--A lot of fantasy baseball columnists do little but spew hot air about how you should probably add Brian Roberts to your fantasy team if he's still available. I like Matthew Pouliot's columns a lot better. Yesterday, he posted a Top 150 Prospects List, updated for midseason, and the Tigers fared well on a very limited basis. Justin Verlander is listed as the sixth best prospect in baseball despite not showing up in Pouliot's preseason rankings. Joel Zumaya was 84th a year ago, but injury concerns pushed him off the list in March. He's now up to 29, ahead of a host of more famous prospects. Curtis Granderson is up from 86th to 60th on the back of a strong last few months in Toledo's CF. That's the end of the good news, though: no other prospect cracks Pouliot's 150. The Tiger system is heavy on top and weak below, which is better than just weak, I suppose.
--The Detroit Tiger Weblog noticed that the Tigers have some roster decisions to make in advance of Saturday's doubleheader. There's a problem because Magglio, Pudge, and Guillen aren't going to play both ends, and Polanco, White, and Young are injured but not on the DL. With Verlander coming up to pitch Saturday, the Tigers are potentially short both an infielder and an outfielder. I think you call these the dog days.
--Suspensions were handed down yesterday for the Tiger-Royal melee last week. Runelvys Hernandez got 10 games, Kyle Farnsworth 6, and Jeremy Bonderman 5. A couple of other fines were handed out. The way suspension appeals work, Runelvys could miss as little as one start if the Royals time things well; more realistically, he'll miss two for trying to kill Carlos Guillen. Bonderman will have one start delayed by one day. What's more interesting is the Tiger bullpen, now without its opening day top three. Get ready for some important innings from Craig Dingman.
--Peter Gammons said in his chat this week that there weren't going to be many trades before the deadline because there are so few sellers. Doesn't that make you think that the Tigers could get good value for their veterans?