Miguel Cabrera is Detroit?s offense. Replace his 2013 Stats with an average AL offensive 3B and you have 29 less runs, which is roughly 6 wins. Additionally, replacing Cabrera with an Average AL offensive 3B and the rest of the team is basically average offensively. But beyond that, there are surprising stats to look at.

2011-2013 AVG AL
77.36 RC/650 .257 BAVG .322 OBP .410 SLG .732 OPS 13.15 PA/BB 36.27 PA/HR 49.37 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 AVG DET
84.95 RC/650 .277 BAVG .341 OBP .431 SLG .772 OPS 13.01 PA/BB 36.85 PA/HR 41.78 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 DET without Cabrera?s stats
78.91 RC/650 .270 BAVG .330 OBP .410 SLG .740 OPS 13.60 PA/BB 42.90 PA/HR 44.29 PA/GIDP

With Cabrera = average walk rate, average homerun rate and one of the worst GIDP rates

Without Cabrera = still about average walk rate, below average HR rate (even with an average 3B replacement) and still well below average GIDP rate.

Let?s look at this by position:

2011-2013 Average AL C
70.55 RC/650 .242 BAVG .309 OBP .395 SLG .704 OPS 12.69 PA/BB 34.69 PA/HR 44.0 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 DET AVG C
81.88 RC/650 .267 BAVG .345 OBP .411 SLG .756 OPS 10.28 PA/BB 43.02 PA/HR 44.0 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 Avila
88.42 RC/650 .259 BAVG .357 OBP .431 SLG .788 OPS 8.10 PA/BB 34.97 PA/HR 45.47 PA/GIDP

Avila is the best at walk rate for DET, his HR rate is average for a catcher and his GIDP is slightly above average.

2011-2013 Average AL 1B
86.23 RC/650 .262 BAVG .336 OBP .446 SLG .782 OPS 11.53 PA/BB 26.36 PA/HR 42.29 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 DET AVG 1B
117.19 RC/650 .311 BAVG .406 OBP .524 SLG .930 OPS 9.22 PA/BB 24.18 PA/HR 32.74 PA/GIDP

2012-2013 Fielder
106.43 RC/650 .295 BAVG .387 OBP .491 SLG .878 OPS 10.07 PA/BB 25.49 PA/HR 35.95 PA/GIDP

Fielder is above average in everything except GIDP. However, his HR average of 25.49 PA/HR is barely above average.

2011-2013 Average AL 2B
73.15 RC/650 .260 BAVG .319 OBP .386 SLG .705 OPS 13.90 PA/BB 52.01 PA/HR 50.49 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 DET AVG 2B
64.84 RC/650 .254 BAVG .301 OBP .364 SLG .665 OPS 17.14 PA/BB 62.58 PA/HR 47.32 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 Infante
78.79 RC/650 .288 BAVG .318 OBP .414 SLG .732 OPS 23.32 PA/BB 58.76 PA/HR 53.25 PA/GIDP

Infante has a horrible walk rate. He is below average in HR rate for a 2B, but above average when it comes to GIDP.

2011-2013 Average AL 3B
76.51 RC/650 .256 BAVG .320 OBP .411 SLG .731 OPS 13.49 PA/BB 33.98 PA/HR 46.66 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 DET AVG 3B
107.50 RC/650 .300 BAVG .375 OBP .517 SLG .892 OPS 11.33 PA/BB 21.28 PA/HR 31.27 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 Cabrera
141.44 RC/650 .340 BAVG .427 OBP .609 SLG 1.036 OPS 9.61 PA/BB 17.26 PA/HR 28.69 PA/GIDP

What can I say, you take the GIDP because he exceeds at everything else.

2011-2013 Average AL SS
69.22 RC/650 .259 BAVG .312 OBP .376 SLG .688 OPS 15.74 PA/BB 58.02 PA/HR 48.33 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 DET AVG SS
78.67 RC/650 .273 BAVG .330 OBP .416 SLG .746 OPS 14.04 PA/BB 41.06 PA/HR 39.42 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 Peralta
83.07 RC/650 .278 BAVG .334 OBP .438 SLG .772 OPS 13.69 PA/BB 35.76 PA/HR 34.98 PA/GIDP

Peralta is above average in walk rate and HR rate, but below average in GIDP.

2011-2013 Average AL LF
77.38 RC/650 .254 BAVG .317 OBP .409 SLG .726 OPS 13.59 PA/BB 35.54 PA/HR 63.69 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 DET AVG LF
76.76 RC/650 .263 BAVG .317 OBP .402 SLG .719 OPS 15.76 PA/BB 39.04 PA/HR 64.66 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 Dirks
83.14 RC/650 .276 BAVG .332 OBP .413 SLG .745 OPS 14.90 PA/BB 44.29 PA/HR 81.77 PA/GIDP

Is anyone else surprised to see a corner OF position so low of production? Dirks is below average for walk rate and HR rate and above average for GIDP.

2011-2013 Average AL CF
80.86 RC/650 .263 BAVG .324 OBP .417 SLG .741 OPS 13.62 PA/BB 39.32 PA/HR 64.97 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 DET AVG CF
81.71 RC/650 .265 BAVG .336 OBP .410 SLG .746 OPS 11.12 PA/BB 50.86 PA/HR 60.49 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 Jackson
85.23 RC/650 .273 BAVG .343 OBP .422 SLG .765 OPS 11.02 PA/BB 49.97 PA/HR 59.34 PA/GIDP

Jackson is above average in walk rate, but below average for HR rate and GIDP rate.

2011-2013 Average AL RF
82.33 RC/650 .264 BAVG .328 OBP .426 SLG .754 OPS 13.26 PA/BB 33.45 PA/HR 51.46 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 DET AVG RF
79.06 RC/650 .274 BAVG .321 OBP .419 SLG .740 OPS 18.22 PA/BB 41.51 PA/HR 50.40 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 Hunter
89.08 RC/650 .292 BAVG .344 OBP .449 SLG .793 OPS 15.30 PA/BB 33.60 PA/HR 37.70 PA/GIDP

Hunter is below average in walk rate. Average in HR rate. And really bad at GIDP rate.

2011-2013 Average AL DH
80.15 RC/650 .255 BAVG .331 OBP .420 SLG .751 OPS 11.44 PA/BB 31.06 PA/HR 41.77 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 DET AVG DH
80.02 RC/650 .287 BAVG .334 OBP .421 SLG .755 OPS 17.21 PA/BB 45.60 PA/HR 30.64 PA/GIDP

2011-2013 Martinez
92.82 RC/650 .314 BAVG .367 OBP .449 SLG .816 OPS 14.85 PA/BB 48.58 PA/HR 29.37 PA/GIDP

Again, Martinez is below average in walk rate, HR rate and GIDP rate.

Taking each individual separately, it is hard to see the issue. We could make excuses for certain players. But, when looked at as a whole, as a team, this team grounds into far too many double plays. Does not hit enough HRs for a key offensive team, especially from some key HR hitting positions, nor do they have a tendency to draw walks.

Just FYI. Both Choo (89.90 PA/GIDP) and Granderson (105.50 PA/GIDP) rarely ground into double plays and they have excellent walk rates. Where someone like Cano does not walk much (17.83 PA/BB) and grounds into a ton of double plays (37.68 PA/GIDP).