Okay, this may be getting out of hand now. First, the Detroit Tigers let it be known that Edwin Jackson was available for trade. Then, Curtis Granderson was also dangled out there for interested teams. And now, perhaps Brandon Inge is being offered up, as well?
That's what SI.com's Jon Heyman posted on his Twitter feed, reporting from the GM meetings in Chicago:
#tigers surprise sale: brandon inge may be available, as well as curtis granderson and edwin jackson, sources say
This one is a bit more difficult to believe. You can see why other teams would be interested in picking up a starting pitcher like Jackson or a centerfielder like Granderson. And the Tigers should see what they might be able to get for those players in trade.
But Inge? Sure, he brings a glove, one of the best in the league at third base. And since the Tigers don't seem to have anyone who could replace him at that position, Inge might be more valuable to Detroit than to any team they could trade him to.
Yet he swings a bat that's hit under .240 for three straight seasons (and under .260 for four). And as this rumor is being floated out there, Inge is sitting in two straight-legged casts, unable to put weight on his feet after having surgeries on both of his knees.
Inge is also coming off a year in which he hit 27 home runs and drove in 84 runs. Had he not developed patellar tendinitis in both of his knees, who knows what those final numbers would've been? He ended up batting .186/.260/.281 in the second half of the season, with six homers and 26 RBIs.
One more year remains on Inge's contract, in which he's set to be paid $6.6 million.