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Inge To Report With Catchers

This is more of a no-trade rumor.  Brandon Inge will report to Spring Training as a catcher.  If he can get back into the swing of things, he could take over as the starter for Ivan Rodriguez in 2009.

The average AL catcher hit .254/.318/.395 in 2007, while Inge hit .236/.312/.376.  Maybe he can get his power back up to previous levels and call a decent game.  If so, the $19.1MM owed to him over the next three seasons is more palatable.


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Comments

I still think moving Cabrera to left, at least part of the time, and letting Inge play third is the best plan for the Tigers.

i agree, Sky. It sure seems Inge's plus defense at third with Cabrera in felt is much better than Cabrera's shaky defense at third, with Jacque Jones, Timo Perez, and Marcus Thames sharing time in left. I don't see how there could really be any other way to do it. When you add in the fact that Inge is a fan favorite, it's a no brainer.

.236/.312/.376

Did you all miss that part? I'd take the MVP hitter at 3B. And the solid hitting Jones/Thames combo in LF.

Let inge earn his ABs. He got lazy last year after he got his money and went back to his bad hitting ways. He has more career Ks then hits.

I think a few factors mitigate against keeping Inge at third and moving Miguel to left. First, Cabrera is said to want to play third. It probably is a good idea to keep him happy to increase the odds of him signing an extension. Second, Jones was acquired to give the predominantly right-handed Tigers a left-handed bat. Third, I still think the Tigers really want to get rid of Inge's contract and this is a way to build value. If that fails, but he proves he can still catch; he perhaps gives the team options when Pudge's contract expires after this season. The whole bonus to acquiring Cabrera was to replace Inge's bat, so it would seem to not make sense to leave him in there on a starting basis. Hopefully, the reported improvement in Cabrera's conditioning will allow him to play third adequately where he is much more valuable.

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