STRONGSVILLE, OH (92.3 The Fan) - If the Cleveland Indians have been left for dead after the Detroit Tigers signing of slugger Prince Fielder on Tuesday, you wouldn’t know it from the turn out Thursday night at Southpark Mall in Strongsville.

A large gathering of excited fans were on hand as the Indians kicked off their “Tribe on Tour,” a weekend of hitting the local malls in hopes of getting the fans ready for the upcoming 2012 season.

While fans were excited to catch up with players like Josh Tomlin, Jason Kipnis, Jack Hannahan and manager Manny Acta, all the players on hand were not quick to refute any panic over the Tigers mega deal with Fielder.

All the experts since the signing have quickly given the Tigers the AL Central crown, and some even the American League pennant. Tomlin says not so fast, there’s quite a bit of baseball that has to be played before anyone can claim anything.

“That’s what they do for a living, make educated guesses,” Tomlin said of those handing out titles on TV. “But when you add a guy like that, it’s definitely going to help your lineup, there’s no question about it. But, for us, the guys that we have in our rotation, and the back-end guys, our bullpen guys, they have good arms. If we can keep the game close and get it to them, it doesn’t matter who they have to me.”

Fielder was strutting his stuff in Detroit on Thursday, getting introduced to the Detroit media. The Indians are out hitting the malls looking for respect, and now that right now is not the time to start fretting about what the Tigers are doing.

“We’re sitting here at the end of January, you can’t be panicking, you can’t be worried about it,” infielder Jason Donald said. “You know a lot can happen over the course of a season, and I think the thing for us is to worry about us, because I know they are over there and they are just worried about themselves.”

Tomlin knows that as a cog in the Indians staff, he’s going to see a lot of Fielder. Then again, he’s also aware there’s a number of other good hitters on the Detroit side. As he put it though, as long as he does what he needs to do, which is throw good pitches, he feels that things will take care of themselves.

“Prince Fielder can hit home runs, Brandon Inge can hit home runs, Brandon Boesch can hit home runs, they can all hit home runs,” Tomlin said. “For me it’s making a quality pitch, a good day for a hitter is 1-for-3, so if he can get out two times, that’s fine with me.”

There’s some that think with the Indians not able to grab that big bat this offseason, they are going to have to play some “small ball” in 2012, which includes a National League style of bunts, steals, and making sure not to make mistakes.

Hannahan, who just re-signed with the Indians, says that being sound all the way around is going to be pivotal for the Indians to have success in 2012 if they are going to challenge the Tigers.

“When a team goes out and signs a guy like that, it doesn’t affect what we’re going to do,” Jack Hannahan said. “We might not have those power bats in the lineup, but guarantee we’re gonna do a lot of things better as far as playing fundamental baseball.”

One player who hasn’t been shy about firing shots at Detroit is youngster Jason Kipnis. The player expected to start opening day at secondbase threw out a tweet after the signing basically saying to ‘bring it on.’

His attitude Thursday night in Strongsville was just the same. He knows Detroit will be the favorites, and that’s just fine with him and the Tribe.

“They are the big dogs, it was a great sign for them, he’s an outstanding player, he’s gonna help that ball club a lot,” Kipnis said. “Victor (Martinez) went down you put in Prince, one professional hitter for another. They got their own problems to worry about, how the connection and chemistry is going to work over there, you know what, we can’t really worry about what they are doing over there.”

It will all get played out over the 2012 season, one that Kipnis says the team can’t wait for. As well as what lies ahead between the Indians and Tigers, who fought it out all the way to the end of 2011.

“This team is actually very excited to get out there,” Kipnis said. “We’re looking to settle it on the field.”

Follow @Loede923TheFAN