Justin Verlander (l), Justin Upton (top) and Ian Kinsler
The Tigers did a major star-dump in 2017, and fans will miss these guys this year, Lynn Henning of The Detroit News notes:
♦ Justin Verlander: He's gone off to baseball heaven. He helped his newly adopted team, the Houston Astros, win the World Series. He's beloved in Houston. At this stage of his career, he would never have had a shot at getting a series ring had he stayed with Detroit.
♦ J.D. Martinez: One of the Tigers' hot bats, he went off to the Arizona Diamondbacks last year where he hit 29 homers in 62 games. Since then, he's signed a 5-year, $110 million deal with former Tigers boss David Dombrowski and the Boston Red Sox.
♦ Justin Upton: He's now is now in Los Angeles with the Angels, alongside Mike Trout and former Tigers Manager Brad Ausmus, who is special assistant to general manager Billy Eppler.
♦ Ian Kinsler: He also joins Brad Ausmus as a Los Angles Angels.
♦ Justin Wilson and Alex Avila: Yes, dad Al Avila traded his son Alex Avila and Wilson to the Chicago Cubs just when Alex was having a really good year as a Tiger.
