I doubt Hollimon, Sheff or Rents will get dealt. Hollimon (in my humble opinion) might actually be our starter next season. Depending on what the return is I could see the Tigers deal Polanco in the off-season in order to get a replacement for Rogers or a ML-ready SS prospect. Of course a lot depends upon how the rest of his season at AAA goes and how he’ll perform when he – presumably – gets a September call-up. But the kid has little more to prove in the minors and at 26 years old it would be a shame to stick him in Toledo for two more seasons.

Sheffield just doesn’t seem to fit anywhere. I doubt any team is going to chance putting him in the field and most of the contenders have DH options. MAYBE DomBro could swing a deal with the Rays to get Reid Brignac, a solid SS prospect who could potentially be used this year, but I won’t get my hopes up.

Renteria might be a little more likely but only if the Tigers are confident that Santiago could handle 50-60 games at SS. My guess is they aren’t. Nonetheless, compared to the other two guys he might be a cheaper option (for the Dodgers) though I’m not sure what the Sox want for Cabrera.

I get the feeling that The Tigers won’t be buyers this week, but they might be sellers. DomBro seems confident that a healthy club could contend for the division but understands that if we tank over the next week he might as well sell some parts. Maybe he truely believes that Miner can fill in as a starter and maybe he also believes that Willis can make a comeback…and don’t forget about Garcia.

Burnett, I am sorry to say is probably not an option. The Jays can get two picks if they let him walk so it’s doubtful that anything under two top prospects will land him. I asked Will Carroll if Thames/Rodney/Larish would be enough and he said “no.” I think much more than that borders on foolish for a rental and I also don’t think DomBro is in the business of making blockbusters for guys who are only under team control for a few months.

NOOOOOO. He has one of the worst contracts in baseball. Somehow he was able to get a contract w/ an out clause for him, not the team. So, if he turns into Dontrelle 2.0 the team is on the books for the remainder of the contract. If he pitches like Doyle Alexander 2.0 down the stretch he can become a free agent. Not worth it.

Inge has never played SS. Not in the minors, not in MLB. He’s a great athlete and all but I don’t want to ask another guy to get used to a new position with 2 months to go.

Assuming Rents gets dealt a suggestion I had made to a friend would be to let Santiago play SS against righties. He’s a lifetime .250/.320/.335 hitter when facing RHP. That’s not great but it’s still better than what Renteria is producing at the plate right now (.258/.309/.327).

Against lefties move Guillen to short and let either Inge or Raburn play 3B. Granted playing Guillen at SS is a risk, but even if Detroit faces EVERY LEFTHANDED STARTER from opposing teams for the rest of the season that amounts to just 28 games. That includes the chance that Pettite faces us in our make-up game with the Yankees.

Detroit is one of the few teams where Burnett’s opt out clause shouldn’t matter. Since he’s basically replacing Bonderman we already have a built in repalcement for him in case he walks (which he probably would). And even if he did, we get two draft picks, something the farm system could really use right now. I agree that I wouldn’t want another Doyle/Smoltz trade and give up Porcello for him, but if we can get him for a package that includes Larish and maybe Clevlen or Ramirez, it might not be such a bad deal.

Sell Sheff, Rents, Rodriguez and the bullpen (except Zumaya). If these guys can’t hold a lead against a divisional team we might as well give up. That was awful, awful, awful, awful.