Published: March 27, 2009 08:00 pm      

Dennis Chase: Vacancies a bad sign

This is not a good sign.

With the season opener near, Detroit manager Jim Leyland still has vacancies in his starting rotation. Two to be exact.

There's Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson and Armando Galarraga -- and then it's up in the air. Not exactly what you want with training camp in its last few days.

To make matters worse, the bullpen still seems unsettled. The Tigers signed Brandon Lyon during the off-season. He gave up four consecutive home runs in an outing last week. Fernando Rodney has been as inconsistent as ever. And Joel Zumaya? Who knows if can stay healthy once he returns.

The Tigers should be able to score runs, and their defense should be improved, but poor pitching might negate all of that.

I think the Tigers have to hope a couple of their young arms -- starter Rick Porcello and reliever Ryan Perry -- can make the jump from the low minors to the big leagues.