Per Jason Beck:

Ramon Santiago and Jordan Tata have been recalled from Triple-A Toledo and will be with the team tonight. Not sure what Tata’s role will be until we talk to the manager later today. Leyland said yesterday that he was leaning towards starting Ledezma Sunday night on short rest, but Tata was on track to start for the Mud Hens on Saturday, so he could conceivably take the ball if needed.

ADD: Detroit traded Nook Logan to the Nationals for a player to be named later.

Craig Monroe has now hit 13 of his 23 home runs in the seventh inning or later. He’s been clutch. He’s been exciting. And he lifted a 2-out, ninth inning pitch just over the left-field fence to help the Tigers win, 5-3, in the nightcap of a double header at Yankee Stadium. Man, that was awesome. Mo Clutch? Naw, I’m just reaching. You know it, C-Mo is gonna stick as a nickname. And you know what? Right now, I don’t mind if it does! Ask me again in the morning, I’ll surely disagree.

Fangraphs is a good site for tracking the odds of a team winning at any given point in a game. But think about that name. Fan graphs. Because it probably reflects your mood over the course of the game. My mood from the start of the first game forward: Neutral, good, nuetral, bad, bad, bad, worse, worse, worse, realllly bad, neutral, good, bad, realllllllly realllllllly bad, CRAIGDONEITAGAIN!

There was a lot to be happy about today, believe it or not. Five runs allowed to the Yankees in two games. The Yankees. They score 5.6 runs a game, and they scored 5 runs in a double header against the Tigers pitching. Yeah, today stunk for like, most of it. But you have to look at that and say “You know, it’s not all bad.” The Tigers have actually faced the top five offenses in the league since playing the Twins Aug. 9. And the Angels actually scored 133 runs in August, so they may not be the pushover I’d hoped for. Perspective, it’s a wonderful thing to have.

On the other hand, Neifi Perez is really about out of chances with me. He did get on base a few times today, but I have a bad feeling when he’s up. He is simply not playing lke an upgrade over what Omar Infante would do. Maybe in theory he’s a better player, and that is debatable. But there’s no way he should be taking Infante’s playing time. He hasn’t earned it. Dmitri Young didn’t exactly make me think he should be playing over Marcus Thames either. Our offense stinks, but not playing Thames and Infante is likely a contributing factor.

On the whole, the win felt great. Really great. The Tigers pitching is continuing to carry the team. I’d like to see those offense problems fixed soon. But with Jeremy Bonderman on the mound in the afternoon against a struggling (at times) Randy Johnson, we have a decent chance to take a series in Yankee Stadium. And suddenly the world is looking much different than it did just 24 hours earlier.

As per the beat writers:

Mike Maroth will not start Wednesday. His elbow didn’t feel good after a bullpen session. Wil Ledezma, who’s been pitching well lately, will draw the start in the Bronx.

Andrew Miller will be coming up a few days early to join the bullpen. He stretched out a bit in Lakeland and pitched fine. Apparently the Tigers like his stuff. He might actually see a real inning or two I’m guessing.

Colby Lewis was optioned back down.

Brent Clevlen is heading to Erie for week then heading back to Detroit. Well, at least he gets to clean out his apartment that way. Alexis Gomez, who has torn up for Toledo lately, is up.

I’ll just link to Tom Gage in general. These reports come from him:
Maroth is going to start one last time for Toledo and likely won’t be up until the roster expansion.

Roman Colon has neck spasms and will be on the DL, Colby Lewis got the call up.

Neifi Perez will start 2B tonight and bat 8th. (Sorry Cubs fans!) He’ll likely be close to an every-day player. (Sorry Tigers fans…er)

Just announced on the Tigers FSN broadcast, the Tigers traded for Cubs second baseman Neifi Perez. They sent catcher Chris Robinson from the minors.

The 33-year-old journeyman utilityman is a former gold glover who is hitting .254 / .266 / .343. Not exactly “savior” material. He fields pretty well but doesn’t really seem to bring much better bat than Infante. I have to imagine Ramon Santiago heads back down but FSN didn’t say. He can play 2B, SS and 3B, but has spent most of his career at short. He is apparently owed $2.5 M in 2007. Sounds like a lot of money for a guy who won’t be in the lineup regularly next year.

MORE: Looking over his stuff at Baseball Prospectus, he’s a contact hitter but mostly useful for his defense. Kinda Placido Polanco Lite. But his VORP is -7.4, making his worse than a replacement player on the whole. So he must be filling the role.

The 2005 report they wrote was:

It’s not that Neifi Perez is completely useless. He does have a slick glove, and there are times and places that he makes for an acceptable quick fix. The trouble is that sometimes he does this. He hits .371 in a handful of at bats, and the pitchers and announcers drool over his defense, and a team is compelled to re-sign him.

Only a few days ago, Bleed Cubby Blue wondered why Neifi Perez plays much for the the Cubs. (Hat-tip Baseball Musings)

Neifi! isn’t a bad player. He’s just not a very GOOD player; he has his uses, and bench players have to start once in a while.

And Mike of the Daily Fungo agrees:

Two words: Role. Player.

Not really ringing endorsements, hey?

Danny Knobler and Jason Beck both reported Polanco will be out four to six weeks with a likelyhood it could be earlier than that. They both say he’ll probably be back in the regular season.

I actually saw this first from Beck, but it came from everywhere: Vance Wilson signed a two-year, approximately $2 million extention to play for the Tigers through 2008. I think that’s good news. I like the way he backs up Pudge. He’s got to be one of the best backup catchers in the league. Plus I keep thinking he looks like Kevin Costner in Bull Durham.

How costly the Tigers’ 3-2 victory over Boston will be remains to be seen. Placido Polanco separated his shoulder while making a run-saving catch in the seventh inning of the game Tuesday at Boston. Craig Monroe drove the game-winning run in with a tough hit down the right field line that popped out of Boston right fielder Wily Mo Pena’s glove. And Jeremy Bonderman pitched so well again that you really have to start wondering when the Cy Young talk comes his way. Watch. It will within another few starts if he keeps pitching like himself.

But the outcome of the game, while important in its own right, really pales in comparison to what happened during the game.

Here’s what we know: Polanco was put on the 15-day disabled list for the injury and will be checked out more completely today. Ramon Santiago, a pretty nice defender and pretty crappy batter, received the call-up. And Omar Infante will take over as the day-to-day second baseman, at least temporarily, although likely for a lot longer.

Speculation by Pudge Rodriguez immediately following the game and quoted by the AP is that Polanco is done for the year. But the Tigers believe it’s too early to say for sure, and they’re probably right.

I do not mean to lessen the gravity of the loss. Polanco is a great defender and a nice contact hitter. It’s pretty big when you play as a team with no superstars, but a lot of important cogs. But if the Tigers were forced to have an injury, it’s one of the lesser injured players they could have. Other than the depth at the left field/first base /designated hitter rotation, he’s one of the few guys who doesn’t leave a big hole. The loss of Carlos Guillen, Magglio, Brandon Inge, Curtis Granderson or Pudge would have been far worse. What those guys bring to the team — whether at the plate or in the field, or in most cases both — is impossible to replace.

Polanco didn’t get on the base an exceptional amount of time. He didn’t have much isolated power, If you want to go the winshares way, he’s right around 0. Polanco and Infante have similar equivalent averages at .244 and .243. (This link is a direct comparison of runs created at Fangraphs. I’ll compare more between the players later today.) Obviously, Placi is popular in the locker room, the guy I wanted up with a runner on third, a better defender and a leader on the field. Infante is a drop-off, and the game isn’t played by statistics alone. But, I’m just saying, it could definitely have been worse.

Hopefully we find out more today or tomorrow. That shoulder injury does not necessarily put him out for the rest of the year, although it certainly could. The Providence Journal speculates it’s typically 4-to-6 week injury. We just can’t say for sure. So, put that panic button away, for now anyway. Let’s get some more facts first. And, see if there are any waiver-wire trades to be made. It’s certainly another character builder, one you’d prefer to avoid.
So, remembering the loss, I am still very happy to take the first two games in Boston. That was much needed after a 5-game losing streak. The Tigers took on the Red Sox’ top two pitchers and came out with a pair of victories in the hardest stadium for the visiting team to win in against a team fighting for the playoffs. It’s definitely a character-proving series, and the Tigers came out looking stellar. Chicago lost, so the AL Central lead returned to 6.5 games.

I would never expect a sweep in Boston, but considering the pitching matchup of Justin Verlander verus David Wells, you have to figure it’s possible.

Hopefully they can survive the Polanco test as well.

You don’t come to me for your breaking news, but two items came out this afternooon. Pick your favorite beat-writer blog for a link. Gage. Knobler. Beck.

1. Justin Verlander has been described as being “fatigued” and will miss his next start. It’s also a scheduled skipped start. Doesn’t sound anything serious, probably leaves most Tigers fans relieved he’s getting some rest.
2. First-round draft pick LHP Andrew Miller signed. I didn’t think this was ever in doubt, but it’s nice to see it taken care of in August so he can get right into the Tigers system. I don’t know if he’ll throw any professional innings this year, the Tigers do like to rest college arms. (See Verlander, which is a bit different since he almost didn’t sign, but that’s a stated philosophy). Freep: “The Tigers did not announce terms; however, one source with knowledge of the negotiations said it included a $3.55 million signing bonus with a guaranteed value near $5.5 million. Incentives could bring the total value above $7 million.” That’s a lot cheaper than the double-figures he wanted. We have the Royals to thank not once, but twice I think. He actually signed for a bit more than Royals No. 1 overall Luke Hochevar. Miller is probably the better pitcher, but from prospect to majors, you just never really know.
3. Miller won the Roger Clemens award for collegiate pitching a couple of weeks ago but I never linked to it, so I offer the link now.

Update: I’m batting like Chris Shelton with runners in scoring position, Miller will be wearing a ‘D’ in September.

UPDATES THROUGHOUT

Detroit sent pitcher Brian Rogers (who?) to Pittsburgh to acquire (left handed) first baseman Sean Casey this morning. Chris Shelton was optioned to Toledo.

Casey (splits) brings a nice line to the Tigers and came very inexpensively. Batting nearly .300 with a .377 on base percentage and a good number of doubles, he was exactly what the Tigers were looking for, in my mind. So long as he remains healthy. But that’s probably why he came cheap.

Shelton was really not making much of his time in Detroit lately. He’s still an above-average fielder, and his batting had been, well, okay. I’ll admit I was a bit surprised to see him go down. But there’s no doubt Casey is an upgrade in the lineup without losing much, if anything, at the sack. Oh, and he only has 22 strikeouts. Now that’s nice to see.

Some inconclusion on his fielding. Detroit Tigers Weblog points out he at -4 fielding at first base. Rather not good. Baseball America believes Casey is a defensive upgrade: “Casey doesn’t have Shelton’s pop—his power ranks near the bottom among big league starting first basemen—but he’s a better hitter and fielder.”

I’m not sure where I think Casey will bat. He seems like a #2 sort of guy, though I can’t imagine he has #2 speed. And he just looks slower than Polanco. It’s possible he’s more of a #6 or #7 guy for that reason. So let’s just take a look at his RBI opportunities at Baseball Prospectus. He’s brought a runner in from third 16 of 23 times (69.6 percent). That’s better than Polanco, the best Tiger percentagewise. He’s just 6-for-57 with a runner on second, however, for 10.5 percent. Rather putrid. It’s a combined 27.5 percent. In both cases he’s an upgrade on Shelton. Take a look here for a snapshot of where Detroit was at earlier this month.

Here’s some graphs from Fangraphs.com and he’s in the “good” territory quite a bit, which is nice. He also puts the ball on the ground or line drive about 75 percent of the time from the looks of the graph. However, is he clutch? Maybe not. He’s at -30 in wins probability added, a bit higher than Pudge and definitely higher than Shelton but rather lacking. Maybe his stinky team didn’t allow him much chance to accumulate the stat, either.

And the rebuttle from Beyond the Box Score whether Casey has even been better than Shelton in the past months.

It appears Rogers is a closer/reliever in Erie.We’ll see if Dave Dombrowski calls it a day or not. What did I tell you? Dombrowski would end up doing a deal no one mentioned once. So who knows what is left. I still hope for Soriano, but if not us, than someone in the National League. Get some pride, NL, don’t let all your talent change leagues or we’ll bust the promotion/relegation system out on you.

Hopefully a boisterous Tigers crowd — Yes, I know it’s in Tampa, but we’ve been spoiled on the road lately, so you never know — welcomes Casey tonight.

The Freep always beats everyone…

Jon Paul Morosi reports Brent Clevlen was called up from AA Erie to fill a spot in the outfield. They’ll likely send down a pitcher. I almost bet on Wil Ledezma because they haven’t even see Colby Lewis throw a pitch and I imagine they’re a bit curious, but I would show no suprise if it was Lewis, either.

Update: Lewis downÂ

Brent Clevlen has an OBP of .298, slugging of .338, 9 home runs.

I know the Tigers were high on Clevlen — at least Lynn Henning was — before the season. I’m not sure he really played his way onto the roster. I’d imagine this is a “See that crowd? Feel that tension? You’re playing for this. Now go back down and get your butt back here soon” move where he won’t be around for long. They are probably feeling out Monroe’s injured leg and needed an emergency outfielder around if Monroe needs a few days.