It hasn't been the best of offseasons for Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge. First the Tigers traded for Miguel Cabrera, which basically cost Inge his job. Then he asked the team if they'd please trade him to another team where he'd have a chance to be an everyday player.Dave Dombrowski happily obliged and went looking for someone to swap Inge with, but nobody wants Inge at his current price after his recent contract extension with the Tigers. So at this point, with a little over a month before spring training starts, it's looking like Brandon is going to spend the 2008 season in Detroit on the bench.
Though there is one way he could get more playing time.
"If I were Brandon Inge's best friend, I'd tell him, 'You should catch,' " Dombrowski said. "This guy could be an All-Star catcher. He's not only good defensively, but his offense takes on a different meaning. ... If he puts (last year's) numbers up catching, he might be an All-Star. But you also realize that guys have to do what they want to do."Inge was the Tigers' everyday catcher as recently as 2003, so it's not like it's an entirely foreign concept to Brandon.
If Inge does decide to take up catching again, it could benefit both him and the team. Brandon will get the playing time he wants, and the Tigers might have an answer at the catcher position. Both Ivan Rodriguez and Vance Wilson will be free agents after this season, and neither are getting younger. The man whom the Tigers thought would be their future catcher, Mike Rabelo, was sent to Florida as part of the Cabrera-Willis deal.
