Tigers optioned 2B/OF Ryan Raburn, LHP Clay Rapada and C Dane Sardinha to Triple-A Toledo; reassigned RHP Scott Williamson to minor league camp.
With his name involved in trade talks, Raburn still has a chance of opening the season in the majors. Rapada's demotion is the real surprise here. He was penciled in at the start of camp, and he had a 1.64 ERA and a 10/1 K/BB ratio in 11 innings. However, the surprising decision to put Nate Robertson in the pen left him without a spot. The Tigers figure to have one of the game's worst rotations and will definitely need innings from their relievers, so they figured Eddie Bonine would make more sense than a second specialist to go along with Bobby Seay.
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