Cuts Deep

The Tigers made cuts today.  Some surprising.  Some not.  I thought for sure Robbie Weinhardt would be with the big club out of camp this year.  But then I did some thinking.  What role was the youngster filling last year?  Late inning guy.  Was he ready to fill that role?  No.  Would the Tigers rather have given him another year in the minors to tune up?  Yes.  He sat quite a bit last year and didn't get to log the innings that he needed to get ready. So now that Benoit is on the roster, Weinhardt is not a necessity.  The Tigers haven't counted on Zumaya in a couple years, and Ryan Perry proved last year that he was ready for a 7th inning spot.  A team can only have so many late inning arms.  The Weinhardt move seems to make sense in that light.

The other surprise move was sending Scott Sizemore to minor league camp and leave a couple other guys in big league camp competing for the 2nd base job.  Its clear that Sizemore has not yet made the next step.  He spent last season pretending his foot didn't hurt and paid the price.  Perhaps the Tigers have different plans for Sizemore and want him in the minors to work on that.  He did play a bit of third base last year in Toledo and maybe he is back in Toledo to prep for a back up role if Inge can't stay healthy.  Long term Sizemore doesn't fit at third, as Castellanos makes his quick rise, but in the short term he may be a viable back up and possibly trade bait.

Fu-Te Ni made a showing this spring but in the end, didn't impress enough to show the staff that he had put his control whoas behind him.  I think that Ni's tenure as a Tiger is probably coming to an end but it doesn't mean that his big league career is at an end.  A short trip back to play in Asia may be in the cards but I think that Ni will find a spot in some team's bullpen before his career is through.  He has an arm slot that makes him different than many bullpen lefties and if he can consistently find the strike zone, he could be a valuable specialist out of some bullpen.

The designation of Clete Thomas comes as the least shocking move to me.  A couple years ago, Clete served as the underdog spark plug the Tigers seemed to be missing.  He missed last season due to injury and in the meantime several other players have stepped in to fill that role.  First it was Brennan Boesch.  His first half last year was something to get excited about.  His second half left us wondering what happened during the all-star break and validated the coaches leaving him off the American League roster.  Then it was Will Rhymes.  He stepped in when Carlos Guillen went down and Ramon Santiago took over short for Adam Everett.  Rhymes hit pretty well for an unknown guy and gave the club some of that "dirt dog" feel it was missing.  Its only fitting that Rhymes will start at 2nd this year for the Tigers, at least until Carlos Guillen gets healthy.