Category Archives: Roster Management

Your 2016 Detroit Tigers

Here is a look of the team the Tigers will be sending out on Opening Day tomorrow:

Detroit Tigers 2016 Opening Day Roster

Pitchers:

Starters:

  • Justin Verlander (R)
  • Jordan Zimmerman (R)
  • Anibal Sanchez (R)
  • Mike Pelfrey (R)
  • Shane Greene (R)

Relief Pitchers:

  • Buck Farmer (R)
  • Logan Kensing (R)
  • Mark Lowe (R)
  • Drew Verhagen (R)
  • Francisco Rodriguez (R)
  • Kyle Ryan (L)
  • Justin Wilson (L)

In the starting rotation, Zimmerman and Sanchez replace Price and Simon from last year’s Opening Day roster, but it’s the relief corp where the greatest turnover has happened; in fact the entire bullpen has turned over. It’s hard to imagine this group not being able to improve on what Alburquerque, Chamberlain, Gorzelanny, Krol, Nathan, Nesbitt, Rondon and Soria provided last season, but then again things didn’t look as bad at the start of last season as they turned out to be, so keep the seat belts fastened and trays in an upright position. The starting rotation looks solid, or maybe solid-ish, and should at least be able to burn a lot of innings. Sanchez’ health is suspect, as usual, but the Tigers have Daniel Norris parked on the DL as another starter.

Other pitchers on the 15-Day DL: Jeff Ferrell, Blaine Hardy, Angel Nesbitt, and Alex Wilson.

Position Players:

Starters:

  • C James McCann
  • 1B Miguel Cabrera
  • 2B Ian Kinsler
  • 3B Nick Castellanos
  • SS Jose Iglesias
  • LF Justin Upton
  • CF Anthony Gose
  • RF JD Martinez
  • DH Victor Martinez

Bench

  • C Jarrod Saltalamacchia
  • INF/OF Andrew Romine
  • INF/OF Mike Aviles
  • OF Tyler Collins

There has been less turnover on the position player side, with the most noticeable difference from last season being Justin Upton in left field instead of Cespedes. McCann should be a big upgrade from Avila offensively, with a solid backup in Saltalamacchia, who can also spell Cabrera at first. The CF position looks very week, with only Anthony Gose—who thinks analytic stats are a scam—and some non-CF-type backups. Goes had a good spring training at the plate, but then again he started well last season also. Cameron Maybin is on the DL for a bit, and will probably bump Collins then. As usual the key to the lineup will be the health of Victor Martinez.

One other big change between the 2015 and 2016 Tigers is the man putting the roster together. It will be interesting to see how Avila handles in-season roster changes. His acquisitions of Upton and Zimmerman were very Dombrowski-esque.

DTW News and Notes 11-3-14

Catching you up on a few things as the disappointment begins to fade away. See if you can find the theme below.

– Alan Trammell is back with the Tigers. Trammell said “it feels right.” It would feel more right if the Tigers hadn’t just been swept in the first round of the playoffs.

– The Tigers tendered qualifying offers today to Max Scherzer and Victor Martinez ($15.3M each). Neither guy will take it, but this guarantees a compensatory pick (or picks) in next year’s draft if the Tigers lose one or both. In case you’re unfamiliar with qualifying offers, they are meant to compensate teams who lose big free agents. The qualifying offer figure is set at the average of the top 125 players from last year. For each of those two free agents that the Tigers lose, the signing team will lose their 1st round pick (unless it’s a top 10 pick, in which case that team will lose a 2nd round pick), and the Tigers will get a compensatory pick at the end of the first round. Doesn’t really help much for 2015, and it definitely doesn’t change 2014.

– Andy Dirks is now a Blue Jay. Dirks was a nice player, but let’s not make him out to be more than he was. He wasn’t a long term solution here.

– Patrick McCoy was claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles.

– Don Kelly and Evan Reed were optioned to Toledo.

– The Dirks/McCoy/Kelly/Reed moves were needed to make room on the 40 man for Bruce Rondon, Luke Putkonen, Drew VerHagen, and shortstop Jose Iglesias. I guess their 60 days is up.

– Finally, Mike Hessman has been resigned to a minor league deal. Yes, that Mike Hessman. Could have used his bat in the playoffs.

Arbitrary Arbiters

The reaching of contract agreements with 5 of 6 arbitration-eligible players is pretty big news, worthy of a post, I’d say. So here it is. All 6 are important pieces of the 2014 puzzle, and even if the agreements are no real surprise, given Dave Dombrowski’s track record with Detroit as far as arbitration goes, it’s still good news. The real surprise is that it’s not 6 of 6 already.

One-year deals with Max Scherzer ($15.525M), Rick Porcello ($8.1M), Austin Jackson ($6M), Andy Dirks ($1.625M), and Al Alburquerque ($0.8375M). Objections?

The lone holdout is Alex Avila. It’s hard to see an arbiter going strongly in one direction or the other between $5.35M and $3.75M, and thus it’s hard to see the two sides not meeting rather squarely in the middle well before this goes to a hearing. Don’t you think? The only reason the Tigers brass would play hardball is if they had some kind of Plan B at catcher… right now. That’s how I see it, and I would have to do some serious research to come up with a Plan B that made sense to me.

In other recent news, the revelation of Justin Verlander’s “core muscle” surgery casts another long shadow over the 2014 season, the other one being that of Miguel Cabrera’s surgery last November October. Yes, Cabrera is supposed to be good to go come Spring Training, and Verlander the same by the end of February. Do you have your doubts about whether it’s going to be that simple? I do. Well, I have my doubts, not your doubts, but they might be the same doubts.

Evidently, there are big changes in store for 2014 with new MLB rules for challenges of calls and replays having been approved.

25 days until pitchers and catchers report (February 13). Full squad to report February 17, and the first games of Spring Training (Florida Southern, Atlanta Braves) are just over 5 weeks away now. First the offseason dragged on and on, and now it seems like it went by in a blur. I suppose there’s some left. What will happen? Surprise trades or signings? More injuries? Just the usual trickle of minor league deals? If I had to guess at one possible bombshell… I couldn’t. They’ll just have to surprise me.

Enquiring minds, etc.. Maybe she’s cuter in a swimsuit, eh?*

A recent article by Lynn Henning suggests without explanation that Hernan Perez starting the season in Toledo is a foregone conclusion. Do we agree? I had him on the team already, but actually, that might have been premature and not quite sensible. I was thinking, OK, gotta have the two infielders on the bench, so it’s Steve Lombardozzi and Perez, right? But there’s the Donkey to consider, the IF-OF to end all IF-OFs. Why am I so quick to write him off? (Maybe because I’m tired of shallow pop flares to LF?)

The Avila photo above is public domain, by the way. Or so I’m told. I was wondering, as others have before me: Maybe some Friend or Friends of DTW who actually attend the occasional game or seven would care to contribute some player photos and other ballpark scenes this season that we could use here without guilt? I don’t foresee any notices from lawyers or anything about snatching the occasional photo off the interwebs, but still. That would be both cool and absolutely legal (and ethical). Speak up! (And thank you in advance.)

25 days. Or 29 days. Or 37 days. However you see it… LET’S GO!

*Even so, a new DTW bylaw just passed requires that all posts shall henceforth be required to include at least one Kate Upton link containing at least 14 photos of Kate Upton. Even if we are just friends.

Scroll Relief II (Winter Meetings time)

That’s gotta look good right about now if you live anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Or maybe anywhere west of the Maginot Line, or east of the International Date Line (although, technically speaking…). How about anywhere south of the North Pole?

It’s been a busy offseason so far for the Detroit Tigers, surprisingly so for a team just off a near-WS season. Wouldn’t you say? Here’s a rundown of the various moves and transactions to date:

OUT

Jim Leyland, Manager
Lloyd McClendon, Hitting Coach
Tom Brookens, 3B Coach
Rafael Belliard, 1B Coach
Mike Rojas, Bullpen Coach
Toby Harrah, Assistant Hitting Coach
Matt Tuiasosopo LF
Darin Downs RHP
Brayan Pena C
Jose Veras RHP
Prince Fielder 1B
Doug Fister RHP
Dixon Machado SS
Luis Marte RHP
Robbie Weinhardt RHP
Gustavo Nunez IF
Joaquin Benoit RHP (free agent, presumptively gone)
Jhonny Peralta SS
Omar Infante 2B
Ramon Santiago IF (free agent, presumptively gone)

IN

Brad Ausmus, Manager
Wally Joyner, Hitting Coach
Dave Clark, 3B Coach
Omar Vizquel, 1B Coach
Mick Billmeyer, Bullpen Coach
Darnell Coles, Assistant Hitting Coach
Ian Kinsler 2B
Ian Krol LHP
Steve Lombardozzi IF-OF
Joe Nathan RHP
Rajai Davis OF
Joba Chamberlain RHP

SIGNED/RE-SIGNED/PROTECTED

Phil Coke LHP
Don Kelly OF-IF
Ronny Paulino C
Will Startup LHP
Daniel Fields CF
Jordan Lennerton 1B
Kyle Lobstein LHP
Justin Miller RHP
Steven Moya RF
Eugenio Suarez SS
Jose Valdez RHP
Jhan Marinez RHP
Mike Hessman 1B (!)
Pat McCoy LHP
Eduardo Sanchez RHP

Let me know if I missed anything.

If we assume that all the arbitration-eligibles are going to sign and further assume that 3 spots in the bullpen are very much up for grabs, we’re left with 22 as our compare number at the major league level. So consider the turnover from where they began in 2013, making a few more (early) assumptions about the team that heads north after spring training in 2014.

New backup C. Two new infield reserves. New 2B. New SS. New 3B. New OF reserve. Three new faces in the bullpen. 10 out of 22. Nearly half the team! Actually, you could count Rondon as new, too, since he began 2013 in Toledo. 11 out of 22. Of course, Iglesias isn’t completely new, but a full (we hope) season of him is. Lombardozzi might not make the team, but Santiago almost certainly won’t, and the names that round out the bullpen might not be Alburquerque, Coke, and Putkonen. As it stands already, this is a whole lot of change in player personnel. And yet the changing of the guard in Brad Ausmus and his new coaches might be the most significant change of all.

Fan reaction to the changes seems mostly positive. There’s guarded optimism about which way the winds of change are blowing. The Winter Meetings are still going on – DD might not be done yet. But you have to think that most of the pieces are in place by now.

There are a lot of lower level moves to come, and we do well to pay them some attention. I’m particularly interested in what the Tigers might do to make being a Toledo Mud Hens fan more rewarding.

Today’s exercise: Rank the following from most to least likely to be on the Tigers’ 25-man roster on Opening Day 2014, from the 12/12/2013 perspective:

Alburquerque
Alvarez
Coke
Crosby
Dirks
Jackson
Kelly
Lennerton
Lombardozzi
Ortega
Putkonen
Reed
Santiago
Worth

Feel free to throw in your own dark horse candidate. Benoit? Bonderman? OK. There’s dark, and then there’s dark…

Tigers Acquire Jose Iglesias

Tuesday night the Tigers–presumably as a pre-emptive solution to an imminent Jhonny Peralta suspension–obtained Red Sox infielder Jose Iglesias as part of a three-team trade that sent Avisail Garcia to the Chicago White Sox and Brayan Villarreal to the Boston Red Sox. Jake Peavy went from Chicago to Boston in the major part of the trade’s third leg.

There was some thought that even if Peralta were facing a suspension, he could appeal the suspension and postpone it until next season. That is, if he wanted to: the former might be better for the team, but personally Peralta would put himself in quite a bind this way, since he becomes a free agent after this season. The free agent market for suspended players tends not to be a lucrative one.

(A 50-game suspension for Peralta beginning this week would leave him available for the postseason).

At any rate, this trade shows that the Tigers probably either know something or have a pretty good idea of what MLB’s and Peralta’s actions are likely to be.

Without saying anything specific, Dave Dombrowski admitted that the Peralta situation was behind the trade.

*****

Of course, just yesterday we read Dombrowski hinting that he might be finished making moves, and certainly was not looking for a shortstop. It is of course possible that something changed in the past 24 hours, but more likely just Dave Dombrowski being Dave Dombrowski, with his trading face on.

There still may be another move to come: the Tigers are rumored to still be talking to the San Francisco Giants about lefty reliever Javier Lopez.

*****

Your newest Tiger:

Jose Iglesias

5’11” 185. Bats R, Throws R. Born January 5, 1990 (23) La Habana, Cuba

Career stats (Red Sox):

314 PA .280 BA .333 OBP .357 SLG .690 OPS 4 SB 1 CS 9 HBP (!)

And, in the words of Dave Dombrowski, “he is special defensively.”

Perhaps the most relevant number of all: 2019–that is when Iglesias will be eligible for free agency. Peralta, as noted above, is a free agent in 2014.

The Tigers could be looking at a future middle infield of Jose Iglesias and Hernan Perez, which could conceivably give Detroit the best middle infield range in baseball. If you like that sort of thing.

*****

Avisail Garcia tweets his farewell to Tiger Fans:

Last but not least, #Tigers fans you guys are amazing! I hope you guys keep supporting me in my career.. Gracias por todo!

Tigers Acquire Jose Veras

Jose Veras has been acquired from the Houston Astros for outfield prospect Danny Vasquez and journeyman PTBNL.

I don’t know much about him, but it seems like a no risk move. I don’t expect him to close, though I do think it’s reasonable to believe that he’ll be the setup guy.

I’m afraid this means that Octavio Dotel is done for the year.

I think the Tigers are done. I think the backup plan at SS is Santiago or maybe Perez. If Peralta is suspended, he’ll have the opportunity to appeal and perhaps play out the rest of the season (or serve it now and back for the playoffs). Remember that Peralta is a FA, which means that if he does appeal, he’ll go into FA with a suspension looming. Maybe time to re-sign him to another year?

2013 Roster Is Set

STARTERS: C Avila, 1B Fielder, 2B Infante, SS Peralta, 3B Cabrera, LF Dirks, CF Jackson, RF Hunter, DH Martinez.

BENCH: C Pena, IF Santiago, IF/OF Kelly, IF/OF Tuiasosopo.

ROTATION: Verlander, Sanchez, Fister, Scherzer, Porcello, RHPs all (the precise order remains undisclosed as far as I know).

BULLPEN: RHPs Dotel, Benoit, Alburquerque, Villareal; LHPs Coke, Downs, Smyly.

To the delight of some and the dismay of others, Quintin Berry was optioned to Toledo and Don Kelly made the team. In news that surprised no one, Bruce Rondon, Luis Marte, and Danny Worth were also sent to Toledo. There’s still a chance Ramon Santiago gets traded soon, but it’s a very slim chance indeed. That slimness is diminished still further by the question: Traded for what and who, exactly? Prospects? A draft pick? The Tigers are set. Until further notice.

The lame duck session of spring training has commenced. Only 2 Grapefruit League games remain to be played. (The Tigers can still get to 20 wins. Woo-hoo!) If there’s anything left to look for or at in them, please tell us what it is. I’m really, really tired of those Jaguar commercials. Is that going to go on all season? (Sorry. I guess that was another Jaguar commercial.)

I’m entirely pleased with the pitching staff selections. (Really happy to see Justin Verlander make the team.) I’m somewhat less than pleased by half of the bench, but must grant that the odds of Kelly hitting respectably are greater than those of Matt Tuiasosopo (one of “my” candidates and an even better feel-good story than Kelly ever was) continuing to rake in limited ABs, not to mention proving in the first place that he can hit MLB pitching when it counts.

It will be “closer by committee” to begin the season, apparently. Think that’s gonna last long? It could, you know, although I don’t think Jim Leyland would be happy with it.

What about the order of the starting rotation? Is that significant to you? Care to speculate?

Here’s a fun one: Guess the first 10 roster moves of the season. Including DL stints. As I go over the more likely DL, sent down, and called up scenarios, the good news is that I can’t think of a single DFA candidate. I suppose that if Santiago had an unfathomably horrid first couple months, he might be designated for assignment, but that is even less likely than a trade.

Are the Detroit Tigers ready? I think the Detroit Tigers are ready. The question is, is the rest of MLB ready for them? Right?

Late Spring Roundup

Lots of news over the past 4-5 days. You’re already aware of these items, most likely, but here’s a little roundup to “put them in the paper,” so to speak:

ROSTER MOVES: IF Jeff Kobernus was sent back to the Nationals. The Tigers retained the rights to Rule 5 LHP Kyle Lobstein by trading C Curt Casali to the Rays for them. IF/OF Matt Tuiasosopo has made the team and claimed a bench spot. Today, RHP Luke Putkonen was optioned to Toledo, while RHP Jose Alvarez, C Brad Davis, and 3B Kevin Russo were assigned to minor league camp, and OF Avisail Garcia was placed on the 15-day DL retroactively (heel contusion that he suffered March 16). The Tigers also released a boatload of minor league players, 20 to be exact.

More of a roster decision than a roster move, but Rick Porcello and Drew Smyly will both be on the pitching staff, Porcello in the rotation and Smyly in the pen.

It looks like there’s a decision to be made on Don Kelly (RHP Shawn Hill will likely be sent out to Toledo soon) and then 3 spots left to trim to 25. On the bubble, most likely, are pitchers Bruce Rondon, Darin Downs, and Luis Marte, and position players Danny Worth, Quintin Berry, and Ramon Santiago. One of the former and two of the latter (barring Kelly’s return) should head north with the team.

DON KELLY: But wait – there’s news on Mr. Don. He’s not opting out. This isn’t bad news, regardless of your position on Kelly.

JV: The Justin Verlander contract extension talks deadline is nearly upon us.

VIRGIL TRUCKS 1917-2013: Not only two no-hitters, but

EX-TIGERS: Brandon Inge (Pirates) and Ryan Raburn (Indians) will both start the season on MLB teams, and the Tigers could end up seeing quite a bit of both of them.

ANDY DIRKS has been out of the starting lineup the last couple games, just a “precautionary measure” (related to the knee contusion Dirks suffered in the March 19 LF wall collision) according to Jim Leyland.

And in Grapefruit League action the past couple days, a little road trip resulted in a win over the Marlins and a loss to the Braves. I’ll be back with some items of note from those games. If you watched them, chime in. It’s still spring training, they’re still exhibition games, but they’re getting a bit more momentous now (aren’t they?) with less than a week to go until you know what.

TIGERS 6, MARLINS 3: The Miami Marlins don’t feature the most imposing lineup, but still, Porcello looked good, Brayan Villareal was good Villareal (three groundouts showing that the benefit of well-thrown heat doesn’t always show up in the K column), and Putkonen did a nice job getting out of the first and third, no outs trouble he got himself into in the 9th… The first pitch curve Porcello threw to Wilson Alvarez in the 3rd was really something to see (backed Alvarez out of the box and landed for a strike)… Rob Brantly’s home run was pretty much all to his credit, not a bad pitch by Porcello, though maybe not one he’ll throw Brantly again… The foul pop in the 3rd that Miguel Cabrera couldn’t find in the sun: Shouldn’t someone have been over there with him – Avila, maybe? It was up there long enough. Oh well. Maybe no one saw it. And speaking of “up there,” Cabrera’s RBI double in the 1st wasn’t your typical Cabrera double. Giancarlo Stanton must have been positioned in LF for that to drop and bounce over the wall… Brayan Pena made some nice plays at first, and the Tigers defense was nice and crisp overall. Coolest was in the 4th, when Casey Kotchman’s sharp grounder was deflected by a diving Pena to (or near) Omar Infante, who found it and threw in time to Porcello racing over to cover 1B… Most of the early 4-run damage the Tigers did was from RHBs off a RHP who wasn’t coming inside to them… Steven Moya’s 6th inning sliding catch in RF: That’s one graceful 6’7″ guy. I like this kid. Latest prediction: In the Tigers outfield by 2015. If he stays healthy… Nice inning of (sort of wild) small ball in the Tigers 2-run 7th. Kotchman had Russo nailed at the plate, but Brantly was cautious and Russo was tricky with hesitation and a good evasive slide. We won’t mention Moya getting caught in a rundown between 3rd and home to end the inning.

BRAVES 6, TIGERS 5: Not on MLB.TV. Oh well. The bullpen let this one get away after one rally and another. Hill, Rondon, Phil Coke, all good. Villareal one HR pitch away from being OK, I guess. Octavio Dotel was making up for WBC lost time and decided to save some by having one great outing and one flameout, both in the same inning. Don Kelly 4 for 4! Trade value soaring. All the bench contenders are now batting over .300.

How Time Flies

The Detroit Tigers are 8-7 in Grapefruit League play as of this writing and are having a rather good spring overall, statistically speaking. A few injuries and a few WBC excused absences are the only flies in the ointment at this point. We’re getting to the point where Spring Training starts to get interesting, or as interesting as it can get for a team that came in with the starting lineup settled and the pitching staff largely so. So what’s left to decide?

Closer: I think it was decided as far back as last November that the Tigers would not be looking to the outside for a closer. Current rumors to the contrary are bizarre (which doesn’t rule out the possibility that they’re true.) But as I see it, whatever Bruce Rondon does or does not do over the next few weeks, the most that ST may decide is the prospective closer. (If you saw Al Alburquerque’s inning against the Astros March 4, you might have seen that prospective closer already.) The issue will not be settled until April. Or May. Or June. The good news is that the Tigers have bullpen talent to spare and multiple candidates. I think the “closer question” is really an overhyped non-issue at this time. It must top the list of Jim Leyland’s least favorite day in and day out subjects to address. If the bullpen lives up to expectations, a closer or a series of them will emerge. If the bullpen tanks, then it tanks, though “lack of a closer” might persist as a popular (and false) diagnosis.

Rick Porcello and Drew Smyly: Both doing quite well. Guess what? I think they’re both on the team Opening Day. It should take an offer the Tigers absolutely can’t refuse to pry either of them away in trade. Elvis Andrus is the only such offer I can think of. Are the Rangers that desperate? Flip a coin three times, and if it comes up heads each time, the answer is yes.

The bench: Brayan Pena is a given. It would appear that the three spots left must be for Infield Guy, Outfield Guy, and Versatility Guy. Jeff Kobernus (Rule 5 status) is obviously being given every opportunity to be Versatility Guy and seems to be taking advantage of it. Kobernus has the inside track, but depth in utility is not a bad thing, and I’ve gotten some positive impressions from Kevin Russo, Don Kelly, and Matt Tuiasosopo, Toledo-bound as they may be. I would have said that Outfield Guy was Quintin Berry’s job to lose, but his knee problems are complicating things. This might open the door for Brennan Boesch, whom I might otherwise say just doesn’t fit. But I still think Boesch gets traded, and if things gang a-gley for Berry, Avisail Garcia is Outfield Guy, and the steady ABs at Toledo thing is out the window. Infield Guy is between Ramon Santiago and Danny Worth. I feel that Worth is earning that bench spot, and Santiago’s injury has done nothing to help his own cause, but we all know Leyland’s leanings regarding proven (and in some cases unproven) veterans, so there’s a good chance we’re in for at least half a season of a declining Santiago.

The bullpen: Smyly/Porcello, Octavio Dotel, Joaquin Benoit, Phil Coke, Alburquerque. Two spots left, no? The front-runners to fill them appear to be Rondon, Brayan Villareal, Darin Downs, and Duane Below. Below is getting hit hard, and I think Rondon ought to start the season in Toledo, so there you have my slim-chance-of-accuracy guesses. I’ve heard the idea floated of turning Luke Putkonen and Below back into starters, and it sounds like a good one when you consider that the Tigers’ organizational starting pitching depth appears to consist of Casey Crosby and… um, well… Casey Crosby.

Nick Castellanos’s stance and swing remind me of Delmon Young. Not a criticism, just an observation. He’s putting up good numbers, and clearly the Tigers want his bat above all else, but my does he look ungainly in LF. I haven’t seen him play 3B – chime in if you have – but I have to wonder whether the Tigers are really doing him or themselves a favor by pushing Castellanos to the outfield. It occurs to me that an apprenticeship at the corner infield positions at some point from 2013-2015 might have been another possibility to consider. It’s not a certainty that Miguel Cabrera or Prince Fielder will be asked to slide over to DH in 2015 or 2016 (would they even be willing?), but it is possible. And there’s your open door for Castellanos the non-outfielder.

I’m looking forward to the return of the WBC-playing Tigers. So obviously I’m glad Venezuela has been eliminated, though it looks like the Dominican Republic might be at it for a while yet. Watched WBC highlights for the first time – pretty neat, pretty intense. How ’bout that Canada-Mexico game? If the MLB All-Star Game was played with such intensity, it might be worth paying attention to. That WS home field advantage thing isn’t really a motivator. Maybe if the losing team’s players had to sit out the rest of the season…. Ha ha. Blood sport!

If anyone’s due for a bounceback season, it’s newly slim and trim Jhonny Peralta. However, the stats so far suggest nothing of the kind. But it’s early. Right?

Homework assignment: Those injuries! They’re happening already. Consider some of the more devastating scenarios that would involve two players being on the DL simultaneously for weeks or months and how you see the Tigers dealing with it. Worst cases? Justin Verlander and Doug Fister? Cabrera and Fielder? How about the most likely cases? Austin Jackson and Andy Dirks? Alex Avila and Victor Martinez? Fister and Max Scherzer? Alburquerque and Villareal? I’m not suggesting you create a spreadsheet to cover all the possibilities like someone weirdly obsessed with Tigers baseball, but doing so might give you a more practical understanding of the Tigers’ organizational depth.

 

Will Brandon Inge Make the 25 Man Roster?

Should he and Will he are two different questions. Based on what I know of JL and his loyalty to veterans and unwillingness to change, I think Inge is a shoeo-in. Despite the fact that Dombrowski may be pushing the other way. But let’s see what we know:

Turner, Strieby and Berry (and 3 others) were sent down on Monday, so there goes my Quentin Berry for CF campaign.

Pitchers
Verlander
Scherzer
Fister
Porcello

Benoit
Balester
Dotel
Coke
Schlereth
Valverde

Bubble Pitchers
Below, Oliver and Smyly – It looks like there is room for only 1 out of these 3 on the opening day roster. I like Smyly – he’s had a great spring, despite yesterday’s setback. Though that didn’t phase his confidence. Below going tomorrow.

Villareal or Marte for the final pen spot.

C
Avila
Laird

IF
Fielder
Raburn
Peralta
Cabrera
Santiago

OF
Jackson
Young
Boesch
Kelly

Bubble Fielders
Inge or Worth
Dirks or Thomas (know that Thomas is out of options)

Like I wrote above, I think that Leyland is so loyal that he’ll stick with Inge, despite the arguments that Danny Worth is earning the job. And Worth is arguably playing for a starting job, not just a roster spot.

So let’s discuss.