Former Detroit Tigers Infielder Brandon Inge Makes Debut For Oakland Athletics
After being released by the Tigers, infielder Brandon Inge has signed with the Oakland Athletics. He was 1-3 with a walk in his first game with his new team.
StoryStream
Live
4Total Updates since April 29, 2012
Important1
Updates3
Articles1
All Updates4
Do you want major updates to this story in your Facebook News Feed?
Since the Tigers were rained out on Monday night, some Tigers fans decided to watch Brandon Inge's debut with the Oakland A's, believe it or not. Inge was released by the Tigers last week and, despite Dave Dombrowski and Inge saying he'd always 'be' a Tiger, Inge signed with the A's on Monday and was in their lineup hours later.
Inge was drafted by the Tigers organization in 1998 and played 11-plus years for the Tigers, so as welcome of a sight as it was to see him go, Inge donning another organization's uniform looked weird.
In Inge's first game as an Athletic, he hit the ball hard twice, walked and singled. He also botched a play even though it was ruled a base hit. How very un-Inge-like.
Newly-signed infielder Brandon Inge is officially headed to Oakland to play for the Athletics, and could be in uniform very soon after all remaining formalities are wrapped up. Inge was claimed off waivers by the A's on Sunday, days after being released by Detroit after batting just .100 through nine games.
The A's made no announcement on Sunday, but two sources with knowledge of the talks confirmed that once the usual formalities are concluded (paperwork, physical), Inge will be cleared to play Monday evening.
Barring a setback, it looks as if Inge will be in uniform to open Oakland's three-game series with Boston on Monday. And, as Rob Neyer points out, Inge might not have very much competition for the 3B job if he can find a way to get something going from the plate. Cumulatively, Oakland third basemen are hitting just .127 on the year, so Inge's woeful plate discipline this year isn't all that different from what the Athletics have been getting from the position.
It was only a matter of time before his new destination would materialize, and it appears that recently-released Detroit Tigers infielder Brandon Inge will now be headed across the country to play with the Oakland Athletics. Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal broke the news on Twitter on Sunday during Detroit's battle with the Yankees.
Known for being a light-hitting organization that builds rosters based on specific criteria, the Athletics certainly coveted Inge's defensive ability and will hope to use him at a variety of places across the infield. Nonetheless, Inge had been ice cold against American League pitching in nine games with the Tigers, and was batting a putrid .100 on the year.
Inge had played with Detroit since he broke into the big leagues in 2001, and will now hope that a new locale can breath life into his rapidly-declining career arc.
