The Tigers optioned fifth starter candidate Andy Oliver to Toledo this morning, narrowing the current field down to Drew Smyly and Duane Below and, unfortunately, costing this blogger a cheap pun at Oliver’s expense (had Oliver not been sent down, I would surely have titled a blog post “Oliver to Dombrowski: Please Sir, May I Have Some More”).
What this means about the race for the final spot in the rotation: who the hell even knows? The Tigers won’t need a fifth starter for a little while, and may even option Smyly and/or Below to Toledo as well, so that they can go with an 11-man pitching staff.
There has also been a little talk on Twitter of the Tigers possibly making a trade, but this appears to be nothing more than speculation from Detroit News writer Tom Gage, who spotted Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland talking animatedly and decided to write about it, which then sent the unwashed masses into a frenzy.
It does not appear that a Brandon Inge/Andy Oliver for Joe Blanton deal is on the horizon, Tigers fans. Sorry.