At his MLive.com blog, Danny Knobler clarified which players on the Detroit Tigers roster still have minor league options remaining, and which ones don't. This will turn out to be a public service, as we'll surely be wondering throughout the upcoming season who can be shipped to the minors and who can't, or perhaps questioning why one player was sent down instead of another.
Here are the lists:
Options Remaining
Macay McBride
Zach Miner
Armando Galarraga
Clay Rapada
Jordan Tata
Virgil Vasquez
Brent Clevlen
Ryan Raburn
Out of Options
Denny Bautista
Yorman Bazardo
Tim Byrdak
Francisco Cruceta
Jason Grilli
Bobby Seay
Mike Hessman
Ramon Santiago
Freddy Guzman
Looking over the two lists, you can see the various roster decisions that could be influenced by minor league options. For instance, it could be the deciding factor between Ryan Raburn and Ramon Santiago for that last position player spot. Maybe Zach Miner draws the short stick if the Tigers don't want to risk losing Francisco Cruceta or Denny Bautista. As Knobler pointed out, someone's going to be squeezed out of the bullpen, with three likely openings and five candidates to fill them. Of course, if enough pitchers perform well in Spring Training, Detroit might be able to break up the logjam by working out a trade or two.