Leyland to have Tigers scrimmage Minor Leaguers

Leyland to have Tigers scrimmage Minor Leaguers
Skipper wants to ensure club stays ready during layoff before World Series

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 10/19/12 12:23 PM ET

DETROIT -- The Tigers are one Cardinals win away from a rematch of the 2006 World Series. They are not going to reprise the way they spent waiting for that World Series to actually get under way.

"We are going to play a couple games," manager Jim Leyland told ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" show on Friday.

The Cardinals beat the Tigers in that Fall Classic six years ago, but the Tigers also beat themselves with sloppy fielding and cold bats. Leyland admitted then, and holds to it now, that the six-day wait between the American League Championship Series and the World Series opener killed them.

Leyland won't let it happen again. With the World Series not opening up until Wednesday in St. Louis or San Francisco -- no matter how soon the National League Championship Series wraps up -- the Tigers will spend the weekend working out before playing two games against a team of Minor League players from their Florida instructional league team.

The workout schedule hasn't been formally announced, but Leyland confirmed it on his radio appearance.

"We actually have our instructional league team coming to Detroit and we're going to play a couple of actual games Sunday and Monday and have a workout Saturday, as well," Leyland told "Mike and Mike." "We're going to have our pitchers throw to hitters and we're going to have our hitters face live pitching. So hopefully we'll be a little more prepared this time."

Indeed, a few Tigers prospects tweeted Thursday night that they're coming to Detroit.

Among them was pitcher Joe Rogers: "Headed to Detroit in the AM!"

"Tigers to the world series. Lucky to be part of this organization. Going to Detroit tomorrow to check it out," pitcher Hudson Randall tweeted Thursday night.

Unlike in 2006, when rain and cold forced the Tigers to work out indoors at Ford Field across the street, the weather should cooperate this weekend. Though rain showers are expected on Saturday, the forecast calls for sunny skies Sunday and Monday with temperatures near 60 on Sunday and in the mid-60s on Monday.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.