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Tigers make a mistake in strategy

Closer Joe Nathan signed a two-year deal with the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday. AP Photo/Jim Cowsert

Viewed in a vacuum, the Tigers just misdiagnosed their bullpen problem as an isolated issue with the ninth inning rather than a lack of depth or quality across the board. Signing Joe Nathan to a two-year deal isn't excessive, as he probably has at least that many years of production left in the tank. But Nathan has started to lose velocity and had to shift to heavier usage of his slider as a result, and he's a traditional, one-inning, break-glass-only-in-case-of-save-situation closer, the kind of player usage foisted on us by a stupid stat invented by a writer decades ago.