I’ve got to give this Tigers team credit for one thing. There’s no shortage of news. Last week I tried to put together a timeline of all the announcements and news coming out of Jim Leyland’s office. I couldn’t get it legible at less than 1200 pixels wide. And that was before all the news from the last week.

Vance Wilson

Wilson received awful news in that he needs to do Tommy John times 2. His contract with the Tigers is up this year and with a 12 month recovery period, he is done as a Tigers player and may be facing retirement. He’s well respected in the Tigers organization and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Wilson back in another capacity in a few years. Best wishes to Vance.

Roster moves: Rapada

Clay Rapada was optioned to Toledo to make room for Eddie Bonine. This isn’t a merit based demotion but a matter of the guy with options getting sent down. It’s something we may see again next week when Rodney and Zumaya return. Dolsi could be one of the guys out based on contract status. Fossum, Seay, Bautista, and Lopez are all out of options.

Granderson’s struggles

Detroit Tiger Tales takes a look at Curtis Granderson’s struggles. He finds among other things that Granderson is taking a lot of pitches, both out of and in the strike zone and it’s possible he’s being to passive. That’s something I could buy, and his timing seems to be off as well with a lot of ball popped up to the left side. I trace it back to the Tim Wakefield game. Look at his gamelogs and see what happens from May 6th onwards. It’s a 554 OPS with only 4 walks. Right now his OBP is the same as Pudge’s.

Zumaya-Rodney updates

I think I spied Joel Zumaya in the Tigers dugout last night. But he is experiencing some soreness in his side. If everything goes as planned he’ll pitch tonight, and then back to back on Monday and Tuesday with a possible return to the team for the San Diego series.

As for Rodney, he had a terrific outing for the Mud Hens last night and will be back Monday provided he feels alright today.

Spit balls

• A very insightful look at trade season.
• Carlos Guillen is picking it at third
• Renteria is dealing with pectoral soreness so Michael Hollimon may get some more playing time.

In today’s edition of what’s up Jimmy’s sleeve, we find an alternating catcher. The announcement came down today that Pudge isn’t the regular catcher any more. He and Brandon Inge will rotate behind the plate.

Neither are really hitting worth a lick and at this point Inge is probably the better defensive catcher anyways. Plus with Inge under contract next year and Rodriguez not, it’s clear they are testing the waters despite Leyland’s claims to the contrary. The announcement also comes on the heels of a Vance Wilson sighting in the the clubhouse. Is Vance almost ready to go, will he be ready by the trade deadline, and does Pudge get dealt?

But of course this comes about a week after skip announced that Inge would play more third base and Carlos Guillen would play more left field. So there’s always the chance that this experiment could last 12 hours.

You can hear Tom Gage discussing this and other Tigers items on the WDFN.com Podcast page.
Download audio file (TOM%20GAGE%206-9.mp3?CPROG=PCAST&MARKET=DETROIT-MI&NG_FORMAT=sports&SITE_ID=1128&STATION_ID=WDFN-AM&PCAST_AUTHOR=Sports_Radio_1130_WDFN&PCAST_CAT=sports&PCAST_TITLE=WDFN_-_The_Stoney_and_Wojo_Show)

Inge connects for RBI Triple. credit TheCouga

Yes. It’s another Brandon Inge story. Inge may yet be the Tigers back-up catcher when the season begins because it became clear today that Vance Wilson won’t be ready. And backpedaling from his Sunday statements that rose the ire of many (including your local blogger), Inge is amenable to catching.

He told Danny Knobler today that he regretted how his comments about catching sounded. He also said he had no problem catching.

Jason Beck follows with a report from a radio appearance by Al Avila. Beck had this quote from Avila:

“Brandon came in actually today and talked to Jim [Leyland]. He felt that he was misquoted in the newspaper, things were taken out of context and he actually came in today and said that he’s willing to catch. From his point of view today, he’s expressing that the way that things that were written weren’t exactly the way he expressed it, he was just frustrated that one game but if he’s going to be with the Tigers he’ll be happy. At this point you can count on Brandon Inge being a Detroit Tiger and he’ll catch when we need him.”

Considering that multiple reporters came with the same quotes makes me think he was accurately quoted. As for the comments being out of context, I don’t really know what the context could have been. However the text may have not captured the sentiment. Without hearing it there’s no way to know either way. But it does seem consistent that he was speaking at the peak of frustration. At least their is recognition on Inge’s part that what he said wasn’t good.

Regardless, the money part of the quote comes at the end when Avila declares we “can count on” Inge as a Tiger. Is the trade pursuit over or is it simply that fans should count on him not to complain?

credit Roger DeWitt

While today was officially “Pitchers and Catchers report” day, it was just that. Reporting day. The official workouts don’t begin until tomorrow. Still, the players and beat writers are all in town so the stream of news has started to flow.

The links to the stories are below with my comments to follow:

Beck’s Blog: Happy Reporting Day
Det News: Leyland – Strong possibility Inge will get traded
Det News: Tigers catchers Wilson aims for mid-March return

Opening Day starter

It’s the first-ish day of spring training so of course it is time to find out who the Opening Day starter will be. Leyland is leaning towards Justin Verlander which really is who it has to be isn’t? I don’t think there’s much mystery that the rotation will be Verlander-Rogers-Bonderman-Willis-Robertson. Rogers will be sandwiched between the two righties and Willis and Robertson will fill out the 4 and 5 spots.

Inge

I guess the news element here is that Leyland used the phrase “strong possibility” when discussing the likelihood of an Inge trade. Is there something in the works? Is this just trying to get other teams more motivated to deal? Is it nothing more than the manager suggesting that the Tigers are still trying to meet Inge’s wishes? I’d say it’s probably the latter. I still say that if Inge is on board with catching the Tigers should hang on to him with an eye towards him manning the plate in 2009

Injury Updates

Earlier this offseason it sounded as if the Tigers would need Inge to start the season as the primary back-up. But Vance Wilson seems to be progressing well now and could be ready in time for the start of the season. Things could get hairy with the bench, but I’ll take that over having positions in the starting 9 having to be won this spring.

Also, the news is good on the Gary Sheffield front because he is swinging pain free. He’s limited in his throwing for now, but for the designated hitter that is as minimal a concern as there can be.

First hand accounts

The Lakeland Flying Tigers Blog will have folks on site each day so check frequently for new pics, stories, and videos (plus they have a new URL). Also, Dontrelle Willis blogged his arrival day and Curtis Granderson has his first blog entry of the season up at ESPN.

The Tigers are fortunate to not have any positions really up in the air when they head to spring training. At least not for the starters. The bench on the other hand has a number of candidates competing for limited spots. Marcus Thames, Brandon Inge, Ryan Raburn, Freddy Guzman, Mike Hessman, and Ramon Santiago are all gunning for what amounts to 3 bench positions. How will it shake out?

Let’s start with some assumptions. These could be wrong, or you may disagree, but this is where I’m starting from:

• Brandon Inge will break camp with the team
• Vance Wilson will not have to start the season on the DL
• Marcus Thames doesn’t get traded

Those assumptions leave very little wiggle room. With a bench of only 4 players that leaves only one spot up in the air.

The only position where the Tigers don’t have an established player to back-up is second base. I thought about penciling Inge in there, but seeing as he has never played the position and he’ll be busy re-learning to catch, that position provides the least amount of comfort. With that in mind that last spot likely goes to either Ramon Santiago or Ryan Raburn.

The strengths and weaknesses of the bench candidates are below:

• Marcus Thames: Thames has big time power, and other than 2007 has shown an ability to take a walk. He also has a new contract meaning that Thames is still in the team’s plans. The downside is that he plays the positions lowest on the defensive spectrum and he is another right handed bat. Still, Jacque Jones needs a platoon partner in left field and Thames would be the first choice.
• Brandon Inge: Unlikely to be moved and both Inge and the team need him to re-establish his value. He becomes very important if Wilson isn’t available.
• Ramon Santiago: A Jim Leyland favorite for his defense and a switch hitter. Or at least a batter who stands on both sides of the plate. Out of options, but probably not a big risk to be claimed on waivers either.
• Ryan Raburn: Very versatile and has a better bat than you’ll typically see on the bench. But again, like the rest of the team he hits right handed. He has options which could work against him, though it probably shouldn’t.
• Mike Hessman: Excellent defender at the corners, but yet another right handed bat. Leyland seemed to take a liking to him, but he has serious contact issues. Short of an injury to a corner player, I don’t see a way the Tigers could justify putting him on the 25 man roster.
• Freddy Guzman: Guzman is out of options which could work to his advantage. Also to his advantage is that he’s a left handed hitter, and he’s fast. But he also plays outfield where the Tigers have some considerable depth already. He’s out of options though and has an outside shot of coming North, but he seems more like a September call up type of player.

If I’m responsible for the roster, I take Marcus Thames, Brandon Inge, Vance Wilson, and Ryan Raburn given the assumptions above. Raburn would most likely end up thirsting for at-bats as the majority would go to Inge. Still, that bench gives you a pretty solid combination of offensive pop and defensive flexibility. This would require passing Freddy Guzman and Ramon Santiago through waivers though. Santiago has cleared a number of times and I don’t see that being a problem. As for Guzman, I’m not sure. The Rangers could claim him back I suppose, but I don’t see that as being too big of a concern.