It's only been a couple of days since the smoke cleared and Detroit's last-place finish was cemented in stone, but already the team is making moves to prepare for next year. Without making a single roster move they significantly upgraded their defense by announcing that Brandon Inge, a Gold Glove-caliber fielder, would return to third base, mercifully ending the Carlos Guillen experiment. Guillen, who's been shifted from shortstop to first to third in the past year, is now expected to take over in left field.
Inge's return to the hot corner won't be the only change to the left side of the infield -- Dave Dombrowski also announced Monday that Edgar Renteria's 2009 option would not be picked up. Given Renteria's struggles at the plate (84 OPS+) and the field, this was a no-brainer, especially when you consider the Red Sox are the ones on the hook for Renteria's $3 million buyout.
Considering Todd Jones also recentlly announced his retirement, the team will be in the market for a new catcher, shortstop and closer. Trouble is, Dombrowski confirmed previous reports that he doesn't expect to spend much money this winter, saying on Monday, "At this point, I would be surprised if we're real big participants in free agency."
He specificially ruled out going after Francsico Rodriguez, meaning, unless a cheap alternative unexpectedly falls into Detroit's lap, there's a good chance the Tigers will be rolling the dice in the ninth inning with Joel Zumaya or Fernando Rodney. Unless Dombrowski manages to spin straw into gold via the trade market, you might want to hold off placing that season ticket order just yet -- no one expected this team to be as bad as it was this year, but unless they somehow cobble together a better bullpen, there's no reason to expect they'll be much better in 2009.
