PRO Rumors financial efficiency report- Detroit Tigers

The next financial efficiency report will feature the AL Central Champions, Detroit Tigers. A team that quickly forgot about their losing ways in the beginning of the 21st century.

They have an outstanding offense, now even more improved with the addition of Prince Fielder, and the most dominant starting pitcher in the Majors in 2011, Justin Verlander.

In 2011, the Tigers won 96 games during the regular season. This means that they won 47 games above the 49 games won line. Their payroll for 2011 was $105,700,231 (ranked tenth in the Majors), breaking down their expenses to $2,006,451.72 for every win they got above 49.

Their top five paid players were:

– Miguel Cabrera ($20,000,000): A worthy MVP candidate in 2011, Cabrera hit .344/.448/.586 with 30 HR's, 105 RBI's, 111 runs and a 1.0333 OPS in a career high 161 games. The slugger earned $666,666.67 for every home run he hit, $190,476.19 for every run he batted in, $180,180.18 for every run he scored or $61,162.08 for every time he got on base.

– Carlos Guillen ($12,922,232): Guillen hit .232/.265/.368 with 3 HR's, 13 RBI's, 8 runs and a .633 OPS in only 28 games. He earned $4,307,410.67 for every home run hit, $994,017.85 for every run batted in, $1,615,279 for every run scored or $478,601.19 for every time he got on base.

– Justin Verlander ($12,850,000): The most dominant pitcher in the Majors in 2011 went 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts in 251 innings pitched. Verlander earned $535,416.67 for every game he won, $51,400 for every hitter he struck out or $176,027.40 for every run the opposition scored against him.

– Victor Martinez ($12,000,000): The switch hitting catcher hit .330/.380/.470 with 12 HR's, 103 RBI's, 76 runs and a .850 OPS. Martinez earned $1,000,000 for every home run he hit, $116,504.85 for every run he batted in, $157,894.74 for every run he scored or $52,173.91 for every time he got on base.

– Magglio Ordonez ($10,000,000): Ordonez hit .255/.303/.331 with 5 HR's, 32 RBI's, 33 runs and a .634 OPS. He earned $2,000,000 for every home run he hit, $312,500 for every run he batted in, $303,030.30 for every run he scored or $97,457.94 for every time he got on base.

Out of their top five paid players, only three lived up their expectations, actually two of them were outstanding, and probably among the best three players in the league, in my opinion (Cabrera and Verlander). Guillen was limited by injuries to only 28 games, making him incredibly pricey for the productivity they got from him.

Ordonez saw his playing time limited with injuries too, although he end up playing in 92 games. His power seemed to have vanished, slugging only .331 for the season, basically he slugged like a short stop while playing as a right fielder or a designated hitter.

Martinez proved to be valuable as a hitter for the Tigers, who saw time behind the plate with Alex Avila and but majority of his time was as the designated hitter. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they won't have Martinez in 2012 because he suffered a torn ACL and a knee micro-fracture, but they are hoping that Fielder fills the void left for him next season.

The Tigers were a competitive team, with bright stars such as Cabrera, Verlander and Martinez, combining them with young talent such as Austin Jackson, Rick Porcello, Avila, Max Scherzer and Doug Fister. Their collective OBP was .344 (third in the AL), their SLG was .434 (fourth in the AL) and their OPS was .773 (also fourth in the AL). They also scored a total of 787 runs, fourth in the AL. Breaking down their expenses, each run they scored cost them $134,307.79.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.