LAKELAND, Fla. -- Brandon Inge, second baseman?
Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland arrived at spring training Thursday afternoon and immediately delivered the camp's first major news: Inge has asked to compete for the starting job at second, and that's fine with Leyland, even though Inge has never played the position in the majors.
"I hope it works out," Leyland said. "If he's really good defensively at second and can hit, it makes us better. I can use (Ryan) Raburn in left and use Delmon (Young) at DH, and vice versa. ...
"It's pretty interesting. I want to give it a fair shot. I don't want Inge to say, 'I didn't get a fair shot.' "
Until Inge entered the picture, Ramon Santiago and Raburn had been projected to get the most time at second base.
"Obviously, I think a lot of Raburn," Leyland said. "When I'm making out my lineup and Raburn is hitting ninth, that's pretty good. Raburn is definitely going to get playing time, because he's a good player."
So Inge must learn all the nuances of second base during spring training, then win the job there.
"I'm not sure he can play it," Leyland said of Inge. "That's different when you're making that pivot (on the double play) and throwing from there. He won't be able to have that flick (throwing motion). He's going to have to get it and throw.
"He has to hit. He has to produce. If he doesn't hit, he won't be playing, because I know Raburn can hit."
Inge, who hit .197 last season, lost any chance to win the third-base job when Detroit signed Prince Fielder last month and moved Miguel Cabrera to make room for him at first. Inge wasn't "a happy camper," Leyland said at the time.
Then Inge, who's entering the final guaranteed year of his contract, thought about his role and asked general manager Dave Dombrowski whether he could give it a try at second. Dombrowski relayed the request to Leyland. Now Inge, 34, will be a happier camper who will spend most of his time at second base.
"He's going to have to," Leyland said. "But I don't know how I'm going to work it all in. That's what I'm going to have to figure out. I'll be putting Inge or Raburn in at the end of an exhibition game instead of a kid. They both need to play. I'm going to focus on nothing but second base (with Inge). I'm going all-out and giving him the opportunity."
Leyland said Cabrera is down to 265 pounds and that he'd like him to lose 10 more so he can play third base at 255. "That's what he was a couple of years ago, and he really looked good," Leyland said. "He had good quickness."
Minnesota: After a series of ailments limited him to only 82 games in 2011, Joe Mauer reported to spring training Saturday and said he planned to start catching right away when pitchers and catchers hold their first workout today.
After losing 99 games last season, general manager Terry Ryan is bringing 66 players to big-league camp this season - an unusually high number - in hopes of creating a sense of urgency and competition for jobs.
Oakland: Dallas Braden is ahead of schedule in his recovery from May 17 surgery to a repair a torn capsule in his left shoulder. His best guess is he will be ready to return in mid-April or shortly thereafter. Manager Doug Melvin said it could be early May for Braden, who will be treated cautiously.
Pittsburgh: Right-hander Charlie Morton, who made 29 starts last year, going 10-10 last year with a 3.83 ERA, had October surgery to repair a torn labrum, but he said Saturday he's been ahead of schedule and hopes to be ready for opening day.
St. Louis: First baseman Albert Pujols, who bolted for the Los Angeles Angels during the offseason for a 10-year, $254 million free-agent deal, was never brought up during rookie manager Mike Matheny's wide-ranging, 18-minute opening media session.
A major medical issue entering camp is utilityman Allen Craig's surgically repaired right knee. Craig, one of the Cardinals' surprise postseason heroes, expects to beat the initial timetable for a May return from a torn patellar tendon and is holding out hope of being ready on opening day. ASSOCIATED PRESS
