Detroit Tigers option players; three-man booth on FSD

The Detroit Tigers made some news this afternoon for the players in Spring Training camp and for their broadcast crew on Opening Day.

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First, more pressing to the 2015 season is the shaping up of the 25-man roster. Now that the Tigers have no split squad games left with less than two weeks remaining in Spring Training, the team is able to cast off more and more players to get down to 39 players.

Today they optioned three relievers to Toledo: Kyle Lobstein, Alex Wilson and Josh Zeid. They also assigned RHP Alberto Cabrera to minor league camp.

No real surprise with Lobstein. He has appeared in four games, starting three of them this spring, posting a solid 3.60 ERA with seven strikeouts in 10 innings. The Tigers seem to want Kyle to start for the Mud Hens and have him available to be a spot starter as needed. He was successful at this last year, filling in for Anibal Sanchez down the stretch.

Some looked as Wilson as a dark horse to make the club after being part of the Yoenis Cespedes–Rick Porcello deal in December. He appeared in 18 games for Boston last year, posting a 1.91 ERA and 0.882 WHIP but has been hammered in Spring Training, allowing 10 runs (six earned) in 6.2 innings.

Zeid also had a tough spring (7.04 ERA in 7.2 innings) in a comeback attempt with the Tigers after several years with the Houston Astros.

Cabrera spent two seasons in Chicago with the Cubs, posting a 5.20 career ERA. He spent all of last season at AAA Iowa before being released and signed by Detroit in December.

Mario, Rod, Gibby in Booth on Opening Day

Here’s an interesting wrinkle in the new Fox Sports Detroit arrangement for Detroit Tigers broadcasts: they will go with a three-man booth for Opening Day, April 6 against the Minnesota Twins, according to Chris Iott.

Last month it was announced that Kirk Gibson and Jack Morris would join the FSD broadcasting team and many thought that would mean a three-man booth of Mario Impemba, Rod Allen and either Gibby or Morris. It turned out it would be Mario with one of the three former Tigers’ players.

The Tigers tinkered with a three-man booth last year when Morris guested for a week late in the season.

It is unclear if this arrangement will be for any other special events during the season. FSD has yet to announce their rotational schedule for Allen, Gibson and Morris.

Gibson was Tigers’ analyst from 1998 to 2002 and was paired with Mario his first year with the team. Rod came aboard when Gibby joined Alan Trammell‘s staff in 2003 and then went on to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2010 until 2014.

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