Cabrera Out for a Couple of Weeks

Buster Olney of ESPN is reporting that Miguel Cabrera has a small fracture under his right eye as a result of taking a hard grounder off his face in yesterday's game.  It is described as a non-displaced fracture in the orbital floor.  His vision is reportedly fine but he will miss a "couple of weeks".  I imagine they will proceed cautiously with this type of injury though, so opening day may be in jeopardy.

It does not sound like he will miss a big chunk of the regular season if he misses any games at all.  The worst part may be that he won't be able to get more repetitions at third base before the regular season.  I'm sure he needs all the work he can get over there.  I doubt he needs much time to get his bat ready.  He could wake up in the middle of the winter and be ready to hit.        

Alburquerque Undergoes Elbow Surgery, Out Until All-Star Break

The Tigers announced today that reliever Al Alburquerque has undergone elbow surgery and will be out until at least the all-star break. The procedure involved the insertion of a screw into his elbow in order to stabilize a non-displaced fracture.  I'm not a doctor, but that sounds pretty serious to me and am not counting on him contributing to the Tigers at all this year.

The 26-year-old right hander had an impressive rookie year for the Tigers posting a 1.87 ERA and a 3.2 Shutdown to Meltdown Ratio.  He also led the American League by striking out an amazing 13.9 batters per nine innings.

This is a blow to the Tigers bullpen but it's not surprising giving Alburquerque's injury history and penchant for sliders.  It also probably explains why the Tigers made it a priority to acquire veteran Octavio Dotel.  While I thought it was a good move regardless of Al's status, it seemed a bit out of character for the Tigers to be adding so much bullpen depth. In the past, they have generally been more reliant on rookies. 

As it stands now, the bullpen looks like this:

Jose Valverde

Joaquin Benoit

Octavio Dotel

Phil Coke

Daniel Schlereth
Collin Balester
David Pauley

Balester and especially Pauley will not be guaranteed spots though.  They'll get competition from a number of youngsters in spring training. 

Ordonez, Guillen to DL, Larish and RhymesRecalled

Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez have been placed on the disabled list and infielders Jeff Larish and Will Rhymes have been added to the 25 man roster.  Guillen left today's game with a strained calf and Ordonez left with a broken ankle.  The injuries to Guillen, Ordonez and Brandon Inge have left the Tigers with a very young inexperienced roster.  Nine of their 13 position players  spent time in the minors either last year or this year.  Only Miguel Cabrera, Johnny Damon, Gerald Laird and Ramon Santiago have been in the majors for all of 2009-2010. 

Rhymes is a 5-9 155 pound second baseman, who has been described as the David Eckstein of the minors.  The left-handed batter hit .304/.367/.414 for Toledo this season.  He also had a 33/31 BB/K ratio in 336 at bats and 20 steals.  Jeff Larish is a slugging corner infielder who was batting .275/.373/.497 for the MudHens.  He was hitting .304 with 10 homers in June-July. 

Ordonez Fractures Ankle, Out 6-8 Weeks

Magglio Ordonez left tonight's game after the third inning with a fractured ankle and will be out six to eight weeks.  His ankle had already been bothering him and he was being used as a designated hitter to reduce the risk of further injury.  However, he twisted his ankle sliding into home on a double by Miguel Cabrera in the bottom of the third.  He had to be helped off the field and x-rays revealed the bad news later.

The Ordonez injury combined with Brandon Inge's broken hand may be too much to overcome for a team trying to stay in the race in the American League Central division.  They already have five rookies playing regularly and will likely call up another tomorrow.  Possibilities include Ryan Strieby, Casper Wells and Wilkin Ramirez.  This could also mean more playing time for Ryan Raburn and Donny Kelly.  The line-up is not looking good at all right now.

This week's injuries will probably alter what they will try to as the trading deadline approaches. Much of the talk has centered around acquiring a starting pitcher such as Danny Haren or Ted Lilly.  There has also been talk about relievers, although specific names have not been mentioned seriously.  They might now shift their attention to hitters.  One possibility would be to move Carlos Guillen back to DH, Johnny Damon to left field and Scott Sizemore to second base and to acquire a new third baseman. 

Of course, they might also decide that they are no longer serious contenders and stand pat.  They could spend the rest of the season finding out which young players are ready for next year. 

Another thing to think about is Magglio Ordonez's contract.  His 2011 option will vest if he reaches 135 starts or 540 plate appearances in 2010 or 270 starts and 1,080 plate appearances in 2009-2010.  He has only 84 starts and 365 starts so far this season, which makes it virtually impossible for his option to vest.  This means the Tigers will be able to shed his $15 million contract, or at least sign him at a lower salary.   

With the end of contracts of Ordonez, Dontrelle Willis, Nate Robertson, Jeremy Bonderman, Johnny Damon, Gerald Laird and Brandon Inge brings, over 60 million will be coming off the books after the season.  A couple of those players may be back at lower salaries, but I think we can expect a lot of wheeling and dealing this off-season.

For now though, the injury is a big blow to their chances to contend for the division title.  It could lead to a disappointing rest of the summer for Tigers fans.  All we can do is wait and see how things unfold starting with the player they call up for tomorrow's doubleheader.    

Inge Out 4-6 Weeks with Broken Finger

Brandon Inge was hit by a pitch by Rangers right-hander Scott Feldman tonight and left the game with a broken finger.  The early word is that he'll be out four to six weeks.  This is a big blow to the Tigers who already had a few other holes they were trying to fill before the July 31trading deadline.  He was replaced by Don Kelly tonight, but that won't be a permanent arrangement.

There are a couple of possible directions they could go.  What I would like to see them do is bring up second baseman Scott Sizemore (.333/,395/.509 for Toledo) and move Carlos Guillen to third base.  Sizemore is a better second baseman than Guillen and Guillen won't hurt them anymore at third than second.  

Since I think that Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland will be reluctant to move Guillen to yet another new position, a more likely scenario would be to call up Jeff Larish (.273/.368./.505 for Toledo). The problem I see with this move is that you end up with below average defenders at both second and third. 

The third possibility would be to acquire a third baseman in a trade, but they are already looking for help in the starting rotation, the bullpen and shortstop.  If they do look to acquire a third baseman, possible targets include Pedro Feliz and Ty Wgginton. 

I'm sure we'll find out more tomorrow.