Tigers Bring Back Brandon Inge

At the conclusion of Detroit’s 4-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Friday night the club announced that they have purchased the contract of third baseman Brandon Inge and have sent outfielder Andy Dirks back down.

As expected, Tigers manager Jim Leyland indicated that Brandon Inge will come in and play primarily against lefties and be a late inning defensive replacement while Wilson Betemit will get the call against right-handed pitchers despite being a switch hitter. No word yet on tomorrow’s lineup but given what Leyland said you can make the assumption that Inge will start at third since the Indians will turn to left-hander David Huff.

I don’t agree with this one bit. Inge has been struggling all season and now that he’s feasted on some minor league pitching and he’s ready to go. The Tigers need to let go of 2006,  move forward.and stop trying to keep the band together.

They just traded for Delmon Young and elected to keep Magglio Ordonez on the roster. And now they trade for Betemit, platoon him with Don Kelly and Ryan Raburn, bring back Inge and send down a functional Andy Dirks. Just to keep Ordonez and Inge on the roster. At some point this team has to get younger, it might as well be now.

Ordonez: Cabrera Must Act Like A Superstar

If anyone on the Detroit Tigers is going to show Miguel Cabrera some tough love, it looks like it’ll be Magglio Ordonez. Ordonez hasn’t been named captain or anything it’s just that he seems like he’s the most critical of Cabrera’s actions that may possibly send him to rehab after being arrested for alledgedly drunk driving, resisting arrest, and basically being a jackass.

Ordonez told John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press that Cabrera “must act like a superstar”.

“Miguel is the franchise player of this team,” Ordoñez said. “He understands that they are building the team around him. He needs to pull everything together. “He is a superstar, and he needs to act like a superstar. He needs to work hard. I told him before, and I will tell him whenever he shows up”.

It’s clear that Ordonez supports his teammate and fellow Venezuelan. On the surface it looks like he’ll sit Cabrera down and lay down the law. The Tigers desperately need Cabrera to be clean and on his best behavior. If he’s going to keep having alcoholic relapses the Tigers would be wise to get rid of him.

No one knows what he does or what’s going on off the field. He may have problems that we the fans or even teammates know the extent of. Whatever it is he has to figure it out and realize what’s most important in his life. Ordonez says that he predicts Cabrera will pull it together. But will he do it for the greater good of himself of will he do it just to salvage his baseball career. His teammates are behind him, so he has support. There’s no reason that I know of for him to pull the stunt that he pulled Wednesday night.    

 

Tigers Re-Sign Ordonez And I’m Still Not Sold On Them

When I heard the Detroit Tigers made a free agent signing my ears perked up with a bit of enthusiam. Then I heard what the signing was. It was Magglio Ordonez coming back for one year and $10 million. A good signing, but not exactly a discount deal. It’s more than I would’ve tried to re-sign him for. Don’t get me wrong, I like that they brought him back. I just feel they could’ve done more with their money.

When I say they could’ve done more with their money, here’s what I mean. The Tigers still have some holes. I’ve stated that they should’ve looked at some low cost free agent options. Be creative. Sign a younger player that has a track record of some success. Incentive laden, minor league deal with an invite to spring training, or whatever. I don’t know the ins and outs of a major league front office, but when I see Austin Kearns helping the Yankees last year and available on the market, I ask myself why not sign him. Like I said before, if he can’t cut it, cut him. It’s all at minimal cost. Obviously the Tigers don’t operate this way. I’m not saying they would win the division or be a World Series contender this way, but this team isn’t getting any younger nor is there immediate help from within on the way.

This team looks a lot like last year’s and they’re still trying to catch lightning in a bottle. Meaning, they keep trying to recreate 2006 and that just isn’t going to happen. They still need another starter and bullpen arm. Also a solid corner outfielder and second baseman would help. I know there doesn’t appear to be much out there on the market but sometimes someone just needs a change of scenery. I’m not sold on Phil Coke and Armando Galarraga as the fourth and fifth starters. Hell, why not bring Jeremy Bonderman back and keep working that experiment. I’m not sold on Carlos Guillen being able to last a whole season at second base or anywhere else for that matter. I’m not sold on Brandon Inge at third either. For the “power arms” the Orioles gave up to get Mark Reynolds from Arizona, the Tigers could’ve given up something. He may have whiffed about 200 times, but you would have some more thunder in the lineup.

Simply put, I’m glad Ordonez is back. I’m just not too thrilled with how the team is constructed. It’s going to take a lot to sell me on this team being a contender. Being competitive into September isn’t good enough.         

Tigers Need Help After Guillen And Ordonez Injuries

With Carlos Guillen on the 15 day disabled list and Magglio Ordonez out for the time that you get a rebate check (6-8 weeks), the Detroit Tigers might be desperate to pull the trigger on a trade that could bring another heavy bat to their lineup. This is a big blow to their hopes of catching the White Sox and without them they could fall out of the race altogether.

I would like to see them make a trade, but I just don’t think they have enough ammunition to get a trade done without depleting a pretty thin farm system. They were rumored in talks for pitching, notably Arizona’s Dan Haren, but he was dealt to the Angels. I heard they might be in play for Kansas City’s Jose Guillen. Another rumor that has been put out there is that they are interested in Washington’s Adam Dunn. I’m sure Tigers fans would love to see that, I just don’t think they have the goods to get the deal done. I also heard they had scouts looking at the Phillies’ Jayson Werth. With the Phillies semi struggling on offense, that might not happen.  If the Nationals reportedly asked the White Sox for Gordon Beckham, they’ll want Fort Knox from the Tigers. If they can’t get any deals done without giving up anything significant, I’m afraid they’ll need to pull the retooling trigger a bit faster than the people of Detroit would like.