Key position for the Tigers:Catcher

Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Tom Gage:
Inge is a Tiger, will catch
DETROIT -- If I were Dave Dombrowski, I wouldn't try too hard to trade Brandon Inge.
I'd give it some fancy lip service, as in: "Gee, we tried, the iron was hot in a couple of places, but we just couldn't find a taker."
Then I would do exactly what Dombrowski did Monday, basically telling Inge to dust off his catcher's mitt and report early to spring training the way he used to do, when it looked like being a catcher was his future.
Which it still might be.
"Being the athlete he is, I think he could play almost anywhere," said Dombrowski, who earlier spoke of Inge as an All-Star-caliber catcher. "I know he's disappointed at the current situation, but I don't think that's the overriding factor.
"To me, the overriding factor is that he likes this team and will do all he can to help it win."
This is not as much of a rock-and-a-hard-place situation as it appears, however. If Inge can bide his time, possibly on two fronts, he might still be part of the Tigers' future.
It's just he'll have to sit around more than he wants this season and learn to live with the frustration of watching others play the positions at which he used to start.
Inge emerged from his extended silence Monday. He discussed his status with Dombrowski, the Tigers president, general manager, chief executive officer and vaunted architect of whatever grand times might be ahead for the Tigers this season.
Then Inge picked up the phone, and one by one, called reporters who cover the team, in essence apologizing for keeping everyone in the dark as to how he reacted, and is still reacting, to losing his starting job at third base to Miguel Cabrera.
He'll make best of it
"I didn't ask to be put in this situation," Inge said. "I signed a four-year deal because I wanted to play third base for four years. I always want to be in Detroit. It's the Tigers who decided they want to go in this direction.
"It's frustrating, I'm not happy with it at all, but this is the hand I've been dealt and I have to make the best of it. Being a utility player for a year, then hopefully get a starting job after that (for the Tigers) would be my goal.
"I want to play, I want to contribute, I don't care what position it is. I want to play just as much as I possibly can. I don't want to just sit."
It hasn't been an easy time for him. That's understood. When teammate Vance Wilson called in December to find out if he had heard about the trade, Inge's first reaction was: Great, the guy can hit. He's a star.
Wilson then said, "But he'll be playing your position."
Gulp.
Inge hadn't figured on that. He knew, and openly admits, that he had an off-year offensively last year, but without bragging, he feels he's an excellent third baseman. He thought his defense would save him.
But it hasn't. At least not yet.
That brings us to how the Tigers must still keep an eye to 2009, without losing any of the excitement with which they're approaching this season. They're going to be good, no doubt, but good teams always plan ahead on how to remain good.
Some might call it scheduled attrition.
Case in point: Unless he sheds five years, and reverses the direction in which his production has recently been headed, Pudge Rodriguez could be entering his final year as a Tiger.
Not his final year in the majors, probably. His skills are diminishing, not vanishing. But the decision of even bringing him back for the 2008 season was, by no means, a unanimous one, making it probable that the next decision about his future also won't be easy.
Role could change
The Tigers, without Inge, would not have a catcher-in-waiting, however. Mike Rabelo has been traded. Wilson is good at what he does, but what he does has never included 500 at-bats.
And there's no one climbing fast in the minors, either.
Now that he's agreed to catch again as part of his duties, it's not in the least far-fetched to envision Inge as the Tigers' starting catcher in 2009, which would be the third year of his tolerable, four-year contract.
At some point, the Tigers will have to put the checkbook away for a winter, and the thought of dropping from Pudge's $13 million salary this year to Inge's $6.3 million next year should be of some fiscal comfort to them.
There's also this scenario. Although he's going back to catching as part of what could be a super-utility role, Inge won't ever profess to like catching better than third base.
"I'd be lying if I said I did," he said.
Now suppose the Tigers sign Cabrera to that humongous, long-term contract he'd like, with one small proviso: Be amenable to switching positions, if needed.
Carlos Guillen agreed to such a request. For the good of the team, Guillen might even be able to get Cabrera to agree.
Then the Tigers would be in a position to move Cabrera to left in 2009, if they want. After all, despite his strong arm and the good hands that Dombrowski says he has, the Tigers expect Cabrera to be an average third baseman defensively.
They are willing to accept the step down from Inge's glove, however, because of Cabrera's bat.
The point is that if Cabrera is only average and if Rodriguez doesn't return for 2009, Inge might eventually have a choice of positions. The big question is whether the Tigers' bulging payroll this season can tolerate a utilityman making more than $6 million.
Dombrowski admitted "it's not an easy situation for us. However, there's no trade imminent."
That might not sound like good news for Inge or for the Tigers. But it is.
You can reach Tom Gage at tom.gage@detnews.com.