The Tigers inked first round draft choice Andrew Miller to a 4 year contract.

This is the earliest that the Tigers have gotten their top pick into the fold in quite some time.

UPDATE: The club and Miller’s agent indicated that the deal was well underway prior to Luke Hochevar’s deal with the Royals, and the deal would have been finalized today regardless.

Dave Dombrowski indicated that there was a desire to get the deal done because he feels that Miller could possibly help the Major League team in September. Miller will start working with John Matlack and when he is ready will begin with the Lakeland Tigers. Right now the intention is to use him out of the bullpen in the short term. The long term plan is for Miller to be a starter.

Even if the Tigers don’t feel Miller will be ready to pitch for the Tigers in September, he will be with the team after the rosters are expanded.

Miller indicated that he is happy to be a Tiger and that “the future looks bright and I hope to be a part of it.”

The Tigers traded for Sean Casey from the Pittsburgh Pirates. They sent the Pirates minor league pitcher Brian Rogers. To make room for Casey, Chris Shelton was optioned to Toledo.

Rogers had 62 K’s and only 14 walks in 60 innings as a 24 year old for Erie. I’m not sure of Rogers ceiling, but his performance this year was definitely solid.

Casey brings in a 371 career OBP, and he’s at .377 this year. He doesn’t bring much power to the position with only a .408 slugging percentage. Defensively he’s below average at -4 fielding runs above average. But he does provide a left handed bat, and in an interview today on WXYT he sounded absolutely giddy. Casey is in the last year of his current contract and is making $8.5 million.

Chris Shelton of course has been struggling. His offensive numbers for the season are still better than Casey’s and he has 7 fielding runs above average.

So the Tigers made a move, and didn’t give up a ton, but I don’t think they appreciably improved themselves either. The infield defense which has been a huge strength of the team, and one of the chief reasons for the pitching staff’s success could be taking a hit with this move.

As for Shelton, I do think that some time at AAA with hitting coach Leon Durham will be beneficial. I’m just curious as to what happens if Shelton gets his swing back at Toledo and starts ripping the ball. Does he languish at Toledo or do the Tigers create another three headed first base/DH monster?

My speculation in last night’s game post appeared to be sound. With the Tigers pressing needs for a pitcher seemingly put aside, and with a prety thin bench, Colby Lewis’ stay with the team was short lived. What was suprising was that Brent Clevlen was recalled.

Clevlen was awesome repeating at Lakeland last year, and had a very solid spring training. However his season at Erie has been a disppointment. He’s batting 222/303/341 with 120 strikeouts – including a stretch of 9 straight K’s just last week.

I would have expected the call be for David Espinosa (279/374/496)or Ryan Raburn (282/364/505) from Toledo. The main difference is that Clevlen is already on the 40 man roster where the other 2 aren’t. Right now the Tigers have 39 men on the 40 man roster, but a space will need to be available for when Mike Maroth comes off the 60 day DL.

Alexis Gomez was designated for assignment and pitcher Colby Lewis had his contract purchased.

There weren’t many at-bats available for Gomez. He was primariliy a defensive replacement/pinch runner and made the rare start. Those starts will be even rarer with the return of Dmitri Young.

Colby Lewis has been effective for Toledo. He has a 3.86 ERA and has fanned 90 in 121 innings against 30 walks. He last pitched on Friday, so he’ll be able to step in today if needed and help out a bullpen that has been heavily utilized lately.

Alexis Gomez is the mystery player that the Tigers activated (thanks to Kyle for letting us know). To make room on the 40 man roster Mike Maroth was moved from the 15 to 60 day DL.

My only apprehension with Gomez is if Jim Leyland gets platoon happy with a hot hitting Marcus Thames. It looks like there will be a platoon tonight, but it will be with the struggling Craig Monroe in left field.

Jason Beck reports that Chris Spurling was optioned to Toledo following today’s game. It does sound like Chris took the news well:

“I just get the impression I’m not well-liked anymore around here,” Spurling said, “which is fine. The staff changed, the opinions changed.”

I can’t blame him for being discouraged, especially considering the way some his bullpen mates threw today.

Since his recall on May 26th, he made 3 appearances and wasn’t charged with any runs. It included a 2 2/3 inning effort in mop-up duty against he Indians, and 1 1/3 innings today where he followed Jason Grilli. He hasn’t been used in high leverage situations, but he’s still been effective.

Frankly I’m perplexed by the move. Yes he has options, as does Roman Colon. And I’m not convinced that they couldn’t pass Jason Grilli through waivers

I understood when he was sent down the first time. He wasn’t pitching well, and Toledo pitching coach Jeff Jones was able to fix him. This time it makes little sense.

The Tigers were carrying 13 pitchers because they thought they would need an extra bullpen arm. Fortunately Nate Robertson, Kenny Rogers, and Jeremy Bonderman were able to go deep into games. The Tigers also have an off day tomorrow meaning the full complement of arms will be available. A yet to be named position player will be recalled. Ryan Raburn has been hitting well, but he currently isn’t on the 40 man roster which is now full. Essentially an additional move (ie Mike Maroth going to the 60 day DL) would have to be made to get someone other than Jack Hannahan back.