Zach Miner paid the price for a 4 walk effort on Tuesday night with an assignment to Toledo. Aquilino Lopez who was being stretched out as a starter has been recalled to provide a strike thrower in the pen.

Both moves are warranted, but my first thought when hearing of this was Denny Bautista. The Tigers thought they were better off ditching Bautista than optioning Miner or other optionable pitchers.

Bautista isn’t going to make or break this team so I don’t want to make too much of it. And his qualifications as a strike thrower were dubious at best. I just don’t understand what changed that dramatically that Miner couldn’t be sent down 2 weeks ago.

I didn’t get a chance to touch on this last night because I had left for the game when the news hit. The Tigers traded Denny Bautista for Pittsburgh minor leaguer Kyle Pearson. With Bautista DFA’d the Tigers had 10 days to find a home for him. In exchange they get AA right hander Pearson. The 2003 4th round pick has a below average strike out rate (5.74 K/9) and a middling walk rate (3.38 BB/9). He’s 23.

With little leverage the Tigers get little in return. For the Pirates they get a guy who could help them at a very low cost.

Of course the Tigers could have kept Bautista had they utilized the options on Freddy Dolsi, Zach Miner, or Casey Fossum (Fossum could have refused assignment). With Rodney’s health always in question and neither of the big guns having pitched at all this year, I would have preferred the wait and see approach and horded as much depth as possible.

Denny Bautista is odd man out of the bullpen with the return of Joel Zumaya. I’d offer up my feelings, but instead I’ll point you to Detroit Tigers Thoughts who already has it covered.

UPDATE: It appears that the Tigers tried to move Bautista prior to DFA’ing him. Regardless I think it’s a bad move. Bautista hasn’t been bad. Rodney is a long shot to make it through the rest of the season. And while the rehab stint was good for Zumaya can he be counted on holding up? If it’s me I’m hording talent and sending down Dolsi or Miner – and I’m a Dolsi fan.

But instead they are keeping 3 guys with options and losing a guy who hasn’t pitched that bad.

The Tigers announced a ton of roster moves today:

• Clete Thomas and Ramon Santiago hit the 15 day DL
• Mike Hollimon and Brent Clevlen were brought up to take their places.
• Aquilino Lopez was placed on the bereavement list and Denny Bautista was reinstated from the DL.

Toledo 2 Indianapolis 3
Brent Clevlen homered, singled, and walked and has pushed his average to .313. Mike Hollimon was 1 for 4. Matt Joyce went 0 for 4 with 3 K’s. Yorman Bazardo allowed 2 runs on 6 hits in 5 innings, walking none and fanning 3. Denny Bautista allowed an unearned run on 1 hit and 1 walk in 2 innings of work. He threw 27 pitches, 17 for strikes.

Altoona 8 Erie 6
Jeff Frazier went 3 for 5, as did Ryan Roberson. Wilkin Ramirez and Danny Worth each had 2 hits, including a homer for Worth. Lucas French allowed 8 runs on 12 hits and 3 walks in 6.2 innings.

Lakeland 11 Dunedin 5
Scott Sizemore and Lou Ott each had 3 hits. Brennan Boesch homered, tripled, and drove in 4. Cale Iorg and Jeremy Laster had 2 hits each.

South Bend 6 West Michigan 1
Roger Tomas went 2 for 3. Casper Wells hit a solo homer for the only Caps run. Jon Kibler allowed 4 runs on 6 hits in 7.1 innings while fanning 8 and walking none.

The curse of Jason Grilli? A couple days after the Tigers had to clear a spot in the bullpen to make room for Francisco Cruceta the Tigers place Denny Bautista on the DL with the ambiguous shoulder tendinitis. He’s expected to be able to throw again in a week. Just ask Fernando Rodney about those timetables though.

Freddy Dolsi will take his place. If you ask many fans of the Lakeland Flying Tigers they would tell you that Dolsi would fill Grilli’s role in the bullpen nicely. But his numbers at high A weren’t bad last year with a 7.7 K/9 rate and only 17 walks in 51.2 innings as their closer. He has 4 innings of experience above Lakeland though so this is still kind of a surprise despite the favorable impression that Dolsi made in spring training.

Beck’s Blog: Bautista DL’ed, Dolsi called up

Todd Jones pitches a 1-2-3 inning against the Braves
Credit Roger DeWitt

That would be spots available in the seven man bullpen. Jim Leyland ended some of the speculation today by announcing that Todd Jones, Bobby Seay, Tim Byrdak, Jason Grilli, and Zach Miner were locks. The ambiguity now surrounds Fernando Rodney and his health. A healthy Rodney would of course be a part of the plan, but that seems unlikely at this point.

Of the aforementioned locks, the first 3 weren’t a mystery in the least. Grilli was also fairly assured of a spot because he’s a Leyland favorite. But Zach Miner wasn’t a given in my mind. Not that Miner isn’t deserving, but that his option status afforded the team some flexibility that Denny Bautista, Yorman Bazardo, and Francisco Cruceta couldn’t. And while it would really be a blow for Miner to go to Toledo, there’s a very strong likelihood that injury or ineffectiveness would lead to a call-up at some point.

Given that Cruceta hasn’t even made it into the country yet, he of course has to be considered a very long shot at this point. However, his visa struggles could play to the Tigers advantage in that he could probably clear waivers while MIA.

With Rodney likely to start the year on the DL, it will give the Tigers a chance to take an extended look at Bautista and Bazardo. Neither could be sent to the minors without clearing waivers. Officially Preston Larrison and Aquilino Lopez are still in the mix, as is Freddy Dolsi. But it wouldn’t make practical sense to take them at the expense of risking the loss of some valuable bullpen depth.

Other stuff

• Jeremy Bonderman favored his change-up over his fastball today.
• Ryan Raburn got emergency catcher training today.
• Ian wonders if Doug Mirabelli might be the Tigers answer at back-up catcher.

Given the rash of bad news with injuries, shellackings, and visa problems hitting the Tigers bullpen, today was a nice change.

• Denny Bautista continued to pitch well. He went 2 scoreless innings with 4 K’s and is going to be hard to leave behind when the team heads North.
• Jordan Tata, who wasn’t a strong candidate for the pen but would be counted on for depth, received news that he should be able to start throwing again in 3 weeks.
• Yorman Bazardo and Jason Grilli also turned in strong performances today. Granted it was one day, but it’s better than a kick in the teeth.
• Clay Rapada, another long shot arm for the pen but also a depth guy, threw a bullpen session. It was the first time on a mound since the 2nd week of camp.

The less good news had to do with Todd Jones. While no one seems worried, a lack of arm strength is pretty troubling. It sounds like he’s confident he can build up the strength, but what if he can’t?

I’ll leave you with a happy thought though. Rick Porcello looked very good, save for one breaking ball that floated over everyone’s heads. He got into the proverbial kitchen of a few guys in his 2 innings of work and nothing was hit hard against him. It’s the first time I’ve seen him on the mound save for still shots, and he doesn’t look like a guy fresh out of high school.

Jon Paul Morosi reports that the Tigers bullpen headaches have the team talking trade. Morosi notes that there have been “general discussions” with the Cubs. Chicago has become a favorite trading partner of Dombrowski with the two clubs completing five trades during DD’s tenure.

Morosi notes that the Cubs may be interested in a right handed hitter who could play center. Like maybe Inge. There is the Alan Trammell factor and a recommendation from the bench coach could come into play.

MLB Trade Rumors throws out the name Ryan Dempster as a potential target. Dempster will turn 31 and make $5.5 million this year, so for 2008 anyways the salaries would work out. Dempster fanned 7.43 per 9 innings last year while walking 4.05 per 9 and posting a 4.51 FIP. In other words he’s a poor man’s Jason Grilli (7 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, 3.85 FIP). Well, with some saves.

As for the current bullpen candidates, well, umm, yeah:

• Matt Mantei’s arm went pop and he’s retiring and was released
• Fernando Rodney threw for the first time today in a couple weeks. He made 15 throws from 60 feet. But that doesn’t provide a lot of hope at this point given his history.
• Francisco Cruceta still hasn’t made it into the country.  At this point I wonder if the Tigers could get him through waivers.
• And Todd Jones was rocked today for 6 runs in an inning.  But that’s probably less of a concern at this point.
• At least Denny Bautista has looked good in his limited time with 3 scoreless innings.
• I find it interesting that Yorman Bazardo has only thrown 1 inning. I thought he’d be a strong candidate to make the team given his option status.

We’ve taken a look at how the Tigers may, or at least how we think (and by we I mean I and the people who agree with me) they may fill out their bench. The bench is one of the few areas of ambiguity in terms of the roster. The other area is the bullpen.

Unlike with the bench, there aren’t too many assumptions to clarify. The only tenet is that the pen will most likely have 7 pitchers and I don’t think that is really up for too much debate. The only way I see that deviating, and even then it’s not very likely, is if Vance Wilson is injured and Brandon Inge serves as the super-sub and back-up catcher and Leyland carries 8 bullpen arms.

Here’s a quick stratification of the options:

Sure Things: Todd Jones and Fernando Rodney.
Not quite sure things but pretty likely: Bobby Seay and Tim Byrdak
Everyone else: Danny Bautista, Yorman Bazardo, Francisco Cruceta, Jason Grilli, Matt Mantei, Macay McBride, Zach Miner, Clay Rapada, Jordan Tata
Maybe in August: Joel Zumaya

The sure things aren’t really worth discussing, at least not now. And while the nomenclature of “sure thing” and Todd Jones may be tough to swallow, he is a lock in terms of his roster status. Byrdak and Seay would probably have to pitch very poorly or very injured this spring to not make the team. Both lefties had solid campaigns last year and Leyland likes carrying 2 southpaw options.

As for everyone else, we’ll go in alphabetical order. Looking at the circumstances, option status will likely to be the driving factor in how the last 3 members are chosen. Eddie has done an excellent job writing up an Options tutorial as well as looking at what those implications could be for the Tigers.

• Denny Bautista- Bautista was acquired in exchange for Jose Capellan.  Bautista will be given a shot as a reliever, despite spending the bulk of his limited career starting.  He’s only thrown 16.2 innings in relief, and allowed 31 hits and 25 runs in those innings.  And if you want someone to come in and throw strikes, well Bautista walks a batter every other inning which doesn’t bode well.  He’s out of options so the Tigers will probably hold on to him until the end, but I think the 27 year old is a long shot despite some electric stuff.
• Yorman Bazardo- Bazardo got a little time with the Tigers last year.  He spent a little time in the pen, and was a fill-in starter in September.  He relies on a sinker that moves similarly to Derek Lowe’s.  He only fanned 4.6 batters per 9 innings for Toledo last year, but that sinker kept the ball inthe park and he only allowed 8 homers in 136.2 innings.  Bazardo doesn’t turn 24 until July, but he’s out of options.  His ceiling isn’t tremendous, but he’s young and can probably pitch in the big leagues right now.  I’d say he’s most likely to be the 6th starter should someone need a day off in the rotation or for a double header.  He’d be a likely goner if the Tigers tried to pass him through waivers.  I think he makes the team.
• Francisco Cruceta – The Tigers are very high on Cruceta.  He’s been primarily a starter in his minor league career, but pitched out of the bullpen in the Pacific Coast League last year.  He fanned more than a batter an inning over the last 2 years in the minors and the Tigers were aggressive in signing him this offseason.  Like Bautista though, control has been a challenge for Cruceta and he walked 40 in 65.2 innings last year.  He is also out of options (are you seeing a trend here?) and I think he comes North.  But if he doesn’t throw strikes the leash may be short.  Of course if he’s walking people left and right he’d probably pass through waivers at that point.
• Jason Grilli – Very likely to make the team.  Probably not quite a lock but could almost be placed in the same category with Byrdak and Seay.  Leyland loves him, and if Grilli managed to keep his spot with his poor first half in 2007 I can’t imagine him not making the big club.
• Matt Mantei – Very long shot to make the bullpen, but the reliever may provide some depth as he tries to come back from a couple years off due to injury.  He’s already on a minor league contract so there won’t be issues of claims being made, and he’s already said he’d only pitch for the Tigers.  On a team that is short on veteran minor league free agent depth, he could prove valuable at some point this season.   But I hope that the need doesn’t arise in March.
• Macay McBride – One of the few members of the pen with options left.  McBride never found consistency for the Tigers last year and he finished the season in Toledo.  He’s likely to begin 2008 there as well as he provides some insurance in case Byrdak/Seay falter.
• Zach Miner – Miner deserves to be on the big club, but won’t be.  He’ll get squeezed out because he has options left.  He’s also likely to get some time in Detroit as injuries necessitate.
• Clay Rapada – Rapada is another lefty.  He was acquired for Craig Monroe and got off to a rocky start by allowing 2 homers and 2 walks in only 2 1/3 innings for Detroit last year.  Rapada has 2 options left and will start the year in the Toledo pen.
• Jordan Tata – Tata knows what he’s up against.  The rotation is full, the bullpen is full, and Tata has an option left.  He can probably use more refinement in Toledo but will try to be ready if he gets the call.

My best guess on how the bullpen will be rounded out is with Yorman Bazardo, Francisco Cruceta, and Jason Grilli. While talent should normally trump anything else, the roster concerns are legitimate. If there were cases where a clearly superior player was left in the minors for a player out of options that would be one thing. But the talent differences aren’t so vast so it makes the most sense to maintain as much depth as possible.