With the acquisition of Miguel Cabrera in the off-season the Tigers don’t have a starting job for Brandon Inge anymore. The Tigers have tried to move him with absolutely no luck. If appears that the Tigers might use Inge as a utility man. He can handle third base, the outfield and catcher defensively so it’s still possible that he could be a valuable piece to the Tigers bench if they indeed keep him. To trade Inge the Tigers would likely have to kick in a lot of money as he will make $6 million bucks next season so it might make more sense to just keep him. It will be interesting to see what the Tigers do with him.

The Tigers have decided to give 34 year old righty Matt Mantei a chance this season after signing him to a minor league contract. Mantei last pitched in the majors in 2005 with the Red Sox. He has pitched in 315 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 14-18 with 93 saves, a 4.07 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. This was a nice little signing by the Tigers as Mantei will only receive the major league minimum if he makes the team.

The Tigers have signed righty reliever Francis Beltran, infielder Henry Mateo and catcher Dane Sardinha to minor league contracts. Beltran is a 28-year old who last pitched in the majors in 2004 with the Montreal Expos. Beltran has pitched in 56 games in his major league career and he is 2-2 with 1 save, a 5.87 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP. Mateo is a 31-year old switch hitter who last played in the majors in 2006 with the Nationals. He has now played in 190 games in his major league career and he is 60 for 257 (.233 avg, .581 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 1 homer, 10 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. 28-year old righty swinging Sardinha last played in the majors in 2005 with the Reds. He has played in 2 games in his major league career and he is 0 for 5 with 2 whiffs.