OT: The Tigers 2011 Roster...............

I would not have a middle infield made up of Jhonny and Sizemore.  Sizemore can't catch the ball and Jhonny can't move well enough to play short.  I'd have Worth at SS and Jhonny at second and Sizemore on the bench. 

The only reason I am going to be a downer here, is b/c you said you wanted to be realistic.  We're not going to get Crawford.  I know we have a ton of money, but hes the gem of the free agent market, and those guys don't come to detroit.  Someone else will pay him what he wants.   I could see us going after a guy like Werth, or even one of the KC OFs that will be on the market (Guillen and DeJesus).  They won't cost a fortune, and can be solid parts to surround Miggy.  I think the plan will be once again to build around pitching, and spend most of the money there.

Also, if we do sign Buck, which would be a great pickup, he will be our starter.  Avila is a find young player, but he is almost Lairdish at the plate.  He will be a lefty bat when we need one, but Buck brings too much offensively to leave him on the bench. 

to gobluejrm, Damon was looking for 2 years, but only got one from us.  So I doubt he will be back, unless we can sign him for under 4M.  I'm also very skeptical that we will pick up the Perralta option.  Also, he is terrible defensively, so I'm not crazy about putting him in as a double play pair with a really young player.  I think we will use some of that money to go after a SS on the market.  There are a few mid level guys available that could be some smart signings.   Some names that come to mind are Guzman or Vasquez (ramon). 

Pitching.  This is the area we set up well for next year with Verlander, Porcello and Scherzer.  We have Galarraga if we need him at the back end of the rotation, and we will most likely try to pick up one more solid starter to finish off the rotation.  We have some solid young arms in the system that will fill in holes here or there, but they won't be ready for  full time starting jobs.  The OP has Malholm listed, but I doubt we pick him up.  That guy has been average/below average in the NL and I see a major let down coming if we pick him up.  Some guys to keep an eye on might be De La Rosa and Cain.  Two NL guys that have had success and we can pay.  Vicente Padilla and Javier Vasquez could also be available, and won't demand as much money as they did before their last signings. 

Basically, I like your lineup, but I see us going a little different direction in free agency, maybe not spending a ton of money on one guy (crawford) but patching a bunch of holes with above average guys.  I also don't see us going up to 140M on the payroll again.  Probably around 110 sounds right to me.

The Tigers sign the following of their own free agents:

Inge

Ordonez

They sign the following free agents:

Buck

Werth

Lilly

Rauch

The trade for a middle infielder, candidates are:

Brendan Ryan

Kelly Johnson

Jack Wilson

Chone Figgins

Since many people seem to put pro sports in the wrong categories despite the guidance already given, it might be worth creating a pro sports category.

I don't think Ordonez will be back. I think he's worn out his welcome, and people will remember him not for being a great player, but for being just average the last two years when we were paying him to be a superstar. I think it would be good to have him back, but it seems like it's time to move on, like Rasheed Wallace from the Pistons last year.

CARL CRAWFORD CARL CRAWFORD CARL CRAWFORD everyone's getting excited about him, including me, but as Blueintheface said, the top FA won't come to Detroit when he has offers from LA and NY/Boston. Strange things have happened (see Magglio and Pudge), but I don't think it's possible in this case. He would be a great fit, however, and Illitch should throw hundreds of millions at him. He and Jackson would be the faces of the franchise for years to come (especially if the don't strike out like the last savior, Granderson, did).

We have a ton of money to spend, so I hope they at least make one big signing. They need to sell tickets in addition to winning games, so hopefully they come up with somebody popular and familiar, like they did with Johnny Damon this year.

that's not bad, but John Buck is starting over Alex Avila if we signed him. Plus, you don't want Peralta playing shortstop. He's an error machine there. & Carlos Guillen's contract runs through next year so he'll almost definitely be back.