11/20/2007 3:14 PM ET
Tigers stand pat as Rule 5 Draft looms
Full 40-man roster keeps club from protecting young players
By Anthony Castrovince and Jason Beck / MLB.com
The Tigers' 40-man roster is as full as a stomach after a Thanksgiving feast.
With that being the case, the club announced Tuesday that it will not be re-arranging its 40-man to accommodate any Minor Leaguers before
baseball's Rule 5 Draft, which takes place Dec. 6 during the Winter Meetings in Nashville. Any player eligible for the Rule 5 who is not protected by his club's 40-man roster can be swiped by another team at that Draft.
Detroit's full 40-man also dictated Danny Christensen's designation for assignment when the left-hander was acquired by the club last week as the player to be named later in the July trade that sent Roman Colon to the Royals.
On Tuesday, the Tigers settled the matter involving Christensen by outrighting him to Triple-A Toledo.
A fourth-round pick by the Royals in the 2002 First-Year Player Draft, Christensen appeared in 27 games at Double-A Wichita in 2007, striking out 99 batters in 140 2/3 innings of work. He has a 4.80 ERA and 473 strikeouts in 116 outings over six Minor League seasons.
Though the Tigers' 40-man roster currently has no available space, the club would certainly make accommodations for left-hander Kenny Rogers, who they continue to make efforts to re-sign.
Rogers' new career as an agent for himself began Monday with a call to Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski. Rogers told Dombrowski that he needed some time to get up to speed on his new job, but the left-hander wrote in an e-mail to MLB.com that the two sides plan to talk again soon.
Rogers parted ways with super agent Scott Boras and took on his own representation last Friday, a move widely viewed as paving the way for his return to Detroit.