Detroit Tigers Will Have Work Cut Out for Them in Arbitration

By Sean Gagnier
It may be early, the Tigers aren't dead yet in the World Series, but looking at a 3-0 series deficit, it couldn't hurt to look to the 2013 season.

First off, the Tigers already high payroll could get much higher next season, with nine players eligible for salary arbitration.

Arbitration Eligible Tigers
Includes player's 2012 salary

• Max Scherzer, $3.75 million
• Rick Porcello, $3.1 million
• Ryan Raburn, $2.1 million
• Phil Coke, $1.1 million
• Don Kelly, $900,000
• Alex Avila, $510,000
• Doug Fister, $507,500
• Brennan Boesch, $502,500
• Austin Jackson, $500,000

Most of the eligible players are well deserving of a pay raise, but there are several that the Tigers should be kicking to the curb quickly following the World Series.

Of the nine players eligible for arbitration, Raburn does not deserve a pay raise at all, in fact he probably should have to pay Mike Illich for being as bad as he is. No chance he is back with the team next season.

With Detroit likely picking up the $6 million option on Jhonny Peralta, they will have no need for Kelly and will likely cut him.

Boesch more than likely has seen his last game in a Tigers uniform. He did not follow up his good 2011 season with a equally impressive 2012 season, and has been left off all three Tigers postseason rosters. If that isn't a sign that Detroit is ready to part ways with Boesch, then nothing is. Not to mention the glut of outfielders the Tigers have right now.

Scherzer will see yet another big pay raise; last season Scherzer saw his salary grow from $600,000 to $3.75 million. If things hold like they did last season, Scherzer could be bringing in quite a bit more money next year.

Like Scherzer, the other Tigers eligible for arbitration, aside from Raburn, Boesch and Kelly, will all likely see a bump in pay and return to the club next season without any incidences.

With Raburn, Boesch and Kelly being shown the door, Detroit will add to it's payroll without adding a single player. That doesn't bode well for being active with free agents.
 
Savings: $3.5 million


 Free Agent Tigers

• Jose Valverde, $9 million
• Delmon Young, $6.75 million
• Gerald Laird, $1 million
• Anibal Sanchez, $8 million

First off, Valverde will never play for the Tigers again. Even before his garbage postseason, he signed with agent Scott Boras, one of the two agents who drive up player contracts to ridiculous sums. Then Valverde tried to blow the Tigers postseason twice in the American division and league championship series. and for some reason Leyland decided to waste a bullpen spot with his arm in the World Series.

Valverde will be on the first plane out of Detroit in the off-season and will never come back. 

Delmon Young may have been named the ALCS MVP, but that doesn't make up for a horrible regular season and his bat, when hot, in no way comes close to making up for his defense in left field, if you can even call it that. Young's -29 RAA is one of the lowest in the entire league, meaning that when he plays left field, Young gives up 29 more runs than an average player. And even his bat doesn't save him, Young boasted a -9Rbat, runs batted in by position. So not only can he not field, he can't hit. Wave g'bye to Young this off-season.

Laird has struggled in the postseason offensively, and didn't have the best year at the plate during the regular season, but he has served as a solid backup for Alex Avila all year. With Victor Martinez returning next season, the Tigers would have three catchers on the roster, but it also depends on how they plan to use Martinez.

The only problem with using Martinez, Laird and Avila, is that Martinez is owed $13 million next season. While that is quite a hefty sum, if he can produce with RISP like he did in 2011 then he will be worth every penny.

That being said, we would prefer to see Martinez used as the DH on a daily basis next season and see Laird return at $1 million or a little more. Martinez is too valuable to this team to put him behind the plate and risk him getting hurt or wearing out what little is left of his knees. By resigning Laird, all three catchers could work with the pitching staff and if absolutely necessary Martinez could serve as the emergency catcher. Laird works well with Scherzer and Porcello, while Avila tends to work better with Verlander and Fister. Why break up the band now?

While Sanchez has yet to see any bump in run support moving from Miami to Detroit, he appears to like the club and the fans, but it has yet to be seen if that will turn into him resigning with the Tigers. With Detroit cutting ties to Valverde, Boesch and Young, there should be enough money to offer Sanchez a competitive deal to keep him in Motown.

He may not have had the best first few outings for Detroit, but Sanchez has shown that he is as capable a pitcher as any of the other guys on the staff. Sanchez will receive contracts worth absurd money, no doubt, but the Tigers will likely offer him something in the neighborhood of $9-10 million per season.

Savings: $15.75 million 

Total Savings: $19.25 million

What about the 'pen?

Phil Coke has shown that he is capable of handling the closers role in the postseason, why not keep him in that role? With Coke serving as the closer, the 7th and 8th inning roles could be left up to Octavio Dotel and Joaquin Benoit.

Moving Coke to the closer, leaves the Tigers in need of a situational lefty, which could be filled by Darin Downs. Continuing to use Al Albuquerque in tight situations would be a solid move and so would be moving Bruce Rondon up from the Toledo Mud Hens and into the Tigers bullpen.

Detroit made a good run in 2011, but was hampered by injuries. In 2012, an American League Championship is nothing to sneeze at, but the Tigers have no one to blame but themselves for under-performing in the World Series. If Detroit wants to stay at the top of the AL for a long time, they need to reward success while promoting young cheap talent from within.

Lay Off Leyland

By Sean Gagnier

So you think you know more about the Detroit Tigers than manager Jim Leyland? Are you sure about that one?

Last week was the first time I spoke to Leyland in person and his knowledge about the game was stunning. The man knows what he is doing, he just doesn't always show it.

You know what Leyland did on Wednesday night after the game with Minnesota before the day game the next day? He stayed up until the early hours of the morning trying to decide whether to play Quintin Berry or Ryan Raburn, and then he slept on the couch in his office.

Leyland genuinely stresses over each decision that he has to make when it comes to his lineup and his ball team, and yet all he does is catch flak for it. I admit, I have been one of the people who has called for his job in the past, but after hearing exactly what goes into one of his decisions, I no longer believe his job should be in jeopardy.

When asked about Ryan Raburn Leyland had this to say,

"I had to toss and turn with it today whether to play Berry or Raburn and I ended up playing Raburn. The thought process is, if Raburn doesn’t help us against left handers, then we got issues, so you give him the benefit of the doubt to see if you can maybe get him going a little bit. Peralta, Young and Raburn gotta do something against left-handed pitching, it’s that simple. It’s that simple, Jhonny Peralta, Delmon Young and Ryan Raburn gotta do something against left-handed pitchers, it’s that simple"

Now does that sound like a person who doesn't know what their talking about? Not at all. Leyland is smarter than people give him credit for; he knows that his players are struggling but he also knows that he only has three extra players on the roster, one of which is a catcher. He is doing everything he can with what he has.


Leyland isn't  a stranger to being called out though, he talked about a story where he was at his own pool and someone began telling him that he was screwing up the Tigers because he wasn't batting Brennan Boesch second in the order.


"The guy kept saying Boesch hits better in the two hole. Well, it seems to me that wherever I play him Boesch keeps hitting .238, so he's going on about how Boesch needs to hit second but I told him, my stats show that hitting him second or f%&#$ing third or eighth the guy is hitting .238," Leyland said. 


The guy understands statistics and he knows that his team is scuffling, but he isn't just sitting around doing nothing, he is trying everything he can to get this team on a roll and in doing so he may make a misstep, but what do you expect? He's working with what Dave Dombrowski gave him.

Tigers Demote Ryan Raburn; Who Do They Call Up?

 By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

It finally happened, the Tigers were out of options to deal with the struggling Ryan Raburn and opted to send him down to the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens after Tuesday's game with the Boston Red Sox. Raburn had a very respectable spring training, but once the season started so did Raburn's troubles. When he was demoted on Tuesday he was hitting just .146.

While it has been his style to struggle in the early portion of the season before flipping a switch and playing like an all star after the break, but this season's swoon, coupled with the team's struggles, caused Detroit to pull the leash on their second baseman.

Following the Tigers loss to the Red Sox on Monday, Jim Leyland said that he thought that he may have given Raburn too much leash so far this season and that he would have a much shorter one from then on. Well, it must have been very short.

There was no corresponding roster move made in Toledo after Raburn was optioned down tonight; one is expected to come on Wednesday. Raburn's struggles have been historic for him; the only time his on-base percentage was lower was in 2004 when he played just 12 games with the Tigers and had only 29 at-bat's. Currently, his OBP is sitting at .209 with a on-base percentage plus slugging of .420, which is terrible in the major leagues.

There was speculation abound Tuesday night as to who would be called up to replace Raburn in the Detroit lineup; first instinct was that the Tigers would call on another second baseman in Eric Patterson. But that was quickly shut down when Tigers beat writer Jason Beck tweeted that the player to be called up would not be a second baseman, per Jim Leyland.

That being said, speculation shifted elsewhere that the Tigers would go and bring up a reliever. Only problem with that is that the Tigers already have seven relievers in the bullpen and five starters. By carrying 12 pitchers on staff, Detroit limits itself on the bench.

The Tigers should bring up Mud Hens designated hitter Brad Eldred to replace Ryan Raburn. By recalling Eldred, Detroit would maintain a more normal bench and would add a big bat that they could bring into a game in the late innings. As it stands, if the Tigers need to go to the bench in the late innings they can turn to Danny Worth, Gerald Laird or Don Kelly. Not exactly murder's row is it?

By adding Eldred the Tigers would be able to have pop off the bench that they dont currently possess and because he can't play a position in the field they would have no problem sending him back down to Toledo when Austin Jackson comes off the disabled list.

There's No One Thing Going Wrong with Tigers, It's Multifaceted

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

With their loss on Saturday night in Oakland the Detroit Tigers fell below .500 for the first time since May 29, 2011. But it's early, right? Detroit was right around .500 at this time last season and ended up going to the American League Championship Series; so what's there to worry about, right?

Wrong. Everything clicked last season. Remember the Tigers chasing the 2002 Oakland A's consecutive win's streak last season? That helped a little bit. But so many players had career years in 2011 that it skewed peoples expectations for this season.

If there was just one thing going wrong with the Tigers they would find it and fix it, but there isn't just one thing wrong with this team. It permeates every facet of this team and makes it impossible to fix this club with one fell swoop.

Rick Porcello's last start aside the Tigers rotation is probably the only good thing going for Detroit right now. In Detroit's last 13 games the starters have combined for a 2.62 ERA. While Doug Fister struggled a bit on Saturday, he has been good since coming back from the disabled list. Porcello couldn't keep his pitches down in the zone and when you're a ground ball pitcher that is death. But the starters aren't the problem.

Over the same 13 game span in which the starters have compiled a 2.62 ERA the Tigers bullpen has consistently imploded and has a 8.90 ERA over 13 games. Among the pitchers currently in the pen, the bullpen has averaged a 1.36 WHIP this season. These are supposed to be the most clutch pitchers on staff, they are supposed to be able to come into a game and slam the door, not give up runs. And when your relief pitchers are giving up an average of about one and a half base runners per inning there is a major problem.

On to hitting. Or lack of hitting for that matter. Over the Tigers last seven losses the offense has scored; 2,2,2,2,1,4 and 1 runs in each loss respectively. The lack of runs stems from the team's inability to get on base; this season the regular nine starters have averaged just a .321 on-base percentage.

A more telling statistic is the on-base percentage plus slugging, or OPS. The same nine starters that factored in to the on-base percentage stat were averaged for their OPS. First, an explanation of what a good OPS is. An OPS between .700 and .800 is mediocre, anything over .800 is a solid starter and anything over 1.000 is elite status.

That being said, when an average is taken of the OPS' of; Alex Avila, Prince Fielder, Ryan Raburn, Jhonny Peralta, Miguel Cabrera, Andy Dirks, Austin Jackson, Brennan Boesch and Delmon Young they average out to .740. With a team OPS smack dab in the middle of mediocre-ville nothing will ever get done offensively with this club.

Those same nine players have combined this season for a sub-par .264 batting average, while failing to drive in very many runs. Over the Tigers first 32 games they have allowed 144 runs while only scoring 138; with those numbers being crunched they spit out a figure that puts their win/loss at 15-17, while their record actually being at 16-16.

Consistency is something this team lacks; second base is the major offender there. With all three candidates; Ryan Raburn, Ramon Santiago and Danny Worth fairing quite poorly it is obvious that something needs to be done, but what? First of all, Raburn should never be near the lineup, starting or otherwise, ever again. Trade him for a bucket of baseballs, at least they would be useful.

Santiago has been solid defensively, but poor offensively. With a .163 BA, .208 OBP and .432 OPS he is far from the answer Detroit needs at second base. Santiago could be used later in games as a defensive replacement but should not see his name on the starting lineup card for some time. Worth is a bit of an unknown still as he has not been given enough at-bat's. He has 14 at-bat's this season, no where near the 100 that he needs to get for the Tigers to be able to judge what they have in him.

Worth has a .214/.353/.567 split, not too bad in the OBP column but in each of the other categories he needs improvement. It is too soon to tell if that is because he is not starting material, but he needs to get more at-bat's more consistently in order for the Tigers to find out if he is the answer to their problems or if they need to go out and trade for Chris Getz or Neil Walker.

So while the Tigers are struggling and the talk radio show phone lines will fill up with people who have "pin pointed" to all of Detroit's problems, but they are wrong. There is not just one problem for this team, there are many problems and not near enough solutions.

Ryan Raburn Needs the Inge Treatment; He Needs To Be Gone

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

Let's face it, there is no earthly reason why Ryan Raburn consistently suits up and takes the field as the Detroit Tigers starting second baseman; there just isn't. Statistically, he is one of the worst second basemen, if not the worst in the entire league.

The offense is the problem for the Tigers right now, they are not getting the clutch hits and they are leaving runners on base. Detroit's starting pitchers have a sub-2 ERA over their last seven starts but only have three wins to show from it. The offense is not picking up their pitchers and Raburn is a major offender.

Raburn has played in 23 games for Detroit so far this season, mainly at second but occasionally being shifted to left or right field for defensive purposes late in game. In those 23 games Raburn has had 71 at-bats and in those at-bats he has only nine hits, just three of which were for extra bases.

His terrible at-bats has pushed his batting average all the way down to Brandon Inge territory at .127 and an on-base percentage of just .192. But another stat that shows just how poorly Raburn is playing is his on-base percentage plus slugging or OPS. A mediocre OPS is between .700 and .800. Anything over .800 is a mark of a solid every day starter, if a batter has a 1.000 OPS he is elite in the league. With that in mind, Raburn's OPS is a mind blowing .361.

When a player has a .361 OPS they better be giving the team the defensive skills of a Hall of Famer or be sitting in the Super 8 motel because they aren't playing. There is no excuse for a player with numbers this bad should ever see the field.

Raburn can't get on base in any fashion; he can't hit the ball and he can't draw walks. In his 71 at-bats Raburn has drawn just four walks, compared to his 19 strike-outs, he is by far the worst second baseman in the league.

Delving into sabermetrics on Raburn gives better insight on his mediocrity. In 2012, Raburn's WAR, or wins above replacement, is at -0.9, meaning that he costs the Tigers about one win per season. His dWAR, or defensive wins above replacement, is also negative at -0.3 meaning that once again Raburn isn't helping the Tigers, he's hurting them.

Raburn isn't making much money, just about $2 million, so he isn't commanding a whole lot of the Tigers pocket book, meaning that they need to give him the Inge treatment and get him out of town as soon as the wheels touch the tarmac in Detroit. Give Danny Worth 100 at-bats and see what he can do and if that doesn't work, throw some players the quality of the Wilson Betemit trade the Royals way and get Michigan-native Chris Getz to take over at second for Detroit.

 

Could Patterson Be The Answer At 2B?

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

Second base is one of the most glaring areas of need for the Detroit Tigers right now, all three of their options in the majors, Ryan Raburn, Danny Worth and Ramon Santiago are all hitting under .200. While Raburn typically has a slow start to the season, things are reaching a breaking point for the Tigers.

Manager Jim Leyland has said that he is trying to get Raburn going but if things don't go his way soon, there will have to be changes made. Perhaps the answer is Worth, who only has eight at-bats this season but has only recorded one hit in that time.

With Worth hitting .125 and Santiago also hitting under .200 there don't seem to be many options for the Tigers at second right now. Either they stick with Raburn and hope to ride it out or they give Worth every day playing time and hope more at-bats could lead to an increased batting average.

Or they could dip back into their reserves in Toledo. Eric Patterson is lighting the International League on fire this past week and the rest of his season has shown that he could be ready for a call-up.

In 28 games with Toledo this season Patterson, 29, is hitting .286/.433/.327. Those numbers are impressive, but when you look at how he had performed over the past 10 games things get really good looking. In the past 10 games Patterson is batting .323/.475/.387 with nine walks and two stolen bases.

Those numbers are solid and he brings another left-handed bat to the Tigers lineup, and one can never have too many lefties in the batting order. While Patterson hasn't fared that well in his past big league time, he could be a good stop-gap for General Manager Dave Dombrowski while he looks into the trade market for a more permanent solution such as Pittsburgh's Neil Walker or Kansas City's Chris Getz.

Weekly Tigers Fan Card Revoking

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

This is going to be something new; every week I will post something dumb a fan has said or done that proves that they deserve to have their Detroit Tigers Fan Club card revoked - temporarily or permanently.

First up - Random 97.1 The Ticket caller

After the Tigers loss on Saturday where Jose Valverde blew the save, his second of the season, 97.1 opened up their phone lines to people who wanted to talk about it. And of course, instead of some one getting on the air and showing that they understand the game of baseball this guy got on.

His suggestion; call up the New York Yankees and package Ryan Raburn with Jose Valverde to get Curtis Granderson back.

Sure, the team with the most championships in Major League Baseball is going to trade one of their best outfielders for a guy who isn't hitting his weight at the plate and a closer who is shaky at the moment. Yeah, that'll happen.

Not to mention the Tigers would have no room for Granderson in their already filled outfield or that the Yankees already have Robinson Cano at second base and have no need for Raburn. While he was at it, the caller suggested that the Tigers throw in Don Kelly in order to get Cano away from the Yankees.

I'm not even going to try to evaluate this one, this guy has no baseball sense whatsoever. When will fans learn that trades have to hurt both ways - you can't get one of the other guy's best players without giving up someone of value.

About your fan card random 97.1 caller...it's just been revoked.

The Curious Case of The Detroit Tigers Second Base

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

It was supposed to be a straight forward decision, it was made in spring training; Ryan Raburn was going to be be the second baseman for the Detroit Tigers and would be rested for Ramon Santiago. Then Brandon Inge decided that he needed to play second base and foul things up even further, of course despite proving to be just about as useful as a wet towel, Inge was awarded with the job.

Fine, whatever. As long as he can hit his weight and continue to field above-average Inge will be accepted at second. But that's not happening, and his self-serving choice to force his way into the second base position has done some damage to Raburn and Santiago. Raburn left Lakeland, Fla. hitting better than he ever had to start the season - but part of that was because he was allowed to settle in at second base and play every day.

With Inge filling his spot in the lineup in Detroit Raburn was forced to play the outfield and become the designated hitter, with this came uncertainty of playing each day and when playing DH, long periods of sitting on the bench before each at-bat. There is nothing that will quench a hot streak faster than moving a guy around the field, it's no wonder Raburn's bat appears to have been left in Florida. Coming hot out of spring training Raburn has seen his batting average drop all the way to .090, as of Apr. 25, 2012.

Santiago also had a decent spring, but has also struggled as of late, hitting just .153. He has been his usual self in the field posting a perfect fielding percentage. But Manager Jim Leyland usually opts to put Inge or Raburn in the lineup at second base and leave Santiago for a late-inning substitution. While this may hamper some players, Santiago has gotten used to this as most of his career has been spent in this fashion. If given more opportunities he could buoy his average, but nothing is certain.

Inge simply wants to stay in the lineup and who can blame him, his is getting paid to play his favorite sport and all he wants to do is play. It's hard to knock a guy for not wanting to call it quits, but the numbers are not great for Inge. Through Apr. 25, Inge had recorded just two hits in the season for a .100 average. While many may not have expected his bat to come with him to second base, many still believed that he could be an asset up the middle with his excellent glove work from third base. Unfortunately, that did not follow him.

It is a hard transition to move from a position you have played much of your professional career to the position you played in high school, but his defense has suffered mightily in his time at second base for the Tigers. In his time at 2B this season Inge has posted a .963, committing several errors, and several others that should have been charged to him. Because of this, Inge's Rtot/yr is a -15. Rtot is the measure of the number of runs above or below average a fielder is worth per year. And at -15, Inge is worth 15 runs less than the average second baseman. Meaning that he costs the Tigers 15 a year.

None of the three mentioned players are the solution at second base; Raburn was meant to be a temporary stop-gap at best, Santiago is not an every day player and Inge is costing the team runs. Then where do the Tigers turn to fix the problem? Danny Worth.

Worth only appeared in three games with the Tigers this season before he was sent down to Toledo to make room for Inge. But while he was with Detroit he had five plate appearances and was able to get a hit in that time. His .200 average is already higher than any of the three players currently playing the position and he is supposedly the answer the Tigers brass had for 2B when they traded away Scott Sizemore after his brief time in the Olde English D.

Since being sent down to play with the Mud Hens, Worth has had 48 at-bat's and recorded 14 hits during those appearances. He has also drawn six walks in Toledo which puts his on-base percentage at .370. While he still has problems striking out, he would give the Tigers someone different to put in at second and perhaps fix the problem.

The definition of stupid is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result; now isn't that what Detroit is doing with the three players they have playing second right now? Trying to fit square pegs into a round hole. It just won't work, why not bring Worth up, give him 100 at-bat's and see if he really is the fix that they desperately need.

It Happened - Inge Is A Starter At 2B

Toledo Blade

 By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier

No, you didn't read the headline wrong. Manager Jim Leyland has named Brandon Inge a starter at second base. Now, just let that settle in for a little, grab your blood pressure meds and let's explore this a little bit.

Inge will start the season on the 15-day disabled list with a strained groin, the easy way out for Leyland and General Manager Dave Dombrowski. The Tigers chose not to make a real decision on Inge, they didn't cut him, like many April Fools jokesters would have you believe. They didn't send him to the minors, but they also didn't put him on the everyday roster - until now.

Against the wishes of most Tigers fans with a pulse Leyland announced that Inge will be the starting second baseman for the Tigers when they are up against left-handed starting pitchers. They also decided to take Ryan Raburn who had an excellent spring at the plate and in the field and move him to the designated hitter role.

So they took the guy in Raburn who hit .268 and boasted a .994 fielding percentage and told him to go sit on the bench and make sure you can get us a hit every third inning. Raburn is the one guy on the team that you don't make the DH. He has struggled at the plate in the first half of the last several seasons, and now that he is coming off a hot spring they're going to sit him down and get him out of his rhythm so they can appease a guy hitting .180?

Yes, that's right, Inge hit a whopping .180 against pitchers in the spring. The time when pitchers are working on new pitches and the majority of games are pitched by minor leaguers and this "major leaguer" couldn't get his average above the Mendoza Line? That's the guy that you want to trot out in the starting line up, really?

Nothing about the spring Inge had called out for him to make the spring. Nothing. He didn't screw up defensively, but he also didn't do anything out of the ordinary. Not to mention he still couldn't hit the broadside of a barn.

Detroit, at least, called Danny Worth up to begin the season with the team, but if he is sent to the minors when Inge is taken off the DL it will be a travesty. Worth had a heck of a spring, he hit .317 and can play multiple infield positions. Inge, remember, hit .180 and Leyland said he would not be using Inge as a defensive replacement for Miguel Cabrera at third late in games.

So, let's break this down. The Tigers need a second baseman, the guy that started the most games at 2B in the spring and hit .268 while doing that will not get that job. He will be riding the pine and will be the designated hitter. The guy who is hitting .317 and can play multiple infield positions in Worth, likely won't be on the team more than two weeks. But the guy who is hitting .180 and whines about everything will get to start games for the Tigers.

That makes sense.

Inge Hitting .174, Says He Doesn't Care

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

“I feel great at the plate,” Inge said. “I consider a quality at-bat squaring it up and hitting it on the screws. I’ve done that a lot. I don’t have much to show for average, which I really don’t care about. I’ve learned -- especially after last year (when he hit .197) -- I don’t care one bit. I’m having fun playing baseball, and I will continue to have fun.
"I will never let numbers bring me down again. I’ve hit a lot of balls right at people.”

Yes, that's right, Brandon Inge doesn't think there is anything wrong with needing a boat oar at the plate to get a hit. And while Tigers fans may disagree with him on that one as long as he's having fun everything's alright, right?

With Danny Worth hitting .313 with a .395 OBP and Inge bringing up the rear with a real nice .174, he better have fun down in Lakeland because he might be staying there when the team comes back to Detroit.

Ryan Raburn has made it clear that he is the Tigers starting second baseman, he is tearing pitching apart this spring, hitting .325 with a .365 OBP. Raburn has also jacked six home runs and racked up 18 RBI this spring.

If things stay the way they are right now Raburn will be the starting 2B with backup's Ramon Santiago and Danny Worth. Inge, well, he can hit a lot of balls on the seams to little leaguers in Ann Arbor because he won't be doing it in an Olde English "D."

Like It Or Not - Brandon Inge Likely to Start at 2B

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier

Brandon Inge didn't have a good 2011, but according to him was going to "stop being nice" in the future years and improve his hitting while manning his position at third base. That was before Mike Illich spend nearly a quarter of a billion dollars on a new first baseman. The addition of Prince Fielder posed a problem for the Tigers, who now had to find a place for American League batting champion, Miguel Cabrera.

That problem was fixed when Manager Jim Leyland and General Manager Dave Dombrowski agreed that moving Cabrera to third was the best choice for the team - that move may have been good for the Tigers but not so good for Inge. During the press conference to announce Fielder, the question came up about Inge and Leyland told the media crowd that Inge "was not a happy camper" in regards to being displaced from third.

As Spring Training approached Inge was trying to find a way that he could still contribute to the club and play every day - third base was occupied, as was short stop and catcher, first base was also out of the question which left one place, second base. Second base has been a problem for the Tigers for some time now, with Leyland being content to head into the season with a platoon of Ryan Raburn and Ramon Santiago.

When it became known that Inge was intending on competing for the second base job a good portion of Tiger-nation let out a groan. He was the last to arrive in Lakeland, Fla. for Spring Training but has been given his shot at the second base position and if you believe Dombrowski, Inge has been All-Star quality. MLB Radio talked to Dombrowski about Inge playing second base earlier this week.

During Spring Training, Inge has made one start at second in a game against the Atlanta Braves in which he made a couple solid defensive plays. But his defensive ability was never what made Tigers fans boo him during the season or groan when they heard his name announced to come to the plate during a rally - to say Inge struggle with the bat last season is an understatement.

Dombrowski has said that Inge has been very good offensively and he has been using the whole field when he hits. But he preferenced that statement by saying that they didn't want to get carried away but went on to say that if Inge keeps up his performance he could get "a lot" of playing time this season.

So like it or not, it appears as though Inge will work his magic once again and find his way back into the every day lineup - which could either be a very good thing defensively for the Tigers or very bad for the Tigers offensively. Only time will tell whether or not Inge will be the every day second baseman out of Spring Training.

Brandon Inge to 2B, Say What?

 

 

Before the Tigers rocked the baseball world by signing Prince Fielder, Brandon Inge was hoping to rebound from a forgettable 2011 season with considerable playing time at 3B. But once Detroit pulled the trigger on their newest slugger it shifted Miguel Cabrera back to his original position at the hot corner and left Inge without a home.

At the press conference to announce Fielder's signing Tigers Manager Jim Leyland said that Inge was "not a happy camper" about being forced out of third base once again. To add insult to injury a few days later Denny McLain called Inge out for "whining" and told him to "suck it up."

At the press conference Leyland ran down several configurations for his team in the field, and none of them featured Inge. Even the designated hitter position, not that Inge could ever be considered a hitter, featured a collaboration of about four names, none of which were Inge.

But as the team prepares to head down to Lakeland, Fla. for spring training Inge talked to general manager Dave Dombrowski and indicated that he wants to compete for a spot at second base. Perhaps Inge has studied the team and seen that 2B is the weakest spot in the field for the Tigers, or maybe he just wants back into the game.

Currently, Leyland is looking at going into the 2012 season with a platoon of Ryan Raburn and Ramon Santiago at 2B, but neither of those players are good enough to have anything locked up before Opening Day rolls around. But they each possess something that Inge may not - the ability to turn a double play.

Inge has shown incredible athleticism at third during his career, but 3B is the moon compared to 2B. At third a player makes a stab at the ball and fires it to first or second for the out. While at 2B, a player has to read the runners and his partner at SS and make the out before getting the ball across the diamond to the waiting glove of Fielder at 1B. Even Leyland expressed uncertainty about Inge's proposed move.

"I don't know if he can do it," Leyland said. 

Leyland made one thing certain, if Inge wants to compete for a starting spot at 2B, he will not only have to be able to field the position and turn a double play, he will have to be able to hit. If he can't hit then he won't be in the lineup.

While this is all well and good, one has to wonder the impact on Raburn and Santiago heading into spring training. Raburn has frequently had abysmal starts to the season and if Inge is breathing down his neck on the bench it could force Raburn to push and struggle once again. As for Santiago, he just signed an extension with the Tigers only to face the possibility of losing his spot to the journeyman Inge.

Spring training is long and who knows, maybe Inge can make himself into a decent second baseman, but unless he can consistently hit without the need of a boat oar and can restrain himself from lashing out at the fans again his stay with the Tigers will be on the bench.

Tigers Roster Moves Put Team In Risky Position

Following Tuesday night's game against the Oakland Athletics the Detroit Tigers made several roster moves, sending down Andy Wilk and Casper Wells to Toledo and recalling Charlie Furbush and Duane Below.

Below will be making his major league debut on Wednesday, in the place of Justin Verlander. He has a 9-4 record with a 3.13 ERA this season in Toledo. With the Tigers looking to find a fifth starter, if Below impresses enough people he could be that man.

Optioning Wilk to the MudHens for Below isn't the problem; Wilk needed to be able to pitch, he hadn't pitched in nine games with the Tigers and Detroit needed to explore more young pitching talent. The problem lies with the demotion of Casper Wells to AAA.

Charlie Furbush is a good pitcher, no one is knocking him, in fact the Tigers are a better team with him on the ball club. But with Wells being sent down, Detroit is now put in a position late in games that could cost them games.

Instead of sending down Ryan Raburn, who according to reports still has an option left on his contract, the Tigers cut short a rising outfielder. Detroit has plenty of infield help; with Carlos Guillen being handed the starting second base role and Ramon Santiago being more than able to handle the utility role.

Late in games several defensive changes frequently take place; Don Kelly comes into the game to play third base, Andy Dirks replaces Magglio Ordonez in right field and Wells replaces Brennan Boesch in left field. These replacements boost the Tigers defensive abilities and ultimately help the Tigers save runs and games.

Now that Wells has been sent to Toledo, Detroit finds itself in a position late in games that isn't the best. Finding themselves down an outfielder the Tigers will now have to place Kelly in left field late in games to replace Boesch, keeping Brandon Inge at third base. While Kelly isn't a terrible outfielder, he has proved this season that he is a good infielder and should be utilized as such.

With the trade for Wilson Betemit from the Kansas City Royals, the Tigers may have found a solution to this problem. Detroit traded two Class-A prospects for Betemit, neither of which were ranked in Baseball America's Top 30 Prospects for the Tigers at the beginning of the season.

Adding Betemit should buoy Detroit defensively, allowing them to jettison Bradon Inge from the team. In an interview with Bob Wojnowski, Dombrowski was asked, "Will Inge be on the roster?" 

Dombrowski replied, "I am not talking about the roster."

The Betemit trade is a set in the right direction, but unless Below stuns the A's tonight the Tigers next roster move should be to recall Wells from Toledo and keep him on the roster for good. He deserves it.