Thames, Treanor Removed from Roster

MLB.com’s Jason Beck passed along the information via twitter today that the Tigers have removed DH Marcus Thames and catcher Matt Treanor from the 40 man roster.

Thames and Treanor had been rumored to be non-tender candidates in December, but the team had to make some moves to trim the roster down prior to the rule 5 draft.  Both players will become free agents.

Thames had a disappointing 2009 season with just 13 homers in 258 at bats.  His .453 slugging percentage was his lowest since 2005.  With the tighter budget constraints likely to face the Tigers and a rotation of Carlos Guillen, Magglio Ordonez, and Ryan Raburn planned for the DH role, there was no sense in paying Thames upwards of $3.5 million to ride the pine.

Treanor was signed last winter after being non-tendered by the Marlins.  If you didn’t realize he was a Tiger, you can be forgiven.  He had only 14 plate appearances before season-ending surgery in April.  He drew a walk and fanned four times without a hit in his Tiger career.