The Tigers traded Cody Ross for left handed reliever Steve Coyler. Baseball America had this to say about Coyler
Colyer, 25, also made his major league debut in 2003. A second-round pick in 1997 out of a Missouri high school, he signed as a draft-and-follow after spending a year at St. Louis CC-Meramec. He has an explosive fastball, throwing 93-98 mph with plenty of life. Colyer backs up his heat with a hard slider, but throwing strikes always has been his problem. He had a 2.75 ERA in 13 appearances with the Dodgers last year, though opponents hit .292 against him. He also had a 16-9 strikeout-walk ratio and didn’t allow a homer in 20 innings. At Las Vegas, he went 2-3, 3.21 with 23 saves in 44 games. He should make Detroit’s bullpen.
While I like Ross, I don’t know that he is more than a 4th outfielder or borderline starter. He was going to be blocked in Detroit this year and will have a better shot with the Dodgers. Curtis Granderson and Brent Clevlen are on the way up in the Tiger organization as well and Ross appeared to be the odd man out.
As for Coyler, I’m not particularly thrilled with getting a left handed reliever. However, he’s only part of the deal. Therefore, I’m going to hold off on evaluating the trade until the player to be named later is identifed. I’m hoping that it is a LA draft pick from last year. If so, we won’t find out until June who that player is.
In other roster moves, Fernando Rodney and Lino Urdanta were placed on the 15 day DL. Also, after being granted an unconditional release Esteban Yan signed a contract to join the bullpen. And Mike Bumatay was returned to Colorado.
The Tigers also announced they have set their pitching staff and are breaking camp with 11 hurlers. The starters are Johnson, Maroth, Bonderman, and Cornejo. The 5th starter spot will come down to Knotts and Robertson. The rest of the bullpen will be Walker, Yan, Patterson, and Coyler.