Anibal The Cannibal / Ichiro Traded

On this Monday off-day, the Tigers acquired starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez, and re-acquired second baseman Omar Infante, from the Miami Marlins in exchange for Jacob Turner, catching prospect Rob Brantly, and pitcher Brian Flynn. 

Sanchez fills the need for a fifth starter, and is a free agent after this season. 

Infante fills an even bigger need, for a regular second baseman. He used to play for us. Was sent to the Cubs for the unreliable Jacque Jones after 2007, and almost won a batting title with the Braves. They never shoulda traded him, but Your Baseball Blogger will walk au naturel down the beach at high noon next Sunday if anyone with the Tigers admits the deal was a mistake. His arrival puts an end to the mix and match at second base, and (yes ... please?) sends Rugburn to at least the bench.

Flynn is a lefty who had pitched for Lakeland before a recent promotion to AA Erie. He's the hardest kind of unproven prospect to evaluate: a young pitcher. 

The Tigers are well-stocked behind the dish, with Brian Holaday, last year's number one draft pick James McCann, and Skipper Leyland's son Patrick in the minors. They must all be good, because catcher is the hardest position to fill, and Brantly was expected to make the big club someday.

Jacob Turner will be a good major league starter for someone other than the Tigers, with whom he played at the wrong (or maybe right, for his career) time. The future is now. The Tigers almost made it to the big October dance last year, and knew that a couple tweaks would give them another shot. Tweak they did, getting everything they need in one trade. 

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Ichiro Suzuki, whose first name in Japanese means "first-born son,"  was also traded today, from the Mariners to the Yankees for two minor league pitchers. Whenever a non-pitcher joins the Yankees, the suspense begins to grow: how will John Sterling call his home runs? Your BB Blogger already has the answer: Ichi geechee ya ya da da! But not by Pink OR Mesdames Kardashian. 

The deal means the M's are no longer the only major league team with two players whose last names are brand names of motorcycles (shortstop Munenori Kawasaki being the one still a Mariner).