Over the weekend, I was reminding myself that I hadn't posted anything about Tony Giarratano re-injuring a right shoulder that required surgery last year. Reportedly, this latest injury could put Giarrantano under the knife again.
And that apparently was one more setback than the Detroit Tigers were willing to deal with. Today, Giarratano was released by the team.
Courtesy of Jason Beck:
Besides his injury, Giarratano was also likely a victim of a numbers game in the Tigers' organization. Middle infield is a position of depth in the minor league system. As Take 75 North points out, the Tigers have as many as five potential major league shortstops right now. And between Edgar Renteria and Ramon Santiago, the position is spoken for on the big league clue, as well. (Although without Giarratano, Santiago might now be the odds-on favorite to start at shortstop for your Toledo Mud Hens.)
An unfortunate sidelight to this news is that keeping Giarratano cost the organization a promising reliever. As D-Town Baseball reminds us, protecting Giarratano on the 40-man roster meant leaving Randor Bierd available to be picked up, and the Baltimore Orioles obliged.
For a guy who was once viewed as Detroit's next top shortstop, however, this is quite a sad career development.