He didn’t pitch enough in the regular season and, left hander or no, he wasn’t going to appear in the ALCS or World Series. And God knows we didn’t want him to.

This morning we learned that another seemingly no-brainerish decision — to leave Brad Penny off the ALDS roster — was, in fact, not made. What the …? Jim Leyland hasn’t, and likely won’t, offer much to the media to chew on in the way of rationale for this decision.

Here’s the most obvious question: In what scenario, a Game 4 start, long relief, middle relief, would any Tigers fan feel comfortable seeing Penny on the mound? Speaking for myself: None.

Jason Beck reports on his blog:

Both Rick Porcello and Brad Penny are on the roster. One of them is expected to start Game 4 is necessary (sic). The other will work out of the bullpen.

Would I feel better seeing David Pauley? It depends. If it’s relief, absolutely. And would I feel more confident in Porcello starting Game 4? Ditto. (But if there’s a rainout between tonight and Game 4, are we still to believe that Justin Verlander won’t make that start?)

And what about Ryan Perry? Can the Tigers afford his baffling inconsistency in the postseason?

So what we’ve got are four pitchers — the three P’s: Penny, Porcello, Perry, and Max Scherzer — on the ALDS roster that make us wonder if the good version or bad version will show up.

I have no problem with the position-player decisions, even backup catcher Omir Santos. There’s no way Leyland is going to lose a playoff game — or series — by having to put Brandon Inge or Don Kelly behind the plate. No chance. I think Santos makes sense.

But the real news here is Penny. I’m afraid that if we see him in this series we’re going to long for Sid Monge.

Dave Schoenfield weighs in on both A.L. Division Series rosters on the SweetSpot blog.

Leading Off: The Tigers beat the Twins 2-1 yesterday for the club’s ninth straight win — their first of that length since May 1984. Doug Fister shutout the Twins over seven innings for the win, while Jose Valverde posted his club-record 43rd save of the season. Delmon Young led the Tigers with two hits and an RBI.

ESPN’s Steve Berthiaume says that if there were a catchers draft, Alex Avila should be the easy number-one selection:

Avila has been the best catcher in baseball this season. Among the game’s everyday catchers — let’s say those who have started more than 100 games behind the plate — Avila leads the majors with a .300 batting average, .391 on-base percentage, .522 slugging percentage and .913 OPS. He’s No. 1 across the board. Remember, this hypothetical applies to catching actual games, not your fantasy league team, so forget about Victor Martinez or Mike Napoli — the guy you draft has to actually crouch down and catch for you every day. Avila has done exactly that for the Tigers.

Austin Jackson enters tonight’s game having hit safely in each of his last 15 games against the White Sox. He is hitting .403 with four doubles, three triples, three home runs and nine RBI during the 15-game stretch.

Looking for some autographed Tigers memorabilia? You’re in luck. MGOAuction.com, an auction site of primarily University of Michigan sports memorabilia, has several Tigers items up for bid. The items include autographed baseballs signed by Justin Verlander, Jose Valverde, Victor Martinez, Andy Dirks, Brandon Inge and other items signed by Alex Avila, Al Kaline and Todd Jones. Proceeds benefit a series of undergraduate scholarships at UM including the Bernard “Pat” Maloy Cancer Scholarship, the Shelly Kovacs Scholarship. Check out MGoAuction.com.

The Tigers have finally leap-frogged the Diamondbacks in ESPN.com’s Power Rankings this week and earned a spot a number four. (Though they couldn’t crack John Kruk’s rankings.) And, the Tigers are this week’s U.S. Army Team of the Week.

Eighty years ago today at Fenway Park, Eddie Durham and the Tigers Arthur “Red” Herring faced off in a 13-inning pitching duel. Durham won, 1-0.

The funny thing about this nine-game winning streak and 10-1/2-game lead? The anti-Jim Leyland crowd sure has been quiet.

Birthdays! Happy 71st to Mickey Lolich, Happy 55th to Mark Thurmond, Happy 52nd to Scotti Madison, and Happy 43rd to Masao Kida.

Finally, music legend Johnny Cash died on this date in 2003 at the age of 71. Let’s remember him with one of his classic songs, “A Boy Named Sue.”

Leading Off: Brad Penny proved to be a stopper after all: a momentum stopper. Maybe it was too much to ask for, a sweep of the Twins in the last trip to Target Field this season, but the Tigers lost with a flourish, 11-4. Ramon Santiago collected four hits but other than that, it was a stinker. And what about poor David Pauley? The forgotten man of the bullpen might have showed once and for all why he is the forgotten man of the bullpen: 2 IP, 4 hits, 4 runs (all earned), a walk and homer. Meanwhile, Wilson Betemit is hitting 110 points higher than Brandon Inge … Carlos Guillen is slated to begin an injury rehabilitation assignment with Triple A Toledo tonight and soon thereafter will throw second base into disarray.

Around the Central: The Royals did their part to help the Tigers to no avail, beating the Indians 2-1, and the White Sox finished off a sweep of the Mariners, 9-3.

The Tigers moved up two spots in ESPN’s Power Rankings this week to number 7, seven spots ahead of the Indians and nine ahead of the White Sox.

Alex Avila extended his current hitting streak to 12 games yesterday at Minnesota. He compiled a 10-game hitting streak earlier in the month, doing so August 2-13. Avila is the first Tigers player to have two hitting streaks of 10 games-or-better in a single month since Roger Cedeno(!) did so in May of 2001. Cedeno posted two 10-game hitting streaks that month for the Tigers, doing so May 1-11 and May 15-25.

Paul Sporer wrote that Justin Verlander’s20th win was nothing but a symptom of greatness.

Joe Janish looks at waiver wire deals of the pastand finds two Tigers deals worth mentioning, if not remembering.

On this date in 1925, the city of Detroit hosted a dinner for Ty Cobb honoring his 20 years in a Tiger uniform. He was given a trophy by the city and $10,000 by the club.

On Aug. 29, 1959, Hamtramck won the Little League World Series at Williamsport, Pa.

Finally, Happy 73rd Birthday to actor Elliot Gould who is known for many roles, but my favorite will always be that of Reuben Tishkoff in “Ocean’s 11” and 12 and 13.

Leading Off: The Royals or the Tigers’ bullpen, depending on your point of view, did their best to ruin another terrific outing by Rick Porcello – but neither was up to the task. The Tigers came back, after leading 3-0, to win 4-3 in 10 innings. Daniel Schlereth (1-1) earned the win in relief for Detroit, while Jose Valverde notched his 31st save … Porcello went 6 1/3 allowing seven hits and three runs. He was pulled in the seventh and Jim Leyland explained why … With last night’s win the Tigers are 7-3 against the Royals this season and now 27-27 on the road this season.

Around the Central: Michael Young and Rangers spoiled Ubaldo’s debut with the Indians, defeating Cleveland 8-7 in 11 innings, the five-games-under-.500 White Sox beat the 10-games-under-.500 Twins 5-3 at Target Field.

More on JV’s Mastery: Buster Olney today writes that Verlander has started to consider adding another pitch to his arsenal: a split-finger fastball.

The suggestion amused Avila. Verlander, after all, already has refined four pitches – his fastball, changeup, slider and curveball. “The way he’s been pitching this year,” Avila said, “he’ll throw almost any pitch in any count.”

That’s no lie. Hitters’ batting average against him in the 2-0 (and beyond) hitter’s counts? .171, that’s third in the bigs behind Cole Hamels (.170) and Ricky Romero (.157).

Against 3-1 and beyond counts he ranks tied for eighth overall (with Matt Cain and Matt Garza) with a .161 average against.

Betemit: The 46-percent Solution? When the Tigers traded for Wilson Betemit last month the hope was that he’d be an upgrade at the plate over his predecessor, Brandon Inge. Sure, he’s hitting .281 in his 12 games in Detroit but in 39 at bats he has 18 strikeouts. Even Inge was better than that (60 strikeouts in 215 at bats, or 27 percent.)

The Odds are Good; the Goods are Odd. As of this writing, Baseball Prospectus has the Tigers’ playoff odds at 80 percent … or to be more specific: 80 percent to win the division, 0 percent to win the Wild Card spot. Sadly for Indians fans, BP has them with the third-best odds (6.9 percent). The White Sox are second with 11.5-percent. Take heart, Twins fans. BP says your club still has a 1.6-percent chance of taking the division.

Draft-pick Signings: The Tigers today announced they’ve agreed to terms with two players selected in the June draft: shortstop Brandon Loy from the University of Texas (fifth round) and righthanded pitcher Chad Smith from the University of Southern California (17th round). The Tigers now have agreed to terms with 30 of the club’s selections from this year’s draft.

Finally, Happy 39th Birthday to outfielder Duane Singleton who appeared in 18 games for the dreadful 1996 Tigers. He hit .161 with 15 strikeouts in 61 plate appearances.

AP

Wednesday afternoon the Detroit Tigers announced a trade, the first in Major League Baseball since Francisco Rodriguez was sent to the Brewers on the night of the All-Star game. The Tigers kicked off what is sure to be a slew of near deadline deals in the next ten days by acquiring third basemen Wilson Betemit from the Royals in exchange for Single-A prospects LHP Antonio Cruz and catcher Julio Rodriguez.

Betemit’s offensive production (.281/.341/.409 in 226 PAs this year) will surely be a welcome addition to Detroit’s lineup, which is ranked fifth in the American League in runs scored despite getting a pathetic .186/.251/.249 line from third base this season. Brandon Inge, the longest tenured Tigers player, is the one responsible for that horrific triple slash line leading many to wonder as to why the organization signed him to a 2-year/$11.5M contract before the season. It’s not as if Inge’s 2011 struggles have come out of the blue as his triple slash line since the start of ‘07 is .226/.307/.375. The Tigers knew they weren’t signing an “offensive” third basemen this off-season, but perhaps they were a little overzealous giving that dollar figure to a middling player approaching his decline years.

The addition of Betemit plugs up the only gaping hole the Tigers had in their lineup. The question now becomes who goes from the 25-man roster to make room for Betemit when he joins the club for the upcoming Minnesota series. The candidates are Inge (of course), Ramon Santiago, and Don Kelly. Despite the fans and Manager’s love affair with Donnie Kelly, I actually believe that Santiago would be the more useful bench piece at the moment. The way the Tigers infield is currently with Betemit and Carlos Guillen, having a good defensive replacement off the bench is going to be key. That comment is directed at Guillen, who has shown very little in terms of range at second base in his short time in the majors. Kelly’s value, on the other hand, lies in the fact that he can play multiple positions which isn’t to say that he can play them all well as he can be quite shaky in the infield.

The prospects going the other way here represent a pretty decent return for Kansas City. Cruz is a young lefty who sits at 89-91 mph and has a potentially plus pitch in his curveball. Rodriguez has been called the best defensive catcher in the Tigers system and his fielding is so strong some think he could make the majors as a backup even if his bat never develops, though he’s hitting .283 at Lakeland. Needless to say, but the Tigers won’t be missing either of these players anytime soon.

Nick Shlain, a Journalism student at Eastern Michigan University, writes for Detroit Baseball Page.com. You can follow him on Twitter @nshlain.

• The Tigers’ collection of All Stars is the largest since 1985 when the club sent six players to the Metrodome for the game managed by Sparky Anderson. Here’s a look at the largest classes of Tigers All Stars since 1984 and the team’s record that season:

1984 (104-58)
Willie Hernandez
Chet Lemon
Jack Morris
Lance Parrish
Alan Trammell
Lou Whitaker

1985 (84-77)
Willie Hernandez
Jack Morris
Lance Parrish
Dan Petry
Alan Trammell
Lou Whitaker

2007 (88-74)
Carlos Guillen
Magglio Ordonez
Placido Polanco
Ivan Rodriguez
Justin Verlander

2009 (86-77)
Curtis Granderson
Brandon Inge
Edwin Jackson
Justin Verlander

Clearly, the better the Tigers were, the more players they sent to the All-Star Game. For a long time though, the Tigers were a team that had little to offer the American League manager. From 1996 through 2003, Detroit sent a single player to the game. In some cases the pickings were particularly slim (see 2002).

1996 (53-109)
Travis Fryman

1997 (79-83)
Justin Thompson

1998 (65-97)
Damion Easley

1999 (69-92)
Brad Ausmus

2000 (79-83)
Todd Jones

2001 (66-96)
Tony Clark

2002 (55-106)
Robert Fick

2003 (43-119)
Dmitri Young

Ugly, no?

• I still think it’s remarkable that Alex Avila is the starting catcher in tonight’s game. Whoda thunk it, especially after a dreadful Opening Day series against the Yankees when Avila looked about as lost as a player can look. I guess that’s why, as Rod Allen says, you play the games. Jason Beck has a nice piece recapping the Tigers’ All Stars’ respective experiences in Phoenix.

• The water is so far past being under the bridge, but isn’t it still a bit weird to see Curtis Granderson starting in the All-Star Game … as a Yankee?

• Six years ago today in the Home Run Derby at Comerica Park, Bobby Abreu destroyed the records for a single round, the championship round and the grand total for all three rounds of the derby by hitting 41 homers into every part of yard. The Phillies outfielder went deep 24 times in the first round, tacks on six more in the second round and finishes with 11 more in the championship round.

• Looking ahead to the pitching matchups for this weekend’s series against the White Sox:

Friday | 7:05 p.m. FSD/1270 & 97.1
Justin Verlander (12-4, 2.15 ERA) vs. Gavin Floyd (6-9, 4.59 ERA)

Saturday | 4:10 p.m. FOX/1270 & 97.1
Max Scherzer (10-4, 4.69 ERA) vs. Edwin Jackson (5-7, 4.30 ERA)

Sunday | 1:05 p.m. FSD/1270 & 97.1
Brad Penny (6-6, 4.50 ERA) vs. Jake Peavy (4-2, 4.83 ERA)

• Hey, look who’s available: The Dodgers designated Marcus Thames for assignment today.

• Happy Birthday to Mike Schwabe (47) and Mike Munoz (46).

Finally, on this date in 1979 the White Sox were forced to forfeit the second game of twi-night doubleheader against the Tigers when more tha5,000 fans refuse to leave the field during Disco Demolition Night. I wrote about it on the 30th anniversary.

• It’s always interesting to see how even a small winning streak can stir optimism among Tigers faithful. To wit: this past weekend’s series in Oakland. Buoyed by wins in the first two games, I was completely confident the Tigers could — would! — come back in Saturday night and Sunday games. A week prior (against the Royals at home) I had no such optimism. All in all I’m feeling good about their chances in Seattle, and not just because they’ll miss Felix Hernandez.

• On a tangentially related topic, we’ve taken a few jabs this week at Fungo Intergalactic Headquarters over a perceived sense of doom and gloom expressed by yours truly and my profound lack of wisdom. I don’t pretend to have an always-objective (or even rational) view of the Tigers and my opinions on specific players (Brandon Inge, Ryan Raburn, Will Rhymes) seem to irk Fungo readers. If you’ve read this site over the past six years, you know I view this as an outlet to discuss the Tigers and consider it a single point in time — that is, Raburn, for example, might drive me nuts with his iron-gloved D, but I’ll give him his due when he earns it. (As of this writing, Raburn is hitting .231 and 1 for 4 in the game against the Mariners.)

• What to do about Austin Jackson? You have to wonder how long the Tigers will let his numbers and confidence nosedive, especially with Casper Wells sitting on the bench as a capable replacement, before they send him to Toledo. Sure, Wells is hitting just .250 but that’s 90 points higher than Jackson. Don’t the Tigers have to at least consider, even if only for a couple of weeks, providing Jackson with a mind-clearing session or two with Mud Hens’ hitting coach Leon Durham?

• I suppose you have to think that if Jackson heads south on 75 then Rhymes can’t be too far behind, not with Scott Sizemore hitting .375 for the Hens.

• Remember when we assumed — or were told — that Andy Oliver‘s immediate future with the Tigers would hinge on Phil Coke‘s performance in the rotation? I’m beginning to wonder if it will end up being Brad Penny who loses his job to Oliver. After a win against Columbus on Monday night, Oliver is 2-0 with a 3.50 ERA.

• A friend at work has been sending me home with boxes and binders filled with her husband’s baseball card collection. He collected them as a kid but never really had much affinity for the cards or baseball in general. So, they’re leaving it up to me and my friend Len Gutman to sift through the cards — most of them from 1984 through 1993 — and see if there’s anything of value. My reward? In addition to the joy of a trip down memory lane, I’m able to keep any Tigers cards I find in the collection. So far I’m making out like a bandito. My coworker’s hubby isn’t making out too poorly either; so far he’s got two Barry Bonds rookie cards and one Pudge Rodriguez card. More to come on this gold mine.

Finally, in addition to Miguel Cabrera, today’s the birthday of Rick Moranis. He’s 58.

1-2; 4th place, 1.5 GB Royals

Today’s Game

Tigers @ Orioles | 3:05 p.m. ET – Baltimore | On the air: FSD/AM 1270 and 97.1 FM

Pitching Matchup

Rick Porcello (0-0) vs. Jake Arrieta (0-0)

Yesterday’s Results

Tigers 10 – Yankees 7

• W: Max Scherzer (1-0)
• L: Phil Hughes (0-1)
• HR: Miguel Cabrera (2), Brennan Boesch (1)

Tigers History Lesson

Today’s Birthdays

• Cameron Maybin, 24

On this Date in Tigers History

• 2005 – On Opening Day in Detroit, Dmitri Young hit three home runs to lead the Tigers to an 11-2 win over the Royals. Here’s what the starting lineup looked like that day behind starter Jeremy Bonderman:
  1. Omar Infante, 2b
  2. Carlos Guillen, ss
  3. Pudge Rodriguez, c
  4. Magglio Ordonez, rf
  5. Young, dh
  6. Rondell White, lf
  7. Carlos Pena, 1b
  8. Craig Monroe, cf
  9. Brandon Inge, 3b

In the meantime, here are some odds and ends from the last week:

• If you’re still coming to grips with the notion of Brandon Inge and Jhonny Peralta manning the left side of the Tigers’ infield next season, here’s something I noticed that will either make you feel better or worse – and nowhere in between.

  Based on this year’s stats, it appears that Inge and Peralta are practically twins:
  

  2010 Stats	Inge	Peralta
  Games	144	148
  At bats	514	551
  Hits	127	137
  Home Runs	13	15
  RBI	70	81
  Average	.247	.249
  On-base Percentage	.321	.311
  Slugging Percentage	.397	.392
  OPS	.718	.703

  Of Peralta, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski last Sunday said: “We don’t know what we will do with his ($7.25 million) option, but would like him back next year as our shortstop.”

  I’m like many Tigers fans: skeptical, at best, about Peralta as a full-time shortstop. True, he’ll bring more pop to the position than either Danny Worth or Ramon Santiago. But that’s not saying much, is it? As for his defense, the 2010 edition of Baseball Prospectus described Peralta as “increasingly immobile.”

  Gee, if we wanted an immobile shortstop, why not give the job back to Carlos Guillen?

  Discuss.

• Yahoo! Sports‘ Tim Brown last week gave some major love to former Tigers infielder/current Braves sensation Omar Infante.
  

  Years ago, he was run off positions and out of at-bats in Detroit by Ramon Santiago, Carlos Guillen, Placido Polanco and Fernando Vina, so he earned back a few swings by playing six different positions, figuring it out, surviving.

  Now 28, hardened by his positional vagabonding and inspired by the public ridicule that accompanied his surprise All-Star selection in July, Infante no longer plays from the bench. In the leadoff spot and back at third base, he has become part of a new core of Braves, that being what was left from a grueling and injurious season. From the Braves’ opening day eight, only two started game 162, a win that clinched the organization’s first playoff appearance in five years.

  All things considered, who would you rather have at shortstop for the Tigers next season: Infante, Worth or Peralta?

• Getting caught up on some recent Fungo Flash Poll results:
  • Do you like the Tigers’ decision to put Phil Coke in the rotation next season? 52 percent (115 votes) said Yes; 48 percent (107) said No.

  • If the Tigers decide to re-sign only one of these players, who should they choose? Inge: 79 percent (214 votes); Bonderman: 21 percent (56 votes)

  • With the Tigers season winding down, what are you looking forward to the most? Top three vote getters: Michigan Football, 25 percent (41 votes); Spring Training, 24 percent (40); Red Wings, 23 percent (38). I’m disappointed that no one — not a single vote! — cast a vote for my alma mater: Any Western Michigan Team Sport (0 percent, 0 Votes). Ouch.

• Some birthdays today: Patrick Leyland, 19; Jeff Larish, 28; and, Dmitri Young, 37. Today’s also the 81st birthday of George Kell‘s brother, Skeeter.

• On this date in 2006, Alexis Gomez and Curtis Granderson each hit home runs as the Tigers beat the A’s 8-5 in Oakland to take a 2-0 lead in the American League Championship Series.

• And on this date in 1944, the Tigers acquired catcher Bob Swift and infielder Don Heffner from the Athletics for outfielder Rip Radcliff.

Finally, on this date in 1975 “Saturday Night Live” debuted on NBC, which makes me feel old — and bummed out that it’s not nearly as funny as it used to be.

ESPN highlights available here.

The Score: Twins 6 – Tigers 5, 12 innings

The Gist: The Tigers and Twins played a game for the ages and both teams followed the respective scripts of the past three weeks. For the Tigers, that meant squandering countless opportunities and watching a division lead evaporate. For the Twins: everything going their way. Rick Porcello was awesome, Miguel Cabrera showed up for the first part of the game and Fernando Rodney, while taking the loss, pitched almost brilliantly in what was assuredly his last Tigers performance.

The Quote: “No matter what we did, it seems like it wasn’t meant to be. This is the best game, by far, that I’ve ever played in no matter the outcome.” — Brandon Inge

The Stat: 1 – The go-ahead run scored by Don Kelly in the 10th. Oh, how I wish it would’ve held up — for his sake.

Up Next: Spring Training, Lakeland, Fla., February 2010

Follow The Daily Fungo on Twitter: @DailyFungo

81-81, 3rd Place; 13 GB

Yesterday’s Results

Tigers 4 – Orioles 2

• W: Daniel Schlereth (2-0)
• L: Brad Bergesen (8-12)
• Save: Jose Valverde (26)
• HR: Brandon Inge (13)

Tigers History Lesson

Today’s Birthdays

• John Kiely, 46

• Joe Boever, 50

On this Date in Tigers History

• 2005 — The Tigers hired Jim Leyland as the club’s 36th manager.

• 1987 — The Tigers take advantage of one of the great collapses in history to win the AL East title, beating the Blue Jays, 1-0, behind the six-hit pitching of Frank Tanana. Toronto lost its last seven games of the season, including three straight in the season-ending series at Tiger Stadium.

• 1965 — The Tigers acquired RHP Bill Monbouquette from the Red Sox for infielder George Smith and outfielder George Thomas.

• 1934 — Schoolboy Rowe evens the World Series with a 12-inning, 3-2 victory, shutting out the Cardinals over the final nine innings. The Tigers tie the game in the ninth inning and win on Goose Goslin’s single.

• 1925 — Harry Heilmann gets six hits in the Tigers’ doubleheader sweep over the Browns, 10-4 and 11-6, to edge out teammate Ty Cobb for the batting crown, .393 to .389. Cobb bats over .300 for the 20th time. In the second game, fans see the unusual spectacle of two managers, both famous hitters, pitch against each other in the season finale. George Sisler of the Browns and Ty Cobb of the Tigers both pitch in relief for the two clubs. Cobb is perfect in his one inning, while Sisler holds Detroit scoreless in two.

• Brandon Inge gets offered an extension. As Ian wrote this summer, Inge is either loved or loathed in Detroit — with little in between. But I think even those of us who are frustrated by his lack of a strategy when he’s at the plate feel better about third base next season and maybe in 2012, too. In our recent Fungo Pulse Check, 79 percent of respondents (207 of 263 votes) preferred bringing back Inge over Jeremy Bonderman.

• Magglio Ordonez might be back. This isn’t a surprise. The Tigers aren’t picking up the $15 million option on Ordonez’s contract which means he’ll be a free agent, but the Tigers are open to re-signing him. I kept thinking that sentimental Mike Ilitch would tell Dombrowski to pick up the option for old time’s sake. I hope he comes back. If he does sign elsewhere — and you know Scott Boras is already firing up his hyperbole machine — I just pray that he doesn’t go back to the White Sox.

• Jeremy Bonderman gets shown the door. In some ways this is such a no brainer. In others, you had to think the Tigers would bring him back with that “the devil you know” thing in mind.

  Bondo came to Detroit with such promise — “the anchor of the rotation for years!,” we were led to believe — that his unceremonial departure seems like a major disappointment. Remember him walking of the mound to a standing ovation in Game 4 of the 2006 NLDS? I thought his career was set to take off.

  Alas, injuries, inconsistency and — stop me if you’ve heard this one — the inability to develop a third pitch were his ultimate undoing in Detroit. My guess is that he ends up with the Mariners, Cubs or Rangers next season, even the though the Tigers are saying they might be interested in bringing him back if he’s still unsigned close to Spring Training.

  

• Johnny Damon experiment ends with a whimper. If the Tigers had sneaked into the playoffs this year, you know that we would’ve read pages and pages of stories about how his mere presence impacted the club. Instead he’ll be relegated to conversations five years down the road when people will say, “Wow, I totally forgot Damon played for the Tigers.” Kinda like Jarrod Washburn. Damon’s a good guy and you know he’ll end up somewhere next season.

  

• Gerald Laird cut loose. It’s still amazing to me that Laird was unable to hit in Detroit. He always seemed to give the Tigers fits when he played for the Rangers. Wasn’t the thinking that he could produce as a full-timer in Detroit because it wasn’t as hot and humid as Arlington? Laird is a Phoenix-area resident and it wouldn’t surprise me if he ended up with the Diamondbacks next season. (Oh, and Dombrowski also said that, to no surprise, Alex Avila is the club’s catcher in 2011.)

• Jhonny Peralta likely returning. Dombrowski also mentioned that the Tigers are interested in bringing back Peralta next season:
  

  “We don’t know what we will do with his ($7.25 million) option, but would like him back next year as our shortstop.”

  I guess I could live with this for a year, but this is what Tigers fans have to accept thanks to the team’s inability to develop a shortstop (apologies to Danny Worth). Personally, I’d rather they go after the Diamondbacks’ Stephen Drew but the price tag will likely be too high.

Finally, Jim Leyland said that he’s “99.9 percent sure” that Phil Coke will be in the starting rotation in 2011. Coke sure seemed to fit nicely into his relief role this season but I suppose the Tigers do need a lefty in their heavily right-handed rotation. They must feel confident in Daniel Schlereth’s development.

So, is that enough news for you? What do you think of these moves?

72-72, 3rd Place; 13.5 GB

Today’s Game

Off Day

Yesterday’s Results

Tigers 6 – Orioles 2

• W: Justin Verlander
• L: Mike Gonzalez (0-3)
• HR: Brandon Inge (11)

Tigers History Lesson

Today’s Birthdays

• Luke French, 25

• Nelson Cruz, 38

On this Date in Tigers History

• 2002 — The U.S. Senate passes a resolution honoring Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell who is retiring at the end of the season. The 84-year-old has been a major league baseball announcer for 55 years.

• 1995 — Tigers Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell set a new American League record for joint appearances (1,915
  games).

• 1969 — The Tigers are eliminated when they lose to the Senators, 11-6. Washington scores five in the fifth, three coming home on a Ken McMullen homer, one of his four hits in the game. Detroit rallies in the sixth on Willie Horton’s third grand slam of the year, but McMullen knocks home another two runs to give Darold Knowles (7-3) the win over Tom Timmermann.

• 1934 — With his fiancee, Edna Mae Skinner of Oklahoma, watching, Schoolboy Rowe leads the Tigers to a 2-0 win over Washington. He asks in a radio interview: “How’m I doing, Edna?”

• A year ago today Brandon Inge hit a grand slam off the Rays’ Russ Springer to beat the Rays 5-3 and the Tigers extended their lead over the Twins to a season-high seven games. And that’s when the bottom fell out.

• In case you, like I, missed it, the Tigers today announced that they’ll recall Scott Sizemore from Triple A Toledo prior to Tuesday night’s game against the White Sox. Sizemore batted .298 with 23 doubles, a triple, nine home runs and 37 RBI in 76 games with the Mud Hens. By the by, in last week’s Fungo Flash Poll, 80 percent of the 149 respondents said that they prefer Will Rhymes over Sizemore.

• The News‘ Tony Paul today continues his terrific series of articles on former Tigers as he catches up with Matt Nokes.

• Planning on going down to Comerica Park before the season ends? You might want to plan around the Tigers’ record on each day of the week. (Hint: Stay away from Tuesdays.):
  • Monday: 7-8
  • Tuesday: 6-14
  • Wednesday: 9-13
  • Thursday: 11-4
  • Friday: 9-11
  • Saturday: 12-11
  • Sunday: 14-9

• According to Baseball-Reference.com’s Play Index, the Tigers have 33 comeback wins (their largest comeback being six runs), 29 blown leads (largest: four), five walk-off wins, eight walk-off losses.

• The Tigers inched up two spots in ESPN.com’s MLB Power Rankings from 20 to 18.

Finally, happy 73rd birthday to JoAnne Worley.

Have a great week.

68-70, 3rd Place; 13 GB

Today’s Results

White Sox 5 – Tigers 4 (10 innings)

• W: Chris Sale (1-1)
• L: Jose Valverde (2-4)
• HR: Don Kelly (6)

Yesterday’s Results

Royals 2 – Tigers 1

• W: Kyle Davies (7-9)
• L: Brad Thomas (5-2)
• HR: Casper Wells (2)

Tigers History Lesson

On this Date in Tigers History

• 2009 — After striking out in his first three at-bats, Brandon Inge hits a grand slam off Russ Springer in the ninth inning to give the Tigers a 5-3 win over the Rays in Tampa.

• 2006 — Former Tigers outfielder Barney McCoskey, who was once traded to the Athletics for George Kell, died at 78.

1. Brandon Inge. I owned up to this one on the podcast with Ian earlier this week. At the start of the season I proclaimed that if Inge could just hit .250, I’d be delighted. After a cold start, he’s been hitting around — and over — .250 for most of the season. Starting play tonight Inge is hitting .255. So I need to stop my complaining about his shortcomings.
2. 86 Wins. Was I nuts to think that a Tigers team with two rookies in the Opening Day lineup, Placido Polanco in Philadelphia and questions galore surrounding the back-end of the rotation? Perhaps. But the Tigers weren’t going to be that much worse in 2010 than they were last year right?

   Right?

   Anyway, they need to win 19 of their last 27 games to finish with 86 wins. Looking at the schedule between now and Oct. 6 — even with a few servings of Kansas City, Cleveland and Baltimore — that seems a tough row to hoe.

3. The Twins’ Karma Correction at Target Field. “Just wait,” I said. “Things will all even out when the Twins play outdoors,” I said.

   Pfft.

   Minnesota is 43-23 at home. Only the Yankees, Braves and Rockies have better home records. The Tigers, though, aren’t far behind the Twins this season: 43-25 at home.

   Still, the Twins have proven to me that they used the Metrodome to their advantage. They’re an outstanding club no matter where they play.

   And it hurts to write those words.

There. I feel better now.

65-66, 3rd Place; 10 GB

Today’s Game

Off Day

Tomorrow @ Minnesota

Yesterday’s Results

Tigers 10 – Blue Jays 4

• W: Rick Porcello (7-11)
• L: Marc Rzepczynski (1-2)
• HR: Ryan Raburn 2 (10), Brandon Inge (9)

Tigers History Lesson

Today’s Birthdays

• Randy O’Neal, 50

• Steve Baker, 54

• Steve Partenheimer (1891-1971)

On this Date in Tigers History

• 1995 — Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell tie an American League record by playing in their 1,914th game together, a 10-7 loss to the White Sox. The record was set by the Royals’ George Brett and Frank White.

• 1912 — At Navin Field, the Browns’ Earl Hamilton no-hits the Tigers, 5-1.

• 1905 — Making his major league debut, Ty Cobb doubles off Highlander Jack Chesbro in a 5-3 Tigers victory at Bennett Park.

It’s precisely the move we expected the Tigers to make. That is, a drip not a splash.

Not only is he the Tigers’ new and temporary third baseman until Brandon Inge returns, he’s also the new and temporary shortstop until the Tigers acquire Stephen Drew.

Ahem.

What’s more, you present a writing dilemma for me. Do I add “Jhonny” to my spell check dictionary and run the risk of misspelling someone who’s name is Johnny, or live with the annoying red line under “Jhonny”?

This isn’t exactly like 2006 when the Tigers scrambled to find a replacement at second base for the injured Placido Polanco and made the mystifying trade for Neifi Perez. Peralta will help the Tigers a lot more than Perez, but the bar is set fairly low in that regard.

Even though the Tigers appear on the brink of collapse, they still are 9-1/2 games closer to first place than the Indians are, which means Peralta could be energized and be a big help.

Again, it’s all relative.

Perhaps the way to view this trade is how Baseball Prospectus 2010 sums up Jhonny Peralta:

Peralta has enver been the most consistent player, but given the gross similarities of his 2007-2008 seasons, any bounce back seems likely to be similar in form — good, but just barely that.

On the bright side, the Tigers have made a trade. Let’s savor it; this might be all we get.

• I continue to watch with fascination how Kirk Gibson fares as the Diamondbacks’ interim manager. In this piece from the Arizona Republic, we learn about one of the first calls Gibson received upon getting the job.

• In case you were wondering, coming into this weekend’s series against the Indians, the Tigers’ all-time record against the Tribe is 1,048-1,015-12. Again with those ties…

• Brandon Inge entered Friday night’s game at Cleveland with 838 games played at third base during his Tigers career, four games shy of tying Mike “Pinky” Higgins for fourth place in franchise history with 842 games played at third base. Higgins played for the Tigers for seven seasons from 1939-46, wearing number six. Over that span he batted .280 and was an All Star in 1945.

• And here’s something I didn’t know: Alex Avila has thrown out 12 of the 29 baserunners attempting to steal this season (41.4 percent), tops among all American League catchers. And here we thought Gerald Laird was the rifleman behind the dish.

• In the latest episode of the podcast I bring up Jake Westbrook as a possible target for the Tigers, thinking he could be the Tigers’ version of the Twins getting Carl Pavano last year. Well, I checked out Westbrook’s success against the Twins and White Sox since 2007 and it’s spotty: 1-4, 5.10 ERA against Chicago; 1-1, 3.48 against Minnesota. Still, you’d have to like the makeup of the Tigers’ rotation with him in it, wouldn’t you?

Finally, wish Phyllis Diller a happy 93rd birthday this weekend, won’t you?