Pittsburgh settled on a one-year, $1.475M contract with the arbitration-eligible Randall Simon yesterday. Simon compensates for a low walk rate with a very high contact rate, which should not be as effective in Pittsburgh as it was in the spaciousness of Comerica Park. Consequently, his batting average will likely drop below .300. However while he won't see the kind of boost in his power numbers a right-handed hitter leaving Detroit should witness, he should see a rise in his SLG. The 27-year-old will earn his salary, but the Pirates still made a poor choice in executing the trade that brought him to Pittsburgh.

OF-R Juan Tolentino signed a minor league deal with Pittsburgh. Anaheim signed Tolentino as a nondrafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 1994. As a free agent last season, he failed to sign with an MLB affiliate, playing instead in Mexico and the independent Northern League. While he's displayed mediocre power and speed skills, the 26-year-old's poor plate discipline should keep him out of the majors indefinitely.

Meanwhile, we still haven't discussed a number of players that have signed minor league deals with Detroit, including 1B-L Kevin Barker, C-R Robinson Cancel, 3B-R Tom Evans, C-R Bill Haselman, IF-R Danny Klassen, IF-L Warren Morris, C-R Luis Taveraz, OF-L Kevin Witt, and OF-R Ernie Young.

Barker possesses decent plate discipline and a moderate amount of power. However, the Tigers have numerous players vying for roster spots, so the 27-year-old's lack of positional flexibility will likely keep him in the minors, baring an injury during the season.

Milwaukee drafted Cancel out of high school with their 16th round pick of the 1994 draft. As a free agent last season, Cancel signed with Oakland. The 26-year-old spent most of last season with the A's AA affiliate at Midland in the Texas League, where he hit .281 with a .338 OBP and .433 SLG on 113 H, 21 2B, 2 3B, and 12 HR with a 32:70 BB:K in 402 AB. Unfortunately while he's definitely displayed promise, the Tigers need someone more prepared for the majors. Cancel should spend the season working on his plate discipline in AAA. Nevertheless, I fully expect him to spend time behind the Detroit plate at some point during the season.

The Blue Jays drafted Tom Evans out of high school with their 4th round pick of the 1992 draft, but Texas grabbed him off waivers from Toronto in 1999. As a free agent, he remained in the Rangers system for a year and then signed with Detroit, who sold him to Japan in June of 2001. After a season and a half in Japan, he's re-signed with the Tigers. The 28-year-old's contact rate needs improvement, but he generally has solid plate discipline and mediocre power. However, I don't see a roster spot opening for him in Detroit in 2003.

Bill Haselman currently offers more offense than nominal starting catcher Brandon Inge, but he's not the quality backstop the Tigers needed to acquire this off-season. The 36-year-old is also somewhat fragile at this point in his career, so he'll almost certainly miss time due to injury, causing Detroit to call-up someone even less helpful.

Danny Klassen missed most of 2001 following foot surgery and spent the first month of 2002 on the DL with a toe problem before the Diamondbacks outrighted him to AAA for the remainder of the season. His walk rate has slipped substantially and his contact rate has always needed improvement. Despite his foot problems, he appears to still have some speed on the bases, but the 27-year-old possesses only minimal power skills. I expect the Tigers to fiddle with their roster quite a bit in 2003, so he may end up in the majors for a brief stint, however I don't think he'll break camp with the team or help them much when he's on the roster.

Warren Morris bounced around quite a bit last season, spending time at the AAA affiliates of Minnesota, St. Louis, and Boston. I remain intrigued by Morris' plate discipline and mild power skills, though my confidence that the 29-year-old will receive an extended opportunity to display them in the majors again is fading. There's a little less competition for middle infield at-bats in Detroit, but I'll still be surprised if Morris spends a significant amount of time in the majors.

Texas signed Luis Taveras as a nondrafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 1995. As a free agent last year, he signed with the Braves and spent the season with their AA affiliate at Greenville, where he hit .256 with a .337 OBP and .429 SLG on 40 H, 10 2B, 1 3B, and 5 HR with a 18:25 BB:K and 1/2 SB% in 156 AB. As with Cancel, I see some potential here, but the 25-year-old needs time at AAA, and the Tigers need major league ready catchers.

Toronto drafted Kevin Witt out of high school with the 28th overall pick of the 1994 draft. As a free agent, he spent a season with the Padres and then signed with the Reds last year. Luckily, the 27-year-old only needed a year to realize that Cincinnati wasn't a good place for an outfielder to break into the majors, though he might not have a lot more luck in Detroit, given the number of players they want to see time in the outfield. Witt possesses considerable power upside, but either needs to improve his walk and/or contact rates in order to begin receiving consistent playing time in the majors.

Ernie Young tore up the Pacific Coast League in his limited at bats with AAA Tucson last season. The 33-year-old hit .325 with a .426 OBP and .656 SLG on 52 H, 9 2B, 1 3B, and 14 HR with a 24:33 BB:K and 0/3 SB%. Young held a AAAA job for two seasons before and after his one full year in the majors in 1996. Unfortunately, his walk rate grew too inconsistent and his contact rate too poor to sustain major league interest. However, the Tigers are the kind of team that will notice a gaudy performance like the one he managed at AAA last season, so I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him spend time on their roster this year.