There is not a whole lot new to report, here, but following is the latest information from twitter on the health status of the Tigers' walking wounded. We'll post updates as they become available.

From Jason Beck on Fister.

No new injury for Doug Fister, just same costochondral strain. Trainer Kevin Rand said he's "not anticipating" another month-long absence

From Beck on Austin Jackson

Meanwhile, Austin Jackson hitting off a tee again. Will be evaluated by ‪#Tigers‬ medical staff again tomorrow.

From Beck on Andy Dirks

Dirks remains day to day. Achilles still sore. ‪#Tigers

Mlive's David Mayo has some quotes from Tigers' trainer Kevin Rand regarding Fister

“It showed it's still resolving; it hasn't completely resolved, which is why he's come up a little sore again,” Rand said. “It's one of those things where you've got to take a step back and just kind of cool down a little bit and, hopefully, be able to move forward a little bit.”

Mayo also reported Rand's comments regarding Al Alburquerque:

Alburquerque is rehabilitating in Lakeland, Fla., where his long-tossing regimen has reached 150 feet. He is in what Rand termed a “pre-mound progression” in which he throws from a mound to a standing catcher, and will “start a mound progression fairly soon.”

Jim Leyland went on a rant against umpire Bill Welke following the Tigers’ 7-4 loss to the Red Sox Memorial Day at Fenway Park. Leyland railed against the umpire for blowing a call on what was called a foul tip, and he was right. Replays clearly show that Welke blew the call on what should have been the third out of the inning, and Boston went on to score three runs in the rest of an inning that should never have been.

This wasn’t the first time this season that a bad call by a Welke. Tim Welke, may have cost the Tigers a ball game earlier in the season. In an 11 inning game against the Texas Rangers last April, a bunted ball clearly hit the batter, Alex Gonzalez, on an attempted squeeze play, but Welke missed the call and the eventual winning run was allowed to score. You might also remember a call that didn't involve the Tigers, where Welke declared an out when the first baseman was three feet from the bag.

As reported by Jason Beck of MLB.com, Leyland said after the game:

"That's fair enough. [Welke] did check, but nobody else saw it."

Following the fiasco in Boston, Leyland wasn't so gracious, as he also ranted at reporters, insisting that they "hold people accountable". Exactly how Leyland expects an umpire is to be held accountable, other than blasting them in the media, is not clear. When an umpire incorrectly applies a rule to a given situation, the game can be played under protest and reviewed by the league office, as with the famous "pine tar incident" between the Yankees and Royals, involving George Brett. But when the man in blue simply blows a judgment call, that’s just too bad. Part of the game. They call that "the human element."

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On June 1, just as the Yankees are coming to Detroit for a weekend series, Austin Jackson will be eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list and rejoin the Tigers. At that time, the Tigers will have to decide which player will be removed from the active roster to make room for the reinstatement of their leadoff hitter.

One week later, on June 8 by my count, Ryan Raburn will have accrued five years of major league service time (four years and 172 days, to be precise), meaning that the Tigers will no longer be able to option Raburn to the minor leagues without his consent, unless he first clears waivers. I suggest that the Tigers use Raburn’s final option and send him to Triple-A Toledo to find his groove at the plate before it's too late.

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One- third of the way through the 2011 season, I wrote an article with the headline What's wrong with the Tigers? Easy as one, two, three." The Tigers were struggling to stay above .500, and had fallen behind the Indians in the Central Division. They were getting good starting pitching, solid help at the back end of the bullpen, shaky middle relief, and the lineup was under-performing. The topic of that article is much the same a year later, but the issues with the Tiger lineup are different. This time around, the top three spots in the order are not the issue.

In part one, we reviewed issues that the Tigers have had with their pitching staff. Following is a look at the problems that the Tigers have with their lineup and fielding through 40 games, or about one quarter of the 2012 season.

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Sparky Anderson was famously quoted saying that you have to wait until 40 games into the baseball season before you know what kind of team you have. All the concerns raised about the Tigers so far this year have been met with "It’s still early." Well, there are 40 games in the books now, and the Tigers find themselves coming up short of expectations, sitting in third place in their division, under .500 and three games out of first place.

Most, if not all prognosticators, pundits and experts, including myself, expected much more from the Tigers than what we’ve seen so far this season. For my part, I still believe that the Tigers will win their division handily, but that does not mean that the team is without its problems. There have been issues in the rotation, issues in the bullpen, issues in the lineup, and issues on defense. Yes, it's still early. Yes, there is still a lot of baseball to be played -- 121 games, to be precise -- and yes, the Tigers were in a similar position in 2011 at the same point in the season and went on to win the division by 15 games.

Here is a look at Tiger pitching through 40 games, or about one quarter of the way through the 2012 season.

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OK, we swear -- swear -- this will be the last Brandon Inge post ... don't quote us on that.

Former Tiger Brandon Inge hit his second home run in as many games, giving him nine RBI in 23 at bats since joining the Oakland A's on April 30. This blast was a walk off grand slam off another former Tiger, Francisco Cordero, to give Oakland a come from behind, 7-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Oakland Coliseum on Tuesday night. It was the seventh walk off home run of Inge's career.

The Jays had taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth inning on an RBI single by Kelly Johnson off struggling A's closer Grant Balfour, who picked up the victory. Johnson had earlier hit a two run homer in the third inning to put the Jays on top.

Despite the heroics, Inge is hitting just .174 with an on-base percentage of .286 since joining the A's. The victory was Oakland's fifth win in their last six games, giving them a 16-14 record for the season and leaving them in second place, four games behind Texas in the American League West.

The Tigers will see Inge for the first time since his release from Detroit, when they visit Oakland for a four-game, weekend series beginning Thursday.

Update: Here is a link to the video on mlb.com

Prior to the acquisition of Doug Fister in July of 2011, the Tigers had a pitching rotation that was below league average in most statistical categories, except for wins. The addition of Fister gave the Tigers a solid No 2 starter behind Justin Verlander. Now, in 2012, with Fister on the disabled list after being removed from his first start of the season, the rotation is struggling again. Nobody should be surprised at this.

Without Fister, two of the five pitchers in the Tiger rotation are rookies who were minor leaguers in 2011. But that’s not the only problem with the Tiger rotation. Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer have been inconsistent starting pitchers over their early major league careers. 2011 and 2012 have been no exception to that pattern. Neither one has been even league average in their brief careers up to this point. If the Tigers hope to advance in October, they will need a healthy Fister, and they will need Porcello and/ or Scherzer to step up their games on a consistent basis. Both have shown the capability to win against any level of competition.

Fortunately for the Tigers and their fans, Fister could return soon. He is scheduled to make a minor-league rehab start for the Mud Hens on Wednesday, and could return to the Tigers' rotation as soon May 7, manager Jim Leyland told the media. That's a good start.

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It’s just one month into the 2012 season, 22 games to be exact, and there is a lot of baseball to be played. Let’s remember that the 2011 Tigers, who wound up winning their division by 15 games, finished the month of April with a 12-15 record, and were in the midst of a seven game losing streak when "April in the D" came to a merciful end. Still, I’d like to take a look at where the Tigers rank in the American League statistically and see if there are any trends worth noting.

Right off the bat, we can see from the rankings that the Tigers are in the middle of the pack in total offense, as measured by runs scored, and that is inexplicably higher than where they rank in most other offensive categories. Last year’s Tigers were fourth in runs scored, and among the top five consistently in most other offensive categories one year ago. Chalk that up to some timely -- or lucky -- hitting if you like. Both average and slugging for extra bases needs to pick up, and we have every reason to expect that it will.

On the pitching side, the Tigers are struggling across the mound. The rotation is 10th in the league in ERA, slightly better than where last year’s pre- Fister rotation ranked. They’re still striking out a decent number and the rotation at least is keeping the walk rate down. The starters are just giving up too many hits, some portion of which are grounders through a not so rangey infield. Of course, Detroit has faced three of the top four offenses in the AL, in Texas, New York and Boston -- and the Rays aren't far behind.

The bullpen has only had seven save opportunities -- and blew three of those for a measly 57 pct save percentage. Compare that with last year’s league leading 84 percent. Valverde and Benoit each have a blown save in the early going. Overall, the 'pen which ranked consistently in the bottom third in ERA and WHIP last year despite the solid save percentage, is once again putting runners on base with a league leading BB total, but the ERA is in the middle of the pack.

Defensively, the Tigers have already assumed their expected place at the bottom of the heap, ranking last in the AL in UZR and DRS, and second-to-last in both out of zone plays and defensive efficiency. If there is one area where small samples should be read with extreme caution, it is defensive statistics. While the number of plays adds up much more quickly for an entire team than they would for one position, we’re still looking at one eighth of a season. Suffice it to say that Tiger pitchers shouldn’t expect much help from their defense in terms of their AL ranking.

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The end of Brandon Inge’s career with the Detroit Tigers brings a conclusion to a body of work that was certainly prolific in many ways, both good and bad. After 11 seasons, Inge ranks among the all-time leaders during the 111-year history of the Tiger franchise in several categories.

Inge is the franchise leader in one rather dubious category, strikeouts. Being the franchise leader in K’s puts Inge in the company of other franchise leaders such as Mickey Mantle, Cal Ripken, and Lou Brock. Inge’s strikeout numbers are an indication of his longevity with the club, but also a hallmark of a career that drew the ire of many Tigers fans, making him the most controversial Tiger of his time. Inge passed Lou Whitaker in 2011 as the Tigers’ whiffs leader, although Whitaker played 19 seasons, almost double the span of Inge’s career at the time.

Inge also ranks high on the all-time list in an impressive number of categories, again a testament to his tenure with the franchise. Inge is second all time in defensive Wins Above Replacement (dWAR) with a plus-9.0 total. That is second only to Al Kaline, and is ahead of third-place Whitaker and all others in Tigers history.

Inge is among the top 25 on the Tigers in games played, hits, total bases, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI and many other categories. Following is a full list of Inge’s totals as a Tiger, and where he ranks all time in franchise history.

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With the news that the Tigers have released randon Inge, the club has also announced that they have purchased the contract of Brad Eldred from Toledo. Eldred is a 31-year-old, 6-foot-6, 270-pound, right-handed hitter, who has spent the majority of his career as a first baseman or designated hitter, with a little time in the outfield. Eldred’s professional baseball career includes 11 seasons, most of which were spent in the minor leagues, with three brief adventures into the major leagues totaling 282 plate appearances.

Eldred was drafted by the Pirates in the June, 2002, draft, and spent five seasons in the Pittsburgh organization. Since his release by the Pirates following the 2007 season, being out of minor league options, the journeyman slugger has spent time in the organizations of the White Sox, Nationals, Rockies, and Giants. The Tigers signed him to a minor-league contract in January, 2012, with the idea that he would provide some minor league organizational depth. He was not given an invitation to spring training with the major league club.

Eldred’s major league numbers show a slash line of .199 avg / .251 obp / .419 slg / .670 OPS, with 15 homers. Most of his time in the majors came with the Pirates in 2005 when he logged over 200 plate appearances, hitting a dozen homers and batting .221. He was briefly back up with Pittsburgh in 2007 and again with the Rockies in 2010, but never for more than a few games.

More recently, Eldred has posted an OPS of .800 or better in each of the past five seasons. He has been absolutely crushing the ball this season, with a line of.388/ .444/ .1.013/ 1.457 with 13 homers and 35 RBI in 90 plate appearances for triple A Toledo. His eleven seasons in the minor leagues, eight of them at the triple A level, show a slash line of .268 .336 .547 .883, with 240 homers and 730 RBI.

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The Tigers announced that they have purchased the contract of right-hander Thad Weber from Triple A-Toledo to replace left-hander Daniel Schlereth on the major league roster. Here is a brief profile on the newest Tiger.

Weber was thought to be the fifth or sixth starter in the Mud Hens’ rotation starting this season, with higher rated prospects such as Andrew Oliver, Casey Crosby, Adam Wilk, Jacob Turner, and Fu-Te Ni in the organization. Well, Oliver and Crosby have struggled with control issues, Ni was just placed on the disabled list, Wilk has been called up to replace the injured Doug Fister in Detroit's rotation, and Turner has not yet arrived from extended spring training after battling tendonitis earlier in the spring. Right-hander Brayan Villarreal was optioned on April 14 and can not be recalled for ten days unless another player is placed on the disabled list.

A 27-year-old right hander, Weber was a 16th round draft choice in 2008 -- the draft that featured Ryan Perry as the team’s first round choice. Weber has always been a starting pitcher, accumulating a 30-35 record with an ERA of 3.91 and a WHIP of 1.23 over 94 minor league starts. Weber has pitched well in Toledo in his two starts this season, both victories, allowing just one run in 12 innings. Thad’s peripheral stats are fairly unremarkable. He doesn’t have any major control issues, isn’t much of a strikeout pitcher, and his BB rate is very average.

Weber’s name won’t be found on any lists of top Tigers prospects. Other than throwing a no hitter for Double- A Erie in August, 2009, he has had a very steady but quiet minor league career. He last pitched in a game on April 16, so he should be well rested and will fill a role as another long/middle reliever in the Tigers bullpen.

Like a kid with an Oreo cookie, I’m going to just go straight to the middle, to the heart of the matter, and give you the answer first. In a word, the answer is "loyalty." It has nothing to do with production. It has nothing to do with being able to hit lefties, nothing to do with money, and nothing to do with defense. Brandon Inge is still on the Tigers because he is Brandon Inge. If he were any other player, he would have been released long ago.

Just about everyone that has written anything about the Tigers this spring has attempted to rationalize the decision to keep Inge on the team. Jim Leyland’s famous words "he has to hit" have been dissected and interpreted more times than the Gettysburg Address. We have collectively spent more time on this topic than any other subject this spring, including the acquisition of Prince Fielder. All the while, the answer is right there. It’s loyalty. There can be no other logical explanation.

Inge is on the team despite the fact that the Tigers have other players that are better at every facet of the game, in any situation that could arise. Until you come to terms with the concept of loyalty, any attempt to rationalize Inge’s presence in the lineup will fail. If you’re looking for a logical reason for his presence on the roster, you won’t find it. The decision is not rooted in logic, it’s rooted in emotion.

Leyland’s famous comment, that Inge "has to hit," to those that wanted Inge to be released, and to many who just wanted the whole saga to come to a merciful end, was taken to mean that, if Inge didn’t hit in spring training, he would not be on the team. Well, he didn’t hit in spring training, and he’s still on the team. Rather than going back and dissecting Leyland’s words, looking for some justification or wondering whether he had a change of heart, I have come to the conclusion, by process of elimination, that Inge was never going to be released as long as Jim Leyland had a say in the decision.

There will be those that disagree with me on this, so let’s attack the myths that Inge has earned his place on this team with his performance.

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I picked the Tigers to win the AL Central last year, and repeated the prediction at the end of June, when the Indians were still in the race. The result was that posters with my photo started appearing in post offices across northern Ohio. As it turns out, the Tigers won the AL Central by 15 games last year. Not to diss the other teams, nor diminish the Tigers achievements in 2011, but the magnitude of the victory had much to do with the makeup of their division.

I’m now returning back with a train load of believers aboard the Tiger bandwagon and making the same prediction for 2012. The believers now include all of the national media, with the exception of maybe a shock jock or two that is just looking for attention. In fact, I’ll take the Tigers to win, even up, and give any takers all four of the other teams in the AL Central. Normally, that’s a sucker’s bet, but it’s also "conventional wisdom" at this point to say that the Tigers are prohibitive favorites to win their division in 2012.

Why are the Tigers favored? Well, they have the best lineup, the best rotation, the best bullpen, the best manager, the best GM, the best owner, the best first baseman, third baseman, catcher, starting pitcher, closer, fans and mascot in the division. Now, I’m not trying to agitate fans of the other AL Central clubs, any more than I was trying to agitate them last June. But I have to say that I wouldn’t necessarily be picking the Tigers if they were in the AL East or the AL West. My forecast is as much about the competition as it is about the Tigers.

So much for the preamble, but I think that those things had to be said. Rather than just spewing optimism for the Tigers, I’d like to break down the teams in the AL Central and look at their chances in 2012.

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A game winning grand slam, a diving catch on a ball hit into deep left center field, a couple more RBI in key situations, a few comments from Jim Leyland, and suddenly, Quintin Berry found his name in the conversation when the last roster spot on the Tigers was being discussed (at least temporarily). Berry may have been sent to minor-league camp on Monday, but it might not be the last we hear of him.

So who is Quintin Berry, and where did he come from?

If you search the transaction records on the Tigers’ website, you won’t even find Berry’s invitation to spring training listed. Berry is a 27-year-old left-handed hitting and lefty throwing outfielder who is known much more for his speed and his defense than he is for his power, although he has shown some surprising pop in his bat with the Tigers this spring.

Across five seasons in the minor leagues, Berry has a .267 average, an on base percentage of .355 and a modest slugging percentage of .339 for an OPS of .697. He has stolen more than 40 bases in four of his five seasons, and swiped over 50 bags twice. He has never homered more than six times in a season, which he did last summer, averaging four homers and 40 RBI over his pro career.

Berry was drafted by the Phillies out of San Diego State in the fifth round of the 2006 amateur player draft, and he has yet to play a game in the major leagues. He has been an All Star at the minor league levels with Phillies affiliates in the Low-A South Atlantic League, in Advanced-A Florida State League, and Double-A Eastern League, in three separate seasons. He was added to the Phil’s 40-man roster after the 2009 season and seemed to be progressing at a steady pace until the summer of 2010 when, mired in a bad slump, the Phillies put him on waivers in July. Berry was claimed by his home town Padres for the remainder of that season, but he continued to struggle at the plate. He was outrighted back to Double A in August, and became a free agent after the season.

Berry signed a minor league contract with the Reds for the 2011 season and rebounded fairly well, hitting .297 with a .399 OBP and 42 steals as well as pushing his OPS above .800 for the first time at Double-A Redding with a brief foray up to Triple A Louisville. The Reds did not give him a roster spot after the season, so he was once again a free agent, which led him to sign with the Tigers, who gave him an invitation to spring training.

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Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland made a point of telling reporters on Sunday morning that they were on the wrong track in saying that the competition for the "25th man" on the roster was down to just Andy Dirks and Clete Thomas. Parsing the words of the manager and GM during spring training, looking for hints as to which roster moves may be forthcoming, seems to be the favorite pastime of baseball fans this time of year, so let’s indulge.

Jason Beck reported Leyland's comments:

"Most people are talking about two guys," Leyland said Sunday morning before the Tigers’ split-squad tilt with the Yankees. "There’s definitely more than two guys, I can promise you this."

Lynn Henning speculates that the mystery man was an outfielder.

It was the skipper's way of saying Quintin Berry, 27, an outfielder and career minor-leaguer who runs like a cheetah, could topple Thomas or Dirks. Leyland never mentioned Berry by name. But he was assuredly talking about Berry....

But Beck raised a different possible scenario. Quoting Leyland, he wrote:

"I could go with four or five guys for that 25th man and be very comfortable," Leyland said.

If Worth is one of those four or five, then it backs up the idea that Brandon Inge is on the team.
About the only thing Leyland guaranteed is that the last positional guy won’t be a catcher.

"I’ve got four catchers — two emergency, and two catchers," Leyland said.
The two emergency catchers, Leyland said, are Don Kelly and Inge.

With the news that the Tigers have assigned Quintin Berry to minor league camp, along with four other non-roster invitees, does that end the drama in Leyland’s comments? Were all of those "four or five guys" taken out of the picture with the most recent roster moves? Maybe not.

What if the 25th man is Danny Worth, meaning that Brandon Inge does indeed have a job locked up, either as second baseman, utility man, or fourth string catcher? The Tigers would then carry one less outfielder, but they still have Ryan Raburn and Don Kelly, both of whom have played as much outfield than anything else in recent years. In that scenario, Raburn would be returned to his more natural defensive position in the outfield, along with some time as the DH.

One question we’d all like to know the answer to is: Does Brandon Inge have a spot locked up on the roster, no matter what he does in spring training? When Leyland said "he has to hit", he didn’t say when. Could the Tigers keep both Worth and Inge on the roster?

What do you think?

The elephant is sitting right there in Jim Leyland's living room. We can't stop staring; he doesn't seem to know it's there.

Brandon Inge -- the cat with at least nine lives who keeps getting bumped out of his position only to reappear at another next spring -- may be the most talked about, most loved and most despised Detroit Tiger all at the same time. Depending on who you ask, he’s the last one to camp and the first one in front of the microphones when reporters look for an interview. Or maybe he’s the hardest working, most enthusiastic player on the field, a do-er of good deeds off the field. Except when he's the most disgruntled player ever when he’s not playing.

He’s the all time strikeout leader in franchise history. He is a one-time all star who was designated for assignment, banished to Triple-A Toledo, and reappeared on the playoff roster last season. He is a lock to make the team and a lock to be released, depending up on who you ask. He is the most interesting Tiger in the world.

We all know what Jim Leyland said earlier this spring. Brandon Inge can play third base in his sleep, and nobody is surprised that he has made a seamless transition to second base this spring. "But he has to hit," Leyland said. And he hasn’t hit.

After 10 seasons of futility, particularly against right-handed pitchers, are we going to terminate or continue a 10-year love/hate relationship based on one spring training’s numbers -- numbers that currently stand at .171 average, .209 on-base percentage, .293 slugging average for an OPS of .502. Those, by the way, are worse than any other player on the spring-training roster.

We also know what Inge did at the plate last season, hitting just.197/ .265/ .283/ .548, and we know that he has hit respectably against left-handed pitching, with a career average of .265, an on-base percentage of .342 and an OPS of .800. And we know about his defense, wherever he has played.

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The Tigers announced on Saturday morning that they have optioned left-handed pitcher Adam Wilk to Triple-A Toledo. Wilk was a candidate for the fifth and final spot in the Tigers' rotation, as well as for the final long relief spot in the bullpen. Practically speaking, the move leaves three candidates for the final spot in the rotation: lefties Andrew Oliver, Drew Smyly and Duane Below. The Tigers optioned Casey Crosby earlier this month, and Jim Leyland has said that it is "unlikely" that top prospect Jacob Turner would be on the roster on opening day, after being shut down with tendinitis for the past week.

Wilk made his major league debut for the Tigers in 2011, making five appearances, all in relief, throwing 13 1/3 innings, allowing 14 hits and eight earned runs for an ERA of 5.40, while walking three and striking out ten hitters. This spring, Wilk made five appearances totaling 12 innings, allowing 10 runs on 19 hits, allowing two walks and striking out five.

Unlike some of the other lefties that are vying for a job on the major league roster, Wilk is a "control" pitcher, who probably has the best command of any prospect in the organization. Though he is not a strikeout pitcher, he has managed to climb up through the organization with excellent K/BB and WHIP ratios, but has been unable to translate those numbers in his brief attempts at the major league level. Wilk will return to his role as a starting pitcher in Toledo.

The Tigers now have 17 pitchers still in major league camp:

Starters: Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, Max Scherzer, Doug Fister, Andrew Oliver, Jacob Turner, Duane Below, and Drew Smyly (NRI)

Relievers: Jose Valverde, Joaquin Benoit, Octavio Dotel, Phil Coke, Dan Schlereth, Collin Balester, Luis Marte, Brayan Villarreal, and Chris Bootcheck (NRI)

Note: Duane Below may be a candidate for a bullpen spot if he is not selected for the rotation, and Al Alburquerque will start the season on the disabled list.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland and Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski have both insisted that the Tigers are perfectly happy with the candidates that they have in their system to fill the fifth spot in their pitching rotation for 2012, yet rumors persist that the club is looking at other options. Perhaps the most persistent rumor is that the Tigers might be interested in Washington Nationals’ lefty John Lannan.

The Nats signed former Tiger All Star Edwin Jackson and acquired Gio Gonzalez in a trade in the off season, which left Lannan competing with Chien Ming Wang and Ross Detwiler for a spot in the Nationals’ rotation. Washington also has young stars in Steven Strasburg and Jordan Zimmerman firmly placed in their rotation this season.

The Tigers may have interest in Lannan, a 27-year-old left-handed starter who threw 185 innings in 2011, posting a 3.70 ERA, with ratios of 5.2 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, and a 54.1% groundball rate. He is an innings eater, a lefty, and is reasonably priced at an annual salary of $5 million for the 2012 season, after losing his arbitration hearing last month. He also has an option left.

In 751 innings over a five year career, Lannan has an ERA of 4.00, a modest K rate of less than 5 per nine innings, and an equally unflattering BB rate of 3.4/9 IP. He does keep the ball in the yard, usually keeps it on the ground, and he eats innings, winning ten games in 33 starts in 2011.

Speculation is that Lannan might be getting a bit too expensive for a fifth starter by next season. Although he has another season left before he can declare for free agency, one more salary increase through the arbitration process could make him a non tender candidate next winter, much as Arizona’s Joe Saunders was this past off season.

CBS Sports Danny Knobler wrote that the Tigers are keeping an eye on Lannan. Meanwhile, Detroit continues to focus on internal solutions to fill out the rotation, none of whom have pitched more than 27 innings in the major leagues. At this point, their most prized prospect, Jacob Turner, has developed tendinitis and will be out for at least a week, so he is looking more doubtful to start the season in Detroit. Casey Crosby has been optioned to Toledo, while four other left handed starters remain in Lakeland.

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Just 13 pitches into his latest comeback attempt with the Minnesota Twins, former Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya has torn his UCL that may require Tommy John surgery if he hopes to continue his baseball career.

Twins RP Joel Zumaya lasted 13 pitches. MRI confirms torn UCL, heading to Andrews for consult, likely Tommy John surgery. #twins

— Will Carroll (@injuryexpert) February 26, 2012

For Tiger fans, this news is unsurprising, given Zumaya's history of arm-related health issues during his tenure with Detroit, but still very sad nonetheless. 'Zoom-zoom' holds a special place in the hearts and memories of Tigers fans who remember his triple-digit fastball and his nasty twelve-six curve ball that baffled and blew away some of the best hitters in the American League. Most notably, Zumaya was a key part of the bullpen that nailed down victories during the Tigers' return to glory during the 2006 campaign.

Zumaya's injury problems with the Tigers began during the 2006 campaign, as he was unable to pitch during the American League Championship Series against the Oakland A's. In every season since that magical year, Zumaya has spent time on the disabled list. He lasted the longest in 2010, making 31 appearances for 38 1/3 innings, but was unable to make a major league appearance in 2011.

If Zumaya does indeed opt to have Tommy John surgery, two things become clear. First is that he will not be pitching in games for twelve to 18 months. Second is that he is attempting yet another comeback. It's too early to tell, either way, but a visit to Dr. James Andrews usually does mean that reconstructive surgery on his elbow will be required.

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The new limitations on what clubs can spend in draft bonuses under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement are becoming clearer. Baseball America has published the amounts of the "pools" that clubs will be able to spend on player bonuses without being penalized. The Tigers have the second lowest bonus pool, which adds up to $2,099,300 for the first ten rounds of the draft.

The amount that the Tigers can spend is significantly lower because they will surrender their first round pick to the Brewers for signing Prince Fielder. Not only do the Tigers lose the pick, but they also lose the "slot bonus" that is allocated with that pick. A significant percentage of signing bonuses is given to players drafted in the first round. Only the Angels, who will lose their first and second round picks for signing CJ Wilson and Albert Pujols, will have a smaller bonus pool than the Tigers this year.

The Tigers will be able to spend their roughly $2.1 million total on the nine players drafted from Rounds 2 through 10. Any player drafted after round 10 may only be paid a bonus of $ 100,000.00 or else their bonus will also be counted against the club’s total "pool" limit. The Tigers did not add any supplemental draft picks, and thus did not add to their "pool amount" because they did not offer arbitration to any departing free agents this winter.

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Two thousand eleven was a pretty good season
Beating the Yankees, the primary reason
Making the playoffs and winning a series
You’d think that the winter would be not so dreary

Alas, it’s not true, when the season is done
The winter months just aren’t much fun
No matter what happened the season before
The off season is just an incredible bore

They babble about moves that are ever so crucial
And Tigerdog spewing the usual minutiae
About salaries and contracts, and the new CBA
We don’t give a shit about that, anyway

There’s talk of free agents and trades that don’t happen
The players we’d like, cuz our old ones are crappin
We hoped for an upgrade at second or third
We hoped, and we waited, but nary a word

They talked of platoons that would just make you cringe
With Ramon and Raburn, and Kelly and Inge
Dombrowski sat tight, it just wasn’t funny
All that we got was Dotel and G money

Enough of this nonsense, upgrades or not
We’ll just have to go with the players we’ve got
The winter’s too long, and the season’s too short
I can’t wait til pitchers and catchers report!

I couldn’t remember a winter so boring
They put us to sleep, and I just started snoring
There was nothing to cheer for, nothing to like
The best thing that happened was the NBA strike

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse
Victor went down, it must be a curse
Who would bat fifth, and who would bat third?
And don’t tell me Delmon, this is absurd!

There are holes in the lineup, and in the rotation
We could be the laughing stock of the nation!
We couldn’t get Oswalt, and didn’t get Gio
We couldn’t pry Garza away from Theo

The rumors continued, just more of the same
We’ve got to get someone, we just don’t know his name
Looking for something to write on the blog
Holy crap, we signed Prince freakin Fielder!

I couldn’t believe it, I started to faint
Dombrowski’s a genius, and Ilitch a saint
All of a sudden, things aren’t so dreary
The Tigers could possibly win the World Series!

Blogging was fun once we got the big word
I could write something about Miggy at third
All winter long, we had waited for news
Now, we got hundreds and thousands of page views

Filled with excitement, we now have a reason
Still six weeks away from the start of the season
Just a few more articles about rosterbation
Doing profiles on prospects to complete the rotation

It’s finally over, the winter must yield
And time for the Tigers to take the field
Let baseball begin, and let us exhort
Pitchers and Catchers, it’s time to report!

Adam Wilk was one of several pitchers to make his major league debut with the Tigers during the 2011 season. After an impressive performance in spring training where he allowed just one earned run in eleven innings of work as a non-roster invitee, the Tigers kept an eye on Wilk’s performance in the minors and recalled him on the same day that they designated Robbie Weinhardt for assignment, that Phil Coke went on the disabled list, and that Ryan Perry was optioned to Toledo.

Although he had spent his professional career as a starter, Wilk was called up as a player in the game of musical chairs known as the Tigers' bullpen. His first call up with the Tigers was short lived, as they soon traded for Oakland reliever David Purcey, and Wilk was optioned back to Toledo just four days after he had been called up to the show. Wilk made just one appearance on that occasion, going 3.2 scoreless innings in a 14- 1 loss to the Red Sox, the team’s worst loss of the season. He managed to strike out four, allowing two hits and a walk.

Wilk bounced from the minors to the majors and back twice more before the 2011 season was over, making four more appearances for a total of 13.1 innings for the season, all in relief. In three consecutive appearances in June, he allowed a home run, driving his ERA up to 5.40, but allowing only two more walks in one final appearance in July, for a total of only three walks for the season.

Wilk is a control pitcher. He does not have the velocity, nor the upside, of Turner, Oliver, or Crosby. But he does one thing better than any of them, and that is throw strikes. In three minor league seasons, he sports a 2.62 ERA with a WHIP of just 1.02, and still has a respectable K/9 rate of 6.7 and a K/BB ratio of 5.71. Those stats compare favorably with any of the other candidates for fifth and final spot in the the Tigers’ 2012 rotation. Mark Anderson of Tigstown.com named Wilk as the pitcher with the best command in the Tiger organization.

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Since the Tigers chose Casey Crosby out of high school with the fifth pick in the 2007 amateur draft and paid him a $750,000 signing bonus to keep him out of the University of Illinois, Crosby’s professional career has been a mixture of success and injuries. Crosby went to the instructional league after signing, and tore a ligament that required Tommy John surgery. That finished him for the remainder of the 2007 season and kept him out almost the full 2008 season as well.

Crosby came back to Low--A West Michigan in 2009 and the results were very promising. He went 10-4 with a 2.41 ERA in 24 starts, striking out 10.1 batters per nine innings and posting a WHIP of 1.12. Baseball America ranked him No. 47 on their list of top 100 prospects, and No. 2 in the Tiger organization prior to the 2010 season. He could have been even higher but for his surgery.

Crosby is a 23-year-old, 6-foot-5, 200-pound efty with a fastball that sits in the mid to low 90s that he can dial up to the high 90s. He also features a curve ball, slider and change that have major league potential. In high school, Crosby was All-Area, All-Region, All-Conference, and All-State in 2007, and was named the Gatorade Illinois player of the year.

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As the Tigers make the final roster cuts before opening day, one of the key factors that may come into play in filling the last few roster spots will be which players have an "option" left, that will allow the club to send them to the minor leagues without first passing through waivers.

What is an "option"? An option is the term that is used when a club sends a player to the minor leagues on optional assignment. Once a player is placed on the club’s 40-man roster, he may be "optioned" to the minors in only three different seasons without clearing waivers. Quite often, this is the deciding factor in keeping a player in the major leagues. A complete description of options is here.

Within four of five years of the date that a player signs his first pro contract (depending on his age when he signs), he must be added to his club’s 40-man roster or exposed to the other clubs in the Rule 5 draft. Once added to the 40 man roster, a player may be optioned in three different seasons without clearing waivers. This includes sending a player down at the start of the season, when the 25 man major league roster has been selected, or sending a player down at any time during the season. Once optioned during a season, the player may be recalled and sent down multiple times, but only one option is used up for that season.

After being optioned in three separate seasons, a player may no longer be sent to the minor leagues without first clearing waivers, where the club risks losing the player to any club that claims the player for only a nominal waiver fee. Clubs will often trade players that are out of options, rather than risk losing them.

Options are not a consideration once a player has accumulated five years of service time in the major leagues. Those players can not be sent to the minors without their consent, regardless of how many times they have been optioned in the past. Twelve Tiger veterans have five years or more of service time.

How do options impact the Tigers in 2012? The great majority of the players that are vying for the last few spots on the major league roster this spring do have at least one option year left. But there are some players that are out of options and those players are vying for the last couple of roster spots this spring. For these players, this could be their last chance to play for the Tigers.

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By the time the Tigers drafted Andy Oliver in the second round of the 2009 draft, the hard throwing lefty already had a wealth of experience under his belt. He had been drafted by the Twins, pitched two years for Oklahoma State, ruled ineligible by the NCAA, sued the NCAA and won, and pitched a year of pro ball in an international league while he awaited a decision on his amateur status.

Oliver was drafted by the Twins as a high school prospect in the 17th round of the 2006 draft, but he did not sign, instead choosing to attend Oklahoma State. Oliver quickly rose to the top of prospect lists, being chosen All Big 12, and second team All American in 2008. Following that, he pitched for Team USA during the summer, made four starts and was 2-0 with a 0.93 ERA and recorded 24 strikeouts in 19.1 innings. Oliver was a part of a Team USA club that led the United States to a 24-0 record and a gold medal at the FISU World Championships.

Controversy came when Oliver enlisted an agent to gauge his professional credentials before his college eligibility had expired. The NCAA ruled him ineligible for the 2009 season. He sued the NCAA and won a landmark decision. The controversy did not deter the Tigers from taking Oliver in the second round, after choosing Jacob Turner in the first round of the same draft. Turner received a signing bonus of $4.7 million plus a major league contract. Oliver received a bonus of $1.5 million that was more than double the slot recommendation for the 58th overall pick in the draft.

Both pitchers immediately were listed among the top five prospects in the Tiger organization, with Turner a near unanimous No. 1 overall. Baseball America ranked Oliver third in the Tiger system at the beginning of the 2011 season, behind only Turner and Castellanos. Expectations were that he'd be in the majors sooner than Turner, as he was a couple of years older and had some college experience.

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The Tigers drafted Drew Smyly as a sophomore out of the University of Arkansas with their second pick in the June, 2010 amateur player draft. One season later, the 6-foot-3 left handed pitcher is poised to make a run at filling the final spot in the Tigers major league rotation this spring. The Tigers’ minor league pitcher of the year is one of several lefties who would like to begin the 2012 season at the back end of the Tiger rotation.

After just one season of professional baseball, a season that began at Advanced-A Lakeland and finished up at Double-A Erie, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski says that there are some within the Tiger organization that believe Smyly is ready for the major leagues right now. If his minor league statistics are any indication, they may be right. Smyly posted an impressive 2.58 ERA in 14 starts at Lakeland, and an even more impressive 1.18 ERA in seven starts when he was promoted to AA Erie.

Between his two stops on the minor league trail during the 2011 season, Smyly struck out 130 batters in 126.1 innings of work, while walking just 36 and allowing only two home runs to opposing hitters. He is not an extreme ground ball pitcher, but he induces more grounders than fly balls, and he features a good fastball that he can throw consistently for strikes in the low 90's. He then pitched for Team USA in the Baseball World Cup last October.

Jonathan Mayo at MLB.com ranks Smyly No. 82 on his list of top 100 prospects, tenth among left handed pitchers, and he had this to say about Drew.

Scouting report: Smyly is the prototypical advanced college lefty, one who relies on pitchability more than pure stuff. He has a four-pitch mix -- fastball, cutter, curve and changeup -- all of which are at least Major League average. He throws a lot of strikes and has a good amount of deception, keeping hitters off-balance well. If he can stay healthy -- he has some injury history -- he’s a fast-tracker who should be ready sooner rather than later.

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Note: This is the second in a series of profiles, breaking down six candidates to fill the vacancy for the fifth and final spot in the Tigers 2012 pitching rotation.

Pitchers and catchers will report to the Tigers’ spring training camp on Sunday, but Duane Below has been working out in Lakeland since last December. The 26 year old native of Britton, Mich., who was a surprise call up to the Tigers in 2011 is one of half a dozen pitchers that has a shot to open the season in the Tigers rotation, and he’s going to make the most of it.

Below pitched 29 innings in the major leagues last year, more than any of the other candidates for the fifth starter’s job. Below was called up just prior to the trade that sent fellow lefty pitcher Charlie Furbush to Seattle and brought Doug Fister to Detroit. He made two starts for the Tigers, before being moved to a long relief job in the bullpen, but he remained with Detroit from his call up on July 20, through the end of the regular season.

In his major league debut, Below pitched five innings, allowing Oakland just one run on five hits, getting no decision. In his next start in Chicago, he allowed four runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings, taking the loss. In a dozen relief appearances, he held opponents to a reasonable .236 average, pitching in long relief. That role, often called "mop up duty" involves coming in when the starting pitcher makes an early exit, meaning things may not be going well for his club.

Below was named Pitcher of the Year in the Tigers’ organization in 2007, an honor given to fellow lefty Drew Smyly in 2011. Below had gone 13-5 with a 2.97 ERA for West Michigan, finishing second in the league in strikeouts behind Clayton Kershaw. His career was derailed in 2009 as he missed most of the season due to Tommy John surgery. He struggled to regain his momentum, but led the Florida State league in strikeouts and showed enough promise for the Tigers to add him to the 40-man roster in November 2010.

When he was called up last July, Below replaced Furbush and later replaced Adam Wilk when when he was sent to the bullpen to make room in the rotation for Doug Fister. At the time of his call up, Below had made 17 starts for Toledo with an ERA of 3.13, including 5-1 with a 2,08 ERA over his last six starts before the phone rang. Duane was equally effective against righties and lefties during his time in the majors, so he’s not just a guy that can be used vs left handed hitters. He throws three pitches with reasonably good command.

Below does not have the upside of a Jacob Turner, nor the velocity of an Andy Oliver. He has good command but is not the extreme command pitcher that Adam Wilk is, and he didn’t receive a million dollar signing bonus when the Tigers selected him with the 19th pick out of Lake Michigan college in the 2006 draft. He has worked his way up through the Tiger organization, playing for the GCL Tigers, Oneonta, West Michigan, Lakeland, Erie, and Toledo, seemingly always with a few other lefties standing in his path to the majors. Furbush, Wilk, Turner and Oliver were all given a chance to start before Duane last season..

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Editor's note: Tigerdog1 will be looking in more depth at the Tigers' internal fifth starter candidates this week after doing thumbnail sketches earlier in the month.

The Tigers enter spring training with four of five positions in the starting rotation locked up, and one big spot in the rotation open for auditions. By far, the most interesting candidate to land that final job is Jacob Turner, the hard throwing right hander who has been universally recognized as the top prospect in the Tiger organization since the day he was drafted in the June 2009 amateur player draft. At just 20 years of age, he won’t be able to buy a beer at Comerica park until May 21 of this year, yet he might be the most interesting story in Lakeland this spring.

As of today, all of the candidates to fill the fifth and final spot in the Tiger rotation are prospects. All the candidates are pitchers with no more than a few games of experience in the major leagues, and some with no major league experience at all. Turner stands out among this group, not just because he is the only right-handed pitcher among them, but because he has, by far, the highest "upside" of the group.

Like some of the others, Turner has a few games of major league experience. Turner has started three games for a total of 12.2 innings. In this small sample, he has an ERA of 8.53, allowed 1.66 walks plus hits per inning, and allowed opposing hitters an average of .315. Turner also had eight strikeouts and walked four batters. His main problem was that he gave up too many hits, which led to too many runs.

The Tigers are not concerned by Turner’s stats in the major leagues. On the contrary, those three starts gave them a chance to see where their top prospect was on the development curve, and what work he has to do before being slotted into the rotation on a full-time basis. There may be a few more brief call ups in Turner’s career before he assumes a permanent position at what most scouts believe will be an inevitable place atop the Tigers rotation just behind Justin Verlander. But how close is Turner to the majors right now?

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