4 Years ago the Detroit Tigers were a laughing stock that featured 2 20-game losers. 2 years ago they were a World Series team, and the best story of the baseball season. Last year they were a disappointment. Today, they are big winners.

In a surprise move GM Dave Dombrowski proved he gets it. Prospects are great, but when you have talent already in place, they are of better use to help your ball club win right now. By trading his last 2 first round picks (Cameron Mayberry and Andrew Miller) he was able to acquire the biggest bat available on the market. Oh, and he also got a pretty talented pitcher to go along with it.

That's right folks; Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis are now Tigers. And those Tigers are immediate favorites to win the World Series. This line up looks to be sensational: Curtis Granderson, Placido Polanco, Magglio Ordonez, Miguel Cabrera, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Guillen, Ivan Rodriguez, Edgar Renteria, and either Jacque Jones or Marcus Thames batting ninth. There are no holes here. I guess if you had to say one bad thing it would be that there is not enough left handed balance, but that's pushing it.

This looks like a team that should have no problems scoring 1000 runs next year. And if the pitching is adequate they should easily be playoff bound. A couple of questions do exist for that staff though. The first is the health of Jeremy Bonderman. I'm not sure he's truly healthy. I remember watching Matt Clement in 2005 and noticing how flat his slider was. He ended up needing surgery at the beginning of the 2006 season. I saw the same thing with Bonderman last year. No drastic change in velocity, but a really flat slider.

Another concern in the rotation comes when talking about the gambler, Kenny Rogers. Rogers will be 42 this year and is coming off of surgery for a blood clot in his throwing arm, and was then sidelined by elbow problems late in the year.

There is one subplot here that should not go overlooked, and could be settled in 2 weeks. I'm talking about George Mitchell's report. The Tigers have 3 players that I believe could be implemented for using performance-enhancing drugs. The first is obvious. We all know that Gary Sheffield was involved in the BALCO investigations. It shouldn't affect Sheffield seeing how he's played for 4 years since testifying to a federal grand jury.

The man affectionately known as Pudge, Ivan Rodriguez's name could come out in this investigation too. From 1999-2001 Rodriguez produced over 20 home runs including a 1999 campaign (when performance enhancers are said to have been at their peak) where he mashed 35 round trippers. Since then he has failed to record a single season with 20 homers.

Pudge played the first part of his career in Texas. Follow the Canseco trail, and it isn't hard to figure out that steroids ended up in the long horn state. Juan Gonzales, Raphael Palmeiro, Pudge, and I'll even be really bold and mention the name Alex Rodriguez.

Although it's been long forgotten and written off as one of Ozzie Guillens insane rants, but he still said it. When being traded from the White Sox, manager Ozzie Guillen went on a profanity laced tirade in which he said  "He's a piece of [bleep]. He's a [bleep], that's what he is. He's another Venezuelan [bleep]. [Bleep] him. He has an enemy. Now he has a big one. He knows I can [bleep] him a lot of different ways. He better shut the [bleep] up and play for the Detroit Tigers."

The part that stands out most to me is this, "he knows I can [bleep] him a lot of different ways". Sounds like Ozzie's got some dirt on Maggs. Could he be referring to some sort of steroid use? That was my immediate thought when the quote came out.

All this aside, The Tigers look primed for a deep October run.