After the Detroit Tigers dropped 34-year old infielder Brandon Inge from their lineup earlier in the week, many wondered if he would find a landing spot at all back in the big leagues. But, he apparently did with the Oakland Athletics, as being reported by Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal.
Brandon Inge clears waivers at 2 p.m. #Athletics front-runner to sign him, according to a source. #Tigers
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 29, 2012
A bit later, Rosenthal tweeted this:
Source: Inge to #Athletics. #Tigers
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 29, 2012
Inge was just barely off the Bingo card after getting the axe in Detroit, sporting an even .100 batting average in 20 at bats along with one home, two RBI's, no walks and six strikeouts. He is a 234/.304/.387 career hitter in 12 major league seasons.
Hot hitting Brad Eldred was called up to take his spot, and that was that. Still, Inge remained a class-act, harboring no hard feelings towards the Tigers at all, knowing it was simply a business move.
"I could kind of see how things were going," Inge said. "But there are no hard feelings whatsoever. This is my family. This is where I've been my whole career. I'll miss the guys -- I will."
Now the A's have an aging corner-infielder struggling mightily at the plate on their roster amongst a litany of twenty-somethings like Jemile Weeks and Daric Barton. He's still known to have a quality glove though, and will certainly help shore up the a's defense on the hot corner.
Inge was on the hook for $5.5 Million plus a $500,000 buyout in 2013 to Detroit, but after clearing waivers it's still uncertain how much of that the A's will have to take care of.
For more on the A's, check out Athletics Nation.
