Cuts Continue
According to MLB.com, four more players have been cut from the Tigers’ spring training roster: Charles Furbush, Scott Thorman, Argenis Diaz and Alberto Alburquerque. Furbush and Alburquerque remain on the 40-man roster. This leaves 33 players in camp, not counting those who will start the season on the DL, so 8 cuts left to make.
Thorman, Diaz and probably Furbush come as no surprise and their reassignment/optioning doesn’t really qualify as news. If anything, it was a bit surprising that Furbush survived the first round of cuts when Oliver did not. Alburquerque, on the other hand, had a real shot to make the final 25 all along (as the last man in the bullpen) but simply didn’t pitch well enough to justify consideration.
All of the Tigers candidates at second base and in the outfield reserve remain with the team, even Danny Worth and Andy Dirks. Presumably, these decisions will come down to the wire as will the final bullpen picture.
It appears that Don Kelly will make the team as a reserve infielder, along with Ramon Santiago, meaning that any of the second base candidates who don’t get the starting nod will wind up in Toledo. Also, assuming the team keeps 5 outfielders (since one of those five will likely DH when Martinez catches) two of the reserve candidates will stay with the team. At this point my money is on Boesch and Wells, but we’ll see how it all shakes out.