Inge agrees to report to Lakeland with catchers

by Danny Knobler Monday January 28, 2008, 11:49 AM


DETROIT -- The Tigers are preparing to open the spring with Brandon Inge on their roster, and Inge appears to be on board with the plan.
Inge spoke with general manager Dave Dombrowski about his situation, and the Tigers said he has agreed to report to Lakeland on Feb. 14, with the pitchers and catchers. The Tigers want Inge, if he remains with them, to spend some time catching, so that he could be used behind the plate, as well as at various other positions.
The Tigers have been trying to trade Inge since the winter meetings, when they acquired Miguel Cabrera from Florida. He expressed to the Tigers his desire to be dealt, but in reality they had been trying hard to trade him even before they talked to him. But Inge's contract (he's due more than $19 million over the next three years) and his offensive decline in 2007 made him difficult to trade, and in recent weeks the Tigers began to consider the idea that they would keep Inge and use him at many positions.
Inge was a catcher before the Tigers signed Pudge Rodriguez in 2004, but since moving to third base he has said that he had no interest in moving back behind the plate. If he were to accept such a move, he could easily have a future with the Tigers, because Rodriguez will likely leave as a free agent after 2008 and the Tigers have no obvious replacement.

I was kind of against this, but who the hell am I? I expect Inge to give his all and come with a good attitude every day.

This is good news, maybe Inge has checked his ego and decided he still wants to play for a winner. I hope it lasts, as I've always rooted for Inge. He's homegrown Tiger talent and valuable at multiple spots in the field.

Good.

Welcome to the boards, jturbo.

I'll bet his agent had something to do with this as well. Having the ability to catch adds so much value to a marginal player like Inge. Could extend his career and increase his market value.

He made some spectacular plays at 3rd and booted some routine ground balls. We need him to be consistent, in a backup role, behind the plate.

"Utility" is probably his best position, anyways.

As long as he's on board, this could work.

This is the best thing going right now for both parties. He truly is the super utility guy. Now that Infante is gone, we need this. We really have a great deal of versatility now. Now only can Leyland play with what spot guys are going to bat in, he has 5-6 guys that can legit play 2 or more positions. This will really help to minimize the impact of day-to-day nagging injuries.

Well played, Brandon.

My greatest wish for Inge and Tiger fans is that he plays great defense and hits about .280 with pop. This will be great for us because he'll be a nice contributor - great for him because it will get him more AB's here and likely get him dealt somewhere that he'll start, meaning hopefully and above-average prospect for us in return.

He'll still get plenty of starts. With all the resting Leyland does he should still play a good amount. Rabelo, Infante, Perez and Santiago had over 630 combined at bats. About 1/3 of Infante's games were in the OF, so you could cut that number to the high 500's. Still plenty considering only 3 players had more than that last year. That leaves room for call ups to get some PT as well.

Well for his career Inge averages 537 AB's for every 162 games played - so if he gets 80% of that we're looking at 430 AB's. We know that with no Rabelo anymore and Vance probably not ready on time, we can probably expect him to get 6 starts at C in April. Depending on when Vance comes back, that number can continue month by month as the bare minimum until Wilson's return. Occasionally Cabrera may be moved to DH and Inge will play 3B. Also, last season we saw Santiago replace Guillen at SS late in games for defensive purposes. Leyland will probably put Inge at 3B in the 8th and 9th in 30-40 games that he doesn't otherwise play in.

Huge upgrade at backup catcher since Rabelo couldn't throw anyone out. If he hits with power the way he did two years ago, we have the best swingman in the L.

Looks like as long as he's playing a lot, he'll be happy. This seems like a great situation unless Leyland starts playing other guys over him (doubt it).


DETROIT -- It was the conversation Brandon Inge never wanted to have, the one he hoped would never be necessary.
Yes, Inge told the Detroit Tigers on Monday, he's willing to report to spring training with the pitchers and catchers. Yes, Inge said, he'll be a super utility player with the Tigers if that's the only role left for him.
Yes, he's willing to catch -- or to play anywhere else.
"I've told (general manager Dave Dombrowski and manager Jim Leyland), I don't care if it's first base or anywhere, if anyone needs a day off at any time, I want to be in there," Inge said, breaking the public silence he has maintained since he lost his starting job at third base when the Tigers traded for Miguel Cabrera on Dec. 4.
Inge admitted that he won't be happy as a part-time player, but also promised not to create problems. He said he still holds out hope that he could be traded, but he also said that his strong preference would be to remain with the Tigers -- assuming he could play every day.
Even as a catcher, the position he played before Ivan Rodriguez signed with the Tigers in 2004.
The job isn't open now, with Rodriguez set to catch in 2008. But Rodriguez's contract runs out after this year, which makes Inge's new willingness to catch especially interesting. Inge repeatedly has said that he doesn't really like catching, but he said Monday that he will accept it now if it means more playing time.
He also said that given the choice, he'd rather catch (or play any other position) every day for the Tigers than play third base every day somewhere else.
"First and foremost, I hope everyone out there knows I don't want to go anywhere,'' Inge said.
He does want to play every day, and given the situation (no everyday job available), he still does want to be traded. Truth be told, the Tigers still want to trade him, if only because they don't want to pay a $6.2 million 2008 salary to a part-time player.
The salary seems to be the biggest reason the Tigers haven't been able to trade Inge, or at least the co-biggest reason along with his poor offensive numbers in 2007. Inge is due $19.1 million over the next three years, and after the All-Star break in '07 he hit just .223 with only three home runs.
Even with that, the Tigers assumed when they made the Cabrera trade that they'd be able to deal Inge. It hasn't happened, and Dombrowski said Monday that while several teams have talked to him about Inge, not once has there been a concrete proposal there for him to accept or decline.
"I've really been actively searching,'' Dombrowski said. "I don't have anything at this minute going on.''
That's why Dombrowski decided to deal with the Inge situation now. It's also why Inge decided to break his silence.
"I didn't want to say anything until I had all the information,'' Inge said.
He has the information now. That doesn't mean he likes it, or that he'll like reporting to his new job.
"I won't be fine with it,'' Inge said. "This is a blow. I'm frustrated. But as soon as I put the uniform on, I'll be joking around just like always, and I'll do what I can to help the team win."

Huge upgrade at backup catcher since Rabelo couldn't throw anyone out. If he hits with power the way he did two years ago, we have the best swingman in the L.

I wish that were true for the Pistons.

I think as long as we use Inge as the super-sub he could be, he'll be fine. Whenever someone needs a break, just toss him out there. He can play pretty much any position. He should get plenty of time.

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/01/29/the-dugout-brandon-inge-cant-deal-with-sucking