John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle addresses the possibility of adding Barry Bonds to a Tigers team with a struggling offense out of the gate. The team is currently 2-9 with a league-low 33 runs scored.
GM Dave Dombrowski responded to concerns raised about the offensive production thus far with his best Alfred E. Neuman impersonation, saying, "What! Me worry?"
"If we hit the same all year, I’d be the most surprised I’ve ever been in my career," he said. On signing Bonds, Dombrowski replied, "Our everyday lineup is set. It’s not even a situation with us."
All this hand wringing over the offense, while understandable, seems misdirected. The real concern has to be the pitching staff. As Shea points out, the starting staff had just one quality start in the team’s first nine games. With or without adding the recently DFA’d Kyle Snyder, Detroit should be much more concerned about solidifying its rotation and relief corps. That offense is going to produce. But pinning all hopes on it while neglecting the team’s arms could lead to a lot of disappointed fans.
