What the moves mean
From Lakeland - The Tigers got down to one player over the 25-man roster limit this morning. Here's the upshot of what they did.
1. Rick Porcello will be in the starting rotation.
2. So, too, will Zach Miner.
3. Nate Robertson is in the bullpen.
4. Juan Rincon, Ryan Perry and Eddie Bonine have won bullpen spots.
5. Scott Williamson (re-assigned) and Clay Rapada (optioned to Toledo) were odd-men out.
6. Ryan Raburn optioned to Toledo.
7. Mike Hessman (waivers) was informed he will not be on the club. He's very interested now in going to play in Japan if another major-league club doesn't claim him.
8. Dane Sardinha to the minors, but will accompany the team to Atlanta for the final two exhibition games.
9 Final roster spot between Jeff Larish and Brent Clevlen.
10. But the prevailing thought is that the TIgers will keep Clevlen in camp as long as possible so that he won't be claimed when they have to outright him. He's out of options - but the rosters don't have to be officially set until 3 p.m. on Sunday,
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Raburn to St Louis?
Just tuning in this morning, and I see there's a rumor over in the Freep. Apologies if this is redundant:
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According to Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press, the Cardinals and Tigers are discussing a trade for Ryan Raburn. The versatile Raburn is best in the outfield, but may be more useful to St. Louis in the infield. Morosi says the Tigers may want to trade him for a pitching prospect. Raburn, 28 later this month, hit .236/.298/.368 in 199 plate appearances last year while playing all three outfield positions as well as second and third base. The Tigers previously had talks with the Mets about receiving Brian Stokes for Raburn. The Tigers optioned Raburn to Triple A Toledo today.
Morosi adds that the Tigers hope to trade for a big league pitcher as well. The Cubs' Chad Gaudin is on the radar, though his $2MM salary may be a bit much.
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On the other roster moves:
This is the second rumor involving efforts to deal Raburn. Leyland has broken with his life long habit of carrying two middle infielders on his bench, not that Raburn was ever much of an infielder, and gone with the player that can give him more versatility, and add a player in Jeff Larish that can provide some pop in the lineup against tough RHP's. Kudos to Marc for the forecast.
With just Clevlen and Larish battling for the last spot, I agree with Tom Gage that Larish is virtually a lock for that spot, barring something out of the blue at the last moment. The 'dynamic duo' of Thames and Larish on the roster is just far too appealing to pass up, IMO. Now, it's just about timing Clevlen's reassignment. The Tigers CAN outright him, having never done so before, but he'll have to clear waivers first. With all the other options out there for very little money (including Sheffield), and with the requirement that any team claiming Brent would be under the same restrictions with regard to options, I think it's now likely that he'll clear and be outrighted to Toledo. Better to send him through with the last minute rush, though. I posted the stats about Thames in the DH role yesterday. On the flip side, his stats when he's playing in the field must be tremendous! Sheff was on the MLB network this morning blaming the fact that he was "accommodating" in playing strictly DH for his poor performance. Nuff said there.
If Robertson is not injured, and he was able to pitch yesterday (if you can call it that), it's not surprising that the Tigers would keep him in the pen and see if their $ 17 million investment can produce some value- either in the pen or eventually the rotation. He could be traded or released at any time, and Rapada has options left.
The only question with Williamson is what took them so long? I guess he was insurance in case of an injury.
Here's hoping that Porcellery can do for us what Zulander did in 2006.
RP
I love the youngster in the rotation. This is the type of move a winner makes. It may not work out, but at least they are going with talent.
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