Most of you have probably already seen this, but the Milton Bradley rumors that popped up in Chicago yesterday afternoon were almost immediately shot down by Jason Beck. (My friend Ms. Hooz suggested I post an image from Bonnie and Clyde to underline the point.) Whatever Steve Stone and David Kaplan may have heard from their sources near or with the Chicago Cubs didn't jibe with anyone associated with the Tigers.
That was news to the Tigers. A source with knowledge of the team's plans said Bradley's name hasn't come up in organizational discussions all year. For a team that has been searching far and wide for offensive help, that speaks volumes.
Basically, the Tigers' lack of interest comes down to a simple reason: There are better outfielders available on the market. Not to mention cheaper, and far less of a headache.
Yahoo! Sports' Gordon Edes had two Tigers items in his latest column, including what sort of package Dave Dombrowski was trying to put together for Matt Holliday:
The Detroit Tigers were in hard on Matt Holliday before he went to the Cardinals, but Oakland turned down a package that included the Tigers’ top shortstop prospect, Cale Iorg. Right-handed pitcher Freddy Dolsi, currently on the DL, would have gone to the Athletics as a player to be named later.
As was pointed out when this was posted in the comments of yesterday's recap, Edes might have Dolsi and Alfredo Figaro mixed up, as Figaro is currently on the DL.
FOXSports.com added that Oakland was asking for Casey Crosby and Scott Sizemore in a deal for Holliday. I guess you can't blame Billy Beane for trying to get the most he could, but that would've been quite a price to pay for what could've been a two-month rental.
Edes also noted that Detroit has shown interest in Marlins outfielder Cody Ross (who began his career in the Tigers' organization and played in it for five years), looking for him to play right field. (That must be news to Clete Thomas. But perhaps Thomas would move to left field in such a scenario, while Ross could also be a back-up for Curtis Granderson to hit against left-handed pitching.)
For the season, Ross is hitting .267/.325/.466 with 14 homers and 53 RBIs. I'm not sure how good of a defensive right fielder he is, however.
Another name shot down yesterday - this time by Jim Leyland directly - was Troy Glaus. The Tigers were mentioned as one of four teams that might be scouting the Cardinals' (former) third baseman on his minor league rehab assignment this week, but Leyland insists that Glaus's name has never been brought up in trade discussions. Glaus has yet to play this season, while recovering from offseason surgery on his right shoulder.