I know I’m a little late on this, but the Tigers traded Randall Simon to the Pirates for minor league pitcher Adrian Burnside and 2 PTBNL. BaseballPrimer had this to say:

Adrian Burnside is a lefty who’s probably not ready for the majors after a lackluster performance in the Eastern League and some control issues. The Tigers will have essentially open auditions for the pitching staff this spring training, but Burnside is unlikely to make the team.
Good move for Dombrowski and the Tigers. Given a plethora of 1B types, Dombrowski correctly identified the player with the biggest gap between his perceived trade value and his actual baseball value. I like the trade even if the other 2 players are worthless.

Tigers hire Trammell as new manager
I’m happy to see Tram back wearing the English D, and I’m not one of the cynics who view this as purely “a pr move.” I’m a little surprised that the Tigers hired Tram so quickly, without interviewing Macha. The only thing I can figure is that Macha has enough options that he chose not to talk with the Tigers.
I also don’t buy the concern that this could wreck Tram’s image in the city of Detroit if he fails as a manager. If anything, this is a no lose situation. If the Tigers continue to flounder, I don’t think he’ll bear the brunt of the accountability. And even if he were to royally screw up (which I just don’t forsee), and had to be fired I don’t think it would diminish his playing career.