He had the highest batting average in baseball from the All-Star break on.

He had an awful first half, but a good reason for it.

He’s a one-time batting champ, a near-MVP. He worked out harder in the winter than he ever has in his career, and he came to spring training in the best shape he’s been in for years.

His teammates say the ball is jumping off his bat again. They say they see it, and they say they hear it.

So tell me: Why shouldn’t we believe in Magglio Ordoñez?

There are those who don’t. Some scouts who travel the I-4 corridor every spring aren’t raving about him the way his Tiger teammates are, the way the Tiger coaches are, the way Tiger manager Jim Leyland is.

“I’d be shocked if he doesn’t have a big year,” Leyland said earlier this spring.

“The bat’s loud again,” Leyland said this week.

“The way he is, as confident and strong as he is, I think this is going to be a big year for him,” teammate and close friend Carlos Guillen said.

Feel free to be skeptical, because Ordñnez is 36 years old now, because he was so bad last year that even some who like him wondered if he was done. Plenty of people in baseball questioned the Tigers’ decision to give him enough plate appearances to vest the $18 million option in his contract.

The controversy over the contract weighed on Ordoñez last year. He confided to friends that he was concerned about getting released.

But there were other issues, beginning with the World Baseball Classic, with getting booed loudly by his own countrymen because he supported Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president.

And there was the biggest issue of all, his wife’s battle with thyroid cancer. Dagly Ordoñez needed two surgeries, one in May and another in July.

Magglio took five days off in May to be with his wife, but really, he took a large part of the first three months of the season off mentally.

“I lost focus,” he said. “I lost interest in the game. Once I knew she was OK, I was back in business.”

He hit better than Joe Mauer from the All-Star break on, better than anyone in baseball if you go by average alone. But even as the hits were falling, Ordoñez wasn’t driving the ball as he once did.

It was a lost year, and he vowed to himself it wouldn’t happen again.

He worked on the strength in his legs. After going his entire career without picking up a bat between the end of the season and the start of spring training, he found a batting cage and hit.

“I hit a lot,” he said.

He worked and he hit, not because he wanted to make sure his $15 million contract option for 2011 vests, but because he wants to play through 2011 and beyond.

“About three more years,” Ordoñez said.

In the middle of last season, you would have said no way. The way Magglio looked at the plate then, you would have said three more months would have been more like it.

Sleeper … Ryan Raburn: Raburn is one of those guys that keeps getting overlooked in Fantasy and by his own major league organization. The converted second baseman has pop in his bat, hitting 16 homers in 261 at-bats last year. The Tigers are finally ready to give him a significant amount of at-bats in the outfield or around the infield. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him starting for Inge or Sizemore at third or second before the end of the year. Consider him a great option in AL-only formats and a potential waiver pick-up in mixed leagues if he regains eligibility in the infield. Bust … Brandon Inge: It has to be the former catcher eligibility, but we cannot figure out why Fantasy owners keep putting Inge on their teams. Sure, he is a scrapper and a fan favorite, but he frankly stinks for a corner infield option. You are best off avoiding him in all leagues. He will go for too much even in AL-only formats, most likely. Breakout … Scott Sizemore: The Tigers lose Placido Polanco via free agency and plan to hand the second base job to Sizemore, who has speed and power. Few will sleep on this AL Rookie of the Year candidate after he combined for a .308 average, 17 homers, 66 RBI, 88 runs, 21 steals, a .389 OBP, a .500 SLUG (39 doubles) in 520 at-bats in Double- and Triple-A last season. Consider him a nice fall-back pick at the steadily improving second-base position in the lat Top Tigers Prospects (2010 destination) 1. Casey Crosby, SP, Class A 2. Austin Jackson, OF, Majors 3. Scott Sizemore, 2B, Majors 4. Alex Avila, C, Majors 5. Wilkin Ramirez, OF, Triple-A Tigers outlook | 2010 Draft Prep Guide

But now it seems possible that Ordoñez could come back, that he could be enough of a factor for the Tigers that he would get the 135 starts or 540 plate appearances needed to vest the 2011 option.

If he performs in line with the way the Tigers say he looks this spring, $15 million won’t even seem like too much to pay for another year of Magglio in a Tiger uniform.

“Magglio looks refreshed,” hitting coach Lloyd McClendon said. “He’s strong, both physically and mentally. I think he’s enjoying the game again. He’s in tremendous shape, and more than anything, I really see the life back in his hands. It’s good to see him smiling, joking, having fun out there.

“It’s just good to see him having fun again.”

The Tigers clubhouse has been a pleasant place this spring. Teammates say Miguel Cabrera is a changed man after quitting alcohol and vowing to take care of himself. Dontrelle Willis, while still not guaranteed a spot in the rotation, has shown some signs of a comeback from his two seasons of mental pain and ugly results. Brandon Inge is feeling better after surgery on both his knees.

There are still plenty of questions, from the back end of the rota center fielder who are being counted on to play every day.

But if Ordoñez really is on the way back, he could be the most significant Tiger of all. He’s a six-time All-Star, a guy who has driven in 100-plus runs seven times, someone who could team with Cabrera to give the Tigers a truly-feared middle of the batting order.

He could change things for them, and while he does, he could change the way we look at the latter years of his career. If he comes back, if he’s the Magglio of old, it would be easy to accept that 2009 was an off-year caused in large part by what he went through.

“It’s something about pride,” Ordoñez said.

The pride is there. The smile is back. The sound of his bat is back, too.

Is it that hard to believe in Magglio Ordoñez?

No, it’s not.

Posted on March 25th, 2010 by admin
Filed under: MLB baseball news