Ramon Santiago on the Trading Block?

The Philadelphia Phillies could be in the market for an infielder as second baseman Chase Utley continues to suffer from tendinitis that has surfaced in his knee. One possibility, as named by CBS Sports‘ Danny Knobler, is Tigers utility man Ramon Santiago. MLB Trade Rumors listed some other possibilities for the Phillies to consider.

Clipped from: www.mlbtraderumors.com (share this clip)

Kurt discussed this idea over at Bless You Boys yesterday, but I have been offline since Monday so I figured I would leave my thoughts here, just for you. The idea of dealing away Santiago sounds much worse than it probably is.

Santiago has been a useful middle infielder for several years now and has done a great job in filling-in for regular guys when they need a break. That said, he’s in the final year of his contract, he’s now 31 years old, and he’ll never get another shot as a full-time player, at least not while Jim Leyland is running the show in Detroit.

The Tigers don’t have great organizational depth at most positions, but middle infield is an area where they are actually pretty solid. If the Tigers were to move Santiago, Danny Worth becomes the most likely guy to take over that role. Don Kelly, who has been assured a roster spot, has played everywhere on the field but catcher and shortstop in his major league career (ironically, he was primarily a shortstop in the minors), and Scott Sizemore and Will Rhymes are around to handle second base duties as well. Even Cale Iorg can be listed as a possible option if needed here.

Also, as one commenter on the BYB story noted, the Tigers did pretty well the last time they traded away Santiago. In 2004, he was half of the package they sent to Seattle for Carlos Guillen.

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