Cabrera not quite at weight goal as training camp looms

--3B Miguel Cabrera will report to Spring Training at about 265 pounds, roughly 10 above what his goal is as he returns to third base for Detroit to make room for new 1B Prince Fielder. Manager Jim Leyland continues to endorse the move, saying, "The first time he makes an error, people are going to be shaking their heads," Leyland said. "Well, I won't be. I'm willing to live with it, unless it just gets to a point where it's not working." Leyland has been told Cabrera is at 265. "That's what he was a couple of years ago, and he really looked good," Leyland said. "He had good quickness."

--3B Brandon Inge has persuaded the Tigers to let him try out at second base this year. Inge's job was virtually eliminated when DH Victor Martinez suffered a left knee injury, putting him out all season and inducing Detroit to add 1B Prince Fielder, which brought about a shift of Miguel Cabrera back across the diamond. "Brandon Inge can play third base in his sleep," manager Jim Leyland said. "We already know that. But he would like the opportunity to compete for the second base job. I said I'm all for it, absolutely. I'll pay him that kind of respect. You want to compete for the second base job? Compete for it. How it will play out, I have no idea. But there are some wrinkles to it that are pretty interesting. I think it's good. It burst Brandon's bubble a little bit when (Cabrera was moved to third), but he thought about it and said, 'You know what, maybe I can (adjust).' And if he's the best player, I'll play him. I don't know, though, how he's going to turn the double play. I don't know how he's going to hang in there and make an accurate throw. But when we speed this spring up, we'll find out."

--RHP Doug Fister enters his first spring with Detroit facing the fact that he probably can't duplicate the record he compiled coming to the Tigers from Seattle at the trade deadline last July. Fister was 3-12 with a 3.33 ERA with the Mariners, but the Tigers better offense helped him go 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA in 11 starts with Detroit. "I can't tell you what changed, or if something got better, or what the deal was, but my focus was, number one, to be a good teammate, and two, to just go out there and do the same thing I always do. That's one thing I wanted to make sure of when I got to Detroit was that I prepare myself the same way. I go about my business the way I go about it, and stick to my guns. That's the name of my game when I'm on the mound. That's how I pitch to hitters -- I don't pitch to a certain hitter, I pitch to my strengths." He said he enjoys his teammates in the rotation. "There's a good rapport between the (other starting pitchers) that are there right now," Fister said. "We have good energy with each other, we feed off of one another, whether it's based on performance, or discussions in the clubhouse or dugout during and after the game."

--LHP Duane Below, one of a half-dozen rookie candidates to make Detroit's only rotation vacancy, says he's going to try not to put any extra pressure on himself to win the competition. "Jim (manager Leyland) and Jonesy (pitching coach Jeff Jones) and Dave (GM Dombrowski) will make that call," said Below, who came to the Tigers' spring training base nearly a month early to work out. "My job is to be ready and to get outs down here." Below pitched in 14 games for the Tigers last year, two of them starts, and was 0-2 with a 4.34 ERA. He pitched well early with regular use but deteriorated late in the season with infrequent appearances.

--LHP Adam Wilk is not a hard thrower and will have to utilize his strengths to win the six-pitcher battle for Detroit's open rotation spot. "We're not gonna be scared up there," Wilk said of himself and his fellow rookie pitchers. "We're all young, and we're all competitive. And that internal competition will be good. It'll bring out the best in all of us." Wilk worked in five games for the Tigers last season with no decisions and a 5.40 ERA in 13 1/3 relief innings. He doesn't break 90 mph with his fastball but shot up through the minors two years ago with excellent poise and control. "What I have to do is out-think the hitter and pitch to his weaknesses with my strengths," Wilk said. "And I've got to throw strikes with everything (pitch) I have."

--RHP Jacob Turner spent his valuable time with the Tigers last September picking up better work habits and trying to reduce weaknesses in his game. He is one of six rookie pitchers vying to become Detroit's fifth starter. "I'm not going into this spring with any more pressure than any other spring," he said. He came to camp three weeks early to get a jump on workouts. Turner was told he has to pitch more off his fastball to succeed and develop better consistency with his curve and changeup. In addition to that, he was horrendous in holding baserunners close to first. "It's something I need to focus on," Turner said of getting quicker to the plate. "When I was in Detroit in September, I worked on it with Jonesy (pitching coach Jeff Jones). I tried to make a quicker move, and I worked on it with a few of the other guys (Tigers pitchers who offered tips)."

BY THE NUMBERS
6 -- Pitchers supposedly vying to be Detroit's fifth starter: Duane Below, Drew Smyly, Andy Oliver, Adam Wilk, Casey Crosby and Jacob Turner, the only right-hander in the bunch but the one with the highest ceiling.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"Tony's going to be down for a couple weeks. He's going to work with (GM) Dave (Dombrowski) in the front office, and he's going over to Jupiter for a few days and then go out to Arizona for a few days. He will not be in uniform." -- Manager Jim Leyland, revealing that his good friend and retired St. Louis manager Tony La Russa will be an unpaid helper for the Tigers early this spring.

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