Tigers Shouldn't Cut Brandon Inge

By: Jeff Riger

And here we are again...

With opening day less than two weeks away, the Tigers continue to get ready for the regular season, which includes hard decisions that need to be made on the team's roster. Detroit fans will soon find out who that mystery 5th starter will be and more importantly if Brandon Inge will be around come opening day.

It's weird, as I was convinced Inge was going north with the team from the start of spring training. I saw the shape he was in and with all the injuries and sicknesses behind him, I thought his struggles were as well. Oh, how wrong I seem to be. Inge is hitting a mere .171 with just 7 hits and 1 home run for the spring, numbers that seem hardly worthy of a big league player.

So the talk has started. When do the Tigers buy out Inge? You read it in the papers, you hear it on the radio and now you are forced to look at it in this blog as well. What can I say? I'm a sheep; I can't get enough of the Inge saga, so I have decided to throw my thoughts out there.

It seems pretty apparent that Inge's main competition right now is Danny Worth, a kid who has yet to spend an entire season with Detroit. Now, if the decision is to be mainly made on numbers, then Worth will get to be on the big team and Inge will be bought out. Currently Worth, through 16 games is hitting an impressive .296, a number that blows Inge's .171 out of the water. So it must be a no brainer, right?

Not so fast.

If you look closer at the numbers, you will notice Worth has just one more hit than Inge in the spring with the same amount of homers. The reason the batting averages look so different is because Worth has just 27 at-bats compared to Inge's 41. So Inge deserves to be released due to 14 AB's? That seems ridiculous. The point is that both players have very small sample sizes and neither number is a good enough indicator as to how a hitter will perform throughout a 162 game season. An example of that is Jhonny Peralta. Think back to last year! Peralta failed to drive in a single RBI but turned out to be an All Star during the regular season and one of the best short stops in the American League. Spring training alone proves nothing.

So if spring averages don't matter, what should be the determining factor as to who makes this year's team? Well, here's what I think...

It comes down to money! As unfair as that might seem, it's the truth.

Inge is owed $5.5 million for the 2012 season, money that he will gather no matter if he plays or sits at home in Dexter, Michigan. Worth on the other hand still has major league options, meaning he can be sent down to the minors without having to clear waivers. There is absolutely no chance Detroit can lose him unless they want him gone. That is a huge factor in this decision. Oh did I forget to also mention that Worth is making a lot less money as well?

I understand Jim Leyland made it clear that Inge must hit to win a job on the team, whether it is at second base or anywhere else. And, obviously by the numbers above, he has not hit enough. However, Inge did hit in the last month of the season where he had a .320 plus average in September and also had the 3rd best average for Detroit in the postseason. That has to account for something, right? I'm not saying that Worth could not do the same when the pressure is on, but he hasn't had the chance, we don't know. With Inge, as hard as it might be to agree, we know because he has.

As for defense, both players excel. Inge had proven that making the change to second base has been no problem while Worth from the get go has displayed a gold glove ability to "pick it." But, Inge can play third. Can Worth? There is a real possibility that Miguel Cabrera struggles at 3rd base himself. If that happens and he needs to be moved, won't having Inge on the roster become a necessity?

I fully expect this to be Inge's last season with the Tigers whether it comes before the real games even start or hopefully after the playoffs. I just don't think the time to pull the plug is now. Give Inge a chance to prove that he's washed up in April, if he is, and then cut him in May. But why release him right now? Worth will be available to bring up whenever Detroit needs him. He's not going anywhere!

Many fans are under the impression that $5.5 million is nothing to the Tigers and Detroit has been forced to buy out bigger contracts. Those fans are right, but why just give the money away without being absolutely sure they can't get something for it?

Maybe they can't, and if that's the case buy the vet out and move on with the youngster.

But doesn't Inge deserve more than 41 at-bats to prove otherwise?

I think the answer is obvious! Here's hoping that #15 is around as a player at Comerica Park on opening day!

Do you disagree?