Detroit Tigers Links: Rajai Davis Still a Platoon Player, Evan Reed Makes a Roster Push, Jose Iglesias Needs At-Bats

Feb 14, 2014; Lakeland, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers General Manager Dave Dombrowski watches during the Tiger

Tigers’ left field situation gives Dave Dombrowski another moment to seize – Greg Eno – Bless You Boys

"Now here comes left field, and you can bet that the GM won’t rely on internal patches this time. There’s too much at stake, as there always is when your team is dancing on the experts’ lips as a possible world champion.Dombrowski loves this stuff. This is his at-bat that he imagined as an eighth grader. This is what a general manager of a Major League Baseball team does."

I don’t think the Detroit Tigers are going to sell the farm to patch up a platoon spot for eight weeks. If there’s a trade it will be something under the radar, but more likely we’ll see a late waiver-wire acquisition or a non-roster invitee make the squad.

Brad Ausmus: Jose Iglesias needs about 50 at-bats – Chris Iott – MLive

"“Ideally, you’d like to get him in the neighborhood of 50,” Ausmus said. “With that being said, we could send him over to minor league camp and have him lead off every inning for five straight innings. But ideally right around 50. It’s not necessarily a hard number, but it’s kind of a ballpark figure. …“He certainly needs at-bats and, how many does he have now? Four? He’s got four at-bats. Four’s definitely not enough.”"

I’m not so much worried about Jose Iglesias reaching some at-bat total this spring as I am about him getting fully healthy and not seeing this shin splint issue as a recurring injury.

Tigers still see Rajai Davis as a part-timer, even with Andy Dirks out – Tony Paul – Detroit News

"“I’m not locked into it, but probably if I had to choose today, I’d lean that direction,” manager Brad Ausmus said Tuesday, when asked if he still sees Davis as a platoon option. “That doesn’t mean he can’t earn his way into more playing time with us. We’ve gotta fill that position somehow."

It would be one thing if Rajai Davis was going to give you plus defense in left field — you could stomach him not really hitting against righties — but he’s not really a great fielder. Against right-handed starters, his speed would be better leveraged as a pinch runner.

Evan Reed making his pitch to crack Detroit Tigers’ big league roster – Anthony Fenech – Free Press

"If it’s good enough to head north remains to be seen, but Reed, who is out of minor league options, has impressed enough to create more than one chance at cracking a big league roster this year.“I hope the Tigers give me a chance,” he said. “But I think if I just control what I can control and put myself in the best possible position, I think some team would want me on their team.”"

I think he’s started behind Luke Putkonen, so he’s probably going to have to impress the coaches and have someone ahead of him stumble to make the squad out of camp. And I’m not necessarily sure he wouldn’t go unclaimed on waivers.