It appears as if the deal to move him to Pittsburgh is in place, but we'll leave Rob's question open for debate in another way: Should the Tigers have tried to trade for AJ Burnett? -- Kurt

With the recent news that A.J. Burnett vetoed a trade to the Los Angeles Angels yesterday, the discussion opened: where would he end up? Clearly, the Yankees aren't interested in employing the righthander for the last two seasons of his contract. Judging by his performance thus far in New York, I don't blame them. Burnett has fallen off a cliff in the past two seasons, posting the two worst ERAs of his career while going a combined 21-26. His peripherals (via Fangraphs) were better, but still nothing to write home about.

So why is this even a discussion topic?

Well, we're bored. Aside from this fact, there's also how Burnett compares to the Tigers' current pitching staff. Even with his ugly performance of the past two seasons, Burnett's numbers are still better than Brad Penny's. Burnett could repeat his 2011 performance and still improve the rotation; if he reverts to his pre-2010 self, the Tigers could legitimately claim to have the best 5-man rotation in baseball.

The million -- or 16.5 million, for that matter -- dollar question is this: will Burnett improve if he's traded? Many people, myself included, believe that Burnett is simply failing under the New York Hype Machine. He certainly wouldn't be the first to melt under the pressure of Yankee Stadium, the Steinbrenner family, and the New York media. Of course, this could also be a product of his age. Burnett is 35 and, barring injury, will surpass 2,000 career innings pitched early this season.

In the end, it all boils down to whether landing Burnett would be worth the cost. He's owed $16.5 million over each of the next two seasons and isn't getting any younger. The deal in place with Pittsburgh, yet to be finalized, would bring New York two low-level minor leaguers if the Yankees agree to toss in $20 million of Burnett's future salary. Would picking up the other $13 million be worth it?

While the idea is intriguing on a listless Friday afternoon in February, I don't think it's feasible. What do you think? Could the Tigers have put together a better offer? Or is this simply the (hopefully) last case of offseason boredom rearing its ugly head?

Since the Tigers chose Casey Crosby out of high school with the fifth pick in the 2007 amateur draft and paid him a $750,000 signing bonus to keep him out of the University of Illinois, Crosby’s professional career has been a mixture of success and injuries. Crosby went to the instructional league after signing, and tore a ligament that required Tommy John surgery. That finished him for the remainder of the 2007 season and kept him out almost the full 2008 season as well.

Crosby came back to Low--A West Michigan in 2009 and the results were very promising. He went 10-4 with a 2.41 ERA in 24 starts, striking out 10.1 batters per nine innings and posting a WHIP of 1.12. Baseball America ranked him No. 47 on their list of top 100 prospects, and No. 2 in the Tiger organization prior to the 2010 season. He could have been even higher but for his surgery.

Crosby is a 23-year-old, 6-foot-5, 200-pound efty with a fastball that sits in the mid to low 90s that he can dial up to the high 90s. He also features a curve ball, slider and change that have major league potential. In high school, Crosby was All-Area, All-Region, All-Conference, and All-State in 2007, and was named the Gatorade Illinois player of the year.

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Two days left, guys! Just two days!

Detroit Tigers are correct to allow Brandon Inge to compete for job at second base -- MLive.com, Chris Iott
So we've all heard the news. Jim Leyland will likely let Brandon Inge compete for the job at second base during spring training. Chances are, you've already made up your mind on whether you love or hate this decision. In case you haven't, or in case you're easily persuadable, Iott explains why giving Inge this opportunity is for the best.

Brandon Inge to Play 2nd Base; Shenanigans Will Ensue -- Detroit4Lyfe, Rob Rogacki
While Iott thinks giving Inge a shot at second base is a good idea, Rob clearly does not. In fact, he thinks it's shenanigans.

The 2012 Detroit Tigers' greatest unknown -- isportsweb
The Tigers will have many strengths entering the 2012 season -- namely extra-base power -- but they still have a few things to work out if they want to not just reach the playoffs, but also bring home a world championship.

Tigers Prospect Jordan Pratt Retires -- Motor City Bengals, James R. Chipman
It's sad news when anyone announces a retirement, but especially sad when it's a 22-year-old prospect. Given the circumstance, I can't say I blame him though.

Linsanity! Baseball's Jeremy Lins -- SweetSpot Blog, David Schoenfield
Some of you may have already seen this article, but I thought it was fun. Schoenfield picks five baseball players who garnered the same sort of attention as current NBA sensation Jeremy Lin. To the surprise of no one, Detroit Tigers own Mark "The Bird" Fidrych is on the list.

Happy ValenTigers Day! -- Roar of the Tigers, Samara Pearlstein
I have no idea how, but I missed this when I did links for Wednesday. Now I realize Valentine's Day is over, but these could not go without a mention. Truly awesome.

Tee it up with the Detroit Tigers -- Catch Central Florida, Rebecca Thompson
If you're going to be in Lakeland for spring training (and have a couple thousand dollars to spare), you may want to consider participating in the 17th Annual Major League Scramble. Because who doesn't want to play golf with the Detroit Tigers?

You might have seen Kurt's post yesterday referencing Tony La Russa working with the Tigers. But in case you haven't, here's Tom Gage's tweet saying just that. Leyland said yesterday that LaRussa will be working with Dave Dombroski in the front office. Hmmm. Go forth and discuss ...

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I take one little nap -- one little nap. -- and Brandon Inge news explodes across my social media feeds. Inge asked Jim Leyland for permission to give second base a try this spring. Leyland granted it. Inge will be working with former Cardinals manager Tony La Russa in non-official, non-uniform capacity for two weeks, the Detroit News' Tom Gage reports. (whoops, combined two topics in my sleep haze. sorry)

MLB.com beat writer Jason Beck first reported the News on Twitter:

Gage followed up with a quote from Tigers manager Jim Leyland:

The two big issues are how Inge takes to second base defensively, and I think that's the lesser issue, and how Inge hits, and that's an issue anywhere. Inge has never played at second base before, but he is athletic and I would expect to see him take to the footwork of the position.

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I am thinking about heading over to Lakeland this Monday for the first day of Pitchers and Catchers reporting, but I have a few questions if anyone has ever gone before. Is it even worth it, or is it better to wait till everyone reports (or not a bad idea to do both)? What is generally a good time to get there? Does it cost anything to get in that first day? If so, how much? Anyone else planning to go?

(if this is better off as a fan shot then please feel free to move it)

You probably remember mention that TigerFest was being canceled in January in part because of a new scoreboard the Tigers planned to install. It is a much-needed upgrade, most agree.

Today they announced a few details about the scoreboard, which will be manufactured by Daktronics, a company whose name should be familiar to anyone who follows Division II sports closely.

The picture above is a mock-up of how it should look when finished by Opening Day. (Here's a picture of the old scoreboard.)

Per the press release:

The left-field scoreboard will be an LED display measuring approximately 48 feet high by 127 feet wide. The display can be divided into multiple windows to show video, animations or statistics, or it can operate as a giant screen. A 5 foot tall by 100 feet wide LED display will be positioned below it to display pitching statistics.

The Tigers say Daktronics will also provide creative digital content from opening animations and crowd prompts to player bios and sponsor animations

Looks pretty cool. What do you think?

The Tigers announced today that all 162 games will be televised again this season. Five are scheduled for Fox Saturday baseball, and 157 are currently set for Fox Sports Detroit.

The Fox Saturday schedule so far lists April 7 vs. the Red Sox, May 5 vs. the White Sox, June 2 vs. the Yankees, June 30 vs. the Rays and Sept. 15 vs. the Indians. Remember, those are national games in name only. If you're outside the state of Michigan, your odds of seeing the game quickly diminish and the games are blacked out on your internet or MLB package.

As always, you can expect some number of games will be picked up by ESPN during the course of the year as well.

Fox Sports will also gear up its coverage of the team in the week before the season begins, too.