The Tigers face quite a dilemma with their free agents, in regards to offering arbitration.  Kurt Mensching tries to predict what decisions the team will make on Placido Polanco, Adam Everett, Fernando Rodney, and Brandon Lyon at Mack Avenue Tigers.

  MLB Trade Rumors listed their Top 50 Free Agents for 2010, and Tim Dierkes forecasts where each of them will end up.  He sees the Tigers being in on a couple of guys (you'll have to scroll down the list), and he has an interesting destination for Placido Polanco.  (And if his Yankees predictions come true, I might just be disgusted.)

  Will Detroit's effort to fill its shortstop vacancy be made more difficult by the Red Sox now also cruising the market after declining Alex Gonzalez's option for next year?  Might they be interested in Adam Everett, or do they want more offense at that position?  (Boston tried to get J.J. Hardy before the trade deadline, as well.)

  The Freep's John Lowe exchanged e-mails with Brewers general manager Doug Melvin, who said he never contacted the Tigers about Hardy because they didn't have what he was looking for in return.

  At The Detroit Tigers Weblog, Bill Ferris takes a look through The Bill James Handbook and lets us know how the Tigers stacked up in a variety of categories and stats.

  More from Lowe: Did we know Kirk Gibson interviewed for the Cleveland Indians' manager job?  I don't recall reading that anywhere else, but apparently he did.  Gibby wants to be a major league manager, and feels his six years working as a bench coach (between the Tigers and Diamondbacks) have taught him plenty that he'd use in that role.

  How did the two Tigers prospects do in Saturday night's Arizona Fall League Rising Stars Showcase?  Casper Wells went 0-for-3, and Andrew Oliver allowed three baserunners in one inning of work, but didn't give up a run.  (Here's the boxscore.)

  Staying in Arizona for one more item, Lynn Henning reviews the performance of four Tigers prospects playing out there, including the aforementioned Wells and Oliver.  (Cue your sad trombone for Cale Iorg.)

  The Oakland Press' Pat Caputo thinks that Comerica Park (or its field) should not be named after Ernie Harwell.

  Oh, the bonds that develop between baseball players and the beat reporters who cover them.  MLB.com's White Sox beat writer Scott Merkin laments Chris Getz getting traded to the Royals, depriving him of someone to discuss University of Michigan football and basketball with.  You can e-mail me, Scott.

  Former future Tigers superstar-in-the-making Cameron Maybin is having shoulder surgery this offseason.  Maybin has a partially torn labrum in his left shoulder.  ("Always a Tiger," as Old English D says.)

  And this is self-indulgent, but in our farewell post to Marcus Thames, rook34 mentioned his favorite Thames moment.  It's one of my favorite memories of 2006, as well, and here's what I wrote about it in my pre-BYB days.