Nate Robertson, the originator of the gum time phenomenon, has been traded to the Florida Marlins for a minor league pitcher, Jay Voss, and cash considerations. This means Jeremy Bonderman and Dontrelle Willis have locked up the final spots in the Tigers' rotation. There's some speculation on blogs and message boards that this also means Robertson didn't want to go to the bullpen, but who knows. The Tigers were able to get something out of Robertson and his ungodly contract, and that is a plus in my book.

[Marlins acquire Robertson from Tigers]

[Roar of the Tigers' take on the trade]

I always kind of thought Damon and Boras were just using the Tigers to get an offer from the White Sox. I'm beyond tired of him and his shenanigans now. Good riddance.

Anyway, the point of this post is two-fold, Johnny Damon rant and my guess at a 25-man roster. We're going with the Damonless version of the 25-man roster for this post. If we're bored enough, we might also do a CatsWithBats' Dream 25-Man Roster at a later date, which is basically CatsWithBats' MLB2k9 Detroit Tigers roster.

CatsWithBats' Damonless 25-Man Roster:

C: Gerald Laird / Robinzon Diaz (Snuck Diaz in there on you! I'd like to see Alex Avila get consistent, every-day playing time in Toledo, and I think Diaz could be a capable backup.)

1b: Miguel Cabrera (... well, yeah. Pretty obvious.)

2b: Scott Sizemore (Tigers seem committed to Sizemore at second, and maybe Santiago to back up or step in if Sizemore falters ... which doesn't excite me terribly. Don't really see them going after, like, Felipe Lopez at this point though. D2 has been known to pull off surprise moves though so you never know.)

SS: Adam Everett (Meh.)

3b: Brandon Inge (Barring his knees exploding unexpectedly during camp, he'll be the starting third baseman.)

RF: Magglio Ordoñez (I think they're pretty much shackled to Ordoñez this year. Not really seeing a way for them to get out of paying the $18 mil vesting option either. Potential grievances and all.)

CF: Austin Jackson (Could see him maybe splitting some time with Clete Thomas in CF. Clete Thomas doesn't really excite me at this point either.)

LF: Carlos Guillén / Ryan Raburn (Kind of see them in a platoon situation unless Damon comes on board to save our season. Said sarcastically.)

UT: Jeff Larish, Clete Thomas, Ramon Santiago, Wilkin Ramirez

SP: Justin Verlander

SP: Rick Porcello

SP: Max Scherzer

SP: Jeremy Bonderman (Barring any setbacks, of course.)

SP: Phil Coke (Surprise Phil Coke! Like him as LH number five better than Robertson, whom I have irrational hate for.)

CL: José Valverde

SU: Ryan Perry

RP: Joel Zumaya

RP: Phil Coke

RP: Fu-Te Ni

RP: Zach Miner

RP: Armando Galarraga


I think Bobby Seay might get traded, which is why I didn't include him.

Okay, I think this is 25. I suck at math though. Will start making posts of substance once camp gets under way.

- Cats With Bats