With Andy Dirks, Danny Worth and Adam Wilk trimmed from the Tigers' active roster this morning, Brennan Boesch, Casper Wells, Brayan Villarreal and Enrique Gonzalez can breathe a little easier. Barring any moves the next few days, the opening day roster appears to be set.
The only moves that remain to get from 27 to 25 are officially transferring Joel Zumaya and Carlos Guillen to the disabled list. The Tigers must still make room on the 40-man roster for Gonzalez as well.
Worth was optioned to Toledo. Dirks and Wilk were re-assigned to minor league camp.
The right-handed reliever Brayan Villarreal might be the biggest surprise -- and also will be a pain in the butt for copy editors, I'm sure. He's a guy we didn't spend a lot of time talking about. The door opened for him when the Tigers decided to sent Robbie Weinhardt down to work on his slider and make sure his sinker sank more consistently. This shoots the theory that Weinhardt could be a quick return out of the air a bit.
You could say Enrique Gonzalez was a bit of a surprise. I projected him to make the roster because he fit the mop-up role well and played it last year. He was having a decent spring. He wasn't on the 40-man roster, but it just really felt like the kind of move the Tigers make.
As for Wells and Boesch, we've been thinking those players go north for awhile around here. They gave the team the best bang at the plate, some flexibility due to their being right- and left-handed, respectively. And Wells is one of the best defensive outfielders the organization has near the big-league level.
View the full post for your apparent opening-day 25-man roster.
Tigers' 25-man roster:
Starters:
Justin Verlander
Max Scherzer
Rick Porcello
Brad Penny
Phil Coke
Relievers:
Enrique Gonzalez
Brayan Villarreal
Brad Thomas
Daniel Schlereth
Ryan Perry
Joquin Benoit
Jose Valverdde
Catchers:
Alex Avila
Victor Martinez
Infielders:
Miguel Cabrera
Will Rhymes
Jhonny Peralta
Brandon Inge
Ramon Santiago
Outfielders:
Magglio Ordonez
Austin Jackson
Ryan Raburn
Don Kelly
Casper Wells
Brennan Boesch