The Marcus Thames Era Has Ended in Detroit

Published Nov. 6, 2009 at 11:00 p.m.
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...More photos »...by Tony Gutierrez - AP...

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...Marcus Thames was removed from the Detroit Tigers' 40-man roster, making him a free agent and likely ending his six-year career with the team...

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And so goes the Slugger Thames. 

With the offseason officially under way, the Detroit Tigers needed to make some decisions to create room on their 40-man roster.  That process has begun, according to Jason Beck.  Outfielder Marcus Thames and catcher Matt Treanor were removed from the roster.  Both players are now free agents and can sign with any other team.

Those moves free up space on  the 40-man roster for Joel Zumaya and Jeff Larish, both of whom had to be reinstated from the 60-day disabled list.  Infielder Michael Hollimon was also taken off the 60-day DL, but was sent to Triple-A Toledo.

This season, Thames batted .252/.323/.453 with 13 homers and 36 RBIs, the lowest totals of his six-year stint with Detroit.  He was out from mid-April to early June, due to a pulled rib cage muscle. 

But even when Thames returned to the lineup, he never provided the power that the Tigers needed.  May through July was usually when Thames could be counted on to bring the thunder, only to disappear once August began.  But this year, he was never able to put together that sustained hot streak.  As a result (along with Ryan Raburn's emergence), Thames really only got off the bench when the lineup needed a DH against left-handed pitching.

Thames's Tigers career ends with a .245/.307/.501 batting line, 99 home runs, and 255 RBIs in 485 games played.

I know a lot of Tigers fans thought Thames could be a 35-to-40-homer guy if he'd gotten 500 at-bats, but that just never developed.  My feeling always was that if Thames was capable of being Detroit's full-time left fielder, Jim Leyland would've had him in there.  But he did provide some memorable home runs during his time here, and sometimes seemed like the only power threat in the lineup.

Thames made $2.3 million this season (a $1 million raise), and was eligible for arbitration.  I could be wrong on this, but pay cuts don't usually occur in that situation, which is why he was non-tendered.

Treanor was signed last December, with the hopes that he could back up Gerald Laird and still give the Tigers good defense behind the plate.  But he could never fully recover from the hernia surgery he had after the 2008 season, and by late April, was done for the year.  (Alas, we never did get those gratuitious shots of Misty May-Treanor watching from her seats and cheering on her husband.)  Had he been available, perhaps Laird wouldn't have worn down the way he did late in the season.

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