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Bye-Bye, Bondo? Bonderman Doesn't Expect To Be Back With Tigers

Was Saturday night Jeremy Bonderman's final start at Comerica Park as a member of the Detroit Tigers? If you ask him, he thinks it's a definite possibility. 

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From the Detroit News:

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"Honestly, probably not."

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Really, Bondo? No chance?

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"I'm not saying I won't be back. If I got an opportunity to come back, I would. But there are some good young kids coming up from the minors here.

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Bonderman apparently sees the writing on the wall. Maybe coaches and executives have also given him the impression that the Tigers have decided to move in the proverbial new direction. Even if Bondo were to return to Detroit, a spot in the starting rotation isn't guaranteed. And the team likely prefers to fill that opening with a free agent or ready prospect. The Tigers can surely do better than a pitcher still trying to reinvent himself as a finesse thrower, and Bonderman knows it. 

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If Saturday was Bonderman's goodbye to Detroit fans, it was a pretty ugly one. In a rather typical start, he allowed five first-inning runs to the Twins, four of them coming on a grand slam served up to Danny Valencia. All that came before Bonderman could even get a second out. Bonderman later gave up back-to-back homers to Jason Kubel and Valencia to begin the fifth inning, which ended his evening. 

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His final line was seven runs and nine hits allowed in just four innings.