Detroit has been doing some spring cleaning. President Dan Dombrowski fired GM Randy Smith and Manager Phil Garner on Monday. The Tigers' 0-6 record in the first week was evidently the last straw.

Bench coach Luis Pujols will manage the team this season. His performance will be reevaluated after the year before a long-term decision is made. Pujols has limited managerial experience, though he did manage AA Erie last season. However, he has considerable coaching experience, including 8 seasons as a major league coach for the Montreal Expos under Felipe Alou, in addition to the 6 years he spent in their minor league system during Dombrowski's time with the organization. Previous to his coaching work, Pujols was a major league catcher. He spent most of his playing career with the Houston Astros, along with brief stints with both the Royals and the Rangers.

Considering the fuss after the Tigers hired Garner without interviewing any minority candidates shortly after Selig's announcement that all teams were to include minorities in interviews, Pujols' hiring seems to be progress. Fortunately, in addition to being a minority, he also appears to be qualified. Hiring Garner was just a mistake from the beginning. In nine years of managing, he hasn't managed a winning team since his first season as a manager.

Under the circumstances, Dombrowski's decisions appear to be sound. Had he fired men with otherwise unblemished records after one bad week, his decision certainly would have been rash. However, both these men have failed to provide the organization with sufficient reasons to keep them on while the team continues to lose.

While you could argue that neither ever really had the resources necessary to succeed, given that the resources are unlikely to change, it seems logical to bring in people who at least have a chance of winning with what they have. Pujols doesn't have a lot of managerial experience but his extensive coaching experience appears to have prepared him sufficiently to try his hand at the job.

Dombrowski worked with Alou in Montreal and would like him to join the Tigers as bench coach. If Pujols does not last more than a season, Alou would then reportedly have the option of becoming a special assistant in the front office. The former manager is considering the offer. Alou's main concern seems to be the length of the position, as after his long stay in Montreal, he doesn't want a temporary position.

Other coaching changes have already been made. Pitching Coach Dan Warthen, Bullpen Coach Ed Ott, and 3B Coach Doug Mansolino were all included in the firings. AA pitching coach Steve McCatty will be given the major league job, and AAA pitching coach Jeff Jones will be given the position of bullpen coach. First Base Coach Juan Samuel will move to Third and roving infield instructor Rafael Landestoy will be the new 1B coach. Merv Rettenmund, who was fired by the Braves after last season, will stay on as the Tigers' hitting coach.

Detroit has had problems regulating the workload of their pitchers, so hopefully this change of managers and coaching staff will allow them to better regulate their pitch counts.

Dombrowski has successfully transformed first Montreal and then Florida from states resembling the mess in which the Tigers find themselves, and he should be able to do the same for Detroit. Most of the contracts that Randy Smith negotiated over the off-season are at least acceptable, and Smith has done a decent job revitalizing Detroit's minor league system.

While the transformation will likely not be immediately evident in the standings this season, the team should at least begin to move towards future success. I expect Dombrowski to be very active over the course of the season.

Among their other problems the Tigers have been somewhat plagued by injuries. Regardless of a player's upside, he's going to have a hard time contributing to the success of his team if he can't get in the game due to injury. Dombrowski will need to address this aspect of the organization. A team with good depth can afford to lose a couple of players to injury, but even the players who make up Detroit's depth have injury problems.

Some of the team's injuries are the result of unpredictable accidents. Damian Jackson is currently on the DL after one of his fingernails was ripped off. However, many of their players are subject to chronic back problems or muscle strains.

Robert Fick is currently sidelined with hamstring problems that have bothered him in past seasons as well. Following shoulder surgery, he was no longer able to throw out base runners at a satisfactory rate and was removed from catching duties. The bad hamstring has limited him to DHing.

Meanwhile, Dean Palmer is also limited to DH because of a sore neck and back. Palmer seems to be continually injured to the point where he appears incapable of playing the field. Detroit might be able to roster one player between Fick and Palmer but trying to play both makes little sense, especially when they want to have Mitch Meluskey in the lineup as much as possible without over-tasking his shoulder, which is recovering from surgery that forced him to miss all of 2001.