The Tigers have designated 28-year old lefty starting pitcher Dontrelle Willis for assignment. Willis pitched in 9 games (8 starts) for the Tigers this year and he was 1-2 with a 4.98 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. He pitched in 24 games (22 starts) in three years with the Tigers and he was 2-8 with a 6.86 ERA and a 1.93 WHIP. Willis only gave up 103 hits in 101 innings in his three years in Detroit but he walked a shocking 92 batters which is what often got him into deep trouble. This is addition by subtraction for the Tigers. The Tigers have recalled 25-year old righty starting pitcher Max Scherzer to replace Willis in the rotation. Scherzer has started 8 games for the Tigers this season and he is 1-4 with a 7.29 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP which earned him a demotion to AAA. But he earned his way back with two sharp starts in which he was 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA and a 0.40 WHIP. He only allowed 4 hits and 2 walks while whiffing 17 batters in only 15 innings in AAA. The Tigers hope that Scherzer learned his lesson in AAA.

UPDATE: (6/1/2010) - The Tigers have traded Dontrelle Willis to the D-Backs. No other specifics are available as of this time. It’s rumored that the Tigers will get at least one player in return for him.

UPDATE II: (6/1/2010) - The Tigers have acquired 26-year old righty starting pitcher Billy Buckner in return for Dontrelle Willis and a substantial stack of cash. Buckner started 3 games for the D-Backs this year and he was 0-3 with a 11.08 ERA and a 2.39 WHIP. Buckner has now pitched in 36 games (21 starts) in parts of 4 years in the majors and he is 6-11 with a 6.25 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. Maybe Buckner will help the Tigers down the road but he will start his Tigers’ career in AAA.

27-year old righty swinging 1B Miguel Cabrera was back in action last night after missing a couple of games to witness the birth of his child. He responded by going 3 for 4 with 3 homers, 3 runs scored and 4 RBIs. Amazingly the Tigers still lost the game 5-4 to the A’s as Cabrera didn’t get much help from the rest of the Tigers. Cabrera continues to amaze as he has cleaned up his act off the field and he is destroying the ball this year. He has played in 45 games for the Tigers this year and he is 59 of 173 (.341 avg, 1.074 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 13 homers and 44 RBIs. Cabrera has only whiffed 25 times this season so it’s quite possible that he can keep his average up all year long. This could be the year that he finally wins a MVP Award.

The Tigers have activated 34-year old switch hitting Carlos Guillen off the D.L. He is going to now be the starting 2B for the Tigers. He has played in 16 games this season for the Tigers and he is 19 of 61 (.311 avg, .834 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 1 homer, 8 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Tigers have sent down rookie 2B Danny Worth to make room for Guillen on the active roster. Worth looked good while he was up for his first taste of the majors this year. He has played in 8 games for the Tigers this season and he is 8 of 24 (.333 avg, .667 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 3 RBIs.

The Tigers have released 28-year old lefty starter/reliever Phil Dumatrait so that he could join Korea’s LG Twins. He started 8 games in AAA-ball this season for the Tigers and he was 4-1 with a 3.16 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. He pitched in 42 games (17 starts) in his major league career and he was 3-10 with a 7.06 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. The Tigers did Dumatrait a favor here as he will likely make a lot more money in Korea and he will have a better chance to succeed there.

28-year old righty reliever/starter Zach Miner for the year and some of next season as he is having Tommy John Surgery on Friday. Miner pitched in 51 games (5 starts) for the Tigers last season and he was 7-5 with 1 save, a 4.29 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. In his four years with the Tigers, Miner has pitched in 157 games (35 starts) in which he is 25-20 with 1 save, a 4.24 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. The Tigers will miss Miner a little bit as he always gave them a lot of innings out of the pen.