The Tigers did not offer utility OF Alexis Gomez arbitration today, thus making him a free agent.
His spot on the 40-man roster will now be taken by veteran reliever Jose Mesa, who the Tigers mysteriously signed (which I'll get to a little later).
Gomez played in 62 games for the Tigers last season, compiling some less than impressive stats along the way at the plate:
Avg OBP OPS HR RBI Ks BBs
272 318 706 1 6 21 6
He was, however, a well-liked player (at least it seemed) by Leyland as a defensive replacement...And how could we forget game 2 of the ALCS against Oakland when he had 4 RBIs?
With this move the Tigers have a total of 6 OFs on the 40-man roster - Sheffield, Granderson, Ordonez, Monroe, Thames and Clevlen. There has been discussion that the Tigers are looking for another left-handed bat, something that Gomez obviously is - however if he is going to make any more appearances as a Tiger it will have to be as a non-roster invitee at spring training.