26-year old righty starting pitcher Virgil Vasquez was once one of the better prospects in the Tigers’ minor league system but he could never make the jump to the big leagues. He pitched in 27 games (all starts) last season in AAA and he was 12-12 with a 4.81 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. Vasquez did pitch for the Tigers in 2007 but it didn’t go too well. He pitched in 5 games (3 starts) in 2007 and he was 0-1 with a 8.64 ERA and a 1.92 WHIP. The Tigers might wish down the road that they gave Vasquez more of a look.

The Detroit Tigers have declined Edgar Renteria’s 2009 option worth $12 million bucks. The 33-year old righty swinging Renteria played in 138 games for the Tigers last season and he was 136 for 503 (.270 avg, .699 OPS) with 69 runs scored, 10 homers, 55 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Renteria has now played in 1,860 games in his major league career and he is 2,070 for 7,140 (.290 avg, .752 OPS) with 1,090 runs scored, 127 homers, 817 RBIs and 280 stolen bases. Renteria would like to return to the Tigers but he has just never played as well in the American League as he has in the National League. The Tigers will likely go in a different direction in 2009 at shortstop.

The Tigers have outrighted 29-year old righty swinging catcher Dane Sardinha to AAA making him a free agent. He played in 17 games for the Tigers last season and he was 7 for 44 (.159 avg, .434 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 3 RBIs. The Tigers should be able to do much better than Sardinha looking for a backup catcher in 2009.

The Tigers have outrighted 31-year old righty reliever Gary Glover to AAA making him a free agent. Glover pitched in 18 games (0 starts) for the Tigers and he was 1-1 with a 4.43 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. Glover has now pitched in 263 games (47 starts) in his major league career and he is 29-26 with 3 saves, a 5.03 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. Glover will likely get a spring training invite from some team in 2009 but the Tigers should be better off without him.