Zappatista broke this in the comments, so kudos to him. Our long regional Inge-credible nightmare is over. Danny Knobler reports that Brandon Inge will join the Detroit Tigers for Spring Training, and plans to accompany the pitchers and catchers in mid-February. He came to his decision after a chat with Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski.
(Somewhere, Lynn Henning is jumping up and down, and tearing papers into shreds. "What? Why didn't he tell me? I called him two dozen times! This is the epitome of rudeness, Mr. Inge! Bad form!")
[UPDATE: Double burn! Inge talked to Henning's Detroit News colleague, Tom Gage. Okay, it was probably a conference call. Hat tip to Billfer.]
Inge surely doesn't consider this an ideal situation, but it's clearly in everyone's best interests for him to make the most of this. He remains a valuable part of a playoff contender, helps the Tigers in several positions of need (and could solve the organization's gaping void at catcher, post-Pudge), and maintains the roots he and his family have established in the metro Detroit community.
Sure, things could change and Inge could still end up in another uniform in 2008. But for now, he's being the type of team player and professional that made him such a fan favorite in Detroit to begin with.