There has been plenty of speculation amongst Detroit fans and writers that Brandon Inge and Johnny Damon might be placed on waivers and traded to another team when cleared. Ken Rosenthal first reported last week that Inge had already been claimed off waivers by the Braves, but the Tigers pulled him back. That report was false, but according to Buster Olney, Inge and Damon were placed on waivers yesterday and are currently passing through.
This doesn't mean they'll necessarily be traded, because the Tigers can pull them back, but Dave Dombrowski knows he can get some return for letting interested contenders rent the two expiring contracts out for the rest of the season:
We know that there are teams interested in Inge; Damon would be a good fit in a lot of places, too.
The two teams that might be interested in Inge the most (Braves and Cardinals) have been discussed here before. The Cardinals just traded for Pedro Feliz, though, and the Braves have done well by replacing injured third baseman Chipper Jones with All-Stars Martin Prado and Omar Infante (yeah, I can't believe former Tiger Infante was an All-Star, either).
Further, with the recent acquisition of Derrek Lee, the Braves will be trying Troy Glaus out at third base in Triple-A. The Twins have also been mentioned as another potentially interested party for Inge, but I can't see the Tigers trading another fan favorite (after trading Granderson last winter) to an interdivision rival.
I'm curious to see what other teams want to acquire Inge and use him strictly as a late-inning defensive replacement or pinch hitter.
As for Damon, he'd be an asset for just about any playoff bound team:
"He's performed extremely well in postseason situations, and he's one of the toughest outs in the game when it comes to working counts and fouling off good pitches," said an American League assistant GM. "After the deadline, teams are still trying to fine-tune their bench and bullpen pieces. He could be a hell of a weapon coming off the bench in a playoff series."
We should be hearing more about it this weekend, so stay tuned.