Tiger Geist

Detroit set its 40 man roster last week, which means… not a lot.  I mean, we can pine over who was or wasn’t included, but the fact that Gary Sheffield, Brandon Inge, Carlos Guillen, Dontrelle Willis and Nate Robertson are still on the roster and commanding a large portion of the payroll (thus demanding that they actually play), let’s not go crazy here.  All five players would be gone in a heart beat if Detroit could move them.  No i’m not buying the “Brandon Inge is so great defensively that he has to play third base for the team”.  He’s playing third base because his salary demands it and he’s proven he can’t catch.

What do I find interesting about the 40 man roster?  The amount of third/first basemen who seem to be too old to be playing in Toledo.  Seems ripe for a trade of either Larish or Hessman.  I’d personally like to see Inge move out and platoon Larish and Hessman at third, and have Larish get 10 – 20 games in at first.  For some reason I feel a Hessman for Oakland’s Bobby Crosby trade would work out for both teams, especially if Oakland is able to sign Rafael Furcal.

I’m worried that Dusty Ryan needs to play at least half of the season in Toledo full time.  Not sure if the roster is flexible enough to go get two catchers, however.  He sure looks like a player, albeit in very limited major league action.