One of the questions following Jacque Jones being designated for assignment by the Detroit Tigers was where the feeble-hitting, soft-tossing outfielder might find another job.  As it turns out, Jones might not find himself bouncing around the minors or having to consult Monster and Career Builder, after all. 

According to MLB.com, both the Florida Marlins and San Diego Padres might be interested in bringing Jones aboard to shore up their respective outfield situations.  The Marlins have a hole in left field with Josh Willingham currently nursing a strained lower back on the disabled list.  And the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that Jones could also be part of a center field platoon with another former Tigers outfielder, Cody Ross. 

SB Nation broham Fish Stripes thinks the Marlins should pass on getting into the Jacque Jones business.

But the Padres could be a good situation for Jones, as well.  Not only might he be interested in playing for his hometown team, as a San Diego native.  But Jim Edmonds is giving them some terrible production in center field this season, batting .172/.255/.230 so far this season.  (Whether or not Jones would actually represent an upgrade with his .165/.244/.253 average is an argument no one surely has time to endure.) 

The Tigers have approximately a week to either work out a deal for Jones or grant him his outright release.  Either way, Detroit will likely be on the hook for the majority of his $5 million salary this season (excepting the $2 million the Chicago Cubs are picking up).

That's two punching bags down now, Tigers fans.  First, Jason Grilli was sent to Colorado last week.  Today, Jacque Jones was told his services would no longer be required by the Detroit Tigers.  Jim Leyland promised changes (though initially made it sound as if no one would be losing his job), and this is certainly one I think Tiger Town will support wholeheartedly. 

Jones was designated for assignment this afternoon (approximately an hour ago, to be exact), and outfielder Matt Joyce was called up from Triple-A Toledo to fill that spot on the major league roster.  As per MLB rules, the Tigers have 10 days in which to trade or outright release Jones.  It's hard to imagine any other teams will be interested in making a deal, given how Jones has played in the first month of the season.  But he could certainly catch on with another team under new contract terms. 

The Tigers kept hoping that Jones would regain his batting stroke, but obviously felt they couldn't wait any longer.  Not with viable replacements available elsewhere on the major league roster, and down in the minors.  It's not like the Tigers were expecting All-Star caliber production from Jones.  Especially when they only had to give up a player (Omar Infante) who probably wasn't going to make the 2008 squad anyway.  His acquisition was decidedly low-key compared to the deals for Edgar Renteria, Dontrelle Willis, and Miguel Cabrera. 

Unfortunately, Jones provided below average production at the plate and mediocre defense in left field.  Batting .165/.244/.253 with one home run and five RBIs just isn't good enough, and the Tigers couldn't afford to see if Jones was capable of turning himself around.  Too much is at stake with the team below .500 and three games out of first place in the AL Central. 

The Tigers' new outfielder has been batting .299/.367/.536 (.389 in his last 10 games) with five home runs and 21 RBI in Toledo.  And he provides a left-handed bat, which seemed to be the only reason Jones was getting the benefit of the doubt from Leyland and Dave Dombrowski.  Of course, I was hoping this would mean the return of Clete Thomas, but he hasn't been playing very well since going back to the Mud Hens, batting just .190 with two RBIs in 42 at-bats.  And Joyce has been playing well enough to deserve a shot at the show. 

So that's the first change in the Tigers lineup today.  More on the rest in the next post.

Who becomes the punching bag now?  (In the lineup, that is.  Zach Miner seems like he's ready to take that role for Grilli in the bullpen.)

Sometimes, you're the broom. Sometimes, you're the dirt.  Sweeping the Yankees at Yankee Stadium doesn't seem quite so grand after getting swept in turn by the Twins at the Metrodome.  And the way in which the Tigers lost all three games was disturbing enough to make Jim Leyland consider "drastic" changes.  More on that later.

Detroit jumped on Boof Bonser from the start, with Curtis Granderson hitting a leadoff home run.  And that was just the beginning.  The Tigers tagged five more runs on the scoreboard from there, taking a 6-0 lead and seemingly on their way to a blowout victory.  Unfortunately, after that first inning, everyone in the Detroit dugout apparently felt like they could take the rest of the day off. 

Bonser pulled himself together and somehow stayed in the game for five more innings, allowing just two hits.  Only one Tigers batter reached scoring position after that first inning, until Granderson stole second base in the ninth.  That allowed the Twins to mount a comeback in a game that looked over early, chipping away at Kenny Rogers until he finally ran out of gas in the seventh.

However, Rogers would've gotten out of the inning had Carlos Guillen not let Nick Punto's ground ball through his legs.  That opened the gate, and the Twins were off.  Zach Miner came in and reminded all of us why we figured he'd be sent down to Toledo when Francisco Cruceta was ready.  He only faced two batters, and both of them got hits, bringing in two Minnesota runs.  (And at least one more would've scored had Brendan Harris' deep drive to left field not bounced into the seats for a ground-rule double.)  That, ladies and gentleman, was the game.  The Tigers' lineup had already turned the switch off and wasn't going to start it up again. 

Drastic Fantastic?

Sinking back into the malaise that has plagued them throughout this series brings us to Leyland's promise to make some changes to his lineup.  Does that mean anyone is getting benched?  (That sound you hear is the collective hands of Tiger Town rubbing its hands together, hoping Jacque Jones takes a seat.)  Probably not, since Leyland said the lineup would have the "same pieces, but different."  But he promised we'd see quite a difference tomorrow. 

The Detroit News' Tom Gage thinks that might mean Gary Sheffield is moved down in the batting order, but that doesn't really seem "drastic," does it?  As usual, Billfer  seems to be onto something at The Detroit Tigers Weblog.  His idea is to push Sheffield up to the leadoff spot, while sliding Granderson to the middle of the order, two moves that make a whole lot of sense.

Sheffield's lack of power (or any kind of hitting, really) wouldn't be as much of an issue atop the order, where his ability to draw a walk (.340 OBP) and savvy baserunning would still help the Tigers even if that trick shoulder wasn't allowing him to "fire."  Meanwhile, Granderson has been swinging a Big Boi bat since returning from his broken hand, and would likely have many more RBIs than his current seven if his home runs and extra base hits came with more runners on base in front of him. 

I'd also be in favor of a new left fielder, whether it was Marcus Thames, Ryan Raburn, or the return of Clete Thomas.  Even if Jones is currently at the bottom of the order, that ninth spot doesn't have to be the black hole that it's been with him batting there.  Nor does there have to be a turnstile at third base, with opposing runners flying through, knowing that they won't be thrown out at home.

How long had it been since we watched the Detroit Tigers really flex their muscles and score some runs?  How long had it been since falling behind didn't automatically mean the Tigers would lose the game?  Where was the aggression?  Where was the passion?  Where was the desire to win?

For one night (and hopefully many more to come), it all came back.  And so did the Tigers in this game.  Twice, actually.  Oh, baby - how good did that feel? 

Are you familiar with the Marvel Comics version of The Mighty Thor?  (And yes, I'm quite aware of how geeky this blog has been today, using two images of Marvel superheroes.)  To teach him humility, the Thunder God's father banished him to Earth, giving him the body of not just a mortal man, but a disabled one who required a cane to walk.  That has been the Tigers' offense this season, most especially over the past two games. 

Humbled by his condition, everything changes when the mortal man is confronted by an adverse situation in which he truly needs his power.  At that point, Dr. Donald Blake strikes his cane against a surface.  The cane becomes the hammer Mjolnir (which I still can't pronounce, some 25 years after reading those comic books), and the crippled man becomes The Mighty Thor, God of Thunder.

The Tigers underwent a similar transformation tonight against the Minnesota Twins.  But you're excused if you missed it.  Most of this game looked like another exercise in total frustration.  Detroit errors led to Minnesota runs.  And once again, the Tigers' lineup wasn't scoring any of their own.  But with the score 5-0, something happened.  Batters started to string together consecutive hits, moving runners around the bases.  And then finally, the 24-inning run drought was over.  The Tigers scored a run!  Then they scored two more!  And another (though Carlos Guillen's limp around third base almost didn't let it happen).

After giving their fans hope with the comeback, however, the Tigers had the kind of inning that could make you want to kick a small animal.  Jeremy Bonderman gave up two hits and was taken out of the game.  Then Bobby Seay - who had been Detroit's best reliever to this point - came in and had the sort of meltdown we've become painfully familiar with.  After walking his first batter, Seay gave up three straight hits which brought in four more Minnesota runs.  Once again, Leyland left another reliever out there to hang.  The score was 9-4, and you were more than justified in disgustedly turning your TV off or switching over to the Red Wings game.

If you did, however, you missed something good.  You missed a Pudge line drive bounce off Denard Span's glove for a home run.  And an inning later, you missed the Tigers' lineup become a buzzsaw again, slamming a barrage of extra base hits all over the field.  Doubles and triples, oh my!  Rockets to right and center field.  Aggressive baserunning!  Huzzah!  Almost every starter got a hit tonight, and the one that didn't - Jacque Jones - was robbed on a great running catch by Delmon Young. 

Perhaps most impressive was that the chalk outline left on the pitching mound after the explosion was that of Pat Neshek, who had a 2.35 ERA against Detroit (with 20 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings).  Once the damage was done, the Tigers actually had a lead to give to their closer.  Todd Jones kept it typically interesting by putting two runners on base, but ultimately got that third out.

What a double-fisted comeback.  Is this the sort of rally that can turn a struggling team around?  A lot of us will say so and hope so.  The Tigers still committed many of the same blunders that have left them with the worst record in baseball.  But for one night, at least, their offense overcame all of it.  And that's what we've been waiting go see.