It appears that Greg Norton has lockedup a bench spot with the Tigers. Norton’s resume was bolstered by the fact that he has lit up Detroit in the past. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough roster spots for the Tigers to sign all the players who have lit them up recently.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t bode well for Chris Shelton’s chance of making the team. While Norton is a known quantity, Shelton has much more upside. Hopefully the Tigers can work out a trade to either keep him and send him to the minors, or to send him someplace else and get something for him. There’s no word on who was being moved off the 40 man to make room for Norton, which is another strike against Shelton because Norton could take his spot.

What’s a little bit unsettling is this quote from Trammell

With all of the Tigers roster moves this year, they were done to help them in the short term without jeopardizing the long term (well, except maybe Pudge). If it becomes a Norton for Shelton trade off then they are trading the future for maybe 1 or 2 wins tops in a season where 1 or 2 wins won’t make a difference.

In other roster news the Tigers cut Eric Eckenstahler, Andres Torres, and Jason Smith today. That leaves 31 players and 6 more cuts. However, Chris Spurling will be placed on the 60 day DL and Urbina will likely start the season in Toledo so there will only be 4 more cuts.