Lynn Henning devoted a lot of words to the travails of Brandon Inge today. He had a lengthy piece in this morning’s paper exploring the human side of the situation. And in a blog entry Henning postulates that a trade will come by the end of the week.
The Dodgers are the popular rumor at the moment due to the injury to their third baseman Andy LaRoche. Still, as South Side Sox points out, Joe Crede might make a more attractive target for LA. Crede and Inge are equals at third base defensively. But Crede beats Inge offensively and is only owed one year. Inge has the advantage in versatility, but we know the whole deal for Inge is to not be versatile.
As for today, Inge was 1 for 2 with a sacrifice fly and another walk. He’s hitting .316 this spring with 8 walks.
Inge has the advantage of not having a broken back.
Yea Crede is really good too…
Although it is only ST Inge has the 8 walks good for a .517 On Base % and a .632 Slugging good for a 1149 OPS
Then again if we were going by Spring STATS Freddy Guzman and Brent Clevlen would be in our lineup and Miggy and Rentaria wouldn’t
Now what is the best for the team?
You’ve got Inge who has made it know he doesn’t want to catch (could in a pinch) but would and could play just about any other position on the field probably GG caliber – which is very valuable and allows extreme flexibility in case of a probable injury.
Inge has a size able (but not huge by any means) multi-year contract.
Now lets say he has indeed changed his batting style to not try to yank every pitch towards the scoreboard in LF which would at the very minimum raise him to a 1-4 (.250 hitter) if not higher (think 2004)
Also he was one of the best hitters against lefties in the majors the last few years
On paper the Tigers are very strong, and Inge provides a 10th player who I’m guessing would be playing at least 4 or 5 games a week even if everyone was healthy.
With Pudge being spelled once a week, Sheffield a ?, and the rest of the lineup (Polanco, Guillen, Magglio, Jones, Rentaria) besides Cabrera and Grandy being over 30 there is a heightened injury risk sadly.
I say if it still is a huge problem by July then sadly find a way to dump him.
But as we have seen most years with the lineup guys go down (Guillen and Ordonez in 2005, DY and Polanco in 2006, Sheffield in 2007)
“But as we have seen most years with the lineup guys go down (Guillen and Ordonez in 2005, DY and Polanco in 2006, Sheffield in 2007)”
But do you want Inge being the possible replacement if one of our stars go down? I sure don’t.
Inge as the first guy off the bench is better than nearly (if not all) every other team out there
A+ Defense and hoping for at least a league average OB% if he switches his plate approach which it looks like he is doing
One positive thing I can say about Inge is that physically he is an ironman. Aside from the broken toe last year, that’s about it. He’s very dependable in that regard.
David,
How good do you think Inge really is? The guy had a league-leading 18 errors at 3B last season as well a career .241 BA. I just cannot understand why most Tiger fans cannot let go of the ‘phenomenon’ named Brandon Inge.
He was actually seemed like a better hitter with that broken toe.
I’ve posted this in a couple of places. Here’s a Radical Idea: Trade Inge to Marlins for 3-4 of the pitchers traded in the Cabrera deal. Or a couple of the pitchers plus catcher Raeblo. The Tigers are already very familiar with these players. Offer to pay at least half of Inge’s salary, if not more. In effect, we are buying back some high upside players. Everybody wins and we get the most value at this time for Inge. Thoughts???
Not to derail ya there, Jim, but the Marlins don’t win. Those cheap, decent upside guys were kinda what they were going for in the first place in making the trade.
Why on earth would the Marlins give up prospects for a 30 year old 3rd baseman who can’t hit and has attitude problems along with a contract owing that nearly equals the Marlin’s existing payroll?
It’s a nice thought and all, but unless Matt Millen gets hired in Miami that trade is never going to happen.
Please, for the love of God, Trade him!!! I am so sick of his whiney attitude. He could be a part of something good here, but something makes him think he is a superstar. I hate to break it to him (or any of his fans – which are 95% female) that he isnt anything all that great. He hit .236 last year, struck out 150 times. a career avg of .241 I mean come on? He’s acting like he is the most important player on this team. TRADE HIM! I don’t care if we get a bag of used baseballs for him. TRADE his whiney a$$!
if we don’t trade inge he will likely have more at bats than anyone on the team. don’t forget how leyland likes to keep playing guys who are slumping…last year monroe and inge.
But Inge isn’t the super sub anymore, not anymore. With the team the Tigers have now, where would he find the AB’s. As someone mentioned above, his defense is somewhat over-looked, not in a good way either. He had his saves and great plays at third but he also had his share of balls he threw over the first baseman’s head. 18 errors, .235 with 150 k’s. That’s a lot of bad.
I’d rather have Thames or Raburn in the lineup against a lefty instead of inge, unless it is a position that Inge gives you a significant advantage over those guys (3b or C). Inge is tying the clubs hands by saying he doesn’t want to play C.
-Sam