Tigers Announce Non-Roster Invitees

The Detroit Tigers have invited 13 players from outside their 40-man roster to join the team for Spring Training in Lakeland.  Here's the list, broken down by position:

• Pitchers:  Rudy Darrow, Casey Fien, Jon Kibler, Ryan Perry
• Catchers:  Alex Avila, Jeff Kunkel, Dane Sardinha, Max St. Pierre
• Infielders: Cale Iorg, Don Kelly, Will Rhymes, Scott Sizemore
• Outfielders: Alexis Gomez

Only two of the invitees were outside of the Tigers' system last season.  Alexis Gomez was in the Marlins' Triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque, and Don Kelly played with Arizona's Triple-A team in Tucson.  Both, however, were in the organization previously. 

As Tom Gage notes on his detnews.com blog, there's a noticeable lack of "has-beens" from the list of non-roster invitees.  Perhaps that's an indication that the team wants to get as long a look at prospects like Darrow, Fien, and Perry as possible.  And if there are open spots on the major league roster to be had, the preference is for one of the younger players to win a job.