The Detroit Tigers' official Twitter feed announced the latest players who were optioned or assigned to minor league camps, which goes a long way toward clarifying who is and isn't likely going to make the opening day roster.
Optioned to Triple-A Toledo -- 2B Scott Sizemore, RHP Robbie Weinhardt, OF Clete Thomas
Assigned to minor league camp -- LHP Fu-Te Ni, C Max St. Pierre
With these moves, the in-play position battles look like this:
Infield: Danny Worth, Will Rhymes and possibly Ramon Santiago
Outfield: Brennan Boesch, Casper Wells, Andy Dirks
Relief pitching: Adam Wilk, Enrique Gonzalez, Daniel Schlereth, Brad Thomas
At this point, if I had to guess who goes north, it looks like Boesch and Wells are pretty good bets in the outfield. That gives a nice righty-lefty combination, some one-swing pop and some solid defense. At this point, despite the good ink for Worth, I think Rhymes leads the competition to start at second base because Worth's value is in his ability to play all over the infield. So Worth may be optioned yet, despite a very nice spring.
Schlereth and Thomas should make the bullpen. A non-roster invitee is probably going to be there, too. Enrique Gonzalez leads that competition for me because I can't picture Detroit having four left-handers in the pen, although it may be useful against the Yankees. So I definitely do not rule out Wilk. Given my (in)ability to predict the bullpen, my confidence is a bit low still.
By the way, remember this is only the roster to begin the season. I expect a lot of movement is going to occur as the team gets into the thick of April with fewer off-days. I expect Weinhardt will receive one of the first bullpen call-ups as things settle in.
Your thoughts?