Biogenesis Suspension Announcements To Come Monday, Detroit Tigers Need to Make Roster Move

Jul 20, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Detroit Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta (27) is congratulated in the dugout after scoring in the fifth inning of the game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Originally it was thought that Major League Baseball would make THE announcement regarding the biogenesis suspensions today, but Jon Heyman is reporting that the players have been notified that Monday will be the day. We don’t yet know that Jhonny Peralta will be hit, but it sure looks that way. This puts the Tigers in a slight pickle in the meantime.

With Peralta still eligible to play, and Jose Iglesias needing a roster spot, the Tigers will have to make an alternate move to clear the way. Optioning Hernan Perez to back to the minor leagues seems like the logical move, but if that’s the route the team takes then he wouldn’t be eligible for recall for 10 days. With Omar Infante still on the shelf and Peralta (probably) headed for suspension on Monday, they’d need another middle infield option well before that. They could recall someone like Danny Worth to fill the gap, but if their goal right now is to get Perez big league exposure, then they wouldn’t be accomplishing that.

Another option is to go a man short on the bullpen for the weekend. Evan Reed could be sent down until Monday at which point the Tigers would either (1) find out that Peralta wasn’t to be suspended after all, or more likely (2) call up another reliever to pitch at the back of the bullpen to fill Peralta’s roster spot.

In the meantime, I’m betting that Iglesias cracks the starting lineup to play second base for the weekend — a notion that seems silly with the rangeless Peralta at shortstop. One might consider trying Jhonny out at second base for a few games, but Jim Leyland isn’t one to put his veteran players in that sort of position. We’ll see.