The Tigers sent left-hander Andy Oliver down to Triple-A Toledo on Thursday, meaning the battle for the fifth starter job — which started out with six internal contestants — is down to just two: Drew Smyly or Duane Below.

Oliver, who'd seemed to overcome some of his control demons that plagued him last season — at both the big-league level and at Triple-A Toledo — earlier this spring, put back-to-back shaky outings together in his last two Grapefruit League starts.

"Nobody's down on Andy Oliver. We just didn't feel like, at this time, he was the guy," Tigers manager Jim Leyland told reporters Thursday, as MLive's Chris Iott passed along on Twitter.

At this point, it looks like it'll either be Smyly or Below heading north with the team to start the season. Smyly, who threw well in Wednesday's start against the Cardinals in Jupiter, Fla., is scheduled for one more spring start on Monday. Below is scheduled to pitch Friday.

But it could be both — or neither. General manager Dave Dombrowski could still decide to go outside the organization for a starter — "My general manager has a tendency to surprise you," manager Jim Leyland said, after refusing to rule out the possibility that the Tigers would look for an external solution — or the Tigers could take both north, with one — Below, almost assuredly — in the bullpen as a long reliever.

And there's this to factor in, as well. The Tigers won't need a fifth starter right off the bat, given the number of off (weather) days built in to the first few series. Last year's fifth starter, Phil Coke, did not start his first game until April 9, making two relief appearances in the season-opening series in New York.

So what would Leyland like to have happen, ideally?

"I gave you enough hints through the course of the spring what I’d ideally like to have ... but, it doesn’t mean it’s going to play out that way," Leyland said, in response to verbal fishing expeditions by reporters over the weekend. "When you have four or five right-handed starters, you would probably like someone to pitch long from the left side. But it doesn’t mean you have him. That doesn’t mean that’s going to be the decision. So don’t mark that down. Could it be? It could be. But ..."

While the Tigers still have a decision to make between the more experienced, veteran Below — who started twice in 14 MLB appearances with the Tigers last season — and the inexperienced but composed Smyly — who did not pitch above Double-A in his first professional season last year — there is an upshot to the whole situation.

The Toledo rotation (as pointed out by Mud Hens beat writer John Wagner) will be stacked with former candidates for the fifth starter job: Oliver, Jacob Turner, Adam Wilk and Casey Crosby.

That slim chance that manager Jim Leyland left hanging just closed.

Reluctant to completely rule out the recovering Jacob Turner — idled since March 13 with shoulder tendinitis before resuming throwing this weekend — Leyland continued to include the prized right-handed prospect in discussions of the fifth-starter candidates.

That discussion is now closed, however, as the Tigers announced Monday morning they'd optioned the youngster's contract to Triple-A Toledo as one of six roster moves. The club also sent infielders Audy Ciriaco, Argenis Diaz and Ryan Strieby, outfielder Quintin Berry and right-handed pitcher Chris Bootcheck to minor league camp.

The two who may still play the biggest role in the Tigers' season this year could be Strieby and, of course, the uber-talented Turner, who is right on the cusp of being ready for the bigs.

"Dave (Dombrowski, the GM) said it’s time to get him over there, and get him going, because he’s going to be a starting pitcher in Toledo. ... I think Dave wanted to feel totally comfortable before we sent him over there that he was right," Leyland said, noting that the ability to get him ramped up to speed to start in Triple-A trumped the desire to get him an inning or two more work with the big club this spring.
"I don’t need to see him again. He needs to go pitch. He’s a young pitcher with a huge, huge ceiling, so me seeing him one more inning in spring training doesn’t mean (squat)."

A first baseman, Strieby's path to the big leagues is obviously blocked by a pair of star acquisitions the Tigers have made over the past few seasons. But that's all that's holding him back at this point, now that he's finally right after three years of battling a wrist injury that almost derailed his once-promising career.

"I had a great conversation with him this morning, and I think you could honestly say — which is what I told him — there could be a huge possibility that he could help this club at some point this season. I believe that. Is it going to happen? I told him I hope not, in some ways, because that means somebody’s hurt," Leyland said.
"Who knows? If we’re looking for a right-hand hitter, maybe to DH for a little while, who knows? He looks better than I’ve seen him in four years. He’s healthy now, he’s got a better look on his face — he was hurt, and it was hurting him to play."

Berry's candidacy for the 25th spot on the roster had picked up momentum over the weekend, when he smoked the game-winning grand-slam in Friday's come-from-behind win over the Pirates in Bradenton, Fla., then made two dazzling defensive plays in Sunday's 1-1 tie with the Yankees in Tampa. A career minor leaguer, Berry has something that the Tigers are sorely lacking on the roster: Blazing speed.

"Defensive capabilities, speed, bunt and run. I didn’t know him, really, to be honest with you, before he came into camp," Leyland said. "Made a helluva impression. That’s another weapon that we don’t have much of."

While he mentioned Diaz as a potential MLB utility man, Leyland was more effusive about the potential of the still-young Ciriaco, whose demotion was delayed until after he started Monday's game at third base.

"Sometimes when a guy’s been around a little bit, been in camp and everything, people just disregard him, think maybe the organization’s forgotten about him. That’s not true at all. I still like this guy a lot. He’s gotta become more consistent," Leyland said.
"But I think if this guy pops, it could be big. He’s one of those guys — if he pops, it could be something special."


Bootcheck, a non-roster invitee, was a long-shot candidate to nab the last remaining spot in the bullpen.

"Bootcheck’s just one of those guys that just has to go pitch. He’ll probably do a good job, and probably have a chance to get called up," Leyland said. "He’ll go down, do a good job. He’s got major league experience. He didn’t do anything wrong this spring. He did fine."

More good news on the recovery of Tigers' No. 1 prospect, Jacob Turner, came on Sunday, when pitching coach Jeff Jones said that the right hander threw a successful, pain-free bullpen session.

Turner was shut down with tendinitis in his pitching shoulder midway through spring training, but has been trying to get back on track, throwing Friday and again Sunday.

"It went really well," Jones said, indicating that Turner would likely throw again in spring training. "He’ll probably take two days off, then pitch in a game."

Jones could not answer, however, whether or not that would be in a major or minor league game.

For his part, manager Jim Leyland thought it was unlikely Turner was still a candidate for the vacant fifth spot in the starting rotation, given his injury blip.

"One more start? I doubt that. I don’t think we have really the time for that, to be honest with you. Another appearance or maybe two? That could be a possibility," Leyland said Saturday. "I would assume that, if he’s not a candidate — and I think it’s a very slight chance that he is now; I’m not ruling it out totally, but I think it’s a very, very slight chance — then I would assume, when healthy, Dave would want to get him over there pitching."

If Turner does not go north with the Tigers, he'll still need to be ready to join what is rapidly becoming a crowded rotation for Triple-A Toledo.

The Detroit Tigers came into spring training with six internal candidates for the fifth starter position, but that number is being steadily whittled down by attrition and elimination as camp goes on.

Lefty Adam Wilk was the latest name removed from the hat, as his contract was optioned to Toledo Saturday morning, cutting the number of players in camp to 38.

The 24-year-old Wilk, who appeared in five games for the Tigers last season, had a 7.50 ERA in 12 spring innings, giving up 19 hits and 10 runs.

Optioning Wilk leaves Andy Oliver, Drew Smyly and Duane Below as the most likely candidates to claim the fifth starter job. Casey Crosby, one of the other early candidates, was optioned out earlier in camp, while Jacob Turner is just starting to begin throwing again after a "dead-arm" period.

Smyly has been the dark-horse candidate throughout camp, considering his control of his arsenal. Tigers manager Jim Leyland was asked Friday whether Smyly's stuff could be considered exceptional.

"I wouldn’t say that. I think he’s got very good stuff. If you’re talking about Sandy Koufax stuff, no. Not many of those guys around. I think he’s got very good stuff," Leyland said.
"I think Oliver’s got very good stuff, and I think Crosby’s got very good stuff. And Adam Wilk has very useable stuff — there’s a lot of pitchers in the big leagues who don’t throw more than 94-95 mph; a lot of guys pitching at 89-90-91. Jacob Turner has good stuff."

The Tigers still have some time before having to make the final decision on the fifth starter. It may be the last of the three most major roster decisions the Tigers have to make before Opening Day.

"I think they possibly could all funnel down to one day, but you could possibly make one of those decisions sooner than the other two. You could probably get your position players, but the bullpen spot and the fifth starter’s probably going to go real late — because we don’t know. We have no idea," Leyland said.
"We have a better idea than we did a week or so ago, because it looks like Turner’s obviously going to be eliminated from that, right now, because of his health situation, and Crosby’s already down. We do have a better idea than we did a week or two ago, but we don’t have any idea. We’re just continuing to run ‘em out there. Like I told you before, I’ll be thrilled to make that announcement to you guys, but as you know, there’s not going to be any hints or anything, because I don’t have any hints for you.
"I really don’t."

If it's ever going to, all heck generally breaks loose in the wee hours of the morning.

In this case, it was a report by Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman that the Tigers were going to bring up top prospect Jacob Turner.

MLB.com's Jason Beck reported shortly thereafter that Turner — who was on pace to start again Saturday, five days after his last outing for Double-A Erie — was not with the Seawolves, and that the Tigers organization was not answering questions about Turner. As of 10 a.m., the Tigers said they had not made any roster moves.

Duane Below was originally scheduled to start Saturday's afternoon game against the Angels, and was still listed as the Tigers' probable pitcher as of 10 a.m., but it makes no sense to bring Turner up, if he's not going to start.

Previously, the Tigers had said they were reluctant to bring up the presumed star-in-waiting, who'd been ranked as high as top 10 among all MLB prospects, saying he wasn't ready.

Manager Jim Leyland had said bringing him up before the rosters expand in September would be a "longshot" a few weeks ago.

His name's been linked to nearly every trade rumor surrounding the Tigers, who were searching for an experienced arm for the back end — or middle — of their rotation. In past years, the organization has been reluctant to include Turner, the ninth overall pick in the 2009 draft, in any potential trades, no matter the haul in return.

(C'mon — I had to. You know I did. Stop rolling your eyes.)

After Sunday's game at Target Field, the Tigers announced they'd be sending Lester Oliveros back to Triple-A Toledo, and giving one of their two No. 1 picks from the 2010 draft — a kid named Chance Ruffin — his first Chance.

(OK, I'm done now. Seriously.)

What does it mean that Oliveros was sent down? Nothing much, really. Most of the writers who cover the Tigers were a tad surprised that he got through the past two weeks — which included a handful of agonizing transactions — unscathed.

Not that he'd pitched poorly. He hadn't. But while he hadn't earned himself a bus ticket out of town (trademark: Bobby Ross), he hadn't exactly made it impossible for him to be optioned out, either. In short, he'd been OK — nothing more, nothing less.

So what makes this transaction noteworthy — other than the symmetry with Chance making the majors just a year after being drafted, as had his father, Bruce, to start his own 12-year MLB career? The younger Ruffin was taken with the compensatory pick the Tigers got when they lost Fernando Rodney to free agency. Bruce Ruffin was a second-round pick of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1985.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland certainly didn't sound like he was the architect of the move. "I don't know anything about him," the manager told reporters in Minneapolis after the game. "I know nothing about him except he's tough, he's good and he's from Texas."

Think about it this way, then: If Oliveros hadn't really done anything to force the issue on being sent down, what did Ruffin do to earn the promotion at this point?

Well, he'd done well enough with both Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo, going 3-3 with a 2.09 ERA, 17 saves, 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings, and a WHIP of 1.209. Solid, but not spectacular.

He'd been accorded a special spot with the Mud Hens since his July 1 promotion, though, holding down the closer spot over guys with MLB experience in Daniel Schlereth and Ryan Perry — both former first-round draft picks — as well as Enrique Gonzalez, who leads the Hens in saves.

"Chance Ruffin is closer makeup and closer stuff," Hens manager Phil Nevin said, when asked by the Toledo Blade's John Wagner recently. "This is what we see him as down the line, and so far he's done nothing to deter anyone from thinking of him that way. He's someone we think very highly of."

Fair enough. But why bring him up to the big leagues on July 24, in the middle of a pennant race, especially when all of the short relief spots in the Tigers' bullpen are ably filled? Jose Valverde has yet to blow a save opportunity as the closer, high-priced free-agent acquisition Joaquin Benoit has settled into the set-up role just fine after a shaky start, and rookie Al Alburquerque, the seventh-inning guy, has arguably been one of the Tigers' four most pivotal pitchers this season.

In this case, think outside the box — or outside the organization.

This move — just like accommodating moves to pitch prospects Andy Oliver and Charlie Furbush in front of scouts from other teams — could very well just be a showcase of Ruffin's skills as a potential trade chip before the July 31 trade deadline.

If the Tigers don't want to move one of their blue-chip prospects, like Oliver, Furbush, Jacob Turner or Nick Castellanos, maybe a guy like Ruffin — a quick riser with a mid-90s fastball and a closer's disposition — would be next on the list of candidates for a swap to land the Tigers another starting pitcher for the stretch drive.

In an announcement that surprised absolutely no one, the Detroit Tigers confirmed on Tuesday that second baseman Carlos Guillen and relief pitcher Joel Zumaya won't be ready for Opening Day.
No more surprising were any of the 18 cuts that the Tigers made this morning, once the extra dozen and a half players were no longer needed for their slew of split-squad games.
In the second week of his enforced layoff from pitching prescribed by noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews, Zumaya is still dealing with setbacks after elbow surgery last season. Scar tissue tore loose during the early portion of camp, causing inflammation in Zumaya's surgically-repaired joint.
His absence means the Tigers will still be searching for an arm to handle the bullpen's seventh-inning duties, setting up offseason acquisition Joaquin Benoit and closer Jose Valverde.
The likely candidates for the role now are lefties Daniel Schlereth, Charlie Furbush and non-roster invitee Fu-Te Ni, and right-handers Robbie Weinhardt and Al Albuquerque.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland said last week that there are no players in the organization or available for trade that could replace a "healthy Joel Zumaya," with the emphasis on healthy. As we all know, Zumaya hasn't been that too often since his ballyhooed debut in 2006.
Leyland has also stated repeatedly that Guillen would be his starting second baseman, if healthy, but with the veteran just beginning baserunning activities last week, it appears less and less likely that his rehab from season-ending microfracture knee surgery will permit him back on the field full-time until after the start of the season.
That leaves the starting battle between last year's Opening Day starter at second, Scott Sizemore, and Will Rhymes, the most effective of the many players who filled the position last season. Danny Worth is probably a distant third at this point.
In their cuts Tuesday, the Tigers sent much-heralded pitching prospects Andy Oliver to Triple-A Toledo and Jacob Turner to Double-A Erie. Joining Oliver with the Mudhens are right-handers Lester Oliveros and Jose Ortega and lefty Duane Below, along with shortstops Audy Ciricao and Cale Iorg and first baseman Ryan Strieby.
Also sent down to the minor league camp at Tigertown were the heralded group of young catchers, including Leyland's son, Patrick, Rob Brantly, Bryan Holaday, John Murrian and Omir Santos. Pitchers Chris Oxpring and John Bale, infielders Brandon Douglas and outfielders Avisail Garcia and Ben Guez were the other cuts.