Many of the top of the lineup guys are having a great Opening Week. While others, such as Victor Martinez, could not have imagined a worse start to the season.

But that is baseball. Everything in the Opening Week is magnified greatly. History says Torii Hunter‘s hitting will slow down slightly and Martinez will (hopefully) regain form after returning from his mysterious bat rack hand injury.

So how are some former beloved Tigers doing in their new homes? Okay, so pretty much none of these guys were beloved in Detroit, but its always interesting to check in with them from time to time.

Ryan Raburn

Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

When we last checked in with Ryan Raburn, he was destroying the ball in Arizona for his new club, the Cleveland Indians.  He played in 23 games in February and March, posting a .341 average with five homers and 12 RBIs, earning a spot on the Opening Day roster after originally signing a minor league deal.

Through the eight games Cleveland has played as of Wednesday morning, Raburn had played in half of those games, posting a .182 average. He has two hits (a single and double) in 11 at-bats with two walks and two strikeouts.

So, in other words, Ryan is in mid-season form and his bloated spring numbers are all but a memory.

Gerald Laird

Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The fact that Gerald Laird is not backing up Alex Avila on the Tigers today is still a head-scratcher to me. I understand the economics (supposedly Laird wanted a multi-year deal and the Tigers were only willing to offer a one-year deal), yet his second stint in Detroit was much more successful than his first and I’d rather have him than Brayan Pena–but that’s a post for another day.

Coming out of camp, Laird was penciled in as the everyday starter for the Atlanta Braves while regular All-Star catcher Brian McCann recovered from shoulder surgery. Currently, it seems as though rookie Evan Gattis has been getting the nod behind the plate more often than Laird because of the young player’s slugging potential.

Nevertheless, Laird has been making the most of his limited appearances, hitting .400 ( 4-for-11) with a pair of doubles.

Brennan Boesch

Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Perhaps the ex-player Tiger fans are most aware of is Brennan Boesch as he just faced the team over the weekend with mixed results. Defensively speaking, he made a great grab of a Prince Fielder shot during the Home Opener that stunned 45,000 fans. The next day, he made a typical bonehead play.

Boesch joined the hitting assault against the Indians last night, slamming his first homer in a 14-1 Yankees rout. Thus far Brennan has been okay for New York, hitting .250 in six games.

Delmon Young

Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The ALCS MVP, Delmon Young, has yet to take the field for his new team, the Philadelphia Phillies. He is still recovering from right ankle surgery, and is taking regular at-bats in extended Spring Training in Clearwater. A minor league rehab could be coming within a week for Young.

Brandon Inge

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No look at former Tigers would be complete without looking at the polarizing Charles Brandon Inge. Like the other love-em or hate-em former Tiger, Raburn, Inge also signed a minor league deal with his new team. However, unlike Ryan, Brandon failed to make the Opening Day roster and is currently toiling in Indianapolis, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ AAA club.

Sadly (unless you’re an Inge hater) Brandon’s early season stats do not bode well for a call-up anytime soon. In six games, he has two hits with a home run in 18 at-bats, good for a .111 average.

September 1, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers designated hitter Brennan Boesch (26) at bat against the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Multiple news outlets are reporting that Brennan Boesch, recently released by the Detroit Tigers, has agreed to terms with the New York Yankees on a one-year contract. From the New York Post:

Former Tigers outfielder Brennan Boesch signed a major league deal yesterday to compete for an outfield spot.

[snip]

Boesch, who has an option remaining, would make $1.5 million if he makes the team. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, the Yankees placed Michael Pineda on the 60-day disabled list.

According to Jon Heyman, the deal also includes up to $600 thousand in incentives should Boesch meet certain plate appearance thresholds.

Boesch gets 600K incentives at intervals 100 to 350 ABs. Considering yankees need, he has chance to get all of it.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) March 15, 2013

The fact that he received “only” $1.5 million as a free agent shows why the Tigers had no luck in finding a trade partner for him. Boesch’s arbitration-avoiding deal with the Tigers would have paid him $2.3 million so, in order for the Tigers to trade him, they would have been asked to eat more of the money than they ultimately had to by releasing him (just under $400 thousand).

Boesch, I believe, will still collect his one-sixth salary from the Tigers in addition to his Yankees deal, so he has a chance to earn a slightly larger sum now than he could have had he remained in the Tigers’ organization (should he reach his incentive targets).

The Yankees need an infusion of power in their lineup and, with the injury to Curtis Granderson, they could use an extra outfielder, so Boesch will be given every opportunity to succeed early in the season. And, with that short right field porch in Yankee Stadium, there’s a decent chance he does.

Mar 11, 2012; Lakeland, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers right fielder Brennan Boesch (26) and shortstop Hernan Perez (18) misplay a fly ball in the outfield during the game against the New York Mets at Joker Marchant Stadium. The Mets beat the Tigers 11-0. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

“For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, “It might have been.’” -John Greenleaf Whittier

Just 3 short years ago, Brennan Boesch swashbuckling debut splashed across a splendid April evening in Arlington; his slashing stroke on a Rich Harden delivery launching the ball into the left-center gap for a double in his first MLB at bat. A week later, at Comerica Park, Brennan ripped his first dinger – a grand-slam that helped beat the Angels and began a storybook, Chris Shelton-esque first half. At the All-Star break, Boesch’s BA was .336, with 12 HR’s and a .996 OPS.

The 6’3″, 235 lb slugger with surfer-dude good looks had it all – he could hit the gaps or blast it over the fence, ran well enough to take an extra base or steal one, and produced as well vs. southpaws as righties. His outfield defense was a work in progress, but compared to an aging Magglio and pus-armed Johnny Damon, it was positively marvelous. It certainly seemed as if Boesch would be anchoring Kaline’s Corner for years to come.

What ensued has happened hundreds of times over in the big leagues: A combination of factors conspires, and the flash-in-the-pan fizzles – the league catches up. Pitchers find holes in that flashing cut with the high finish. When plate discipline fails, those pitches that were on the corner are now on the black – and end up fouled off instead of in play. Once those weaknesses are exploited, constantly behind in the count, finding a pitch to drive becomes more difficult. The batter is dependent on the pitcher making a mistake, and when the mistake comes, it gets pulled just foul or smoked right at’em, and the confidence dips even more. Toss in the wear-and-tear of a long season, a nagging injury or two, and you are back on the bus to Visalia.

The always-asked, impossible question is when does the “prospect” become a “suspect”? Can the right coach cut some of the slack out of Boesch’s swing? Would another hot month get his wheels back on the rails? Are there underlying injury issues to iron out? Is he just destined to be one of those streaky guys that you have to take the good with the bad?

A revealing endeavor is to look at similarity scores to get a feel for how a player stands currently, and how one may project. In Brennan’s case, he is most similar to an argosy of life-raft outfielders like Wes Chamberlain, Clint Hurdle, Bobby Kielty, Dustan Mohr,  Larry Bigbie, Darryl Motley, Xavier Nady, Michael Tucker, and Jody Gerut. I didn’t take the time to sift through how many all-star appearances this Motley crew managed, assuming it was less than one.  But one most-similar stood out – a late-bloomer that I remember well, certainly a player the Tigers organization regretted letting go; if Boesch were to find that balance between a refined swing and renewed confidence, he might become the next…

…Ben Oglivie. In Gentle Ben’s age-28 season, 1977, he hit .262, with a .325 OBP, 21 HR’s, 72 RBI’s and 11 SB’s, while playing in 132 G’s and logging 497 PA’s. Oglivie began his career in 1971 with the Bosox; the Tigers received him in exchange for Dick McAullife in 1974, and deployed him mostly vs. RHP. I remember Ben standing tall at the very back of the left-hand batters box, waggling his black bat menacingly, and taking a vicious cut at the ball.

After the ’77 campaign, the Tigers traded him to the Brewers for pitchers Jim Slaton and Rich Folkers. Folkers was released in spring training and never pitched again; Slaton posted a fine 17-11 record for the Detroit, but opted for free agency at the end of the year and signed with…the Milwaukee Brewers. No, Randy Smith was NOT the Tigers GM at the time.

As a Brewer, Oglivie was cast in a potent lineup, playing most every day, and posted HR totals the next 5 years of: 18, 29, 41, 14 (strike-shortened) and 34, netting 3 All-Star selections along the way. His career batting average was a respectable .273, and while not an OBP-machine (.336), he never struck out more than 81 times. Never great with the glove, he found a comfort zone in LF and managed to stay out of Gorman Thomas‘ way for the most part. Ben’s arrival in Milwaukee coincided with a nice 5-year run that included a couple of division titles.

That impetuous bat-speed subsided with age – and by 1986 he was done at 37. His compatible compatriots, according to B-R, include Jose Guillen, Aubrey Huff, Frank Thomas, Cliff Floyd, Kevin McReynolds, Jeff Burroughs, George Bell, and Pedro Guerrero. Certainly a more respectable cast of probability than Brennan Boesch at this point.

We as fans can fondly recall Brennan’s brilliant Tiger moments – he certainly gave the ballclub his best, which makes those glimpses of his best so maddening. I have no doubt he will quickly find a new team willing to take him north at the end of the month – and it is a positive referendum on the state of Detroit’s roster that a player with such a skill set is expendable. The organization deserves kudos also – by all indication, Dave Dombrowski exhausted all potential trade avenues, and by releasing Boesch now, his chances of making a major league team by Opening Day are good.

Clearly, the Tigers are built to win now, and they don’t feel he can help. The chance Boesch evolves into Oglivie is one they are willing to take.