400 hitter was the Philadelphia Phillies of 1894. They had three players bat at least .400: the starting ...

This week [Robinson] received the honor of throwing out the first pitch at a Detroit Tigers game. No problem, right? He’s a quarterback. There job is to throw passes. Piece of cake, right? Right? RIGHT?!

Baseball IS harder than football!

Now sponsored by Baseball-Reference.com’s Play Index!

- Joe is a character in the new MLB: The Show video game.  (So is Aaron Gleeman, BTW.)  Since Joe isn’t a video game player, he doesn’t really know the details, but he’s happy.

- Playoff predictions:
Rany: TOR, DET, LAA, TB (wild card), TEX (wild card), WAS, CIN, ARI, ATL (wild card), STL (wild card); play-ins: TB d. TEX, ATL d. STL; World Series: WAS d. TOR
Joe: TB, DET, TEX, TOR (wild card), LAA (wild card), WAS, CIN, SD, SF (wild ...

Depression is serious. Hopefully someone suffering from the illness will be helped by the Scherzers sharing their story.

Reunited and it feels so good….

- Jose Valverde has signed a minor-league contract—with no major-league commitment from the Detroit Tigers—general manager Dave Dombrowski announced late this morning.
Valverde will report to extended spring training in Lakeland and face some hitters before joining Triple-A Toledo.

Tigers scouts watched Valverde pitch Saturday during a workout in the Dominican Republic. Dombrowski said Valverde is in excellent shape and threw his splitter, a pitch he got away ...

Not even the eggheads at Government Code and Cipher School at Bletchley Park can figure out what Denny McLain is talking about on Facebook.

One great benefit that we have is that we are a “lock” to win our division; there are no significant teams in our division. KC, Minnesota, Chicago and Cleveland.

Is there one of those teams that could be 500 this year, of course not…..so all we do to do is coast, get ready for playoffs now, we actually could be getting ready already for the playoffs. I’m ...

Fr. Steven J. Kelly is holding his annual “Pray Here for the Tigers” service at 6 p.m.

They’re praying for everyone from the players, to the vendors, to the owners, to the fans.

“ With a couple of hymns, a couple of readings — the service will last about 25 minutes and it’s open to the public. Kelly said it’s a fun service that ends with a rousing rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

But, does God really care about the Tigers?

Kelly said he hopes God cares more ...

The King and his Court-ing Hank Greenberg.

The student nine was ahead, looking like it had the chance to notch its first victory over the faculty in years, when the plot thickened. The faculty called time out and appointed Greenberg honorary dean for the day, a move that made him a de facto member of its side and sent the man with the .313 career batting average, 331 home runs and 1,276 RBI to bat.

Reinsdorf, who had anticipated the faculty would pull some such underhanded stunt, countered by ...

As players, managers and front office executives embrace the esoteric statistics, teams increasingly want their radio announcers just as fluent in the language of WAR, VORP and B.A.B.I.P. (Those stand for wins above replacement, value over replacement player and batting average on balls in play, for those of you dusting off your radios as the season begins.)

“They wanted a broadcaster who is at least comfortable with exploring the idea of discussing advanced statistics and what they mean,” ...

And Kate Upton won the Sun’s “best cleavage” poll. Life is good.

The Tigers announced that they have agreed to terms with Justin Verlander on a five-year contract extension through the 2019 season with a vesting option for the 2020 season.  Verlander will earn $180MM over the next seven seasons and the option is worth $22MM, meaning that he can earn a total of $202MM under terms of his new deal, sources tell Buster Olney of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

Including the vesting option, the SFX client has ...

Oops.

KISSIMMEE, Fla.—The Detroit Tigers will start their AL title defense without a set closer after optioning rookie reliever Bruce Rondon to Triple-A Toledo on Thursday.

“I’ll tell everybody ahead of time, this is going to be tough,” manager Jim Leyland said. “It’l be a second-guesser’s delight, a second-guesser’s heaven.”

Mario Impemba: Al Kaline: Number 399

That mental toughness and focus is also necessary if a player has any thoughts of being a quality major league hitter.

“I used to drive to the games at Tiger Stadium with Bill Freehan and he would tell me that I wasn’t a good driving partner because I never said a word the entire ride,” Kaline said.  Truth was, I was thinking about that night’s pitcher and how he pitched me the last time I faced him.  We’d arrive at the stadium and I wouldn’t remember ...

Jerry Green (flips open wallet with pre-installed Ruth Chatterton photo intact) BBWAA Badge #2 at your service.

It is time for some logic, I say from my perch, long distance.

Presto — Rick Porcello just might make the highly qualified closer the Tigers are seeking.

He might — who knows? — be another Dennis Eckerlsey. A decent starting pitcher who suffered one poor season converted into a better than decent closer.

...Eckersley made it as a dominant closer when his fastball throttled ...

The Detroit Tigers say minor league right-hander Cesar Carrillo has been suspended 100 games for violating baseball’s minor league drug prevention and treatment program.

The team posted a release on its website Friday, saying the commissioner’s office announced the suspension.

Carrillo’s suspension is effective at the start of the season. He is currently on the roster of Erie, which is Detroit’s Double-A affiliate.

Carrillo’s name was included in a Miami New Times report earlier ...

Fielder keepsakes: Out of stock.

Once inseparable, now the pair barely talks.

“I know how much time we spent together, so it used to really, really bother me,” Cecil said in an exclusive interview with The Shadow League on Wednesday, where he also announced he’s writing a book about his ordeal with Prince, due out this year, titled, Blood On The Diamond.

“Ten, 11 years have passed since he graduated high school, so time for me has kind of eased a lot of the pain because I have three ...