Starting 2B Placido Polanco has been a player the Tigers have grown to rely on even when the rest of the team is slumping with the bat. Polanco has played in 74 games for the Tigers this season and he is 95 for 298 (.319 avg, .780 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 3 homers and 30 RBIs. Polanco is the perfect #2 hitter for the Tigers as he has only whiffed 22 times this season which is pretty remarkable. He will start scoring a lot of runs when the batters behind him start to wake up.

Marcus Thames is on a awesome run as his last 7 hits have been all home runs. In June, Thames has played in 12 games and he is 10 for 37 (.270 avg, 1.237 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 7 homers and 11 RBIs. For the season, Thames has now played in 43 games for the Tigers and he is 29 for 113 (.257 avg, .939 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 12 homers and 28 RBIs. Even when Gary Sheffield returns from the D.L. the Tigers must find at bats for Thames who might have the best pure power stroke on the entire Tigers’ team and it would be a shame to waste him on the bench.

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.

The Tigers are looking for a way to lessen the wear and tear on Carlos Guillen so they have decided to move him from shortstop to firstbase for 2008. Guillen has been outstanding for the Tigers since the day he arrived 4 years ago. He has played in 527 games for the Tigers in his career and he is 614 of 1,963 (.313 avg) with 331 runs scored, 65 homers, 307 RBIs and 47 stolen bases. The Tigers will acquire a shortstop through either free agency or trade in the off-season as they don’t like any of their internal options. This means that Sean Casey will likely be leaving the Tigers. He played in 196 games for the Tigers and he was 179 for 637 (.280 avg) with 57 runs scored, 9 homers and 84 RBIs. The Tigers just needed more power than Casey could provide them.

Timo Perez was just biding his time in AAA this year trying to stay sharp in case the Tigers needed him.  After rookie Cameron Maybin appeared to be overmatched after the Tigers called him up to replace Craig Monroe in left field they decided to stick Timo Perez out there and he hasn’t looked back.  Perez has played in 18 games this season for the Tigers and he is 23 of 56 (.411 avg, 1.048 OPS) with 9 runs scored and 6 RBIs.  It looks like he may have found a home in Detroit.