Detroit Tigers Designate Danny Worth For Assignment To Open Roster Spot For Joba Chamberlain

March 2, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers second baseman Danny Worth (29) throws the ball to first during the third inning against the New York Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The signing of right-handed reliever Joba Chamberlain put the Detroit Tigers over the 40-man roster limit, so they had to make a move to open a roster spot for the newest member of the club. Today the club announced they have designated Danny Worth for assignment.

“Designated for assignment” (DFA) means the club has 10 days to either place him on waivers, trade him, release him, or outright him to the minor leagues (after clearing waivers, this can only be done once in a player’s career). The addition of Lombardozzi already meant that Worth was going to have a tough time making the team this spring, so a DFA was probably likely at some point in the future anyway. Worth wasn’t going to be a difference maker on this Tigers team, but he’s a guy that has been around the organization and up and down from the majors to the minors so often that one can’t help but root for the guy. There’s probably a good chance that he clears waivers and finds his way back to Toledo – the Tigers could use the depth – but perhaps a team might take a shot on him as a cheap defensive option to fill out their roster. In related news, Dave Dombrowski has implied that he’s done with the roster tweaking for the offseason:

This disappoints me, particularly regarding the bullpen, but the Tigers are (probably) $6-7 million north of where they were last season in terms of opening day payroll, so perhaps they simply don’t have the budget for another “proven” arm.