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Brandon Inge

Brandon Inge Enters Walk Year

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Take a quick look at Brandon Inge's numbers and he doesn't seem that different from Pedro Feliz. They're both strong defensive third basemen in their early thirties who will give you an OPS close to .700. Feliz signed a $4.5MM deal with the Astros this offseason, but when Inge hits the market next winter, he can hope for a little more.

Granted, Inge strikes out about 30% of the time he steps up to hit. That limited his OBP (.314) and slugging (.406) last year, despite his 27 homers. But Inge saves about ten runs a year with his third base defense, and he can also catch and play all three outfield positions. Plus, Inge will be 33 when he hits free agency, a year younger than Feliz was this winter.

Mark DeRosa's versatility helped him land a two-year deal, even though he'll be 35 this season. Fellow 2011 free agents Feliz and Miguel Tejada are older than Inge and less versatile. There will be other competition, though. Garrett Atkins, Jorge Cantu and Adrian Beltre could all be free agents after the season.

Inge won't be the only Tiger whose contract is coming off the books. Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson, Dontrelle Willis, Johnny Damon, Gerald Laird, Bobby Seay, Adam Everett and maybe even Magglio Ordonez will see their deals expire, too. That means the Tigers will have the flexibility to bring Inge back. Even if they choose not to, he should have other suitors if he is productive in 2010.

Cardinals Notes: Boras Meeting, Holliday Alternatives

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Joe Strauss from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch discusses the Cardinals and their current situation with free agent Matt Holliday. Let's dive in:

  • The Cardinals are pushing for a meeting with Scott Boras at the Winter Meetings to discuss whether or not they have a legitimate chance to bring Holliday back to St. Louis.
  • If they were to retain Holliday, the club would be content to give David Freese his shot at third base and spend its leftover money on the rotation rather than infield help.
  • Re-signing Mark DeRosa is one alternative to Holliday in left, although the Cardinals understandably aren't fans of DeRosa's current asking price of three years and roughly $24MM.
  • The Cards had interest in bringing Chone Figgins aboard, prior to his agreement with the Mariners.
  • St. Louis continues to say that they don't have leverage to make trades after parting with a number of top prospects, but Strauss mentions that some teams looking to shed salary could make sense. He names Dan Uggla, Kevin Millwood, and (if he's made available) Brandon Inge as some candidates, though the Marlins are asking a lot in return for Uggla.
  • Strauss also mentions Adam Dunn, who's owed $12MM this season as a good fit, though the Nationals aren't intent on moving him. According to Strauss, several within the Cardinal organization were pushing for Dunn over Holliday last season before the deadline.
  • If the Cards are able to sign Holliday, backloading the contract as they typically do with large deals won't be beneficial as the expensive years will coincide with those of Albert Pujols, if and when he, too, gets a new contract.
  • Strauss names Vicente Padilla and Ben Sheets as possible free agent arms to target.
  • Interesting note on the Cardinals from Strauss; they haven't made a trade at the Winter Meetings since 2003 when they acquired Adam Wainwright, Jason Marquis, and Ray King.

Whatever comes of Holliday, team president Bill DeWitt plans to be active this offseason. Strauss quotes him, "If we don't spend on Holliday, we will spend on other players."

Heyman’s Latest: Lackey, Tigers, Reds

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Jon Heyman of SI.com's last few Twitter updates have provided a variety of intriguing information from around the league. Let's check them out….

Odds And Ends: Inge, Zumaya, Marlins, Wang

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More links with less than a day until the deadline passes…

Verducci: “It’s A Young Man’s Game”

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SI.com's Tom Verducci links two of the year's most-discussed trends: the demand for young players and the demand for good defense, writing that "the renewed emphasis on defense hasn't helped the value of older players." As a result, teams are reluctant to sign older free agents like Frank Thomas and Jim Edmonds. Many of the older players who signed contracts this offseason are struggling; Verducci mentions Edgar Renteria and Orlando Cabrera among others. Of course it's too early in the season to make sweeping generalizations, but Verducci concludes that baseball's "a young man's game."

Verducci adds that teams like the Tigers and Rangers are playing better because they're defending better. Elvis Andrus has made his mistakes at short for the Rangers, but they're a stronger defensive team this year. Similarly, Brandon Inge and Adam Everett have strengthened the Tigers' defense and helped the team to an 18-16 start. The Rangers (1st) and the Tigers (3rd) are among the best teams in the league at converting balls in play into outs.

Odds and Ends: Fujikawa, Inge, Haren, Jacque

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Today’s collection of links…

Ivan Rodriguez To Lose Playing Time

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Ivan Rodriguez, the Tigers’ $13MM catcher, will now be used in a platoon with Brandon Inge.  They’ll alternate starts behind the plate.

Rodriguez, 36, is hitting .245 (AVG)/.286 (OBP)/.349 (SLG) in 208 plate appearances.  This didn’t come out of nowhere – PECOTA had him at .267/.295/.390.  PECOTA is a projection system developed by Baseball Prospectus.  The PECOTA system uses comparable players to make its estimates.

Hot stove implications of Jim Leyland’s new plan: the Tigers will learn if Brandon Inge can be their everyday catcher in 2009 (Inge is signed through 2010).  If not, the Tigers seem more likely to explore the free agent market than to re-sign Pudge.  What a difference a few months can make – last offseason the Tigers exercised Rodriguez’s $13MM option and tried to trade Inge.

Cabrera-Guillen Position Switch Upsets Inge

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We haven’t discussed the Miguel Cabrera–Carlos Guillen position swap here on MLBTR – on the surface it doesn’t appear to have hot stove implications.

However, Ken Rosenthal heard from a Major League source that Brandon Inge is "livid" that Cabrera was moved off third yet Inge still doesn’t have a starting gig.

Inge, 31 in May, is off to a decent start this year with a .246/.357/.439 line in 20 games.  His versatility is especially valuable for the Tigers, who have multiple injury-prone starters.  Trading Inge now only makes sense if a respectable reliever comes in return (even if $6.2MM is pricey for a supersub).

Tigers Roster Set, No Trades Likely

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The Tigers have been at the center of a number of recent trade rumors. There was the Huston Street rumor, and the Mike Wuertz rumor. But the one player that seemed the most likely to go, Brandon Inge, is still a member of the Tigers and now it appears that he will not be going anywhere in the near future.

Jim Leyland was asked yesterday if there would be any last-minute deals.

"My boss (general manager Dave Dombrowski) said it was OK to tell you that’s the team."

In fact it now looks like Inge will be the everyday center fielder, at least for the time being, as Curtis Granderson will start the season on the DL. Inge’s $6.2MM salary for 2008 suddenly doesn’t seem like that much of a burden.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Cubs Outfield Situation: Crisp, Johnson, Byrd

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Quite a bit of info is floating about this evening regarding the Cubs’ quest to add an outfielder.  Let’s put it all together.

  • SI.com’s Jon Heyman names Coco Crisp, Jay Payton, Marlon Byrd, and Brandon Inge as possible targets.  Inge makes the least sense given his salary and the Tigers’ need for him while Curtis Granderson is out.
  • ESPN’s Jayson Stark confirms Ken Rosenthal’s assertion that the Cubs are leading the pack for Reed Johnson.  Stark speculates that such an acquisition could prompt the Cubs to trade Matt Murton. 
  • ESPN’s Peter Gammons says Red Sox scout Allard Baird is currently observing the Cubs.  Other scouts in ’zona are speculating about a Sean Gallagher for Crisp scenario.  Gammons notes that the Red Sox wouldn’t mind getting Murton back, either.  He thinks the Sox are wary of trading Crisp right now though, echoing a sentiment from Buster Olney. 
  • Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes that the Rangers want Murton plus one of Jose Ceda, Gallagher, or Donald Veal for Byrd.  Jim Hendry did recently re-engage the Rangers, according to Grant.
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