6:05pm: The Athletics have legitimate interest in Inge, according to Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group. General Manager Billy Beane would not comment on Inge specifically, saying only that he is looking to "upgrade at third base, as well as all other positions."
10:23am: Brandon Inge might not be on the free agent market for long despite his struggles at the plate. The Twins, Athletics, Orioles and Diamondbacks are among the teams that may have interest in the recently-released ACES client.
There are indications that the Twins will at least have a discussion about Inge, La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. Minnesota could demote Danny Valencia to Triple-A and rely on Inge and Sean Burroughs at the hot corner.
The Athletics are expected to have some interest in Inge, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. However, the 34-year-old must clear release waivers before becoming eligible to sign with a new team. Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group noted yesterday that he expects the Athletics to consider Inge.
The Orioles have some interest in Inge, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reported yesterday. Meanwhile, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com wouldn’t be surprised if the Diamondbacks take a look at the veteran third baseman (Twitter link).
Inge has just two hits in 20 trips to the plate so far this season and he posted a .548 OPS last year. The Tigers are responsible for his $5.5MM salary, so any team that signs him would only owe him a pro-rated portion of the MLB minimum for the remainder of the season.
Yeah…. that’ll help the D’Backs. /end_sarcasm
Why not the Giants? They could have three guys named Brandon in the lineup at the same time.
Yeah the “Killer B’s!” You know without the hitting for average, getting on base, or power skills :D
you got Buster as well haha
I don’t know why the Twins would be interested, there huge problem now is starting pitching. Ryan is wasting his time on Inge.
I really don’t think it’s possible to waste your time when discussing an essentially free player – regardless of his current talent level.
Opportunity cost is too high. They could be spending their time on discussing better players instead.
Why the O’s want him when they have another Inge in Reynolds who plays good D but can’t hit above 250.
“Reynolds who plays good D”
Yikes. And I actually like Reynolds.
A .940 career fielding percentage is “good D” from a 3B? Only in the context of Ryan Braun at 3B, maybe.
His only value is if he puts on the tools of of ingorance.
Here comes Billy Bean and Jonah Hill. Phillip Seymour Hoffman surely won’t play him.
The Orioles would benefit from having a third player with catching experience on their roster, it would lessen the risk of using Wieters as a DH more often. Inge would be a potential candidate to replace 0-26 Nick Johnson on the roster. But the Orioles just signed Bill Hall to fill the same 3B depth/defense need that Inge would fill, so who knows.
Why bother finding out if the kid at AA can play in the bigs, when you can sign someone you KNOW can’t.
Curious. What exactly would a team have to pay to get Inge. I realize the Tigers are responsible for the $5.5MM, but what about the prorated league minimum? Could someone clarify this for me?