40-year old righty reliever Todd Jones will officially retire after the last game of the season for the Tigers. Jones pitched in 45 games (0 starts) for the Tigers this season and he was 4-1 with 18 saves, a 4.97 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. Jones finishes up a solid 8 years in his career with the Tigers. He pitched in 480 games (0 starts) in his career with the Tigers and he was 23-32 with 235 saves, a 4.10 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. Jones pitched in 982 games (1 start) in his major league career and he was 58-63 with 319 saves, a 3.97 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. The Tigers will likely have Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya compete for Jones’ old job as the closer for the 2009 season.

The Tigers have shut down veteran Kenny Rogers for the remainder of the season. He started 30 games for the Tigers this year and he was 9-13 with a 5.70 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. It appears that he’s running out of steam and it seems very unlikely that the Tigers will bring him back in 2009. Rogers pitched in 75 games (73 starts) in three years with the Tigers and he is 29-25 with a 4.66 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP for them. But, it was Rogers’ pitching in the 2006 post season that really stood out and he was one of the main reasons that the Tigers made it to the World Series that year. He started 3 games in the post season for the Tigers in 2006 and he was 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.70 WHIP.

The Tigers have lost rookie outfielder Clete Thomas for the rest of the season and most of next year after he underwent Tommy John Surgery. Thomas played in 40 games for the Tigers this season and he was 33 for 116 (.284 avg, .771 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 1 homer, 9 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Tigers will miss Thomas a little bit as he’s a gamer who brings a lot of energy with him to the field.