Like stripes on the fur coat of a tiger...

▪▪ What do they think about Chris Shelton's minor-league demotion back in his home state of Utah? Well, one of the people quoted in Kurt Kragthorpe's column in the Salt Lake Tribune is Shelton's mother, so you can probably draw your own conclusions.

▪▪ You've probably seen this already, and it's a moot point now, but I thought it was still worth mentioning. According to Danny Knobler, had the Tigers acquired Alfonso Soriano on Monday, the plan was apparently to move him to first base.

One wonders if Dave Dombrowski talked to him about that, unlike Jim Bowden failing to learn Soriano's feelings on a position change before trading for him in the off-season. (Link via Off Wing Opinion.)

▪▪ To me, one of the big stories of the Tigers' off-season was Dombrowski's refusal to include Curtis Granderson, Joel Zumaya, or Justin Verlander in any deals. And obviously, he was proven right on that. So if he's maintaining the same stance over Cameron Maybin, how excited should we be about this kid?

(Of course, Maybin had to be untouchable, considering the lack of position player prospects in the organization. One of Big Al's biggest fans, the Oakland Press' Pat Caputo, takes a similar stance on his blog. But hey, my paragraph breaks are nicer, okay?)

▪▪ If you're like me and still kind of hoping the Tigers manage to pick up an extra arm before the extended players-have-to-clear-waivers August 31 deadline, ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick has a list of the assorted players who could still be shuffled around the majors.

Who are some of the names? A trio of Washington pitchers - Livan Hernandez, Tony Armas, Jr., and Ramon Ortiz - that might help Jim Bowden save some face from his failure to use Soriano to bolster the Nationals' future. Jon Lieber? Mark Redman? How about Shawn Green? (Somewhere, the Daily Fungo might be smiling, though the Tigers' left-handed bat-shopping is likely over.)

On ESPN's "Baseball Today" podcast, Steve Phillips explained how difficult it will be for a team in the Tigers' position to get a player they wanted. The best record in baseball gets you the bottom spot on the waiver wire totem pole. So unless a guy has an expensive contract (Hernandez, Lieber), he's unlikely to clear the other 29 teams in the majors.

Maybe Chad Durbin would be the right move, after all. (Or not, as Big Al contends.)