Two transactions happened right after today's game. The obvious one was the return of Brandon Inge, with Dane Sardinha being shipped out. I haven't seen the official release, but by my count Sardinha is out of options, and this would mean he was designated for assignment. This is probably moot. He'll clear waivers.
The other swap involves tonight's starter Eddie Bonine, with Jeff Larish getting the call from Toledo. Because of the all star break, a fifth starter isn't needed for almost two weeks. There is time to make a decison on the fifth starter. Is Aquilino Lopez stretched out? Will it be Zach Miner? What about the resurgent Virgil Vasquez, or teammate Chris Lambert? My first reaction was a tandem between Lopez and Casey Fossum until Lopez was completely ready to join the rotation.
Bonine wasn't ready for the bigs. His first three starts were masked by the fact that they were against Colorado (3.79 RPG on the road), San Diego (3.67 RPG at home), and Los Angeles (4.33 RPG on the road). In short, his two solid starts were against very weak opponents, and American League competition proved to be a bit much for him.
Jeff Larish returns, presumably as an extra left-handed bat. As Gary Sheffield has started to struggle of late, he may get a few of his starts against lefties, giving Jim Leyland all sorts of lineup options. Larish did play three games at third base in his stay at Toledo, but it is doublful he'd be asked to play there except in an emergency.
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