As reported today by CBS Local and then re-posted here at Detroit Sports Bloggers, Victor Martinez has torn his left ACL and will miss most of the 2012 regular season.  The big question is what to do next?

On Sunday I talked about bringing in Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes, the Cuban Centipede, and using any of the current outfielders as trade bait to land a starting pitcher.  Now I still think that Cespedes is a good move to bring in and switch Delmon Young to the DH position, but if that deal can’t be made what should could the Tigers do to fill the DH void this season?

Former Tiger Carlos Peña is an option, but he is a homer-or-bust type of hitter.  His best season for average was in 2007 with Tampa Bay, and that was a career year for Peña when he hit .282 with 46 homers and 121 RBI’s, all career highs.

Since then Peña hasn’t hit over .250 and has averaged 31.5 homers with 91.5 RBI’s in the last 4 seasons.  Plus, in his two full seasons in Detroit he only had 45 total home runs and 132 RBI’s total, so I’m not sure if he would do well at Comerica.

Another free agent DH-type is Vladimir Guerrero.  He played with Baltimore last season and had his worst season as a pro, but is his age or the fact that he played for Baltimore more to blame?

Guerrero hit .290 and had only 13 homers with 63 RBI’s, his worst full season statistically.   But the season before in Texas he hit .300 with 29 home runs and 115 RBI’s, but which Vlad would show up in the D?

A third free agent option would be Hideki Matsui.  Matsui finished last season strong after struggling in his first, and probably last, season in Oakland.  Not sure if fans would wait around for Matsui to warm up if the team struggles to start the year.

One option with a one-in-a-million chance would be Prince Fielder.  Maybe, just maybe Cecil’s son would want to come to Detroit and win a championship on a one-year contract.

Stranger things have happened.